Vomiting - hairball or something else

We found Calvin retch and have projectile vomiting on Thursday - it was food that he threw up. His poop was ok and I added some fortiflora in his food that evening, thinking it may be indigestion. I also gave all of the boys some vaseline, in case of hairball. Friday was eventless. This morning we saw vomit in front of the litterbox (initially we thought it was poop but it was not). I then saw that he has poop stuck to his long hair and cleaned him up. There was some blood and I cleaned the litter box. It was not watery poop but rather goopy (sorry TMI). He's had poop like this after we got him when we realized that he was not doing well on dry food and having him eat canned food solved the problem.

We cannot be sure if he was the one who vomitted this morning but since we saw him vomit on Thursday, we assumed it to be him. We took him to the vet and his vitals were ok. The vet, while taking his temperature found poop with blood. He was given an antiemetic shot and prescribed flagyl. He, too (Hobbes has), may have some kind of IBD but the kitties get 1/2 regular food and 1/2 prescription food for Hobbes' IBD and this controls Hobbes' IBD symptoms. Calvin was otherwise doing fine - playing, eating, drinking, etc.

However, a while back we found a lot of vomit in their room - Calvin is the one who naps there and was napping before we found the vomit. There were 2 piles and 1 had hairballs - the other was dinner from this evening. This also seemed projectile since there was splattering everywhere but rather thick in consistency - so he must have suffered. When we went to the room, Casper, the foster, was in the room, too. So again, cannot be totally sure who vomited. However, Calvin is not feeling too friendly now. 

We really cannot think of anything that Calvin could have got into. This can be hairball, but probably does not explain the bit of blood in his poop.

Both issues (hairball and IBD) rearing their head at the same time seems strange but not impossible. As per the doctor's recommendation, I have started giving the three fiber in their diet from today.

Would appreciate any thoughts/ recommendations

When he threw up Thursday, was it "projectile?" Because when Shelly throws up, I can see how it would look like projectile... but basically what he does is throw up a little, move, throw up a little - and basically he just keeps walking around while he's vomiting, and it gets everywhere.

Was the vomit undigested food? Mostly digested food? Completely digested food?

Do you switch the protein in whatever wet food you give them? Because for a little while, you may want to stick with just one protein for Calvin to see if it helps calm things down on both ends, and treat him for hairballs in the meantime. :nod: :cross:

Do you give the boys any treats?

When Shelly was diagnosed with colitis, we stopped giving them treats of any kind (other than babyfood), and that solved his problem.

Thanks Laurie, for the input and the vibes.

Yes, his vomit was projectile on Thursday, we saw it. Saturday evening, we did not see him vomit, but there was splattering on the wall, desk etc but Saturday morning was not so. On thursday, the throw up looked more digested, Saturday we could see some dry food and was less digested - so was probably regurgitation.

There has not been any change in their diet - they mostly get "pill pocket" treats. Everyone gets a little treat after Hobbes' inhaler sessions twice a day and now Calvin is getting his flagyl in the pill pockets. Hubby is boiling some chicken today to celebrate Calvin's gotcha day.  So hopefully that will not be an issue. Most of their food is chicken based, to hope that's good.

Will continue treating them for hairball.

Thankfully it's been 2 days since the vomiting. He is on flagyl and so far things seem quiet.

Well, metro (flagyl) is good stuff it's some type of intestinal imbalance or buggie. And seems like all the other bases are covered... so hopefully the signs of IBD were just some kind of stress-related flare up. :nod: I can't imagine what made him sick. You know... maybe he ate a bug or something!

But glad to hear his tummy seems to have calmed down. Hope it has stayed that way!

And HAPPY BELATED GOTCHA DAY Calvin! :rub: