Toby vomiting and losing weight, fine otherwise

My boy Toby is 12 yrs old. He has always been overweight, but in the last several months he has started losing weight. He is throwing up and his stomach is always making gurgling/growling noises. I took him to the vet who did lots of tests and said he is overall in good health.

I had thought he had acid reflux and she told me to give him 1/2 pepsid twice a day. The pills seems to be helping his vomit but he is not back to his old self. His fur looks rumpled and normally he is sleek and beautiful. 

Toby has normal energy, is sleeping well and seem mostly ok. He is urinating and pooping just fine. He has a good appetite and he wants his food, but he isn't eating as much as usual, and if he eats too much he vomits badly and seems a little nauseated afterwards. 

Has anyone had a kitty with these symptoms? I am going to call them again today.

I wanted to say too, I posted about this in November and we did change his cat food. I have taken Toby back to the vet twice since then as well, and on the last visit she said he is much improved. But I don't think he is better at all. 

Was he tested for hyperthyroid?

he had a full blood panel but I don't know if it included thyroid. I will ask the vet.

Our 9-year old Lazlo had those symptoms. When about 7 months later blood work then indicated anemia, we had an xray done and he had a tumor in his stomach. An ultrasound and biopsy confirmed lymphoma. He'd never been put on pepcid, and he'd developed bleeding stomach ulcers, so we had to treat those too. The good news is that he completed chemotherapy, and his "massive" tumor had become undetectable. But it was a long haul, it was expensive, and he was VERY cooperative about everything that needed to be done (or we wouldn't have done it).

There may be no mass to see. Laz had his x-ray done in January 2011, and there was nothing to see. But by the end of July, it was "massive." So if it were me, I'd get a full body x-ray. If there's nothing to see, I'd check back in 3-4 months, just to make sure (with accompanying blood work).

Were there any indications of inflammation in the blood work? Any reason to consider IBS or IBD? (food/additive sensitivities?)

LDG, that is what I am worried about, some sort of blockage. It seems to me that all his symptoms point to that, although I'm certainly not a doctor.

Further to your questions, the vet seemed surprised that all his bloodwork was normal. At her initial exam she wrote on the take-home paperwork form (for his complete checkup) that she was concerned about lung changes (he had lost his voice and was raspy, I think from the acidy of throwing up), slight liver enlargement, and intestinal lymph node involvement. 

At the second exam she put him out and did a scope of his throat and treated him for bacteria with a shot of covenia. This last time she did a throat swab which she said showed great improvement. Problem is, I don't think acid reflux is the issue. 

I don't think she did a full x-ray but as you said, there may not have been anything to see even if she had done one. At his second visit I mentioned doing an x-ray and I think she said she had already done one. Honestly I have no recollection of one and there doesn't appear to be one on my bill.

So I will call and see about doing an x-ray/ultrasound, as well as checking his thyroid. It is so obvious to me as his mom that he is NOT ok! I see him sleeping in different spots that he never used to sleep in- like curled up in a ball or crouched on the floor with no kitty bed or anything. He would only do that if it were the only way he could be comfortable. 

Today I did some checking online too and found that U of Illinois has a vet clinic in Chicago now and I think I want to take him there instead. He is my baby boy and I want to know what is going on.

Also I have to say, Toby is a super sweet friendly and VERY treatable kitty, so whatever is wrong with him, we are in for the long haul too. 

My other kitty Bell was diagnosed with chylothorax disease a little over a year ago and her situation was totally different. I was the only person who she allowed to touch her all over and even then she did not like to be picked up. She hated pills, she hated the carrier, and she hated the vet most of all. We decided not to put her through shunts and painful therapy that would not cure her in the end, no matter what. And by the time she was diagnosed, the lymphatic fluid had already abraded her lungs.

I'm so sorry about Bell, and that you can figure out what is wrong with Toby and get it fixed.  It's obvious that something is not right! 

Barb, just :heart3:

Yes, at this point, it's time to get more proactive. I would chat with the vet, and find out exactly what has and hasn't been done, and for what has been done what she/he felt those indicated; what treatments have been tried and why. But TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS as him mom. :nod: If they scoped his throat - did they look in his stomach? Again - all of this is interesting, because the progression of events here is X-ray to check for blockage, then determine whether scope or ultrasound is the next step. Usually ultrasound, but if blockage highly suspected, then the cost of the ultrasound is skipped, and they go straight to scope if that's what the owner wants (the ultrasound layers on another $350 or so), and the scope is around $700 all-in. But an x-ray, as a first step, is just $95 (and they usually don't charge for extra "slices.").

And I agree - if they're not finding anything, but he's not well, it's time to have that chat, gather that info, get his chart, and move on to another vet. If Univ of IL has a vet clinic in Chicago, I think that'd be a great option. If not, I would look for a feline specialist. :nod:

The really annoying thing about lymphoma is that it may NEVER show up in the blood work - or even with visual diagnostics. Oncologists won't treat without a diagnosis - but if they find nothing to biopsy, then ... :dk: But if EVERYTHING else is ruled out... then at the very least you may find someone willing to prescribe a low-dost of pred (anti-inflammatory dose, not immune-suppressive does), which is part of the standard of care with lymphoma, even during chemo. This alone has helped many, many kitties live long beyond the time the vet indicated was possible.

:cross:

Yes, I think I am just going to call my vet, AGAIN, ask to review his x-ray which I'm pretty sure he never had. Then get one if he hasn't had one. The practice is closed over the weekend, so I have to wait until tomorrow morning. She is a good vet, homeopathic specialist too, but has not seen Toby when he is healthy. 

If the x-ray shows nothing, I will take him to the other place, it looks really good. http://furnetic.com/about/index.html  Last night I just started searching for the nearest veterinary school, expecting that I'd have to go to Indiana since there hasn't ever been a vet school in Chicago. I was amazed that University of Illinois recently moved part of its vet school to Chicago and has an affiliate practice. Very good news :-). 

This morning when I came downstairs I saw that one of the kitties had eaten some of the tall grass I bought for them, and thrown up- and there was blood in there. I am guessing it was Toby :-(. 

Oh hun, the blood isn't a good sign. In Lazlo, that meant bleeding ulcers. The treatment, of course, was continued pepcid a/c (he weighed 10 pounds at that point, and received 10mg once daily). But we added sulcrafate - I'll go get the dose - I do know they're giant horse pills, and we gave him 1/2 a pill, once in am, and once in pm). Sucralfate is a stomach coater. It resolved his bleeding ulcers in about two weeks. We took him off it (at vet advice) - but they came back. So now we just keep him on the pepcid a/c and sulcrafate.

BTW - we never saw fresh red blood in his stool or vomit. Vomit that looks like "coffee grounds" is vomit with blood in it. Dark stool (darker than normal), is stool with blood in it. Obviously if he's bleeding in his upper GI system, the blood would be digested when it comes out, not fresh.

Let's hope this is ONLY an issue of acid over-production and ulcers, and nothing more serious, so that addressing those will resolve the problem. :cross: (Ulcers were detectable on ultrasound, but not x-ray).

Apparently his anemia developed because of the bleeding ulcers. Our vet (holistic) also put him on a chinese herb, Yunnan Biyao, to stop the bleeding, and improve his red blood cell production. We kept him on this for a time while he was on chemo, and the traditional vets and the oncologist we work with were all really ... surprised, at how quickly his blood results improved.

Just more and

Ok the blood in the vomit that I saw was fresh.

It was just the few blades of grass that had been eaten and saliva that had red blood in it, not a lot, just the amount that comes out with saliva.

Now I am going to keep a closer eye on all of them and only have that plant available to them when I am there and watching. 

I have not seen any blood in any of his other throw-ups. I do have 3 other cats and Toby was upstairs until I fed them, so maybe it was one of the others!

!!!!!!

BarbB,

please put away that grass, whatever it is, out of reach.  Grass of any kind can make digestive problems worse, contribute to vomiting and even cause bloody vomit. You can find more info under gastritis.

Thank you LDG for all your kind thoughts and help, I really appreciate it!

Please keep us posted.

I sure will, I left a message for the vet already and filled out a profile for Toby for the other place. If I don't hear back I will just give the other practice a ring.. Here is a picture I took of him yesterday, he is just too gaunt and not his usual self 

https://plus.google.com/photos/1150...ms/5734651055387784305?authkey=CNGQrPz7xYjOHQ

Violet said:

BarbB,

please put away that grass, whatever it is, out of reach.  Grass of any kind can make digestive problems worse, contribute to vomiting and even cause bloody vomit. You can find more info under gastritis.

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Violet, You probably didn't intend it, but this came across as so demeaning I didn't even know what to say. 

I'm sure she didn't mean it to come across that way.

As to Toby, I can see what you mean. And pictures make them not look as "gaunt" or thin as they are. I had that with Lazlo, when he looked skin and bones to me, you just couldn't see it in the pictures. But gaunt or not, he sure is beautiful!

I hope you hear back soon.

Originally posted by BarbB

Violet, You probably didn't intend it, but this came across as so demeaning I didn't even know what to say.

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Sorry, wasn't meant to be. Grass/plant eating can cause very serious problems and I felt that, in your situation, it was important to warn you about it.

Many people believe that grass eating can be helpful to pets but the fact is it can do a great deal of harm.

Also, gastritis can be associated with several potentially life-threatening diseases.

Just a little bit of info, something very basic about gastritis

http://pets.webmd.com/cats/cat-gastritis

http://www.petplace.com/cats/gastritis-in-cats/page1.aspx