Can't Figure Out Kitty Vomiting

My 9 year old Siamese mix cat named Mya has been repeatedly throwing up for several weeks now. We took her to the vet one week ago. X-rays show no signs of blockage or problems, and when the vet physically examined my cat she found nothing to be worried about. The blood tests did show that she had an overactive thyroid issue. Mya was put on a new diet and for a few days was fine, but is now throwing up again (although not as frequent and less vomit is present when she does throw up). She has lost 1 ounce of weight in a week. Sometimes there is food in the vomit, other times it is more bile than food. No worms or hair present.

What I don't understand is this: she has no other symptoms of anything. She's eating well, her fur is fine. She has not shown any signs of weight loss other than the 1 ounce at the vet. She does not have any diarrhea or stool or urine problems and uses the litter box as always. She is still active and hasn't slowed down a bit, she still loves to play games with me like chasing strings and playing "kitty tag" with me (which is what I call it). She's not lethargic or struggling to move, and is still affectionate and cuddly. She purrs just as loud as ever (much louder than my other cat).

I understand that she may be put down because of the vomiting issue, and I never want my baby girl to suffer if this issue is very very bad, but I just want to know why she is throwing up so much while she has no other health problems (at least from what I can tell). Any help is truly appreciated.

I'm really surprised that at this early stage of a health problem you would even mention putting your cat to sleep...

There are many reasons that cats vomit.  Your vet has just not gotten to the bottom of it yet.  X-rays are a good start, but are not as definitive as ultrasound, which is a valuable tool in diagnosing challenging health issues.  It can find things your vet cannot feel when she's doing a physical exam.  You should discuss it with your vet.  Make sure the person doing the ultrasound is skilled at it, as it is only as good as the person performing it.

Can you provide more info about "the overactive thyroid issue" that was found with bloodwork?   If Mya is hyperthyroid, she needs medication for it.  Some cats who have overactive thyroids will vomit more often, especially if untreated.   Not treating hyperthyroidism will lead to more serious health conditions.   Also, why was she put on a new diet?  

Can you remember if there were any changes to anything Mya ate or drank when the vomiting started?  Sometimes new foods can cause GI distress.  It's possible Mya may have an allergy to an ingredient in her food that is causing the upset.

You're very lucky that Mya hasn't lost more weight despite all the vomiting.  A one ounce weight loss is nothing to be concerned about, and frankly is amazing given the amount of time Mya's had this problem.  Dehydration can occur with frequent vomiting, and that makes a cat feel miserable, but thankfully that doesn't seem to be the case with Mya. She is doing very well with the exception of her vomiting issue.

If your vet cannot figure out what's wrong with your girl,  please find a new vet and get a second opinion

I had a puker and it turned out she was allergic to the fish in the canned food.  We eliminated all the fish flavors and the problem went away.
 

Hi there, my Genever is a puker, has been since we adopted her when she was about a year and a half old (she's about 5 and a half yrs old now) and we went through lots of things, food changes, trying only wet food, putting ping pong balls in the dry food dish to slow her eating in case it was a "scarf and barf" issue of eating too fast, did an xray.. nothing helped or showed any obvious issues. So before going on to a big bad endoscopy, my vet said we could try prednisolone as a sort of last try before the invasive and expensive endo. in case It's an inflammation thing in the digestive tem. The negative effects of steroids like pred. aren't nearly as bad for cats as for people so we decided to try it, and she isn't a puke machine anymore! Sure it's not ideal to have to give her pred. everyday but she gets a half of a 5mg pill a day smooshed in a treat (im very lucky my girls will eat pills in treats) and it really has helped. Basically it could kind of be a version of IBS, just the top end of the digestive system rather than the bottom end. Sure, she pukes still but maybe twice a month instead of almost everyday. So just an idea, and good luck!

stephanietx said:

I had a puker and it turned out she was allergic to the fish in the canned food.  We eliminated all the fish flavors and the problem went away.
 

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I agree--I'd look to your cat's diet, try to determine if there is a correlation.  What ingredients were both in the new and old foods?  You might try limited ingredient wet food, low or no grain.  Chicken and fish tend to give cats problems.  Also does your cat go outside?  Eat cat grass?  Too fast?

Ritz is a puker, but it's because she eats too fast or too much cat grass (which I buy at the local PetSmart).

And find out more info about the overactive thyroid issue.