First Toby, then Lulu, now William- vomiting and not eating or drinking

William is my outdoor boy who lives with his feral mate Ace (they are both fixed etc.). He is around 7 yrs old. We noticed on Thursday that he wasn't eating as much, and on Friday he showed no interest in food at all. He and Ace kept looking worriedly at the neighbors' house, which usually means a predator. Friday nite when we got home from dinner we saw a cat come out of their gazebo, we thought it was Ace until a few minutes later, Ace and William came out. At that time when they didn't eat we thought it might just be nerves.

Anyhow Saturday John and I went into the gazebo to make sure their "inner" lair was safe. This is a big deal bc it is encased in a solar pool cover held down with bricks and several inches of frozen snow. It turned out that Ace and William were in there, to our surprise bc William usually comes out to greet us and Ace runs away.

When William didn't get up, I went in and petted him. I knew he was not himself, so I called the vet right away. I thought he might have gotten a bite wound and it was getting infected. The vet said there were no appointments until today. I went in his lair the next day (yesterday) and gave him fluids, just a little bit, before he got up and left. Then last night I called him and when he came out, I just picked him up and took him into our house and put him in the guest room and stayed with him.

I have felt around and cannot find any bite wounds, but that doesn't mean there isn't one. But he won't eat or drink anything. His poo is slightly loose but not horrendous. The worst tho, is that he is vomiting bright yellow bile and he seems to have a temp. I gave him fluids again but some leaked out. He is dehydrated so it's hard for me to get a needle in safely- I am not terribly experienced doing this alone. 

His appointment is in four hours. I have several concerns, it is extremely unusual for him not to eat, and it seems to have come on somewhat suddenly, but it could be that he was eating less every day and I didn't notice it. My husband fed them sometimes and he would always put Toby's massive amts of uneaten food in their bowls, so I thought maybe they were just being finicky.

I am worried if this is not a bite or blockage, I have just put a cat with an illness in the other room of my house where my boy on chemo lives plus 3 other cats. And I have 3 FIV+ kitties in another room, augh. I have no idea what this is, other then he seems to have a temp, he won't eat or drink at all, stools look ok altho small and a little loose, and he is vomiting bile :-(. Any ideas? 

His last shots were April 2011 so on the good side he is up to date there, more or less. Vet appointment is in 4 hours. I would have taken him Saturday if I had thought maybe  it was not a bite. But the other cat, scraggly male, seemed like the only different thing in their routine, and I thought the not eating was fear related at first. Augh what a mess. 

Barb, I sit here shaking my head because when it rains it pours and I have been there when it seems everything is falling apart on the health front with multiple kitties at the same time. I don't have any good constuctive advice because it could really be so many reasons to something simple, like a virus or something he ate to something more serious. The yellow bile would suggest that he does have an empty stomach but is just too sick to keep anything down. I wonder if he got into something outside that he shouldn't have. :dk: I just hope that it is something simple and that William will be alright and feeling better. My thoughts are with you during this difficult time. Bless your heart for all you are doing for your kitties. :heart3:

Thank you so much for your support! I too hope it is something not so serious. I hate that he is not eating but he just isn't keeping anything down, so I don't think I can even get anything into him at this point. If it were me, I would go to the ER and get fluids myself lol, plus a strong anti-nausea med. I would not mind if they did an x-ray on him tho, too, or bloodwork. It has been a while since he had either one. :-(

I have a vet appt. for Wendall this week and I know how you feel - having a list of things you want done. We just have to trust our vet and take it one step at a time. I will be waiting for the update on your William after the vet appt. The bloodwork will probably be the first line of defense though. and

Just sending some vibes for William.  Enough is enough for you Barb.  You need a break! 

Thank you so much for the support, it does really help me to know that I am not alone in trying to do the right thing for kitties. I constantly second guess myself, was it right to bring him in, is it going to hurt Toby if I brought William in with a contagious virus, will Ace be ok outside, what if she gets it, hope this vet is ok augh. My mind doesn't stop :-(. In case it is a contagious virus does anybody know a good hand sanitizer that kills viruses along with bacteria? I hope it is a bite wound and not serious, just a little infected. 

I have treated cats that are very sick and do not eat, and that is one of my biggest worries and hardest things to deal with, getting food into sick cats. I do have a lot of stuff already for Toby, i.e. A/D, fluids, sensitive stomach food, pepsid. I just hope it works out and he gets better. 

Oh my gosh, Barb. I have been thinking about you. Now I know why. Your plate is too full. I am so sorry to real this about yet a third cat. Sending all kinds of good wishes and prayers for all your fur babies, especially William.

Aww thank you Barb. It really does help me to hear well wishes, it is really hard for me to deal with bad things happening to my fur babies- I spend a lot of time trying to anticipate what might go wrong bc I so much do NOT want anything to go wrong for them.

I just got back from the vet. William does NOT have a temperature and the vet could NOT find any bite wounds, so she is ruling out virus or infection as he has no symptoms of URI either. I said do a blood panel and xrays and they did draw blood, but their digital x-ray machine is being repaired. The doctor and I agreed to leave him and she will give him fluids while he is there, even tho she said he is only a little dehydrated.

Meanwhile I just called them when I got home bc I was picking up his temporary litter box and I saw the bright yellow fluid around the bottom of it too. I then realized he probably did not vomit that into his water dish, but more likely he peed it into his water dish, or possibly poop. He had a few small stools that were ok but maybe they changed from the small stools to the bright yellow diarrhea. But I think it is urine. It has a strange smell too. Also, he had urine in the box when he did his second small stool, so I think it was there ahead of time. Has anybody heard of this?

I am just worried now that this is an injury or something he ate outside, or something stuck in him, since we have ruled out virus or infection mostly. 

The doctor said when feeling him that she thought one of his kidneys might be a little enlarged. Well, hopefully they will fix the xray machine and we will know yet today. They are open till midnite and will call me either way. 

They really love him at the vet already, he is such a big sweet boy, very loving and usually always extremely happy, even jolly when he feels well, strutting around the yard and rolling on his belly for some loving. He has been purring constantly, probably to make himself feel better. The doctor could not get him to stop purring to hear his heart. 

Oh I forgot to add, the vet also looked at his eyes for signs of jaundice and did not see anything suspicious. She also examined his throat etc. and nothing there. Augh. She said liver felt normal. Paws crossed :-(. 

I just wrote this because I looked on the internet under bright yellow urine for cats and everything says possible liver problems :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-(. 

They will be testing him for FIV too, as he has been outside from back when Curly was out there and I have not had him tested even tho he has had a few run-ins with other kitties. The three FIV+ kitties in my foster room are doing very well so I have not considered William at particular risk even if he were positive, and also he does not engage anybody, but he does fight back if anyone goes after him. He and Curly never fought and Curly moved in with them!

We shall see. I am really freaked out right now. 

I know it's hard but try not freak out and think of all the things that COULD be wrong. You'll drive yourself crazy if you let your imagination go wild. He's at best possible place to get a diagnosis, so try to give the vet some time to do her job. You did yours by getting him there, so until you have more information, there's nothing you can really do right now. Try to relax and get some rest so that you will be ready for whatever it is. Sending vibes for you and William that it's nothing serious and that he recovers soon.

Thank you vball that is good advice. You are right, worrying and using that energy will not make him better, plus I did not sleep hardly at all last nite with him sick like that. They just called and said the xray machine will not be fixed until tomorrow earliest so I am going to get him. We will make him comfy and come out his winter mattings and hope whatever is wrong with him will work through his system, and xrays tomorrow early, I hope. 

and many, many for William - and YOU. I'm the first to give advice about trying not to worry, and not very good at taking it. All you can do is try to take comfort in knowing that you're doing all you can, and just do your best not to worry. He's in loving hands, and is getting good care.

I don't know what's up with the diarrhea vs. urine. If it's in his water dish, I suspect it's actually vomit. Let's hope they get that x-ray machine up, so you can rule out a blockage tomorrow. :cross:

There are still no test results, I called this morning and they said the internet was down yesterday so test results will be late. And the xray machine is still broken, augh. I have very bad luck with vets. William is starting to eat a little bit but since I don't know what is wrong with him, I don't know whether to push more food or not. The room he is in does have a strong chemical smell, it is probably ammonia but is not exactly that smell. And as I said before his pee was bright yellow. I think it is liver or kidneys but do not know the cause. Augh. 

Hey Barb, I am so sorry to read this about William. You are doing all you can. You are in our thoughts and prayers and so are your cats.

I got the blood test results, William's thyroid is high, which goes against the fact of him not having any appetite and being lethargic. His biliary levels were high but all his other liver levels were low which is not consistent with fatty liver disease. They are recommending a pancreatic snap test even tho there wasn't anything about his pancreas, they said the overall blood tests are not that thorough. The xray machine is still broken but they will call tonite if it is fixed and otherwise he will go in tomorrow at 9:30AM. His virals were all negative which means no FIV or FeLV (yay), and everything else is normal. All that remains is he either needs to start eating regularly on his own, or we need to see if he has some kind of obstruction causing his vomiting and lack of appetite. He is eating a minor amount but if he felt better he would be eating more, a lot more as this is a very large kitty.

Did the vet prescribe anything for his thyroid yet

I know one thing, William could not be in better hands than with you, Barb. I do hope that you get a more definitive answer as to what is really going on with William. You and your vet will get to the bottom of this! I was wondering about the thyroid medication too. I think the vet wants to get through some more of these tests before they start any medications. Mega, monster vibes for William tomorrow during the xray.

AND ....... What a darling, darling, darling gorgeous boy William is. Thanks for sharing that picture!!! :love:

Went to the veterinary center last night, they called at 10:30pm to say the xray machine was working again. And it revealed that all of William's intestines are on one side of his stomach with his colon outlining them, and nothing is on the other side that would indicate why they are pushed that way.

So for a third cat in one year we are looking at ultrasound and exploratory surgery. It is just mind boggling. Also he has a heart murmur so we have to figure that out too. All I am thinking is how does this sort of thing happen and what can cause everything to bunch up that way?

Meantime he wants to go back to his Ace, but he is not eating enough and I am too worried about him having a problem out there medically where I won't be able to monitor him. It snowed a lot here so he can't really move around a lot, but still I don't feel right to let him out even for a little bit.

Also on the thyroid, they had been going to send me home with thyroid meds but after the xray they said his current problem needs to be resolved and is unrelated to thyroid in their opinion. So they did NOT treat him. But they were very firm that the test isn't ever even slightly positive without there being a true problem. 

It is like, if you were looking at a human body from the front, with the spine going down the middle, everything looks normal until you get to the stomach and then all the intestines are on the left side of his spine, and the colon is the line of demarcation, it is like an outline inside which all the intestines are bunched up on the left. And there is nothing showing on the right side where the intestines should also be filling up the stomach cavity.

The vet I talked to last night said he recommended ultrasound bc of William's heart murmur but that his wife is our vet and he needs to defer to the boss LOL. I left a message for her now, i.e. let's get this show on the road. William isn't eating, he is upstairs crying, things will get worse before they get better unless we act. I asked them for pricing if they want to take this on, or do they want to recommend us to the same place we took Lulu. 

John and I decided we are going to do ultrasound this time instead of skipping right to surgery like we did with Lulu. We will see if there is an obstruction and have it removed. But if it is cancer we will likely not do chemo as William is an outdoor cat and we still have Ace outside waiting for him, plus Toby in here fighting his cancer along with any other male cat who wants to share the main space. 

I am really wondering in the absence of anything on the other side of his stomach, how could his intestines get bunched up like that? Even if he ate something, it would be on the inside, not blocking from the outside. Augh! Let me know if anyone has heard of blockages or bunching up of organs like this. 

Barb, I googled and found this: http://m.kidshealth.org/parent/medical/digestive/malrotation.html

It seems it is a potential he was born that way, and it is only now causing a problem. The article mentions IBD, but I'm not clear if it was a potential cause or result. You might want to contact finnlacey to see if she has encountered this in an IBD cat before. Sorry I can't do more right now, I'm in the car and reading or using my phone like this makes me car sick. :anon:

But if it is malrotation, I think he's still looking at surgery.