Could too much salmon oil cause diarrhea and vomiting?

otto

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Jennie is sick. Jennie NEVER gets sick. She ate fine this morning and ate her supper. But right before her supper she had diarrhea. And two hours after her supper she vomited it all up, and is still having some dry heaves.

It was only earlier today that I realized the new jar of salmon oil I opened for her two days ago is 1000 mg. I don't know how I made such a mistake. She only gets it every other day, but still. Going from 500 every other day to 1000 every other day...would that cause this? She had had two doses of the 1000 mg, two days a apart, the second dose being last night.

The only other explanation I can think of is I gave her some Soulistic today. The date on the can is fine, but I haven't fed this brand in a long time, and now I remember that they always seemed to have some diarrhea when I fed Soulistic, and that is probably why it never got used up. Why did I even keep it? Why couldn't I have remembered that before I fed it to her? Geesh. She only had about an ounce of it though. So I'm still thinking too much salmon oil.

Even as I am typing this she's down in the litter box having more diarrhea and vomiting a little foam. Poor girl, Jennie is never sick, I feel so bad for her.

Is there anything I can do for her? Give her fluids? Wait until morning to give her fluids? Give her a pepcid? Or just let her be for tonight and see how she is tomorrow?

If it is too much salmon oil, is she in any danger?
 

smitten4kittens

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I'm sorry I don't have any advice but I just wanted to send hugs and best wishes that Jennie is feeling better soon.
 
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otto

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I've done a little reading and it does sound like the salmon oil is the culprit. My poor Jennie! I guess I will take those myself and order her some 500 mg stuff. I can't imagine how I made such a mistake, and worse didn't notice it when it came in. I read the jar, I always read the jar of anything that I get for the cats, but for some reason the 1000 mg didn't register. Up until now she's been on Welactin 3, simply because I wanted to use it up.

I'm still on the fence about doing anything for her or letting her be. She's sitting here on my lap as I type, not hiding away, so I guess she is okay. I'm not going to give her anything to eat tonight except a little white meat baked chicken I have in the freezer, a bit later. I don't want her tummy to be too empty.

Thanks for the well wishes to my Jennie-Jennie.

PS She isn't even showing interest in eating, even when fed the other two. I have never seen Jennie not interested in food. EVER. :( Maybe I better just skip the chicken, and not give her anything at all tonight.

P
 
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carolina

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Problably the oil.... If she is sensitive, that will do it. It did to Bugsy, but not for the others....
Do you have any freeze-dried chicken there? Whole life chicken? Halo treats? I find that those work wonderfully (dry) as a meal substitute when they are feeling sick. The equivalent to 1.5oz is 13g of freeze dry chicken. It is pure chicken breast and while you won't balance it, it is good nutrition.... besides, they LOVE that stuff. I always have it on hands.
She is not in any danger if it is the oil.... She should be fine by next meal..... Not sure about not feeding her anything though. I don't skip meals because of acid production - I find it harder to stop the vomiting cycle if I do so.
I only skip meals if they have a hairball issue and are vmiting meal after meal because of a "blockage" then they have to settle the tummy and some rest for the hairball to dislodge. Aside from that.... I give it a little while and feed something very mild - chicken breast - freeze dried or raw are my choices :nod:
 
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otto

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Thanks Carolina. Yes I have freeze dried chicken breast but she still wants nothing to do with food. She had more diarrhea and vomiting over night in the litter box and is still in bed this morning. I want to get something in her tummy but she refuses.

I'm going to give her some sub q fluids this morning. Maybe that will perk her up enough to eat a little plain chicken.

(edit) 10 minutes later, I had the bag of PureBites out to give Mazy cat her pepcid and Jennie got up and come over all bright eyed (but still looking pitiful if you can imagine) and asked for some! :banana1:

I only gave her three pieces, and if she keeps those down she can have some more in a little while. Maybe she won't need the sub q fluids after all.
 
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otto

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Jennie has had 3 more pieces of the PureBites and kept them down too. No more diarrhea either, so far this morning. She is feeling better I think, but working the poor-pitiful-me angle for all she can, waiting for more PureBites. What IS it about those things? :lol3:

I can't find the salmon oil in 500 mg capsules. So I'm not sure how to give it to her now. Can I give half and save the pierced capsule (in the fridge maybe?) and give the other half next time?

Mazy and Queen Eva take Krill.
 
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otto

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Jennie is out of the bedroom now and came to the kitchen when she heard me feeding Mazy and Queen Eva, she went straight to her Meal Spot, so she had a bit more chicken, roasted (from the freezer) this time.

She then sampled a bit of nip, and is now looking not quite as sorry for herself as seen here a few minutes ago


PS and now has gone tucked, 10 minutes later. Yay, now I know she's feeling better!
 
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txcatmom

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Cute girl....glad she is feeling better.  I would think saving the 1/2 capsule in the fridge would be just fine.  The ones I buy are 1000 mg, but with 4 cats it works out just right to split them so each is getting 500 mg (which we also do just every other day.) 
 

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Aw poor Jennie - and poor Gail! :hugs: I think it was the fish oil. :nod:

When one of my cats wants to skip a meal, I let them. In fact, I'll let them go 24 hours. I do offer them something plain, and if they don't want FD, I'll use baby food or boiled chicken. But if they refuse, I don't force it. Sometimes they know best. :rub:


Cute girl....glad she is feeling better.  I would think saving the 1/2 capsule in the fridge would be just fine.  The ones I buy are 1000 mg, but with 4 cats it works out just right to split them so each is getting 500 mg (which we also do just every other day.) 
:yeah: I see no reason not to store the pierced capsule in the fridge. It's just for 48 hours, right?

SO glad she's feeling better now!!! :clap: :D
 
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otto

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Thank you everyone. I've just run in to check on her and she is doing so much better. No diarrhea in the litter box and she has had some more cooked chicken, is scratching on her favorite scratcher and looking bright and alert.

Now that she is better I suddenly seem to realize how worried about her I was, and seeing her dig into her scratcher so happily caused me to burst into tears. Somehow, when I deal with a crisis, even if it may not seem major to by-standers it is major to me, somehow I manage to hold it all together, but when the crisis is over, I just fall apart.

Aside from her constipation which is controlled with pumpkin, I've never had a minute of worry about my Jennie-Jennie. Seeing her so sick last night frightened me badly, I just didn't realize how scared I was, until now that she is better, I can relax. I guess that is called post trauma stress. I have experienced it before, I just never thought Jennie would be the cause of it.

Gah, can't seem to stop the waterworks every time I look at her!
 
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vball91

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I'm so glad that Jennie is doing better. I know exactly what you mean. My Aria has always been very healthy. Other than a URI 4 years ago, she was never sick until December. It scared me so much.

I also just had a similar experience MAYBE with salmon oil. I started introducing it last week, and she wouldn't touch her food with a full capsule in it, so I started sneaking 4-5 drops in with her food. Two days later, she had a bout of liquid poop, not explosive diarrhea or anything. She also did vomit up some clear liquid with a tiny bit of hair. So, I'm not sure if it was the salmon oil, or a hairball, or something else. I'm on poop watch now because she hasn't pooped since then (2 days ago). She doesn't seem in distress in any way, eating and playing normally.

I have stopped the salmon oil for now but I was wondering if you had tried krill? It seems that diarrhea/vomiting with salmon oil is not uncommon but I haven't heard of any cats having trouble with krill oil. I'm kicking myself for not going straight to krill oil. I thought she would like it (wrong) and it would be cheaper (wrong since I now have a full bottle I'm afraid to try again). I guess I'll be adding salmon oil to MY diet.
 
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otto

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Thank you! Mazy and Queen Eva take Krill, but they both have special dietary issues. Jennie, who has never had any special dietary needs, I was going to give salmon oil, in order to keep costs down a little. Up until now she's been on the Welactin, which I thought was 500 mg, but I have just looked at the empty bottle and it is only 250 (and unidentified fish sources besides). So the salmon oil was really a shock to her system, even though up until now I was convinced she has an iron stomach!

I hadn't realized that salmon oil is more likely to cause trouble compared to krill. I am not going to give up on the salmon for Jennie just yet, I'll just go much much slower with it. The brand was recommended to me from trusted members here, so I am sure it is safe. I just need to not give her 1000 mg at a time. :lol3:

Here Jennie-Jennie is on my lap and no longer looking poor-pitiful-me. She is, in fact, looking quite smug, as she has been greatly enjoying her frozen baked chicken snacks. :D


I'll get her back on her normal diet tonight, but I'll wait a couple of days before starting the salmon oil again, and in small doses.
 

vball91

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Aww, Jennie looks so cute there looking up at you. I don't know if salmon oil is more likely to cause problems than krill, but I have read that of some cats having an issue with it, but I've never read of problems with krill. I'm going to do the same as you. I'm going to wait a week or so until things seem normal and try again slowly with the salmon oil.
 
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otto

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I hope it works for Aria, thanks for sharing your experience, knowing someone else has been through something similar has helped me feel better.

Jennie is enjoying what is an unusual luxury to her, a snack in bed. Since she is never sick, she is always Jennie--on-the-spot at meal times, never needing to be coaxed. But since she is getting special care and feeding today, she, much to her surprise, was given a dish of chicken where she rested.


That was yummy, thanks Mom!
 
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otto

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Because of all the dehydrating vomiting and diarrhea last night, and the dry-ish diet most of today (PureBites and frozen cooked chicken breast) Jennie has been drinking quite a lot of water today. Since no one usually drinks at all, both Mazy and Queen Eva seem fascinated by Jennie and her drinking. Every time she starts lap lap lapping, they run over to watch. :lol3:

Also, I've discovered Jennie doesn't like cold water. I freshened the bowl this morning, it was when I came home for lunch that I noticed her drinking quite a lot. When I got home tonight, I gave her one last small bit of cooked chicken breast before her first raw meal. After eating the meat she went to the bowl, started to drink, then kind of wrinkled her nose. I figured it wasn't fresh enough any more, so I hurried to replace it.

Put the bowl of fresh cold water in front of her, she tried taking a couple of laps, but the cold water clearly was not what she was expecting and after licking the edge of the bowl, she walked away.

Now that she's back on her usual raw and canned portions, she won't need to drink any more anyway.

Completely recovered now, running around playing with the other girls, singing to me, all is well. But oh boy she took a couple years off me I think. Just such a shock, because Jennie is NEVER sick. I'm used to worrying about Mazy and Queen Eva, you know? But Jennie is my..rock. It just really threw me.

Thanks for all the support you guys.
 
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otto

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Last night Jennie had just a couple of drops of salmon oil in a meal. No problems today, so I'll skip today, and try a few drops again tomorrow. And so on.
 
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