This is going to be a slightly long post - but I'm hoping some of you with more experience can give me some feedback or advice into what may be going on with my cat.
About a month ago my cat began vomiting and had diahrrea about once a week. Often there were hair balls in it but it was all his food and liquidy. His behavior was normal and it wasn't frequent enough that I thought I should be concerned.
About 3.5 weeks ago I came home to a very lethargic and wailing cat. I knew something was wrong with him and took him to the ER. The ER doctor called me once I got home and asked me to read some of his numbers to him. They thought he had kidney disease and his kidneys were failing as his BUN level was very high and he was very dehydrated. But 9 months earlier he had blood tests done that showed a completely normal BUN and both the ER vet and mine ruled out kidney disease.
I took him to my vet the next day and she ran tests where his pancreas was slightly high but everything else was normal. By the day after that, his bloodwork was completely normal.
I should also note that he had dropped a little under 3lbs in those 10 months as well. Some was expected as we had switched all the cys to a new low calorie food bur still... Alarming! We scheduled a checkup for when I brought all my cats in for bloodwork and she warned me that if he continued to lose weight it could possibly be pancreatitis as that was the only organ she had found inflamed in her X-rays and ultrasounds.
He spit up a couple times again one day and had another round of diahrrea. I called my vet and she said we would check him at the next visit.
Two weeks later (July 2nd) I was bringing all my cats in for their yearly bloodwork. We had hopped he would gain .25lbs and he had gained .3! Everything in his bloodwork came back as completely normal and the vet thought that he had eaten something toxic and rules out pancreatitis. We thought it might be a roach trap that we found moved away from its location and everyone was satisfied with the results.
Two days ago he spit up very green liquid with a giant hair ball. He continued to spit up and wouldn't eat but would lick the juice or gravy from all the canned food I tried to entice him with. My husband said he thought he would eat overnight so I went to bed.
Yesterday I came downstairs to see another giant hair ball in green liquid and more spit up all around the floor. I found him in the kitchen, lethargic and wailing again. I called my vet and she sent me to a specialist.
The specialist did an ultrasound and said they thought they found the issue. A hair all was in his stomach and intestines and was causing a block and again making him severely dehydrated. So we needed surgery to get it out. Additionally his BUN numbers and creatin numbers were VERY high. 75 and 5.1 I believe. Now remember, three days before everything was normal. Something like 24 and 1.2.
I took him back to my vet who performed the surgery but here is where things get interesting. She couldn't find the hair ball in the stomach. With the liquid he had been getting it had started to work its way through the intestines. It wasn't a block. But his stomach and intestines were very thick and the stomach was filled with gas and liquid. The organs were inflammed but all smooth and without any bumps. She went ahead and took samples for a biopsy (results Tuesday) but said she didn't believe it was the hair ball. He spent another night at the ER to get fluids and watched. Today he was lethargic and still a little dehydrated but she said it wasn't unusual as he had surgery and was probably not feeling well. It looks like he will be at overnight care for at least tonight and maybe tomorrow.
So here is where we are stumped. She has ruled out kidney disease, lymphoma, pancreatitis, and diabetes.
The biopsy should let us know if it is IBD and the specialist said it could be Addison's Disease - but my understanding is that is very rare in cats.
Are there any other suggestions as to what this could be? Any other routes we should look into?
About a month ago my cat began vomiting and had diahrrea about once a week. Often there were hair balls in it but it was all his food and liquidy. His behavior was normal and it wasn't frequent enough that I thought I should be concerned.
About 3.5 weeks ago I came home to a very lethargic and wailing cat. I knew something was wrong with him and took him to the ER. The ER doctor called me once I got home and asked me to read some of his numbers to him. They thought he had kidney disease and his kidneys were failing as his BUN level was very high and he was very dehydrated. But 9 months earlier he had blood tests done that showed a completely normal BUN and both the ER vet and mine ruled out kidney disease.
I took him to my vet the next day and she ran tests where his pancreas was slightly high but everything else was normal. By the day after that, his bloodwork was completely normal.
I should also note that he had dropped a little under 3lbs in those 10 months as well. Some was expected as we had switched all the cys to a new low calorie food bur still... Alarming! We scheduled a checkup for when I brought all my cats in for bloodwork and she warned me that if he continued to lose weight it could possibly be pancreatitis as that was the only organ she had found inflamed in her X-rays and ultrasounds.
He spit up a couple times again one day and had another round of diahrrea. I called my vet and she said we would check him at the next visit.
Two weeks later (July 2nd) I was bringing all my cats in for their yearly bloodwork. We had hopped he would gain .25lbs and he had gained .3! Everything in his bloodwork came back as completely normal and the vet thought that he had eaten something toxic and rules out pancreatitis. We thought it might be a roach trap that we found moved away from its location and everyone was satisfied with the results.
Two days ago he spit up very green liquid with a giant hair ball. He continued to spit up and wouldn't eat but would lick the juice or gravy from all the canned food I tried to entice him with. My husband said he thought he would eat overnight so I went to bed.
Yesterday I came downstairs to see another giant hair ball in green liquid and more spit up all around the floor. I found him in the kitchen, lethargic and wailing again. I called my vet and she sent me to a specialist.
The specialist did an ultrasound and said they thought they found the issue. A hair all was in his stomach and intestines and was causing a block and again making him severely dehydrated. So we needed surgery to get it out. Additionally his BUN numbers and creatin numbers were VERY high. 75 and 5.1 I believe. Now remember, three days before everything was normal. Something like 24 and 1.2.
I took him back to my vet who performed the surgery but here is where things get interesting. She couldn't find the hair ball in the stomach. With the liquid he had been getting it had started to work its way through the intestines. It wasn't a block. But his stomach and intestines were very thick and the stomach was filled with gas and liquid. The organs were inflammed but all smooth and without any bumps. She went ahead and took samples for a biopsy (results Tuesday) but said she didn't believe it was the hair ball. He spent another night at the ER to get fluids and watched. Today he was lethargic and still a little dehydrated but she said it wasn't unusual as he had surgery and was probably not feeling well. It looks like he will be at overnight care for at least tonight and maybe tomorrow.
So here is where we are stumped. She has ruled out kidney disease, lymphoma, pancreatitis, and diabetes.
The biopsy should let us know if it is IBD and the specialist said it could be Addison's Disease - but my understanding is that is very rare in cats.
Are there any other suggestions as to what this could be? Any other routes we should look into?
:rub:
:high5:
We found a holistic vet that was horrified to learn we were feeding dry food as part of their diet. :lol3: 
