Kitten throwing up shortly after eating, poor appetite

My 3 and a half month old kitten Terra started to throw up undigested food and liquid (clear from what i can see) shortly after the eats. She follows me around and meows like she does when she's hungry but when I try to give her food she doesn't want it. I've tried everything she normally eats and she doesn't want anything but water and maybe some milk.

This started Saturday night.. She threw up in the middle of the night, then once Sunday in the day, again Sunday around midnight and this morning. She's drinking water but she won't eat solids, if she does it's just a few bites as I encourage her. 

In the past I've found a tiny string from a carpeted scratching post in her poop as well as a little sticker from fruit we bought at the grocery store. I've since thrown out that cat tree and we're extra careful with the little stickers. I'm really concerned that she's eaten something and it's caused a blockage. Yesterday she had a normal looking bowel movement so if something is stuck it's after that meal was eaten.. I'm planning to take her to the vet today after work but I'm cringing at the bill. She's a short haired kitty and so young, I don't know if it could be a hairball thing.. She does groom my other cat though, also short haired. There's no chemicals around the house that she could have gotten into. I have no house plants she could have eaten. She's tested negative for FIV/FeLV and had her shots. Until this happened she was a perfectly healthy normal kitty. Her energy level is still good but I'm worried that her health will decline swiftly..

Any ideas on what it could be? Has anyone had a similar experience that can give me an idea of how much the bill will come out to if it turns out she needs an x-ray, surgery etc?

Unfortunately, all I can tell you is that this is not normal and that you are definitely right to take her to the vet. They will best be able to advise you about what's going on and the treatment she needs.

The price of vet care varies wildly country to country and city to city and even part of the city to part of the city.  The best thing you can do about this is also ask your vet and ask her to work with you within your means, whatever they are.

With all that vomiting she is likely dehydrated.   Try to get to the vet as early as possible.  An IV can take hours and if its late in the day the overnight charge becomes expensive so hopefully they can finish everything by the end of the day.

Any update on Terra?

Hi there,

So I took Terra to the vet, she had xrays taken and the vet wasn't able to see any obstruction definitively. He said it looked like her intestines were gassy and just upset all over. He wanted to keep her overnight to administer iv fluids and meds. Which was expensive! 

I asked him to give her the IV fluids in the office and allow me to take her home and administer the meds. She received some injectable medication and a prescription medication for nausea, i believe it's metocopramide liquid, 0.5cc per 8 hours. and some tablet antibiotics which she takes 1/2 a tab every 12 hours.

He advised that if we still see her vomiting with the medication then we would need to go in for exploratory surgery to see if there was an obstruction that the xray didn't show.

Luckily she hasn't thrown up at all and has bounced back to her normal self. She's even gained a pound (in a week!)!

She's still on her medication so we'll see how things go when it runs out, but so far she's doing excellent!

So glad to hear Terra has improved!     Exploratory surgery should really be a last resort, in my opinion.

A quick update..

Terra continues to do well. She's totally off her medication and I suspect the cause of all this was some type of food intolerance. 

Her diet has been modified to include only raw or grain-free limited ingredient canned goodies.

Kody said:

 
A quick update..

Terra continues to do well. She's totally off her medication and I suspect the cause of all this was some type of food intolerance. 

Her diet has been modified to include only raw or grain-free limited ingredient canned goodies.

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Such a great update! I'm glad she's doing well and that the new diet is working to her advantage. 

Smart choice on the new diet. Still wondering what obstruction is possible on an indoor cat? Unless they are being fed meaty bones.... Seems like an extremely unlikely possibility to even remotely consider exploratory surgery. These vets get carried away far too easily.

 Smart choice on the new diet. Still wondering what obstruction is possible on an indoor cat?

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Strings, ribbon, anything they can get in their mouth that gets stuck on their tongue barbs.. Some cats experience their world through their mouth..