PLEASE HELP. Chronic vomiting, 1 year old kitten

dobby

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My kitten Dobby has had health issues since we brought him home. The biggest is his chronic vomiting.

We adopted him from the humane society early last summer and he will be turning one this weekend. The issues he has had is endless but he is otherwise a happy and energetic kitten.

NO ONE CAN FIGURE OUT WHATS WRONG WITH HIM. I'm dying for answers.

When we first brought him home we had to take him to the vet for a respiratory infection. He got some medicine and felt better.

He originally ate Science Diet dry kitten food.

Dob had begun regurgitating his food in early September. First we attributed it to him eating too fast or from playing too hard after eating.

We begun giving him many small portions throughout the day and it did not stop.

We tried multiple store brands of cat food and nothing helped.

He was not only regurgitating his food (chunks) he would puke (watery) hours later.

We took him to the vet and they suggested trying a vet food, I think the first one was EN formula. They also gave him nausea pills to be taken daily (Cerenia)

Since the first visit to the vet we have had multiple appointments and have seen 4 different vets to try to diagnose his chronic vomiting.

He has had the following tests which all came back normal:

Blood work
Urine sample
Stool sample
Ultrasound

He once had to go to the emergency vet for dehydration where they gave him fluids.

We have tried every type of food and it seems like it will work for a while and then not anymore (always while taking Cerenia)

-Purina Pro Plan
-EN
-ID
-ZD

The vets have also given him Antibiotics, a different nausea pill, and a round of dewormer

Dobby cannot go a day without puking unless he is on his nausea medicine and even then it sometimes does not work.

He APPEARS healthy and happy most days. Although it did not seem like he was gaining weight at first he definitely has been maintaining a good weight.

He has periods where you know he doesn't feel good, he is very tired and is warm to the touch.

His third eyelid shows frequently.
His eyes water (mainly right eye) very often.

You can tell when he is nauseous..he will lick his lips and sometimes drool.

He has had every type of vomit
-chunky
-watery
-pale
-splattered
Etc.

In addition his stool is often showing problems. He will go weeks with healthy looking stool but other times it has been
-diarrhea
-infrequent
-very hard (constipated)
-pale, almost white spots
And the most recent black.

I just cleaned out his box and there was very very little stool. The stool that was there, was all very hard. A few were all black and some are multi colored -pale tan, light brown, and black

He is currently eating just ZD formula right now and has not puked in a few days (also taking Cerenia)

He also has baby food (turkey) as a treat when we can tell he doesn't feel good.

We have tried every formula of dry food and he pukes it up almost immediately.

Our best bets are with wet food. He seems to like/tolerate salmon flavored the most.

He has gone long times tolerating Purina Pro Plan kitten Salmon wet food.
Also with Rachel Ray salmon flavored but he always loses tolerance eventually.

His nausea medicine (Cerenia) is not made for long term use. Most prescriptions are for two weeks and the cat gets better. Dob has been getting his refilled for months.

It doesn't seem like ANYONE has any answers to what his underlying issue is or how to help it.

I don't want to just keep trying foods I know will not work, I also do not want to keep him on this nausea medicine his whole life. He is only a year old!!

Has anyone had a cat with similar issues?? I read all the time trying to self-diagnose him and I've never found (or the vets) someone who has had the same problems.

Please help.
 

denice

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Has he ever been on a steroid?  This really sounds like the IBD flares that my kitty would have and he had his first flare when he was 18 months old.  I did the vet hopping thing for 6 1/2 years before finally getting a diagnosis.  I think because of his age and his tendency to be constipated rather than have diarrhea is why no vet thought of IBD.  His first flare the vet thought he had swallowed something that was lodged somewhere in his digestive system.  Luckily he came out of it before surgery was done.
 

catpack

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I agree that it does sound like IBD. Aside from the use of prednisolone, I have found that all the IBD kitties I've had (personal and rescue) have tolerated Nature's Variety Instinct limited ingredient turkey formula **canned only**. We actually have 9 cats in the rescue right now that do not tolerate dry food at all...regardless of brand.
 
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dobby

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Although he does have bouts of constipation and diarreah, most of the time he has healthy stool.

I believe he was put on a steriod once by the vet we saw after taking him to the emergency clinic for dehydration.

He has also been on prednisolone previous to his current nausea medicine - Cerenia.

I will definitaly have to look into the Natures Variety food suggested; however, the issue is that no matter what food we try it seems like he just cannot tolerate them without his medicine. We have tried weening him off the Cerenia a few times and although we have gotten him to just 1/3 to a 1/4 tablet a day, he will puke if he does not have his pill for just one day.
 
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dobby

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Has he ever been on a steroid?  This really sounds like the IBD flares that my kitty would have and he had his first flare when he was 18 months old.  I did the vet hopping thing for 6 1/2 years before finally getting a diagnosis.  I think because of his age and his tendency to be constipated rather than have diarrhea is why no vet thought of IBD.  His first flare the vet thought he had swallowed something that was lodged somewhere in his digestive system.  Luckily he came out of it before surgery was done.

Did you kitty have vomiting issue as well??

I'm happy to hear you found your diagnosis; even if it took so long! Very lucky no surgery had to be done!

My vet has told us that her only other suggestion is "exploratory surgery" and that just really isn't an option for us. I am not comfortable with that in the least.
 
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dobby

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I agree that it does sound like IBD. Aside from the use of prednisolone, I have found that all the IBD kitties I've had (personal and rescue) have tolerated Nature's Variety Instinct limited ingredient turkey formula **canned only**. We actually have 9 cats in the rescue right now that do not tolerate dry food at all...regardless of brand.
Do your kitties that have IBD take prednisolone on a regular basis? Or can they tolerate their food without it?
 

catpack

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Once we found a food they could tolerate, we were able to wean off all medication (pred and reglan.) I know this isn't the case for all.

The only other idea I have for you is a food allergy/intolerance. I know your kitty is currently on z/d, but I believe the new formulation contains soy. It also contains chicken fat. (One of my cats is chicken intolerant, including chicken fat.)

All of my IBD kitties have difficulties with carageenan/agar-agar. Not sure if this ingredient was in any of the canned food you have tried.
 
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