Cat Throws Up Every Time He Eats! Please Help!

Just got back from the vet.  It's not looking good.  His chest is filled with fluid and there's a chance he might have an incurable disease called FIP.  We'd have to get an ultrasound and a tap to make sure but it seems the most likely diagnosis.  What's worse, it's contagious so if he does have it, his brother and sister are doomed.  There's a chance that's not it but we can't be sure without the ultrasound we can't afford.  His siblings are acting totally fine and show no signs I can think of so I'm hopeful.   But there's nothing I can really do about it.  The doctor gave him a shot to help with his nausea but that's it right now.

Hi, FIP is not contagious. It starts out as a basic virus that is, for most, passed like a normal cold. For some cats it can mutate into FIP. Your other cats, though they might have all had the initial virus, will not catch FIP.

I'm also very sorry to hear this news, but glad you brought him in.

@talkingpeanut

The vet said that if he does have it and he's sharing a litter box, food, etc. then he's probably already infected them.  But then the nurse handed me a print-out saying basically that if the cat's immune system is strong enough he can get over it.

So, yeah, I'm not sure what to believe.  But I can't afford the $600 ultrasound and chest tap to find out for sure.

Right, they may have all gotten the initial virus, which is contagious. The chance that it morphs into FIP in all of them is unlikely.

@talkingpeanut

I really hope you're right.  I don't think I could take losing all of them.

catwoman707

Can you please weigh in?

The vet gave him a shot to help with the nausea but he's still throwing up.  I'm completely at a loss.

Cait Sith said:

 
Just got back from the vet.  It's not looking good.  His chest is filled with fluid and there's a chance he might have an incurable disease called FIP.  We'd have to get an ultrasound and a tap to make sure but it seems the most likely diagnosis.  What's worse, it's contagious so if he does have it, his brother and sister are doomed.  There's a chance that's not it but we can't be sure without the ultrasound we can't afford.  His siblings are acting totally fine and show no signs I can think of so I'm hopeful.   But there's nothing I can really do about it.  The doctor gave him a shot to help with his nausea but that's it right now.

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Cait Sith said:

 
The vet gave him a shot to help with the nausea but he's still throwing up.  I'm completely at a loss.

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I am so sorry to hear this.  Be sure to call the vet tomorrow and let him know that the shot didn't help.  There might be another anti-nausea med he can prescribe.  If Sunny does have FIP, the only thing you can do is try to keep him as comfortable as possible and to give him as much love as you can.  What awful news.  

Here's an article that will give you some basic info on FIP.  Note that it points out that not every cat who has the virus develops FIP.  As talkingpeanut mentioned above, the fact that Sunny developed FIP does not mean your other two cats will, even if they've caught the virus involved.
[article="29712"]Fip In Cats  [/article]
My heart really goes out to you.  I hope the vet can find something to help Sunny with his nausea.

Hi, I'm sure you are pretty overwhelmed with the possible diagnosis.

Here is my take and thoughts.

First off, regardless of fip or not, you are feeding them garbage food, don't feel badly about this, LOTS or even most people unknowingly feed their cats store bought dry, especially since it's so much cheaper.

But the difference overall doesn't even closely compare. 

I'll go in to that more later though.

Now, although fip has varying symptoms, there are usually a few that are the same, like a fever. Does he or did he have a fever at all?

His age, well he is a prime age for fip.

The fluid in his lungs is also indicative. But it can be something other than fip too.

An ultrasound will not diagnose fip, so don't worry about not getting that.

Tapping that fluid is VERY helpful in diagnosing. I'm sure the vet told you there is no actual test that confirms fip or not, it's based on blood results, tapping fluid, and symptoms, basically ruling out other common illnesses.

I say the best thing you can do because your finances are limited, is get the fluid checked out. Fluid caused by fip is pretty typical, and will help also rule it out as more unlikely rather than guessing.

It shouldn't cost all that much, and also shouldn't have another office visit charge since it is a followup of the first visit. I think when my emergency vet drew fluid they charged $50.00 or so only.

You wouldn't lose all of your cats to this, fip is an individual illness. Caused by a mild cold virus, and very common, most all cats will have gotten this virus at some point, and often times the owners won't even notice anything is wrong.

Normally runs through a cats system and back out, gone.

Occasionally it does not leave, but hides away, then suddenly out of the blue the cat starts acting sick with a fever and lack of appetite and play, lethargic and uninterested in being social.

This is another thing about your guy, he still eats fine but vomits all the time.

Not usually the case with fip, usually cats won't want to eat.

Oh, the panic that time while vomiting, likely because the lung fluid is restricting his breathing some. 

Yet another reason to tap the fluid, she can remove alot of it which will make him so much more comfortable

Sorry.  Was working all day.

@Margd

They did give me some pills for him.  It has our names on it but the package says it's for dogs so I'm confused.  I'm supposed to give him half a pill every 24 hours but I have no idea how to do that.

@catwoman707

They did blood tests there and he said it's fine.  Doc said that even if they sedate him and drain the fluid from his chest it'll probably just come back.  Also, I don't think he has a fever but if the vet check his temp, they did it while they took him out of the room.  He's not acting lethargic but he isn't playing with the other cats.  But that might just be his personality.  His brother is much more hyper and needy than him.  And, like you said, he's not avoiding food and water.  He knows he's hungry and keeps eating.  I don't know if he thinks he can keep it down everytime or if he has a short memory span.

As I write this, he just put his paw on my shoulder and gave me the love blink.

He just ate some but now he's making weird coughing sounds and even kinda sneezed(?) then threw it up.  I didn't see how much he ate but it doesn't look like much.  Maybe he was able to keep some down?  He doesn't seem to be in any pain.  I don't know what to think. 

It's after midnight and he's sleeping on his stomach instead of curled up and I can hear him gurgling.  I don't think I can get him in to have the fluid sucked out this weekend.  I work all day Monday but maybe I can get my mom to take him?  I really don't know.  I don't want to wait but I don't know what else to do.  I wish I could do it myself somehow.

I'm going to try to get his chest tapped sometime next week.  Nothing seems to be working and I'm hoping it'll bring him some relief.

Cait Sith said:

 
Sorry.  Was working all day.

@Margd

They did give me some pills for him.  It has our names on it but the package says it's for dogs so I'm confused.  I'm supposed to give him half a pill every 24 hours but I have no idea how to do that.

@catwoman707

They did blood tests there and he said it's fine.  Doc said that even if they sedate him and drain the fluid from his chest it'll probably just come back.  Also, I don't think he has a fever but if the vet check his temp, they did it while they took him out of the room.  He's not acting lethargic but he isn't playing with the other cats.  But that might just be his personality.  His brother is much more hyper and needy than him.  And, like you said, he's not avoiding food and water.  He knows he's hungry and keeps eating.  I don't know if he thinks he can keep it down everytime or if he has a short memory span.

As I write this, he just put his paw on my shoulder and gave me the love blink.

He just ate some but now he's making weird coughing sounds and even kinda sneezed(?) then threw it up.  I didn't see how much he ate but it doesn't look like much.  Maybe he was able to keep some down?  He doesn't seem to be in any pain.  I don't know what to think. 

It's after midnight and he's sleeping on his stomach instead of curled up and I can hear him gurgling.  I don't think I can get him in to have the fluid sucked out this weekend.  I work all day Monday but maybe I can get my mom to take him?  I really don't know.  I don't want to wait but I don't know what else to do.  I wish I could do it myself somehow.

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Yes it probably will come back, especially if it is fip, but 1, you will have what's closer to a diagnosis testing the fluid, and 2, it will give him some relief, even if temporary.

If it does turn out to be fip, the end result will be the same, sad to say, so it would be best for him not to allow the fluid to get to the point of restricting his breathing again, and let him be put to rest before there's more suffering.

These threads are always just so awful, my heart goes out to you.

@catwoman707

I know.  What' worse is that Easter celebrates life and all I can think of is how much longer he has left.  He still acts halfway normal.  Still tries to eat but can't keep it down.  If he has to die I hope he goes in his sleep.  Taking him to be killed would be too painful.

Cait Sith said:

 
@catwoman707

I know.  What' worse is that Easter celebrates life and all I can think of is how much longer he has left.  He still acts halfway normal.  Still tries to eat but can't keep it down.  If he has to die I hope he goes in his sleep.  Taking him to be killed would be too painful.

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I completely understand and know where you're at right now.

MANY of us here do.

FIP is the worst, no reason, no predicting, no prevention, no cure.

The hope of him dying in his sleep, I'm afraid that's impossible, for this to happen he would go through a tremendous amount of suffering and pain, and I can't imagine you want his last time in this world like that, waiting, hoping to hurry up and die, (I mean his thinking)

and fearing predators the entire time.

What that means is, cats have a very strong instinct of not attracting predators, this is why they bury their waste in the litter box, why a momma cat, despite her great love for her babies will remove and abandon a weaker baby from the rest, are masters at hiding pain, and will go away and hide to die.

The truth is, he has already began to suffer some, I can't say to what degree now but not unbearable, not yet.

I do want to tell you about something that might help you deal with this, it helps me.

When we lose something or someone we love, we mourn, but we are mourning our loss, not them. Yes, it's unfair for a life to be cut short, that part is sad for them, but we are the ones who are left empty and heartbroken, not them.

The grief is for us, and rightly deserved. 

But the part I want to share and hope it helps is cats, they don't fear death as we do. Hard to understand but despite their natural survival instincts, they know when they are no longer healthy and thriving, at whatever age it is, even young kittens I believe know.

It is accepted as part of life. He will not ache for you, how he won't see you again, or miss sleeping with you at night or playing with a toy. 

He is okay to go.

The greatest gift of love you can do for him is to help him pass before he suffers endlessly.

When all a cat wants is to be left alone, sleeping, hiding, no interest in anything, no good feeling times, the minute you see that, do him a great favor and help him go without agony.

Trust me, I KNOW how nearly impossible it will be to take him in, oh if I could spare myself having to do that...........it's the worst thing we will have to do ever in life, to me at least.

But you can do it for him. He deserves this from you.

Try to work out how it can be done before that time comes. Find a vet who will do it at home even, that is so helpful.

There will be no stress of the vets office for him, it's the smoothest way if possible.

I don't think it's time now, yes he is not feeling well for sure, the fluid removal will help buy him some time too. Enjoy him now, and every minute you have him with you, then when it's time, let him go gracefully. 

I don't know your beliefs, but I am certain that only his body will leave, all of that energy his spirit has doesn't go away, he will be around you, you'll see.

Assuming it is FIP of course, it probably is, but every so often it is not, and it's something else. Usually is though

Wet form, which is the fluid kind, is pretty fast. Days........I'm so very sorry.

@catwoman707

It definitely doesn't help my work schedule this week suuuuccks!  I work all day for 3 days in a row so I can't even be there with him or he'll have to suffer for that much longer.  When I was a kid I lived on a farm and animal dying didn't effect me much.  If an animal died from sickness or whatever we just shrugged it off.  Sometimes we'd have to shoot a pet dead because they were too far gone.

But this is different somehow.  Very different.  When farm pets died, yeah I was sad, but I was over it almost the nest day.  This is much worse for some reason.

I guess I have no choice He still can't keep food down and nothing I do helps.

I'm really sorry.

So sorry to hear what you're going through. Wishing you and your kitty the best.

We are in a similar boat also. We are trying everything and still have no answers with our Toby who has no appetite and goes into breathing distress unless he's inside an oxygen box.

I am so very sorry.  How I wish there had been a better outcome.  You and Sunny are in my thoughts. [emoji]127802[/emoji]

Sending you  Hoping that they can keep your kitty comfortable. Sending hugs and prayers and positive energies. Had a cat who I had to send on due to unknown illness. I feel your pain. And the statement above how they don't miss us is so true. animals live in the moment. They don't worry about the next day. They just do their thing...Hang in there