Kitty is sickish but vet says she seems okay ?

One of my kitties who is 11: Ms. Pinky has started having problems with throwing up. It is several times a day and mostly it is just foamy clear or white liquid but sometimes it is with huge hairballs and a bit of food. She has also started hanging around at the water bowl alot. I took her to the vet and he said she seems fine.

I did notice that on his testing he did that HCT and HGB were a little low. Plt is a little low as well. MCHC is high but barely.  I don't know what any of these things are because I didn't see the vet when I picked my kitty up. The paperwork says that they did CBC and a Chemsitry profile.

Pinky is also sitting over the water currently sort of making sounds like she wants to cough up a hairball.  My other two adult cats ( her mom and brother) seem fine and aren't throwing up unless they manage to eat some grass right by the patio when I take our dog to potty. We just got some new kittens but this started before them.

She has never been one to be sickly. We had a cat who had diabetes that had similar symptoms. The vet seemed to think she is fine though.  She is eating pretty normally. This has been going on for a couple weeks. She has not vomitted today but did a little yesterday. She has been sleeping in the cat tree and sometimes going to the windows to look at birds etc. ( normal kitty behavior) 

Do you guys think it is possibly stress? (What my husband thinks) she has always been on the grumpy side and scratched ( she got a shot of hydrocortisone for that) She did look a bit white around the mouth the other day ( pink nose and mouth ) but then looked more pink later.

Maybe it is her food?  The newest bag of food and the symptoms happened at about the same time but the two other kitties aren't having issues.  Maybe the cans of food are too rich?  Maybe I need to switch to some hairball reducing food?

Help with suggestions/similar situations and the outcome?  

hct is 26.5 normal says 30.3-52.3

hgb says 9.7 normal says 9.8-16.2

mchc says 36.6 normal says 28.1-35.8

plt 149 normal says 151-600

Thanks!

If the vet says shes fine, shes fine. But if the problems started around the time you started the new food, I'd try switching back to the old food and seeing if the problem persists. If it still does, hairball-reducing food may be a good idea. If the vet says shes healthy, then the problem has to be coming from something in her environment. It may be a good idea to consult your vet, see if they have any suggestions.

A second opinion never hurts--is there another vet you can see?

All the best to you. If your gut tells you something is wrong, don't ignore it

There is only one vet in town. We are newish to the area. Im going to give it another day and see if she gets sick again. She hasnt today that I know of. Im hoping it stays that way.

Okay, in cats, the platelet numbers (PLT) can come back low because of platelet clumping. Platelets are "sticky" and when they clump it throws off the automated count. I wouldn't worry too much about that even if it was lower than what's showing here.

The other values aren't "TOO" alarming, though the hematocrit (HCT) is a little bit lower than we prefer to see but still "okay". 

MCHC stands for mean cell hemoglobin  concentration, the average concentration of hemoglobin in a given volume of blood. 

HGB stands for Hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a part of the blood that carries oxygen to the rest of the body and to exchange the oxygen for carbon dioxide, and then carry the carbon dioxide back to the lungs and where it is exchanged for oxygen. The iron molecule in hemoglobin helps maintain  the normal shape of red blood cells.

HCT stands for Hematocrit, which is the ratio of the volume of red blood cells to the total volume of blood. A low hematocrit means the percentage of red blood cells is below the lower limits of the normal range. The normal range that's used by your vet's lab is 30.3-52.3 so your cat was below what the lab has as its flags. Your kitty at 26.5 is considered to be mildly anemic, but not to the point of causing serious problems. Most of the time, cats don't show real issues with anemia until we get closer to about 20.

Looking at your kitty's values as you posted them, and thinking about the large amount of hairballs that you say your kitty's been having lately... are your cats on a regular flea preventative? Fleas can make life miserable for cats, and a heavy infestation can certainly cause the issues that you describe. The hairballs come because a cat with fleas is itchy and chewing and licking at herself to stop the itch and get the fleas off. In the process, she ingests lots of hair and gets the hairballs. Fleas ingest blood when they bite, and there is almost never "just one flea". Fleas feed repeatedly on your cat, and over time they can suck enough blood out of a cat to cause anemia. They can also transmit a blood parasite formerly known as Haemobartonella  (I think it's called Mycoplasma haemofelis now). This is called Feline Infectious Anemia, or "flea anemia". Now, I am NOT suggesting that your kitty has "Hemobart"... but it is possible that if she has fleas or is in a flea-infested environment, she might be getting bit often enough to be losing blood to the fleas.

This actually happened to one of our cats many years ago. She became critically ill from anemia and was hospitalized. Advantage for fleas was brand new and our vet had never used it on a patient before, but Kirchen was so desperately ill that he had to try it in order to kill the fleas quickly. Thank God-- it worked, and she recovered! Our cats now all get Advantage every month without fail. Kirchen has long since "gone to hunt with StarClan", but her legacy as the vet's pioneer patient on Advantage lives on.

It's shocking just how devastating those little buggers are! And even if you don't see a single flea on your cat, they can still be in the environment. Adult fleas don't spend their entire time on the cat, just the time it takes to feed. Cats are meticulous groomers and often end up swallowing fleas as they groom, so you might not see a flea on your kitty even though she might be the favorite flea buffet! Nonetheless, you can spot the evidence. Get a flea comb and set your kitty on a white sheet or tabletop. Now comb through the fur very thoroughly, down to the skin, and collect the debris in the comb and whatever falls off your kitty. Tap it onto a white surface and scoop it into a pile. Try to pick out excess fur, but leave anything that looks like dirt. No need to be precise, just take out whatever hair might make it tough to see the remaining dirt. Now, drip ONE drop of water into the dirt pile and stir it all up with a toothpick or the tip of the comb. Watch as the dirt and water mix. If the water turns a reddish or reddish-brown color, that's evidence of fleas. What you are seeing is the dissolved flea dirt-- the digested blood that the flea has fed on and then passed as poop. If you see this, your cat has fleas.

Fleas are not a sign of neglect! It just means that there are fleas in the environment, carried by wildlife, other pets, etc. Fleas can even hitch a ride on your socks as you stroll through your garden, and then they ride into your house where they have a nice cozy protected environment to multiply, and they have all the free food they want compliments of your cats. 

So why would only one cat be "sick"? All the cats can have fleas, but one cat might just be more sensitive to their effects than the others. It's like asking, "Why is my son sensitive to peanuts, but my other kids aren't?" Sometimes that's just chance. In my example discussing Kirchen, who was critically ill-- her sister Kepler was also severely anemic, almost as dangerously low as Kirchen. But she wasn't "acting sick" at all. We only knew that Kepler was also severely anemic when we brought her in to see if she could serve as a transfusion donor for her sister. Nope, because Kepler was just about as bad off but not showing any signs. Why is this? We don't know-- even though the two girls were fully related with the same parents, but not litter mates.

Okay, I've prattled on... short form: Is your cat on flea preventative? If not, it's recommended. Use a safe monthly product, NOT a "store brand" like Hartz or Sargent's or something like that. Stick with ones like Advantage, Revolution, Frontline, or ones recommended by your vet, and there are many new ones coming out all the time it seems. Next, engage in some daily brushing and combing time. Just a few minutes every day will help with the excess hair that can be swallowed. Try a hairball formula diet, or use a hairball remedy. I like one that has no petroleum jelly. Then, treat your house and yard for fleas. You must repeat the treatments every few weeks to monthly to control any new emerging adults and larvae. Fleas have a life cycle that goes from egg-to larva- to pupa- to emerging adult- to feeding/breeding adult. The pupa is the most resistant stage so it's important to keep treating to catch any emerging adults and break the cycle.

Once you control the fleas, it might not hurt to repeat the blood work just to be sure your control program is working and the flea anemia is resolving.

I hope this helps... hope your kitties all feel great soon!

~Mackie
 

I am 99% sure that there are no fleas.  I check them regularly. Most of my kitties have a decent amount of white fur and I spot them easily.  We have dealt with fleas down south many times before. We live up north now and have not really seen any up here.  We have six cats now and one dog. I am realllly allergic to flea bites. I get large bumps if I get bit.   Wouldn't the vet have checked for this too?  Also peanut allergies are no joke. : )

not necessarily checked unless you ask. I would do this quick test. They can jump on the dog and ride in from going potty. If the temps are above freezing then there are fleas outside.

you can use food grade DE and sprinkle it outside when its dry and not windy. this kills bugs that breathe through its skin. fleas. ticks. etc. also kills worms. the parasite ones. Google food grade DE- I can never spell it-but the local grain feed stores will know what it is. many farmers use it in the horse feed and grain to keep bugs from growing in the food. it doesn't harm us or animals because we don't breathe through our skin. just wear a dusk mask when administering to the yard and you will be fine. I have put it on my hands and run it up and down the cats fur-around the base of the tail, neck and armpits are favorite places for fleas to hang around. Just because the fur is white doesn't mean that you would see them. Especially if fur is thick.

You can do the comb test and see-sometimes those darn fleas hitch a ride and we just have to be diligent about getting rid of them if they are there. Like Mackymac said-it has nothing to do with neglect.

I just ran the flea comb all over the cats and found nothing. The kitty who I was asking about has not thrown up for two days. Im excited about that.    : )

The DE earth stuff is awesome. We used it down south. 

you can also try babyfood meat if there is vomiting again. sometimes food makes them vomit. I have one who cant have expensive food otherwise she pukes it up. no fun walking around picking up puke piles then she bugs me because she is hungry. So glad no vomiting! maybe it was a glitch?

Which kind/brand of meat babyfood?  Does it matter?   We don't keep anything in the house that may have been cross contaminated with peanuts. My child is quite allergic. 

I am leaning towards stress. She gets really tense when stressed. Maybe from the new babies we brought in? That is totally a normal cat thing to have happen. This vet even sedated her a bit because she was so tense. : (

That is when the scratching started. The night we brought home the kittens. We are keeping them in our spare room for the most part until they are checked for feline leukemia at the next visit. My other adult kitties are all vaccinated against it just in case.   two of the adult kitties ( pinky and her brother fuzzy) are either grumpy towards the kittens (normal ) or hiss and run away ( fuzzy) Their mom who is only slightly older than them seems pretty fine with the kittens and has only sniffed at them and not reacted. 

Thank you for all your adivce

Was she tested for diabetes?  You had said she was hanging around the water bowl a lot.  I'm sorry if I missed it.  

Does anyone else wonder why there are so many kitties with digestive problems, or is this just to be expected with cats?  Is it something in the water?  

She also hasnt been doing that with the water as much either. The day I took her tot he vet she was there at the bowl for about half an hour. That is what had me freaking out. The vet did alot of tests. We lost a kitty to the diabetes. He was 16 and having lots of issues and we could never get his insulin right. : (

Looks like he tested glucose. But I dont think he thought she warranted a urinalysis.