Cat vomitting, hasnt eaten in 3 days, vet cant figure it out...any ideas?

My 10 yr old male cat (Java) has been really struggling these past couple months. About 2 months ago he contracted Calicivirus, and we began the long road to recovery. He recovered, completely, no symptoms for just over a month. 3 days ago however we woke up to throw up, and a hairball. Normal, we thought, and headed to work. When we returned we were greeted with about 7 new piles of vomit. We immediately called out vet and set up an appointment. At that time he was drinking water, and eating but would throw it up, and continue vomiting uncontrollably. he stopped eating after that. He continued to vomit until it was either clear or foam. Our vet checked him out and saw nothing to explain his symptoms. He isnt dehydrated, no fever and no visible oral issues. We had just had blood work and xrays done from the calicivirus so the vet decided to wait 3 days to run those tests again and prescribed us some anti inflammatory meds as well as an appetite stimulant and some antibiotics. 3 days in he is no longer vomiting (not much to vomit aside from the handful of treats he will eat), refuses food, drinks but very little and began sneezing? Long, wet sneezing fits. Is it possible for the calicivirus to come back? or have any after shocks so to speak? We got him through that virus by syringe feeding him baby foods and pedialyte. This time is different. Force feeding doesnt work since he just vomits it back up. Though ive had some luck getting some pedialyte to stay down. Also his prior xray showed his liver was significantly smaller than usual. Further imaging was needed (ultrasound) but way out of our budget, so we havent been able to schedule that yet. What would cause shrinking of the liver?

He needs some form of nutrition immediately.  I'd get him to the ER vet.

I agree, he must get some amt of calories and nutrients, can you try some diluted kitten milk/KMR?

Or nutrical paste even is better then nothing.

Calici does not go away, only the symptoms, which can reoccur too.

It sounds to me that you are dealing with 2 separate issues, perhaps IBD.

Regarding smaller liver, this I have no knowledge of.

My kitties symptoms with IBD flares were the same as what your kitty is having.  Your right syringe feeding is of no use, actually makes matters worse because of more damage to the esophagus with more vomiting.

If at all possible you need to get the ultrasound and a needle aspirate biopsy of the liver.  Your kitty may just genetically have a smaller liver or there could be some type of liver disease going on.  I believe this is completely separate from the calicivirus.  It isn't necessarily IBD but I would keep it in mind.  The symptoms are actually unusual for IBD which is why it took a number of years and a number of vets to get that diagnosis for my kitty.

Unfortunately because of the inability to get enough calories in you don't have the luxury of just giving supportive care at home.  My  kitty was hospitalized 3 times while trying to get a diagnosis.  He still ended up with fatty liver.  Luckily I tried one more vet and he got the right diagnosis that time.

Pinkjava said:

 
My 10 yr old male cat (Java) has been really struggling these past couple months. About 2 months ago he contracted Calicivirus, and we began the long road to recovery. He recovered, completely, no symptoms for just over a month. 3 days ago however we woke up to throw up, and a hairball. Normal, we thought, and headed to work. When we returned we were greeted with about 7 new piles of vomit. We immediately called out vet and set up an appointment. At that time he was drinking water, and eating but would throw it up, and continue vomiting uncontrollably. he stopped eating after that. He continued to vomit until it was either clear or foam. Our vet checked him out and saw nothing to explain his symptoms. He isnt dehydrated, no fever and no visible oral issues. We had just had blood work and xrays done from the calicivirus so the vet decided to wait 3 days to run those tests again and prescribed us some anti inflammatory meds as well as an appetite stimulant and some antibiotics. 3 days in he is no longer vomiting (not much to vomit aside from the handful of treats he will eat), refuses food, drinks but very little and began sneezing? Long, wet sneezing fits. Is it possible for the calicivirus to come back? or have any after shocks so to speak? We got him through that virus by syringe feeding him baby foods and pedialyte. This time is different. Force feeding doesnt work since he just vomits it back up. Though ive had some luck getting some pedialyte to stay down. Also his prior xray showed his liver was significantly smaller than usual. Further imaging was needed (ultrasound) but way out of our budget, so we havent been able to schedule that yet. What would cause shrinking of the liver?

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I'd also be testing for pancreatitis, (PLi test), and looking at kidneys, liver values, and a possible ultrasound if nothing else was coming up.....

   I am so sorry that you and your cat are going through such a tough time. You could ask your vet about using soothing herbs such as Slippery Elm Bark and Marshmallow Root, which holistic vets sometimes recommend for cats.  Here is a link to a good introductory article that another TCS member recommended: http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/slippery-elm/. 

I, myself, have personal use with those herbs, both for my feral rescues and myself. Sending prayers and vibes that your kitty gets healed 

He seems to be able to keep liquids down, and he drinks on his own still. The sneezing seems worse. He is on cerenia as of now. I would love to get the ultrasound but the price tag for it is $700, and completely out of our budget after paying for his treatments for the calicivirus (a couple thousand).  I have been syringe feeding him a liquid diet to make sure he is getting some food in him, its a mixture of water and tuna bisque ( a wet food with a soup consistency we found at Walmart). The calicivirus sent us to the vet every 2-3 days for a few weeks, which wiped out my savings, and maxed out our credit cards. Im kind of stuck. We are getting food in him, but he wont willingly eat. Hes still drinking but not as much as usual so we slip a little pedialyte in the syringe as well. It seems like all the same symptoms he showed when the calicivirus first showed. The vomiting is new, he didnt do that when he was diagnosed with calici. For now we will keep giving him his meds, and syringe feedings until our followup visit with the vet.

can you try Baby food meat ones? will he lick it off finger? Sometimes the sneezing indicates not able to smell their food.

I would ask your vet for Snap test for Pancreatic issues. This does involve the liver in a way as its above the liver. Pancreatitis is very painful. I would ask the vet for a different anti nausea med. Zofran-ondansetron, Reglan-metoclopramide=I don't see this one mentioned that much anymore-most people opt for Cerenia OR Zofran. (Zofran now comes as generic). The other one is omeprazole and dolasetron (Anzemet) which is used in pancreatitis.

Here is the link where I got the info:

http://www.felinecrf.org/nausea_vomiting_stomach_acid.htm#vomiting_nausea

I know your kitty doesn't have kidney disease=but there is 15+ pages of info on helping to deal with vomiting. They explain everything.

Also my vet told me that if vomiting is still occurring after giving meds to stop vomiting then you may need to think of a possibility of a blockage. You will need to at the least get an xray. Uncontrolled vomiting as you know-is very uncomfortable.

That site also talks about Pepcid and how its a histamine H2 Antagonist where it blocks the formation of stomach acid-I don't know the longterm issues with this as I understand the acid in the stomach is how our bodies break down the food into molecules so the body can get the nutrients but I would ask about one of these as well. At this point we want to get the vomiting under control.

I also wonder if its IBS or a food sensitivity. This would have to be worked out by eliminating certain proteins to see if it matters-hopefully the vet will be willing to try a different anti vomiting med so you can at least try to figure out what is going on.

check out that site=lots of ideas of getting a kitty to eat who doesn't feel well.

Keep asking questions. We can somehow figure something out.

Today we fed him an entire pack of the tuna bisque (via syringe) without mixing any water or pedialyte in it. He held it down, and as of tonight we have had no vomiting in 2 days. He seemed relieved to have so much food in him. He got some energy from that meal and has been hiding less, even jumping on the couch for some petting. The sneezing tonight is now dry and less frequent . Initially his nose was wet, running, and spraying clear liquid? Its dried up now? In any case, im just happy the vomiting is gone, and we can syringe feed him some wet food. He seems happy about that too, just not ready to try it on his own. I wonder if its possible he just wont eat simply because he had some nausea? Idk, wishful thinking maybe, its the least scariest of the theories.

My theory is, he stopped eating what his body was reacting to, now it has settled down but if he goes back to eating his normal diet it will flare back up again, he really should get an ultrasound done, I know, not cheap but so worth it when you know just what is really going on and can work through it rather than guesswork.

Hoping for more good days