What's wrong with cat??

My cat is 7 years old and is usually perky but not overly energetic. She sleeps a lot and loves to lay around. Two days ago she began throwing up a clear foamy liquid. She did this about four times. I have noticed she is not eating and will not go #2. She is not her usual self and lies around more than usual. I took her to the vet who is getting back in a couple days with blood work results. Does anybody have any thoughts on what could be wrong???

georgia1188 said:

My cat is 7 years old and is usually perky but not overly energetic. She sleeps a lot and loves to lay around. Two days ago she began throwing up a clear foamy liquid. She did this about four times. I have noticed she is not eating and will not go #2. She is not her usual self and lies around more than usual. I took her to the vet who is getting back in a couple days with blood work results. Does anybody have any thoughts on what could be wrong???

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Did the vet tell you anything from the physical exam? Was she able to feel something in her belly to worry about? Was there anything off: temperature, eyes, coat, weight? 

While vomiting did she look like she was trying to expel something or just vomited like if she was sick? Does your cat is prone to eat foreign objects?

catb0b said:

Did the vet tell you anything from the physical exam? Was she able to feel something in her belly to worry about? Was there anything off: temperature, eyes, coat, weight? 

While vomiting did she look like she was trying to expel something or just vomited like if she was sick? Does your cat is prone to eat foreign objects?

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The vet told us that she does not know what it could be and we should just keep her hydrated. Since returning, she has slept in the closet and drank a decent amount of water. She does not usually eat anything that is unfamiliar with her...maybe the occasional leaf that comes inside.She has since stopped vomiting and unfortunately I couldn't see her throw up when she did. Everything was ok during the physical exam. I'm worried though as she has still not eaten and appears very weak and fragile.

you can call the vet and ask them if they want to give her anti nausea meds and sub fluids. usually this helps get them eating again.

you can syringe water into her mouth

get some meat babyfood no onion/garlic like beechnut or gerbers. most cats go nuts for the ham or turkey.

you need to get her to eat but if she is nauseous she will not eat. the vet can give injections of Pepcid and Cerenia for this or send you home with pills of Cerenia and you will need to cut them and pill her.

I would call them back and ask about this. Sometimes they get pancreatitis which is inflammation of the pancreas and is very painful. the only way to really tell is by ultrasound but the treatment for this and other ailments is the same-fluids pain meds anti nausea and food. 

sometimes there is no diagnosis for vomiting. But it does make them dehydrated which is why she probably appears weak.

If you are good with medical stuff you can ask the vet to set you up to do sub fluids at home if she isn't getting better in a day or so.

Sub fluids are easy to do and help keep the cat hydrated while the virus or illness runs its course.

I had an elder cat who got what we called idiopathic pancreatitis and it was very painful for her. she threw up foamy vomit and wont eat. slept a lot. was very tender to the touch on her chest/sides. we just treated with the fluids/Cerenia/Pepcid and pain meds. it took about a week or two to get her through it.

The best thing you can do is get some wet food like A/D canned at the vets and see if she will eat it. I add water to the canned food and mash with a fork. She would lick at the juice but she also was a kibble eater. It took us a week or so of fluids and meds to get her better.

foxxycat said:

sometimes there is no diagnosis for vomiting. But it does make them dehydrated which is why she probably appears weak.

If you are good with medical stuff you can ask the vet to set you up to do sub fluids at home if she isn't getting better in a day or so.

Sub fluids are easy to do and help keep the cat hydrated while the virus or illness runs its course.

I had an elder cat who got what we called idiopathic pancreatitis and it was very painful for her. she threw up foamy vomit and wont eat. slept a lot. was very tender to the touch on her chest/sides. we just treated with the fluids/Cerenia/Pepcid and pain meds. it took about a week or two to get her through it.

The best thing you can do is get some wet food like A/D canned at the vets and see if she will eat it. I add water to the canned food and mash with a fork. She would lick at the juice but she also was a kibble eater. It took us a week or so of fluids and meds to get her better.

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The vet has yet to call and she has drank a lot of water. She is having difficulty going up and downstairs but this is probably due to a lack of energy. She still has strength to hop up windowsills. Still concerned for her though.

do you have any wet food you can see if she will eat? I would call them back. Sometimes they get so busy that they don't have time to call. I am sure you are concerned. I would be too.

foxxycat said:

do you have any wet food you can see if she will eat? I would call them back. Sometimes they get so busy that they don't have time to call. I am sure you are concerned. I would be too.

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She won't eat her salmon which she usually would and I'm calling the vet now. She appears to be better then yesterday as she is hopping up on furniture which she couldn't do before.

The vet called. She has kidney failure and I'm taking her at 6 for her appointment. She may have an IV treatment or we can put her down. I think she may have to go. If anyone is experienced with this I would appreciate some advice or info on what could happen if we go with IV. Thanks

@Donutte  Can you offer any advice here?

Oh I'm sorry.  But I want to say be sure whether it is actually kidney FAILURE or kidney disease.  I had an older cat with kidney disease that did well for at least three years with subQ fluids twice a week.  

Kidney failure and kidney disease are used interchangeably. Question is whether it is acute or chronic. Do you have your kitty's blood work by chance? She is pretty young so leaning toward acute, especially if it came on suddenly. And it CAN be treated if caught soon enough.

Had she been given any meds, like Pepcid or Cerenia?

furrypurry said:

Oh I'm sorry.  But I want to say be sure whether it is actually kidney FAILURE or kidney disease.  I had an older cat with kidney disease that did well for at least three years with subQ fluids twice a week.  

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The vet said that there is a possibility she may have eaten something and this could be why her kidneys are failing. I just got back from the vet and we decided to place her on IV for 35 hours to see if this will rid her body of the toxins and get her back to normal. If not, I'm afraid her kidneys are in too bad a condition to keep her alive. I would feel bad considering how much pain she appeared to be in. As I mentioned she tends to not eat foreign substances but we did go on vacation a couple weeks ago so she may have gotten into something. As mentioned by others she is relatively young so I do hope it is not fatal. I will keep you updated and hopefully bring back good news.

Donutte said:

Had she been given any meds, like Pepcid or Cerenia?

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No, only doing IV at the moment

I wish you luck and all turns out OK .

When Micro had a Baby that didn't come out and died in her she was very sick and i took her to the vet and he said i should put her down because the Infection was really bad But when he said that i had my hand on the table where she was laying and she reached over and touched me I know that sounds corny But i couldn't put her down after that. The Vet told me it would be close to 1500 for a week stay there and they said she need fluids and antibiotics also so i told them OK and that I'll get the money somehow and paid them 300 and they said also if she's better by the next day a little that i could take her home so the bill wouldn't be so HI.

Well it was touch and go after i got her home and i thought she wasn't going to pull thru because she wouldn't eat nor drink and she was looking for a place to hide and you know what but she pulled thru fine so. I know its not the same but they told me then that she will probably have organ damage from the infection afterwards if she did get better that was 4-5 years ago.  And it took a year to pay it off but it wasn't 1500 it was a bit over grand but i had to sell some good coins

So hang in their wish you luck

georgia1188 said:

No, only doing IV at the moment

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She's not eating because the high volume of toxins are causing her to have hyperacidity and nausea. Can you ask the vet if they think those would help your kitty? I've had two cats in the last year with acute on chronic renal failure (basically had elements of both acute and chronic). Those two drugs helped a lot. And then of course once the nausea is addressed, appetite stimulants can be considered.

Donutte said:

She's not eating because the high volume of toxins are causing her to have hyperacidity and nausea. Can you ask the vet if they think those would help your kitty? I've had two cats in the last year with acute on chronic renal failure (basically had elements of both acute and chronic). Those two drugs helped a lot. And then of course once the nausea is addressed, appetite stimulants can be considered.

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The vet called and said they suspect it's a toxicity from something she ate and she should be ok after the IV flushing. I asked about these pills and he said he will consider them of it is indeed an acute failure. He sounded optimistic but anything can happen. In case it is acute failure, do you know what the effects will be on her and the prognosis?

georgia1188 said:

The vet called and said they suspect it's a toxicity from something she ate and she should be ok after the IV flushing. I asked about these pills and he said he will consider them of it is indeed an acute failure. He sounded optimistic but anything can happen. In case it is acute failure, do you know what the effects will be on her and the prognosis?

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I'm a little confused, regardless of whether it's acute or chronic, those meds would help. Is he not sure? It's pretty obvious if it's acute. They did do blood work, yes? That would tell them if it's acute. Creatinine and BUN (among other levels) would be very high. Did he mention what those levels were?

My kitties were older, and the circumstances were different. Lucky likely had a tumor in or on his kidney. Sara had a whole lot of problems. She actually came back from the acute renal failure, but a URI basically did her in six weeks later. There are many cases though of cats recovering from acute renal failure after eating something. They may have chronic kidney disease as a result, but that is most definitely treatable.

Georgia 1188 - I am a human doctor, not a vet and you should check with your vet  about any advice that I give but do you have her blood urea and serum creatinine levels and the dates?   They would be most useful to assess whether she is stable, improving or getting  worse.  I certainly would not euthanase without this information. 

With regards,

Geoffrey