Cat throwing up bile

Hi everyone, I'm at my wits end with my 10-year old cat. She has been throwing up bile every night for last four months now. I have tried everything-high protein diet, soft food only, science diet, iams, nothing works. I have also been giving her half a Pepcid tablet every night. It has a 50/50 success rate. But tonight she has been throwing up literally all night. We do NOT have the money to take her to the vet and have blood work or an endoscopy done-it is not in our budget and there's nothing else we can cut out (re: Internet. We haven't paid it in a month nor the cell phone bill-things are bad here). She is otherwise acting fine but is skinny. She eats and does not throw up food. She throws up bile and only at night. I don't know what to do. She throws up on us at night on a regular basis and I spend at least an hour a day cleaning the floors. The thought of putting her down has crossed my mind but it makes me ill, and she's otherwise acting fine. Any advice or insight would be appreciated.

Hi, and welcome to TCS

I really do appreciate that finances are tight at the moment, but the only way forward is to go back to the vet. Your girl cannot carry on like this - cats are very good at hiding pain, and she's highly likely to be feeling far worse than she's letting on. I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but I (like the vast majority of members here) am not a vet...and even if I were, I couldn't possibly diagnose or suggest treatments online. These articles may help:-[article="32915"][/article][article="29706"][/article]

Thanks for the welcome, and I appreciate the resources. I'll try and do better in the future about saving money for an emergency vet fund, and I appreciate how the article points out that most owners "fail to plan ahead". I'm not sure what else we can sell other than our car with the back bumper duct taped on. I'm also not asking for anyone to give me a medical diagnosis online. Guess I thought I would get some insight on this. It's a pretty terrible situation, especially since this cat has been with me since day 1 of her life.

I really do appreciate that this is an awful situation to be in, and the unforeseen does happen at the worst possible times

The only thing I can suggest is to feed her later at night (absolutely last thing before you go to bed) or maybe leave some kibble out for snacking. As it only happens on an empty stomach, hyperacidity MAY be part of the issue, and not going so long between meals may help.

You could also try going back to the vet and pushing them a little. They may be able to offer more insight without sending her off for expensive testing, and some vets will work on a 'best guess/most likely cause' scenario in some cases...or could maybe do a more limited blood panel testing for the most likely culprits. Some vets will give credit too, or let you pay in instalments, especially if your cat's been a patient there for a long time.

I had a kitty with IBD in his old age and this was how it started for him. A vet visit is a must though. Do a ring around, many offer vetpay (I don't know the name for it overseas) where you can pay off the bill by applying for the credit.

Alternatively if you can explain to your vet the situation you're in and pay for the consult (again, do a ring around, prices can vary a lot!) they might be able to give her some prednisolone or something as a test run and see if it helps. My boy wasn't sent for expensive testing, we gave him a 2 week trial of the pred and when he improved just kept giving it (but we dropped the dose until he started throwing up again then stuck with the lowest dose that helped).

Are you giving her Pepcid, or Pepcid A/C?  It's the A/C that is for cats, not the regular Pepcid.  And the normal dose is 1/4 of a pill versus 1/2.  But I'm not sure that's going to solve your issue, really. 

I had a cat that did exactly the same thing...every night, without fail, she would throw up.  I kept a stack of newspapers next to the bed and got very good at catching her "gift" in the papers and pouring them into the toilet before they slid off.  Poor thing, we never did figure out what cause it...this was years before I knew anything about anything cat related.

You haven't noticed if she's drinking more than usual?  You said she's skinny, that's why i ask.  My girl never seemed to lose any weight, but cats who get skinny often have an underlying condition, like kidney disease or diabetes.  Kidney disease causes vomited all too often.   Otherwise, I would bet it's food related, even though you have tried several.  Are you feeding dry or wet at this point?  Sometimes it's not the brand, but the protein, ie chicken vs turkey or duck, that's the problem.  Or FISH is often a problem, and is often a hidden ingredient.  Not fish oil, but fish. or Soy. 

If you absolutely cannot afford to take her in to be seen, which it sounds like is the case, look for signs of excess drinking along with the vomiting.  If you see that, then you may need to figure something out, because, of course, treatment is different.  (with kidney disease, it's food, but with diabetes it's insulin shots)  If you don't notice a change in her habits, that's a good sign, actually.  By habit, I include no withdrawing from the family.  If you don't see anything, then do look at her food and see if there is a common ingredient in all her food that might be the culprit.  Particular what you feed her last  night since she threw up all night.

Hi Mrs., thanks for your insight b she is getting the Pepcid AC. we tried 1/4 and that was kinda helping so we upped it and it helped more. You are right, I believe its diet related. I am going to switch her (and the rest of our 4-cat brood) to raw food and see if that helps. Thanks so much for your input, it really means a lot.