Please help! Something is wrong with Summer!

Sorry if this churns anyone's stomach, but I'm just trying to figure out what is wrong.

Summer has thrown up a small amount of phlem (clear and white mixed) 5 times in the last 24 hours. At first I thought it may have been a hairball, but there was none to be found. There's a gurgling sound when she throws up. She has only thrown up a hairball once in the entire year an a half that I've had her. When I went to fill up her dish with her dry food, I noticed that she barely touched yesturday's. She usually only leaves a little.


What could this be?

Lacey, this would definately warrant a trip to the Vet for Summer.

I agree. She needs to see the vet. It can be fatal if they go without food for very long.

She is eating her canned food (which I normally only give on Sundays) so that's a good sign. I will take her to the vet tomorrow if all of this continues. She's not really being her normal friendly/ loving self either, but she did come running as per uual BEFORE I opened the canned food.

Sofie,

Vomiting that much in a 24 hour time period warrants a trip to the vet even if it doesn't continue today or is only once or twice. Vomiting can be a symptom of so many illnesses that it is hard to speculate on its cause. She may have swallowed something that is upsetting various parts of her digestive tract; she may have a food allergy; she may need to be wormed; she may be starting a serious illness like pancreatitis or kidney ailments; it may be a mild irritation that passes quickly. A vet is really the best person to evaluate what is causing the vomiting and can eliminate some of the more serious causes, or if it is something serious, catch it early on and give her the best chance for a quick and complete recovery. She is showing other symptoms of illness as well since you say she isn't being her normal friendly loving self - that is another good reason to take her into the vet. Observe her for today, and if she continues as she is for now take her in tomorrow, but if she starts to show more obvious signs of illness, then don't hesitate to call the vet for advice or take her in to an emergency clinic today.

Good luck with her and I hope Summer is soon back to her sunny and healthy self.

Kathryn

I agree with the others in that she needs to see a vet. The sooner the better. In cases of an obstruction or infection, things can get very serious very quickly.
However, with that said, cats are pukers. There are numerous reasons why they throw up and they are very good at doing it!
I would poke around at her tummy a bit, to see if it is tender or bothering her at all. Check her butt to see if you can see any tape worm segments around it or on her tail or if she's passing anything strange.
Check her stool to see if there is any blood or abnormalities. Get a fresh sample to bring to the vet if possible.
Watch her when she is eliminating to see if she is in pain, straining, or having other difficulties.
Is she lethargic and antisocial? Does she feel either very cool, or very warm?
Sometimes vets can use a sample of her vomit as well, so try to get some.
I hope Summer is feeling better soon!!
Hugs & Headbumps from Dev and Crew

Thanks guys! She did eat...thank goodness, but I am still worried about her. She doesn't throw up much of the clearish white stuff at one time, so I dunno. I will probably have the boyfriend/ roomate take her to the vet tomorrow. It stinks that I'm student teaching now and can't do it myself!

I don't think it's a food allergy necessarily because she's had the same kind of food for a year...

She does not have any abnormalties in the stool she had this morning or from yesturday. I completely emptied and washed out both of her lteerboxes yesturday. She never has had a lot of stool anyway because of the natural balance food, and her stool is usually tiny, dark brown, and hard...so no news there.

It would be REALLY hard to get a sample of her vomit since there is only a small amount, and it only contains whitish liquid that absorbs into the carpet within milliseconds.

Thanks guys! She will go to the vet tomorrow. The closest emergency vet is over an hour away!

What are the signs of lathargy?

Like I said, she isn't being her normal social self, but she doesn't seem to mind me scratching her belly (like usual) and is actually purring and rolling around (also like usual)when I do so...who knows?!?!

She threw up her food!

I'm now worried about dehydration!!

do you have an after hours vet in your area?? I would take the baby in now

Lethargy just means acting sort of tired. Like if she normally quite active, but now is sort of sitting quietly and not doing much. After-hours vet would be good.

the nearest after hours vet is 2 hours away! Yes, she is normally more active!!!

Some animals will still purr and be affectionate when they are sick. Purring can be a sign of distress as well as affection.
Gently pull up on the scruff of Summer's neck. If the skin is loose and fluid, she's probably ok as far as dehydration goes, at least until you can get her to the vet tomorrow.
I think a 2 hour drive in her condition may be worse than waiting until tomorrow.
By all means, follow your gut though. And get her to the vet as soon as you can.
Good luck and I'll be praying for Summer.

Dev & Crew

You've had some great advice, and I agree that a vet visit is in order. I think it can wait until tomorrow unless you feel she is showing obvious signs of getting worse. One thing no one has commented on, her stool shouldn't be hard tiny pieces...sounds like constipation to me, so I'd mention it to your vet, and better yet, take in a stool sample.

Believe it or not, constipation can affect appetite, and cause some vomitting.

Originally Posted by sofiecusion

Sorry if this churns anyone's stomach, but I'm just trying to figure out what is wrong.

Summer has thrown up a small amount of phlem (clear and white mixed) 5 times in the last 24 hours. At first I thought it may have been a hairball, but there was none to be found. There's a gurgling sound when she throws up. She has only thrown up a hairball once in the entire year an a half that I've had her. When I went to fill up her dish with her dry food, I noticed that she barely touched yesturday's. She usually only leaves a little.


What could this be?

Click to expand...

You need to take Summer to the vet first thing in the morning. Though, the clearish type of white fluid you are describing sounds familiar to me. My dog did the same. The fluid/vomit was a result of congestive heart failure, which can be fatal if it isn't taken care of as soon as possible. I think you should seriously leave for the vet tomorrow as soon as you possibly can. Call the vet ahead, ask if he/she can be there early. You may have to pay an emergency fee, but, it's urgent.

I hope all goes well, and it's nothing serious!

Pat & Alix....that's the way her stool has always been. It's due to the natural balance she gets...the vet told me awhile back that it was normal for a cat to have less stool with a high protein diet.

I know the vet allows for drop offs at 7:30 am (have done this before when she had a UTI), so I'll call and then have the boyfriend take her in. I have to student teach tomorrow, but my boyfriend (her dad) has almost all day off tomorrow to take care of her, pick her up, or whatever is necessary.

Originally Posted by sofiecusion

Pat & Alix....that's the way her stool has always been. It's due to the natural balance she gets...the vet told me awhile back that it was normal for a cat to have less stool with a high protein diet.

I know the vet allows for drop offs at 7:30 am (have done this before when she had a UTI), so I'll call and then have the boyfriend take her in. I have to student teach tomorrow, but my boyfriend (her dad) has almost all day off tomorrow to take care of her, pick her up, or whatever is necessary.

Click to expand...

I understand it's what she's always done, and your vet's point, but no stool should be hard like that...I personally would be trying laxatone with her a couple of times a week. Lower volume of stool because the food is being well utilized is one thing, hard little stool pieces is another, imo

Lacey,

I am so sorry to hear about summer being sick!!! I don't have any more advice to add, just that I hope she feels better tomorrow and the vet is able to give you some answers. Student Teaching sure can get in the way of everything huh?? We were always told that unles WE were DYING that we had to go in. No time off for the student teachers. Good thing Summer's daddy is there is make sure she gets all checked out. Keep us posted!

Thanks guys!!!

I usually only see her stool after it has been in one of her boxes for a few hours, but it does come out average soft I think. It looks wet when it comes out, but then she buries it, then it turns hard. I think this may be due to the clumping litter and the air.


I dunno!!!


Yes, Berylyn, I pretty much heard the same speech about student teaching....

Keep us updated on Summer's visit to the vet! I hope everything goes ok and she's just constipated.

Dev

Summer's Dad took her first thing this morning. They called him to ask if it was okay to do an xray. At first glance, it looked like a paper clip, then from another angle, it looked like something else...turns out it was a wound up piece of string! She had to have surgery in order to remove it because they didn't think that an enema would help because she had thrown up so many times. They cut her open similar to a spay, made a little incision where it was at, sewed that up snd looked through the rest of the intestine to make sure there was nothing else. Then they sewed her up. She is spending the night at the vet's to make sure she's eating.

The vet said not to feel bad about it because it hhappens more often than one thinks and that has in fact happened to one of her cats 4 times!!!

I stopped by to see her after school and she did not look good at all. Her eyes were watery from the anesthesia. She was excited to see me, and seemed to be okay with me scratching her ears. However, once she realized that I wasn't taking her home she let out a little growl. The vet said that she was on a painkiller but that she couldn't have the normal pain killer they give as it slows the intestinal tract, and that it didn't reduce the pain as much as the normal one.

P.S. They said that she wasn't dehydrated at all. She did keep drinking water despite not wanting to eat, so that's good. I can't wait to bring her home and hekp her get back on the mend!