Cat Dry Heaving, Insatiable Appetite

[doraaq]

My cat has two issues and I wondered if anyone had experienced either of them or if they could be connected.
Around once a day, my cat starts heaving, her stomach contracts, like she's going to vomit but she doesn't.

She also has an insatiable appetite. Sometimes she cries for food every half hour and if I don't feed her she doesn't stop nagging. It's quite exhausting as she wakes me in the night and also wakes my toddler. She's not overweight, even though she's not that active (her back legs are severely twisted since birth, she can still run around by dragging them behind her but not that fast). I gave her worm tablets, no change. I took her to the vet, he gave her an injection for worms and said she probably had furballs and would eventually cough them up. Still no change! So we went back to the vet and he tried a prescription-strength spot treatment for worms. It's been a month and still no change! And I've never seen her cough up a fur ball, or anything at all.

I'll take her back to the vet, but I wondered if there is anything I can ask him to do or test for? Has anyone had either of these problems? Thanks in advance!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I do think that the heaving/coughing could be connected to hairballs. Can you give her a gel specifically for hairballs, to start off with? There are pastes, etc. that she can lick off your finger that are for hairball treatment. It's been a long time ago, but my Tawny would actually eat Vaseline off of my finger and that is what I used to treat his hairballs. There are malt flavored gels (probably with something like Vaseline in them) that some cats really like.

How old is she? And, do you think she is getting enough to eat? Do you feed her dry/wet or a combo? Do you leave out dry all the time, so that she can have something to eat whenever she wants?

Is there any way that her disability could be affecting nerves connected to her bowels/stomach so that she is feeling hungry when she is not?

Just a start of some ideas. I am sure that other members on this site will come along soon with additional ideas/suggestions.

 

[white shadow]

.
Hi doraaq !

I'm not impressed with that Vet!

I went back and read your earlier posts. Is this the Vet you had the bad experience with a couple of years ago? Back then, you said there was another, better Vet.....

This cat - this is the little one born about two years ago?

These two issues - did they appear about the same time?
.

 

[doraaq]

.
Hi doraaq !

I'm not impressed with that Vet!

I went back and read your earlier posts. Is this the Vet you had the bad experience with a couple of years ago? Back then, you said there was another, better Vet.....

This cat - this is the little one born about two years ago?

These two issues - did they appear about the same time?
.

Hi white shadow,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, she is the cat born two years ago. And I've been through a few vets with her since then! Her insatiable appetite started earlier than the coughing.

 

[doraaq]

Hi. I do think that the heaving/coughing could be connected to hairballs. Can you give her a gel specifically for hairballs, to start off with? There are pastes, etc. that she can lick off your finger that are for hairball treatment. It's been a long time ago, but my Tawny would actually eat Vaseline off of my finger and that is what I used to treat his hairballs. There are malt flavored gels (probably with something like Vaseline in them) that some cats really like.

How old is she? And, do you think she is getting enough to eat? Do you feed her dry/wet or a combo? Do you leave out dry all the time, so that she can have something to eat whenever she wants?

Is there any way that her disability could be affecting nerves connected to her bowels/stomach so that she is feeling hungry when she is not?

Just a start of some ideas. I am sure that other members on this site will come along soon with additional ideas/suggestions.

Hi FeebysOwner,

Thanks for your advice. I have put vaseline on her fur for her to lick off, but I'll try to get a paste specifically for hairballs.

She's two and a half years old. I give her wet and dry - she'll eat a can and a half of wet food, as well as a couple of bowls of dry food in a day sometimes. I've never had a cat eat so much and she's a fairly small cat.

I don't think it could be a nerve problem as the twisting is from the joint down, so not near her bowels etc. She's seen several vets here about her legs, but there are no specialists in my city, and the vets just said that as she's perfectly mobile and seems to have no pain, to just leave her. The alternative option was to amputate but that wasn't recommended (thankfully).

 

[doraaq]

Just to add - I put food for the stray cats outside and she eats with them too... and my neighbours also feed the strays and she eats that as well. She's not overweight and maybe she's just greedy but if there is a health problem I'd like to get it treated.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Try the Vaseline directly off your finger, as opposed to putting it on her fur - she is just getting more fur that way... And brush her as well to get off of some of the fur that she is likely ingesting while cleaning.

She may just have a high metabolism, and uses a lot of fuel given she has to exert a little extra effort to get around!

The only other thing that comes to mind is some sort of vitamin deficiency. For example, my husband has a B12 deficiency (as well as iron), and barely hangs on to his weight, and he can eat like a pig (well, from my perspective), but he also has a moderate form of Crohn's. His intestines don't absorb B12 or iron as well, so he needs those supplements. Maybe your kitty needs some sort of vitamin supplement?

 

[1 bruce 1]

What is the protein source she's eating? If she's insatiable, eating a ton, and not gaining weight like she should be with that many calories, I would worry about a thyroid disorder...probably not that common in such a youngster but I'm sure it can happen.
I'm guessing hairballs, too, but this part of me is wondering if she's got something going on that's causing her to feel hungry and the dry heaving is part of that. When she heaves, but doesn't bring anything up, does she just stop heaving or does she do the "puking" motion with her head/mouth but just produces nothing?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hmm, I like the potential thyroid issue...

 

[LTS3]

Or diabetes. That would cause a huge appetite. Usually you notice sugary smelling large clumps of urine in the litter box, too, and weight loss a and drinking lots of water.

 

[doraaq]

Try the Vaseline directly off your finger, as opposed to putting it on her fur - she is just getting more fur that way... And brush her as well to get off of some of the fur that she is likely ingesting while cleaning.

She may just have a high metabolism, and uses a lot of fuel given she has to exert a little extra effort to get around!

The only other thing that comes to mind is some sort of vitamin deficiency. For example, my husband has a B12 deficiency (as well as iron), and barely hangs on to his weight, and he can eat like a pig (well, from my perspective), but he also has a moderate form of Crohn's. His intestines don't absorb B12 or iron as well, so he needs those supplements. Maybe your kitty needs some sort of vitamin supplement?

I hadn't thought that she might have a deficiency. I'll get her a supplement - it can't hurt to try that!

She may have a high metabolism - when she was nursing from her mum, she was greedy then too and would push the other kittens out of the way to get in! I'll try giving her vaseline from my finger.

Thanks a lot for the tips!

 

[doraaq]

Or diabetes. That would cause a huge appetite. Usually you notice sugary smelling large clumps of urine in the litter box, too, and weight loss a and drinking lots of water.

I haven't noticed a sugary smell from her urine but she does drink a lot of water. I'll see if the vet can test for diabetes. She hasn't lost weight, she's a normal weight.

 

[doraaq]

What is the protein source she's eating? If she's insatiable, eating a ton, and not gaining weight like she should be with that many calories, I would worry about a thyroid disorder...probably not that common in such a youngster but I'm sure it can happen.
I'm guessing hairballs, too, but this part of me is wondering if she's got something going on that's causing her to feel hungry and the dry heaving is part of that. When she heaves, but doesn't bring anything up, does she just stop heaving or does she do the "puking" motion with her head/mouth but just produces nothing?

She does do the puking motion with her head! But her mouth is closed and nothing comes out.

I'll try and get the vet to test her thyroid.

I haven't found a fantastic vet where I live, I've been to a lot with her (mostly to see if anyone could help her legs) and with various strays. With the stray cats, they always give the same injections (antibiotics, vitamins and painkillers) whatever the symptoms, which makes me suspicious!

 

[LTS3]

The test for diabetes is called fructosamine. Make sure you specify that to the vet. Normal blood work will include blood glucose but that only tells what the level was at the time of the blood draw.

 

[doraaq]

The test for diabetes is called fructosamine. Make sure you specify that to the vet. Normal blood work will include blood glucose but that only tells what the level was at the time of the blood draw.

Great, thanks for that.