Hi everyone, this forum has been a huge help the last time my cat had health problems, so I'm writing to you again to get your opinion on my situation. Let me start by referring you to my thread from last year Cat was seen by vet, supposed gastritis, had a cerenia injection earlier today, started drooling excessively just now.
In short, our cat had digestive problems with vomiting, loss of appetite, and loss of energy which eventually got better after a couple of days with Cerenia and antacids. She also had a similar episode the year before which resolved itself in pretty much the same way.
Now, for the third time, still with about a year interval between each time, our cat started having gastrointestinal symptoms, with different symptoms, however.
It started Saturday night when I realized that she was smacking her lips a lot and I heard her do some small gagging/stomach contractions. Those can range from visible contractions like you see before they throw up usually, but more frequently, it's just a kind of exaggerated swallowing, I'd say. But everything else seemed fine. On Sunday morning, she ate her morning meal as usual and then went to her usual daily activities, which consisted of napping until the evening. At about 4 pm, I heard her running around, retching and kind of yelling while vomiting very small puddles of clear foamy liquid. After that, the lip-smacking and stomach contractions continued infrequently for the next hours then seemed to stop.
She seemed okay for most of the evening, we gave her some boiled chicken breast to eat in order for her to have something easy to digest. At about 11 pm, she once again did the vomit yell which still resulted in only a very small puddle of clear foamy liquid, then everything calmed down again. At around 3 a.m., I woke up and found her hiding under the couch (it's always been her hiding spot when she's not feeling well), breathing more loudly, with more frequent stomach contractions, gagging, and what seemed like trying to throw up with nothing coming out. It's important to note that even through all of this, she never lost her appetite, if I showed her food between two bouts of retching, she would have eaten it. And, also, she never threw up any food, only clear liquid.
This continued until we managed to call our vet and get an appointment this morning. Then, as usual when we take her to the vet for some health problem, she instantly stops exhibiting this problem. We still did bloodwork, which came back normal, and X-rays, which also came back normal, although they showed that she was gassy and bloated. She didn't show any signs of dehydration, and her stools seemed perfectly fine on the x-ray. The vet told us that there are usually two suspects in this case, either IBD or, even if less probable, intestinal cancer.
Her plan was then to give us gastrointestinal food, to give in small amounts for the next two days, and potentially continue after that if it made her feel better. She also got a shot of Cerenia. She then told us that if things didn't seem to get better after a day, she would give us antacid medication, and if things still didn't get better, we would push things further with ultrasound and other tests.
We then went back home, she seemed fine and we gave her some food, and she went napping. About two hours later, she started her lip-smacking again, looking a bit nauseous, with some gagging again. And, now, she's back to sleeping and seems comfortable.
Now, the first thing that worries me and is different from before is the symptoms. Usually, nausea is associated with a loss of appetite, and an inability to keep food, and that is not what we're seeing here. Her appetite is still strong and her food seems to be passing without much problem. Also, the lip-smacking, swallowing, and retching seem to come and go every couple of hours.
I'm also starting to wonder why we did not get the antacids at the same time. This seems more like the way a human would react with GERD and acid reflux than with nausea and stomach pain, no?
Then, there is also the possibility of intestinal cancer, which I am wondering why vets didn't tell me about the past two times I saw them for similar problems.
I'm mostly asking for your opinion on my situation, and to see if anyone already went through a similar situation. Is it normal to go through a lot of back-and-forth of her symptoms?
I don't have any other questions, but if you have any advice, I'm all ears! Thank you!!
In short, our cat had digestive problems with vomiting, loss of appetite, and loss of energy which eventually got better after a couple of days with Cerenia and antacids. She also had a similar episode the year before which resolved itself in pretty much the same way.
Now, for the third time, still with about a year interval between each time, our cat started having gastrointestinal symptoms, with different symptoms, however.
It started Saturday night when I realized that she was smacking her lips a lot and I heard her do some small gagging/stomach contractions. Those can range from visible contractions like you see before they throw up usually, but more frequently, it's just a kind of exaggerated swallowing, I'd say. But everything else seemed fine. On Sunday morning, she ate her morning meal as usual and then went to her usual daily activities, which consisted of napping until the evening. At about 4 pm, I heard her running around, retching and kind of yelling while vomiting very small puddles of clear foamy liquid. After that, the lip-smacking and stomach contractions continued infrequently for the next hours then seemed to stop.
She seemed okay for most of the evening, we gave her some boiled chicken breast to eat in order for her to have something easy to digest. At about 11 pm, she once again did the vomit yell which still resulted in only a very small puddle of clear foamy liquid, then everything calmed down again. At around 3 a.m., I woke up and found her hiding under the couch (it's always been her hiding spot when she's not feeling well), breathing more loudly, with more frequent stomach contractions, gagging, and what seemed like trying to throw up with nothing coming out. It's important to note that even through all of this, she never lost her appetite, if I showed her food between two bouts of retching, she would have eaten it. And, also, she never threw up any food, only clear liquid.
This continued until we managed to call our vet and get an appointment this morning. Then, as usual when we take her to the vet for some health problem, she instantly stops exhibiting this problem. We still did bloodwork, which came back normal, and X-rays, which also came back normal, although they showed that she was gassy and bloated. She didn't show any signs of dehydration, and her stools seemed perfectly fine on the x-ray. The vet told us that there are usually two suspects in this case, either IBD or, even if less probable, intestinal cancer.
Her plan was then to give us gastrointestinal food, to give in small amounts for the next two days, and potentially continue after that if it made her feel better. She also got a shot of Cerenia. She then told us that if things didn't seem to get better after a day, she would give us antacid medication, and if things still didn't get better, we would push things further with ultrasound and other tests.
We then went back home, she seemed fine and we gave her some food, and she went napping. About two hours later, she started her lip-smacking again, looking a bit nauseous, with some gagging again. And, now, she's back to sleeping and seems comfortable.
Now, the first thing that worries me and is different from before is the symptoms. Usually, nausea is associated with a loss of appetite, and an inability to keep food, and that is not what we're seeing here. Her appetite is still strong and her food seems to be passing without much problem. Also, the lip-smacking, swallowing, and retching seem to come and go every couple of hours.
I'm also starting to wonder why we did not get the antacids at the same time. This seems more like the way a human would react with GERD and acid reflux than with nausea and stomach pain, no?
Then, there is also the possibility of intestinal cancer, which I am wondering why vets didn't tell me about the past two times I saw them for similar problems.
I'm mostly asking for your opinion on my situation, and to see if anyone already went through a similar situation. Is it normal to go through a lot of back-and-forth of her symptoms?
I don't have any other questions, but if you have any advice, I'm all ears! Thank you!!
