Cat vomited 14 times in less than 24 hours, nplease help me!

[catb0b]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum, and many of my google queries arrive to this site and I'm blessed I found this community. I need your help, advice and good energies please!

My 9 year old Persian princess started to vomit around 3PM on Wednesday 3th. We thought it was the monthly hairball vomit, but no hairball, only food. Sometimes this happens and she needs to try it again later on the day, well she did, but nothing, no more food, just liquid. And then again, again and again, every 30 and then 60 and then 90 minutes she vomited twice, liquid a lot of liquid! My wife and myself freaked out, bought some Pedialyte to help her re-hydrate to no avail because she continued with the vomit until 6am of the next day. We decided to take her to the vet. The vet ran x-rays ($220), and did a physical examination. She suggested a fool bloodwork (~$500), but we're both unemployed, and I'm a full time graduate student with a very constrained budget in Toronto, so I had to hold it off. X-rays showed no blockage, 3 balls of poop and one big stool, she said she believed it was too son to say it was constipation. The physical examination showed that she had no fever, no bloated stomach, all her organs in perfect shape, essentially "healthy" if not for the chronic vomit that started so sudden.She was given subcutaneous fluids, ranitide, cerenia and mirtazapine as she had not eaten anything for the last 24 hours.

We came back home and the mirtazapine helped her to be more stree-free, ate 10-12 kibbles and that was it, she was very active, but still no appetite. Friday morning we woke up, gladly no vomit, but no poop on her litter, just 3 big chunks of pee and very lethargic. We waited, but nothing, she didn't look interested in eating nor even drinking water, offered her favorite treat nothing again. I started to worry, remembering that 72 hours with no food and the odds of hepatic lipidosis increases. Decided to help her feeding her some wet food through syringe (gladly she lets me do it with only a couple of scratches). I gave her approx 25ml of wet food+water. Went to bed hoping that she will be pooping those stools that we saw on the x-rays during the night. We woke up on Saturday, and again only 1 big pee on her litter, no water drank, no kibbles eaten not even the tuna water I put next to her food. Maybe she was full, maybe she needed more time, but I started to cry, and called the vet, managed to squeeze her in between appointments and she saw her again at 2PM this Saturday. (Already 72 hours with no proper food/water intake)

The vet said she's pretty much in the same state as last wednesday, "healthy" but not eating and not pooping. No weight loss, fever, or anything to worry. I asked her if a expressing the bowels was an option, she decided to do her a small enema + laxatives + subcutaneous fluid + mirtazapine. Doctor said she was able to poop 2 balls and 1 stool, but she said she felt my cat looked she was not comfortable or in pain while pooping. She proceeded to analyze her rectum with her finger, again she said she found nothing important. 1 hour later back at home she pooped again a small very watery stool (mayble some of the enema liquid) and that was the last time she pooped. Mirtazapine not helpful, she's not eating at all, nor drinking. I told this to the vet during our visit so she prescribed A/D + Lactulose. I left her alone for a while before forcing her to eat, but she didn't so I started to give her 1/4 of the can + water, and fed her that in the last 4 hours a total of 50ml. I gave her 1.5ml of Lactulose and I'm still undecided to give her the Buprenorphine the vet suggested to help her to ease her apparent pain when pooping. I was going to give it to her, but after reading here many of your cats wer given this after dental extractions and surgical procedures I hesitated to give this to her. I am right?

Please tell me if I'm exaggerating, what I should do? I'm buying some canned pumpkin as many recommend here to help her. I'm worried that she had not eaten by herself since last Wednesday. I don't know if this is happening because we syringe-feed her, or not. At the end, we're not giving her "enough", so shouldn't her be eating something else? Any help, similar story or just good vibes is what I need right now. I love my baby so much, she has been just after 6 months me and my wife started to date, so essentially she's all we've got.

Thank you and sorry for the long post. 

 

[talkingpeanut]

I would really try to get the bloodwork done if I were you. Would your vet work with you for a payment plan?

That said, if she's not eating enough, she's not going to need to poop. Do you only feed her dry food? This is not good for constipation. I would try offering her very smelly wet food, and switch her over to wet food completely. The added moisture should help.

I'm sorry you're going through this!

 

[Lyzzie]

exactly what talkingpeanut said.

Is there any organizations near you that you can ask for help in taking care of the vet bills?

And I would also try and get another vet for a second opinion, just in case.

As for the Buprenorphine, I can't help, but someone here probably will be able to.

She really needs to eat tho, so if she's taking well to the syringe, I would just keep doing it, while offering her some wet food right before to see if she wants to eat by herself.

When's the last time she vomited?

 

[thekittykeepers]

We can definitely understand your fears, and they are justified. I wonder, have you been checking her hydration? The skin turdor(sp) test is the easiest way. Pinch the skin on the back of her neck, if it does not rebound back to normal, immediately, then there is a hydration problem. If it stays in the former of a ridge, then the problem is severe.

Food intake is not as important as hydration. If she is dehydrated, she needs to be put in an IV infusion with all the necessary vitamins, electrolytes and supplements. Obviously the blood tests are very important.

Not to scare you, but we have two cats admitted right now for similar symptoms. Watch for conjunctivitis in the eyes, this may be a sign of a viral infection related to herpes. Also, the fluid vomit will have the appearance of snot, disgusting I know, but that is what it looks like. If she has trouble swallowing and reacts violently to anything in her mouth, this is also an indication of a virus, causing a severe sore throat and inability to eat/drink.

Our Kimi is the first case we encountered, and we are learning about this as we go. Our Lili is showing much milder symptoms, but we did not want to take any chances since we already know how fast the cat cab deteriorate. Getting your kitty on the IV and supplements, with anti-viral and anti-bacterial support might be required. Better to be cautious than be too late.

Good luck with you baby, we will keep her in our thoughts, sincerely, the kittykeepers.

 

[catb0b]

I would really try to get the bloodwork done if I were you. Would your vet work with you for a payment plan?

That said, if she's not eating enough, she's not going to need to poop. Do you only feed her dry food? This is not good for constipation. I would try offering her very smelly wet food, and switch her over to wet food completely. The added moisture should help.

I'm sorry you're going through this!

Dry + wet food was her regular diet. 90% kibbles, just until now I didn't realiZe the importance of giving her wet food. Vet is great but no chances of helping with the payments

 

[catb0b]

exactly what talkingpeanut said.

Is there any organizations near you that you can ask for help in taking care of the vet bills?

And I would also try and get another vet for a second opinion, just in case.

As for the Buprenorphine, I can't help, but someone here probably will be able to.

She really needs to eat tho, so if she's taking well to the syringe, I would just keep doing it, while offering her some wet food right before to see if she wants to eat by herself.

When's the last time she vomited?

Thank you for the suggestion I'll try my best to look that but I think there are none. Luckily last time was on Thursday 6AM. Since then no vomit at all. We will continue with the syringe if she don't eat by herself

 

[catb0b]

We can definitely understand your fears, and they are justified. I wonder, have you been checking her hydration? The skin turdor(sp) test is the easiest way. Pinch the skin on the back of her neck, if it does not rebound back to normal, immediately, then there is a hydration problem. If it stays in the former of a ridge, then the problem is severe.

Food intake is not as important as hydration. If she is dehydrated, she needs to be put in an IV infusion with all the necessary vitamins, electrolytes and supplements. Obviously the blood tests are very important.

Not to scare you, but we have two cats admitted right now for similar symptoms. Watch for conjunctivitis in the eyes, this may be a sign of a viral infection related to herpes. Also, the fluid vomit will have the appearance of snot, disgusting I know, but that is what it looks like. If she has trouble swallowing and reacts violently to anything in her mouth, this is also an indication of a virus, causing a severe sore throat and inability to eat/drink.

Our Kimi is the first case we encountered, and we are learning about this as we go. Our Lili is showing much milder symptoms, but we did not want to take any chances since we already know how fast the cat cab deteriorate. Getting your kitty on the IV and supplements, with anti-viral and anti-bacterial support might be required. Better to be cautious than be too late.

Good luck with you baby, we will keep her in our thoughts, sincerely, the kittykeepers.

Thank you for your thorough reply and I feel so sad your babies are not doing well. I did the test you said after she vomited it was obvious she was dehydrated that was the main concern we had and why we have taken her to the vet already twice. Since she's not vomiting will continue feeding her thru syringe enough to help her fully rehydrate? We were unable to cover the costs for the IV so only subcunateous fluids so far.

Thanks for your advice on the eyes. Are your cats outdoors? Mine is indoors so no chance of getting herpes from the outside. Or is there any chance she may get one randomly? Her eyes look great so far.

No problem while having food or liquid in her mouth she eats everything we gave her thru syringe. I just don't like she doesn't seem interested in doing it by herself. I really hope your Kimi and Lili get better, in 9 years is the first time my baby is sick and I feel terrible. Best of energies to your babies. And thank you for your kind words.

 

[catpack]

Buprenorphine (Buprenex) is perhaps the safest pain medication currently available for cats. A very small percentage have issues with hyperactivity. I've only had this happen with one cat out of nearly 200 I've rescued.

I keep Buprenex on hand for one of my cats that had issues with pancreatitis. At this first sign, I give him a small dose to help ward off a big flare up.

It would certainly be worth giving her a few doses to see if it helps.

What dosage did your vet prescribe and how much does your cat weigh?

 

[thekittykeepers]

Yeah, we are holding the our breath about Kimi and Lili, and to answer one of your questions, they are indoor exclusively cats. All our cats are indoor only, once we rescue them. We have too many though, and the exposure to the virus can happen from many sources, including on our own shoes. I would not get paranoid about it though, most viruses have these uncontrollable ways to enter our homes, which is why vaccinations are so important.

You can certainly keep your cat hydrated through forced feeding, but you should check with your vet about how many ML of water she needs each day, and giver her as much as you can also through a syringe. Mixing in electrolyte powder and vitamins is also a good idea. Follow the advice of your vet of course.

I am like you, in all my years in the US, my cats would see the vet when they were fired, get their vaccinations and usually never need to see the vet again, ever. Times were different then, and not getting regular check-ups was more common, I don't think that is the accepted expectation anymore. Since I have moved to the Philippines, and we have rescued so many cats, we are constantly at the vet now, which is not good. Likely, by trying to help so many cats, we are actually placing them in danger through exposure, even though they are all indoor and quarantined before being introduced to the rest of the cats. Plus, the clinics/hospitals here are not nearly as sanitary, so even the simple act of getting one cat fixed, may expose all the cats to something (this is what we think caused Kimi and Lili to become ill).

Keep us updated please, I am confident that you will have the outcome we are all wishing for, sincerely, the kittykeepers.

PS. Please embed a photo for us all to enjoy.

 

[catb0b]

Buprenorphine (Buprenex) is perhaps the safest pain medication currently available for cats. A very small percentage have issues with hyperactivity. I've only had this happen with one cat out of nearly 200 I've rescued.

I keep Buprenex on hand for one of my cats that had issues with pancreatitis. At this first sign, I give him a small dose to help ward off a big flare up.

It would certainly be worth giving her a few doses to see if it helps.

What dosage did your vet prescribe and how much does your cat weigh?

My cat weighs almost 8 pounts. I think is 0.2ml her dosage. I read online its only helpful to mask the pain but aside from that doesn't do anything to the underlying problem. I read somewhere else that is stronger than morphine, I can't judge my vet, but I was thinking isn't it too strong for an "apparent" discomfort while going to poop?

 

[catb0b]

 

[catpack]

No, Buprenophine actually helps address pain and is kind of the equivalent of morphine for people. Tramadol on the other hand only acts as a placebo.

There are very few pain medications that can safely be used in cats. NSAIDS are available; but, come with a much higher risk of complications/side effects.

With that said, it is *your* responsibility to act as your cat's advocate. You know your cat better than anyone else. If you do not think it is necessary and your cat is showing signs of improvement, you don't have to give it. Or you can give a slightly lower dose (say 0.1 or 0.15).

If there is a chance there is pain associated (we all know cats are notorious about hiding pain!) I personally wouldn't hesitate giving two or three doses to see if there were any signs of improvement.

How is your cat doing today? Has she had a bowel movement on her own? How is her appetite?

 

[catb0b]

UPDATE:

I'm sorry for the late update, but both of us are currently with our schedule pretty screwed given the past events so we're waking up around 9PM and going to bed around 10AM. I hope this soon changes. Anyway:

1. The litter box had 2 big pee balls and 3 other medium ones. --> I'm definitely discarding there's something happening to her urinary track system by now

2. The litter box had 2 medium stools, and 1 small one YAY!!. I sincerely hope that is not longer a late response from the enema but an actual combination of both the wet food + laxatives

3. However, from her food bowl, I'd say she only ate 5-6 kibbles, + 7 treats that were left there, and I'm almost sure no water. (Last time we fed her was around 1AM, so in the last 20 hours that's her entire intake) --> This is the only thing that still worries me.

I know cats are strange creatures with an unique behaviour, but watching her not eating nor drinking properly makes me wonder WHY?. I could force feed her if that is needed for the rest of her life, but that's not life as well for her. I sincerely hope she's just recovering from everything and start eating/drinking by herself soon, I'm just worried that she get's dehydrated again, I mean she's still not back on track yet. 

I'll keep you guys posted. 

Please let me know if we should do anything else from what we've been doing so far.

 

[catb0b]

No, Buprenophine actually helps address pain and is kind of the equivalent of morphine for people. Tramadol on the other hand only acts as a placebo.

There are very few pain medications that can safely be used in cats. NSAIDS are available; but, come with a much higher risk of complications/side effects.

With that said, it is *your* responsibility to act as your cat's advocate. You know your cat better than anyone else. If you do not think it is necessary and your cat is showing signs of improvement, you don't have to give it. Or you can give a slightly lower dose (say 0.1 or 0.15).

If there is a chance there is pain associated (we all know cats are notorious about hiding pain!) I personally wouldn't hesitate giving two or three doses to see if there were any signs of improvement.

How is your cat doing today? Has she had a bowel movement on her own? How is her appetite?

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely think about giving her a lower dose and see if there's any change in her behavior. She's not 100% lethargic, she's grooming herself, going from one place to another every once in a while, I know she climbed our bed at least 4 times while we were sleeping, so I don't know if that's an improvement, but it's still not as active as she used to be.

Please see my update . In terms of her appetite which is what I'm still worried, she recently didn't eat her favorite treat I offered, and she's refusing to eat the A/D by herself. 

 

[darkhorse321]

She's beautiful!! And I hope she's on the mend!! I'm dealing with 2 kitties with pancreatitis so I feel your pain! My girl seems to have bounced back better (and she was so ill they thought they may have to put her down last weekend!), but my boy is similar to your kitty. Not really interested in food, sleeping ok, normal activity for his age (almost 17). 

A few things: Did they rehydrate your kitty after the first vomiting bout? They gave an antinauseant but did they give an appetite stimulant? Blood work is key to ruling out many things----I hope she continues to improve! Litterbox behavior sounds great!!

Hugs!

 

[catb0b]

 
She's beautiful!! And I hope she's on the mend!! I'm dealing with 2 kitties with pancreatitis so I feel your pain! My girl seems to have bounced back better (and she was so ill they thought they may have to put her down last weekend!), but my boy is similar to your kitty. Not really interested in food, sleeping ok, normal activity for his age (almost 17). 

A few things: Did they rehydrate your kitty after the first vomiting bout? They gave an antinauseant but did they give an appetite stimulant? Blood work is key to ruling out many things----I hope she continues to improve! Litterbox behavior sounds great!!

Hugs!

@darkhorse321  Thank you so much! I know the blood work is key, I'm just holding it off because hers last year was great and I don't want to throw away money if tomorrow she's feeling ok. It's unbelievable they want to charge us ~$500 for this. But trust me, I'll pay that if she shows no signs of improvement.

I can not imagine how you felt when they were considering to put your baby down. I'm glad she's already back on track, let's hope your boy and my girl follow the same path. I'm so jelly to know you boy is 17 OMG. They rehydrate her with sub-q liduids on Thursday after the chronic vomiting, and then on Saturday w/o vomit. She's still not fully rehydrated, they suggested the 1st time IV but that would take 24 hours, and around $450, so we had to decline. They did give her the appetite stimulant on both occasions, but aside from being more active, the pill seems not to help her.

My baby is looking better, she's not that lethargic, but still not eating/drinking water by herself which worries me. You should have more experience than me, but because we changed countries last July, it was around June 2015 last time she was derwormed. May be this a cause of her acting like this? I totally forgot to mention this to the vet so that she receives the pill. 

 

[thekittykeepers]

What a beautiful kitty, glad she is doing number 1 and 2, I would say that is an improvement. A/D is never a savory meal and must often be forced. Cats are very strange, and they will literally starve themselves to death than eat unappealing food. Happy to hear how committed you are as well, she deserves everything thing you have, and more, keep it up! Sincerely, the kittykeepers.

 

[catb0b]

What a beautiful kitty, glad she is doing number 1 and 2, I would say that is an improvement. A/D is never a savory meal and must often be forced. Cats are very strange, and they will literally starve themselves to death than eat unappealing food. Happy to hear how committed you are as well, she deserves everything thing you have, and more, keep it up! Sincerely, the kittykeepers.

Thank you so much. She's our princess and we love her so much and would do anything to keep her healthy. We're happy to see she's getting back to normal in the litter with #2. We're just hoping the same happens during this week with her appetite. Will keep the community posted.

 

[slufferk]

Happy to read improvements!

 

[thekittykeepers]

That is fantastic, hope for a complete and speedy recovery.