Chronic vomiting......IBS????

[luv my tabby]

Hi, I am hoping someone can give an opinion about my cats' and my dilemma. I have had probs. with my cat vomiting intermittently for 2 1/2 years (she is about 3 yrs old). Changing food occasionally used to work, until recently when she began vomiting prescription cat food (i/d), and was also on Pepcid a/c (1/4 of a 10 mg tab) once per day. She began to vomit every other day, so the vet gave her a shot of depo medril 20 mg. which is given to cats with Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms. That was 6 days ago and she has not vomited once! He said he has many customers that bring their cat to him every 6 weeks to get this $38.00 (steroid) shot. To me, that sounds pretty drastic; we probably all know steriods have many long-term serious side effects! And I am unemployed--have no income at all; maybe she is stressed, too? (My cat doesn't have any other symptoms except vomiting and I guess they can have IBS without diahrrea) I'm really not happy about this is and hope there may be a better answer. She has had a body xray and blood test (and we have tried antacids), so is healthy other than what I am describing here. Please reply with advice or a comments you would like to share. Thank you!!

 

[white cat lover]

Although I know many do not agree with my decision....my RB Damita had issues with vomiting. She was started on Prednisone & remained on 1/2 tab every other day for along time. Yes, there are risks with steroids such as diabetes.

That said....have you tried simple diets? Allergy diets? Perhaps she had a food allergy?

 

[mews2much]

Coco is sick from the Depo Shot. It gave her another Bladder Infection. She has had Pred Pills before too. She got metronidazole for Ibs in 2002. Coco a gets the Depo for Asthma but will not be getting it anymore. My Vet says the Shot should not be given more the once every 6 months. The Pred we used to use every other day. Coco still throws up sometimes from the Ibs but nothing like before.

 

[tuxedokitties]

Have you considered a food allergy?

One of my cats used to vomit 2-3 times a day for years without a vet ever finding anything wrong with her. I tried lots of different dry foods over the years, ocasionally finding one that worked for a while, but then the manufacturer would change the formula and it would start making her vomit.

A vet eventually suggested that a food allergy might be the problem, and wanted me to try IVD prescription duck food. Since I couldn't afford it at the time, I did some research and found that grains can be a problem for a lot of cats, so I tried switching her to a grain-free canned food. It worked beautifully. After I started feeding her Wellness in the grain-free varieties, she stopped vomiting entirely. I've tried the IVD prescription rabbit & pea food and that works for her as well. Over time, I've found that any foods with wheat, barley, tomato pomace, or soy in any form (even soy oil and soybean mill run) are a problem for her and will make her vomit.

Different cats may have different problem ingredients, but I would recommend talking to your vet about trying a grain-free diet or a prescription sensitive diet (but always read the ingredients carefully, as I've seen soybean mill run in some of the prescription diets that are labelled as being for allergies

).

 

[luv my tabby]

...I just read the ingredients of the prescription (Hills i/d) she is eating now and they include: corn flour, rice flour and soy fiber!
When the shot wears off and she begins vomiting, I will do everything I can to avoid another shot including making sure food she eats is grain-free. She used to go for months without vomiting once, then she would stop again when I changed her food; so I am going to make sure she is not mis-diagnosed! Thank you

for the additional advice; getting opinions helps with making better decisions!