My Cat Dry Heaves and Vomits clear water after drinking

[Antonio’s Abla]

Hi everybody,

i need help with my 12 years old male cat who started vomiting 3 months ago- till today.

i took him to his vet of 12 years and he still couldn’t pinpoint what is causing it. My cat is losing weight, not eating, not playing, hiding in out of sight places.

vet did xray, manual examination and blood test. Values don’t show any anomaly. It seems to be okay. Xray shows some nodules in lung. But that is it.

my cat vomits clear liquid/water after drinks.
during the day he dry heaves/ retches/ gags as if something is stuck in his throat, but nothing comes out. Even the most delicious treats he would come running for, don’t seem to be interesting for him. He doesnt eat, we syringe feed him last 2 weeks. He feels nauseous. He is constipated, he poops only every 2-3 days and it’s very hard. His body is colder, he doesn’t sleep stretching like before like exposing his belly…he sleeps curled, sticking his tail inside, very uncomfortable.

what could this be? Anybody has an idea?

we give him lansor (- gastritis medicine to reduce stomach acid) every morning and he was on antibiotics for 4 days but no serious improvement.
He is lethargic, we want him playful and healthy like before please shed some light if you have a similar experience…

 

[fionasmom]

Welcome to The Cat Site. I am sorry that your cat's illness brought you here. We are not vets, so I am only making a guess based upon what you are saying was found. You might ask your vet if he thinks that this could be part of the problem.

Your mention of nodules in the lungs made me wonder about the type of lymphoma which appears in that part of the body, although that is often accompanied by fluid buildup in that area. Having said that, there are other conditions which might cause something to appear in the lungs such as heart, kidney, or infectious illnesses (although it might be unlikely that your cat has those.)

Can you ask your vet what he thinks the underlying cause of the nodules is? If it is not an infection, antibiotics are not going to help much. Ask about treating some of the other symptoms such as nausea. He may need something other than Lansoprazole which is really only an antacid.

 

[Heart For Cats]

Welcome to the forum.

We all want our kitties to go back to being playful and very interested in what they liked before, but have to accept the fact they get weak and slow down during their senior years. You will not get that back even if the lung problem is solved.

Curling up tight when they sleep is how cats stay warm, so if this is a new position for him, I also would be concerned.

Pepcid AC Original would save you a lot of money on nausea relief. Vets prescribe their own drugs to make money off them.

 

[Antonio’s Abla]

Thanks a lot, I asked my vet initially if famotidine (active ingredient of pepcid ac since we dont have that brand here) would help, but he said it won’t and asked us to use Lansor… but I don’t know why he said so.. I will get famotidine to try to see if it changes…how long do you normally use this medicine to understand if this works?

he didn’t further check what might be thenodules in his lungs, as he said it is common to see cancer or just some benign nodules at this age and there is no cure to it - he advised it is better to improve the remaining life of animals than putting them into chemotherapy or heavy drugs at this age.
But he didnt see anything in intestines.

3 months ago all this vomiting started when my mother brought three new born kittens and their fierce mother into our house to save them from harm outside (out neighbors don’t like them and wanted to kill them). It was for temporary, they stayed with us 1,5-2 months until oir senipr cat stopped eating and atarted vomiting like every 2 hours…

i am wondering if all these started due to stress? Stress induced gastric wounds maybe?

has anybody had gastritis in their cat, does it get better, is it curable? Our vet thinks that it may be a case but as i said, he is quite unsure too, so just trying different things to see what will work…

The vet doesnt want to give him anesthesia to check more things because of our cat’s age.

 

[LTS3]

You may want to seek out another vet for a different opinion. Bring copies of your cat's records to the new vet for review. Or your current vet can consult with any vet school or other veterinary hospital to get more ideas on what your cat's issue may be.

Pepcid AC or equivalent may work but I wouldn't use it without veterinary supervision and a proper cat dose.

 

[fionasmom]

I can see the point about gastritis but, to me, this is more serious than upset brought on by stress or jealousy. That type usually responds to medication and removal of the source of stress. Your vet is basically saying that it might be gastritis, but if it is not, he is not inclined to provide any treatment for your cat. I agree that you need to seek out another opinion if only because your cat is having some serious symptoms of discomfort.