Normal kittens starting to throw up

[shaylay]

I rescued two kittens, a brother and sister, around the beginning of August when they were about 6 weeks old. They are now about 10 weeks old I'd say and nothing has gone wrong with them until now.

The other night, I bought some Pounce cat treats and some catnip for a new scratching post, along with a catnip toy. They seemed to LOVE the treats, and played with the toy all night long and even began to use the scratching post. But later that night, they started to throw up this clear, frothy like liquid.

The next morning I noticed they hadn't ate overnight or gone poop, but had continued to pee. I watched them all morning and they started to throw up the clear stuff again. They would walk to their litter box, meow a few times like they were in pain, I would get a paper towel to put under them and then they would throw up clear or yellowish liquid. The weird thing is, they would run away and start hopping around and wrestling with each other.

Yesterday I bought some Fancy Feast which they took a liking too, they've been slowly drinking water, I even noticed poop in the litter box again, and with their energy level just as high as always I figured they must be getting better.

But this morning my fluffy baby just puked some more bile i guess, and as I watched him, something long and white was hanging from his mouth, and then he just swallowed it back up.

Could they have been having an allergic reaction to the Pounce or Catnip, since they were fine until they encountered these? Also I'm worried that what I saw was his tapeworm coming out of his mouth. I have ordered tablets for worms that should be here in a few days, along with Revolution.

Has anyone had this happen to them that can shine a little light and ease a little stress?

 

[threecatowner]

Oh, it sounds like worms to me. I had a cat once that threw up what looked like a pile of spaghetti - it was awful.

I'd discontinue the treats for now, just until you get them back to normal. Maybe they're just a little too young to digest the Pounce?

If it were me, I would sort of take comfort in the fact that this happened to both at the same time - seems like you can eliminate horrible disease from the list of "awful things that happen to our beloved pets".

Good luck - I hope the de-wormer takes care of the problem for you.

 

[strange_wings]

Cats usually don't vomit up tapeworms. They will however vomit roundworms - these will look like spaghetti (as the previous poster described) or a bit like bean sprouts.

If you ordered OTC "tapeworm tabs", they will not help your kittens if round worms are the problem. Your best and safest bet is to take your kittens to the vet and have them both wormed with an broader Rx only wormer such as Drontal Plus. The vet will also be able to accurately weigh them so they don't get overdosed.
They'll need their shots soon anyways if these haven't been started yet.


As for the pounce treats, they're a cheaper type of treat with more fillers and iirc dyes. It's certainly possible that these didn't settle on your kittens tummies well at all.

Are they getting a wet kitten food? At 10 weeks old they really need more nutrients than brands like fancy feast will provide.

 

[shaylay]

Thanks to both of you for your replies.

I wanted to share a picture

Cheeto and Marble

I am ordering Drontal from 1800 Pet-Meds, figuring that's what they give them at the vet anyway. I have been calling local vets and they charge a double what I can get it for for just the tab alone, plus an exam fee and fecal testing fee, for each kitten. I am a college student, and with Fall semester just starting money is tight. I work a tip based job, so there's no need to worry that I can't afford to take care of my babies lol. I'm able to buy them everything that they need.

They are getting their first round of shots September 12. Is it completely necessary for cats to get all three rounds? I've been reading a lot of things on the web about the possible long term adverse affects from vaccines that can result, so I'm a little worried.

As for the pet treats, I didn't realize that they were poor quality, I've been researching everything I buy them before I give it to them, but this was an impulse buy at the grocery store and by the time I got home I couldn't wait to see their reaction.. too bad it made them sick

And for wet food, I split a can for them either in the morning or at night. (If I'm able to some days give them each get a whole can). They eat dry food in between that though, Purina Kitten formula. (When this is out I plan on switching to something better). I was buying my grocery stores brand (bad I know

) they didn't like it for more than a week. They seem to really enjoy Fancy Feast, and that's what my mom feeds the two family cats back home so I figured it was good enough.

Do you have any suggestions as to what brand of food, dry or wet, is the best for kittens?

 

[strange_wings]

I wasn't aware that you could buy the drontal without an Rx now.

Since it is the exact same thing many vets will use, be vary vary careful. Keep a record of how much you give and when, and make sure you have a vet to call if there's even a slight issue from it. And you must make sure you can weigh your kittens accuracy.
As for a fecal exam for worms... I never ask for them. If a cat's had fleas or came from a situation that the mother wasn't kept inside, wormed, and without fleas - kittens will have worms. The same with any stray picked up, always assume there's worms. Skipping the exam saves money, and in some cases a vet may not even see signs of the rounds or tapes infesting the cat anyways.

Get their kitten shots, if nothing else. It'll make it easier when it comes time to get them spay and neutered if this is done already.

You can start planing out your vaccination routine later, depending on what your kittens may be exposed to, how your cats respond to vaccinations, and your worry of vaccination risks.


As for foods. What stores do you have near you? And what's your price range? If you have somewhere like a Petsmart, you'll have a lot more options.
And for the rest, if you hang around the forum you can learn a lot. Don't beat yourself up because you didn't automatically know about foods, everyone has to start somewhere.

 

[shaylay]

I'm definitely dreading getting them fixed, the girl at least. Growing up I experienced boy cats spraying on all my toys lol. I don't want Marble to have a scar from being spayed, but after reading how annoying peoples cats were in heat, I know it's best for her. I'm planning on getting that set up sometime next month. They will always be indoor kittens, I just feel safer if I always know where they are at and that they are okay. Right now I live in a third floor apartment and occasionally will sit outside on the porch with them, but never unsupervised

Near me I have a Petsmart, a Petco, and a Pet Supermarket, I've also thought about buying food in bulk from Sams Club if they have what I want. I heard about some natural dry food before that makes kittens healthy and have soft fur, but I can't remember the name. My price range is flexible, I don't really have a figure set in mind.. i just don't want to end up spending more on their food then on my own lol

 

[strange_wings]

Don't worry about a scar.

Kitties don't care about them (unless something goes wrong and they heal wrong - which isn't that common) and the fur will eventually cover it.

You're lucky that you live in an area that gives you some choices. Both Petsmart and Petco have customer cards that can save you a tiny bit of money - I don't know about the other store you mentioned.
For kitten foods there's Nutro, Avodrem, Wellness, and probably a few others that I'm forgetting because I'm trying to mentally remember what's on shelves.

There's also some that are all stages food in wet. Some cats do better on certain brands than other cats do, so there's no way anyone can insist that one food is perfect.

Generally, though, foods like science diet, purina, and iams are looked down on a bit because there's foods with much better ingredients for close to the same prices charged for these foods.

As for softest fur. That depends, too. Some people report that their cats are soft on Iams or Purina One.

Many years ago I tried them with one of my cats and his shedding was horrendous on them.

Good luck on the food hunt. Don't forget to browse through old threads in the nutrition section for more detailed analysis of foods .