Stress/health issues from vet visits

[fenderrae]

My 11-year old cat is very anxious and gets very upset and scared going to the vet and is usually given sedatives or medication to help her relax for regular vet visits, however I try to limit the vet visits as much as possible for only when she needs them because of this. Last weekend she hit her nose pretty hard while running around and was bleeding, so I brought her to the emergency vet (my usual vet was not available). They checked her out and said she looked totally fine aside from the cut and nosebleed and should recover well.

Her injury seems to be healing, however over the past three days she has thrown up twice and has loose stools. It's hard to tell if this is a result of stress from the visit or something else (because of long wait times/Covid, she was there for about 6 hours) and I don't want to exacerbate the problem by taking her to the vet again if thats what's causing the problem in the first case. It's also super stressful due to Covid because I can't go into the vet with her, which I know will increase her stress. Does anyone else have experience with this kind of issue? I tend to have a lot of anxiety about her health and just want to make sure I'm doing what's best for her!

Thanks for reading

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I can't imagine that her vomiting and loose stools would be the result of stress over a vet visit nearly a week ago. Look for other possible reasons, such as a food change, or that she is getting into/eating something in (or outside, if she goes out) the house. Did the vet give her any meds for you to administer at home (antibiotics, or pain meds, etc.) that might be upsetting her system?

Is she throwing up food - undigested, semi digested, or no food at all? If there is some of the foods you are giving that she is eating and not vomiting up, I would stay with those and withhold any of the ones that preceded her throwing up in case for some reason she is developing an allergy to one of them. But, I would also continue to look for other potential causes.

Is she acting normally otherwise?

 

[fenderrae]

Thanks for your response - that makes sense, I guess I just assumed it was from the vet visit because it started a few days after she got home and nothing else has really changed too much. It looks like she's throwing up food, but it's a few hours after she's eaten. I've been giving her a little bit of Pumpkin Puree & Wheatgrass packets from Tiki Cat with her food since I read it could help with stomach issues, but I wonder if that's actually just making the problem worse and I should just stick to her regular dry food or try cooking some plain chicken.

 

[FeebysOwner]

But, she is not throwing up every time a while after she eats, or even daily, correct? That is why I thought she might be eating different things between when she does throw up and when she doesn't. I suppose her dry food might be bad, but if so and that is all she is eating, it would seem she would throw up after every meal. Maybe you should try the plain chicken, in small amounts each time, and see if that helps any?

You didn't say whether she was acting normally otherwise - so I take it she is? If anything else starts happening, lethargy, constant vomiting, etc. at her age, you might just have to take her back to the vet. If you have a good relationship with this vet, you could call and ask what they would recommend for treating the vomiting and loose stools, at least for the next day or so.

 

[fenderrae]

The vomiting so far has been two days apart, so not every time she eats which makes it confusing. During the day she is pretty much acting like her usual self, maybe less active than usual but I guess that makes sense. I will try the chicken and follow up with the vet, hoping it will all turn out okay. Thanks for taking the time to respond.