Cat vomits all the time

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Andrew - 29 Aug 2004 18:32 GMT

My mom has a cat who vomits more than seems normal, and she asked me
to post here for advice. She's been through two vets and every idea
they both recommended, without any improvement.

Every week, she has a couple of days that she'll vomit three to four
times during that day. She vomits undigested food; it's not hairballs.
They adopted this cat about two years ago from a pet rescue place,
when she was about 10 years old (the people they got her from weren't
sure of her exact age). So she's about 12 now. She has had this
problem as long as they've had her (she did it the first day they had
her).

My mom says that they've tried "every kind of food" (at least 10
kinds, including prescription food from the vet and other kinds the
vets recommended). One vet said that it could be due to a stomach
inflamation problem, and said a cortizone shot would help. He said
that the shot should work for about three months, but less than a week
after she got it, she had another full day of vomiting. So that didn't
seem to do much. One vet said, "well, some cats are just pukers."

Does anyone have other recommendations? I'm sure she'd be willing to
try other kinds of food, but she think that she's tried just about
every kind on the shelf...

Thanks.

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Karen Chuplis - 29 Aug 2004 19:07 GMT

> My mom has a cat who vomits more than seems normal, and she asked me
> to post here for advice. She's been through two vets and every idea
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> Thanks.

Unfortuneately, it does seem like some cats are just pukers. We had one when
I was growing up. Oddly, it seemed to help if we cooked up some calves liver
for her and kept them at bay for some time, but that could also be
coincidental. Sounds like they have thoroughly researched it. I recommend
the Bissell upright powercleaner. I use my a lot and really like it.

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Cheryl - 29 Aug 2004 19:34 GMT

In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.health+behav",
29 Aug 2004:

> Every week, she has a couple of days that she'll vomit three to
> four times during that day. She vomits undigested food; it's not
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> of vomiting. So that didn't seem to do much. One vet said,
> "well, some cats are just pukers."

My Shadow used to vomit undigested food for years before he got
really sick. Vomitted dry food. Turned out he had IBD but from
things I've found out since then, it was definitely an intolerance
to the food. Has your mom tried changing the diet to all canned
food, and no dry at all? As for stomach inflammation, did they try
oral steroids rather than shots? "... some cats are just pukers"
doesn't really make sense to me now after going through what I did
with Shadow. Once diagnosed with IBD, and being on the steroids, he
didn't puke at all, though he had severe diarrhea for the last year
and a half of his life. I think that was because the IBD had gone
on too long before being diagnosed.

Other than that, undigested food could be either eating too fast or
an obstruction of some sort.

Signature

Cheryl

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PawsForThought - 29 Aug 2004 20:15 GMT

>From: andrew_blems@yahoo.com (Andrew)

>Does anyone have other recommendations? I'm sure she'd be willing to
>try other kinds of food, but she think that she's tried just about
>every kind on the shelf...

I would recommend joining the Feline IBD group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FelineIBD/

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecatjournal.com/articles/claws.htm

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Phil P. - 30 Aug 2004 05:05 GMT

> My mom has a cat who vomits more than seems normal, and she asked me
> to post here for advice. She's been through two vets and every idea
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> Thanks.

Vomiting is a symptom rather than a disease. Chronic vomiting leads to
esophagitis - which is not only painful but also compounds the problem and
makes finding the cause even more difficult.

If your local general practioners can't find the cause, I suggest you
consult a specialist. X-rays with barium swallows or ideally, fluoroscopy
are probably necessary to pinpoint the cause.

Go to
http://www.acvim.org/Kittleson/search.htm
and do a search for an internal medicine Diplomate/Specialist in your area.
American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Diplomates are about the
best there is.

If you can't find an ACVIM specialist in your area, my second choice would
be an ABVP Diplomate/Feline Specialist (American Board of Veterinary
Practitioners).
Go to http://www.abvp.com/diplosearch1.htm

Good luck,

Phil

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Kelly - 31 Aug 2004 03:10 GMT

The cat should at least have an ultrasound done. Sounds to me like it could
be irritable bowel syndrome or even possibly intestinal lymphoma.

> My mom has a cat who vomits more than seems normal, and she asked me
> to post here for advice. She's been through two vets and every idea
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> Thanks.

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JamesJ - 21 Oct 2004 12:47 GMT

Is your cat losing weight? I imagine so.
I had a cat who began vomiting frequently at around 3-years-old. Turned out
he had Diabetes and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. The Diabetes was
found by a series of blood work to determine the extent of the disease
and amount of insulin that he requires. The Inflammatory Bowel Disease
was found by looking down his throat to his stomach with a tube. (fun)
I'm not sure if a cat can develop either of these conditions at a ripe old
age
of 10 or 12-years-old. But my cat lived to be 13.

My two cents,
James

> My mom has a cat who vomits more than seems normal, and she asked me
> to post here for advice. She's been through two vets and every idea
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> Thanks.

Reply to this Message

Ashley - 21 Oct 2004 19:38 GMT

> Is your cat losing weight? I imagine so.
> I had a cat who began vomiting frequently at around 3-years-old. Turned
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> age
> of 10 or 12-years-old. But my cat lived to be 13.

Didn't see the original post, but my cat, too, was diagnosed iwth IBD after
the same symptoms. I was very lucky in that he has a very mild case that,
after the initial 2 months of intensive treatment with anti-emetics and
everything else under the sun, he is largely controlled by diet alone (no
red meat) and seems to be doing really well on it. This is further
complicated by the fact that he later developed FLUTD, and so largely eats
only Hills CD these days, with the occasional treat.

But anyway, he's coming up to 10 and is pretty much a picture of health.

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