11yo Fur baby throwing up and not eating. Vet found nothing much.

[myhrmayd]

I found this site as I was scaring myself with millions of "what could this be" internet searches while I wait for my Leo to get better. Forgive my ramblings, I'm scared

Leo and his brothers were my first fosters and I failed miserably at it. 11 years later, all are spoilt and sassy. I had to syringe feed Leo as a baby so he pulls my heartstrings a little harder than the others.

About a week ago, Leo puked up his dinner. He's long hair and this is normal on occasion when he gets hairballs so I didn't think twice about it. Then it started happening once a day but he was still eating and acting normal so I was on notice by not overly concerned. Two days ago, he puked twice and was not overly interested in his food. This was a red flag as he is ALWAYS interested in his food and everyone else's. (He weighs 15.5 pounds)

I took him to the Vet yesterday and they did urine and blood test as well as a regular check-up. He had no fever, was well hydrated and his bladder was golf ball sized. He had a slightly elevated protein reading in his urine but I have them on a high-protein diet. He also said Leo had a few white blood cells in his urine. Nothing to be concerned about but that they were possibly coming from inflammation somewhere.

He gave Leo a shot of antibiotics due to the bladder tap, an onsior for inflammation, and a dose of some fish oil stuff for his tummy that he was going to send home with me. It made him foam at the mouth and he didn't like it at all so the vet gave me some pills instead

When we came home, Leo puked a few more times over the course of the evening so I couldn't give him the pills. I offered food, and he gagged and refused it. I've tried broth, pureed chicken, wet food, tuna, tuna juice. Nothing

Called the vet first thing this morning and he acted like I was being a hysterical pet owner, I probably am, but this is my fur baby, and something is wrong. Now when he gags, he acts like something is stuck in on his tongue and does the "wide-mouth chew" thing to dislodge something, but I can't see anything there. He did have a small but solid bowel movement today, so no diarrhea.

I just feel lost and helpless. Thanks for listening

 

[stephanietx]

Is he eliminating? Did the vet take an x-ray to check for blockage or something internal?

 

[myhrmayd]

He had a small bowel movement this morning. I have a litter robot and 4 other cats, so I had to stalk him until I saw him go in. They didn't do an x-ray but said his urine had no crystals and his bladder was not distended.
I have another appointment already set for Monday in case he's still sick then, I won't have to wait and will demand an x-ray.

 

[myhrmayd]

This site has been a wealth of knowledge already! I just realized that his current issues might be due to his injected antibiotics. My cats have always ever gotten the pills/liquid but I was so concerned with Leo, I didn't question when the Vet said the antibiotic injection will last a week. I think he was given Convenia, which from reading up on after the fact, can cause some significant side effects. Now I'm freaking out worse

 

[silent meowlook]

I would be concerned about a foreign body obstruction. I think you need to find a different vet. The protein in his urine is doubtful it came from a high protein diet. More likely kidney, or they got a bleed with their needle stick. That would account for the red blood cells in the urine as well.

These long haired cats with GI issues can develope large hair balls in their intestines that can obstruct them.

Any time a cat is off food is cause for concern.

 

[myhrmayd]

Thank you for the response! I was thinking of obstruction too.

I have already decided I'm bring him to my old vet on Monday for an xray. I moved an hour away from my old vet so had started using this vet because they were closer. I won't make that mistake again!

I also found that cat probiotics might be the counter to the long-term antibiotic that I stupidly let him give Leo, so I ordered that to be here on Tuesday.

In the meantime, I've been syringing small amounts of water into Leo's mouth every 15 min. (he's sleeping on my desk in front of me, so it makes it easier ) He hasn't been drinking today, and even though the vet said to keep water from him for 24 hours due to him vomiting, I think that's wrong he needs to be peeing.

 

[stephanietx]

Convenia can stay in their system for up to 65 days. It's possible that he's having a reaction to the shot, but I don't know if there's a way to verify that. I would definitely keep the appointment on Monday and don't see the vet you saw today. Have them check teeth and also you may want to get an x-ray. I would also be concerned about the urine numbers.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi, I am sorry to disagree with your vet, but keeping water away from him isn't a good idea. Did they give him fluids at the vet? If it was my cat, I would go to the emergency vet.

 

[myhrmayd]

HI! Thank you for confirming what I was thinking. You do NOT keep water away from a sick fur baby, their kidneys are working overtime to filter things.
I understand he was trying to allow Leo's tummy to calm down, but I just couldn't let him go without water. So far, syringing small amounts every 15 min or so has stayed down and no vomits in almost 12 hours.

I even got him to bat at his 'cat tail' toy. He normally goes batcrap crazy when I bring it out so I was happy he felt ok enough to swat and grab it for a bit.

This site has both calmed me and made me worry about my blind stupidity in not asking more questions when they are injecting my baby.

 

[silent meowlook]

He really needs to eat. I am worried for him to go this long without eating.

 

[myhrmayd]

I found an emergency vet about an hour away. We are headed there now. Keep good thoughts for Leo, please!!

 

[silent meowlook]

Oh good!!! Please keep us posted!! I’m keeping you guys in my thoughts as I am sure anyone who saw this is.

 

[JamesCalifornia]

~ Long hair cats often get furballs — can cause problems. I give my kitty cats a dropper of mineral oil which will usually produce a nice elimination. I know some use a saline enema ( Fleet brand ) — but I have no experience with this treatment .
Veterinarians are hit-or-miss. Some are good a diagnosis — most just go with the obvious then give up. Hopefully the ER Veterinarians will do a good job finding the problem.

 

[silent meowlook]

Don’t do enemas at home. Fleet enema toxicity in cats | VETgirl Veterinary CE Blog

 

[myhrmayd]

Vet did an X-ray and found a very large fecal ball sitting on Leo’s bladder. The did an enema and immediately his bladder got big so it was compressing his bladder enough, it couldn’t flush kidneys so most likely the cause of all his issues!!! Never so happy to hear about poop.

 

[silent meowlook]

Oh good!! I am so happy!! Is he home now?

 

[myhrmayd]

We’re home and tentatively optimistic. They gave him fluids and said he might not drink for at least 24 hours but that is the first thing he went for, his fountain. So long as he pees in the next few hours so I can be sure his kidneys and bladder are ok, I will wait to fully exhale! They gave him something to stimulate hunger too so hopefully by morning, my floof will be back to normal. Thank you all for keeping me sane!!

 

[JamesCalifornia]

Don’t do enemas at home. Fleet enema toxicity in cats | VETgirl Veterinary CE Blog

~ Yes — must use the correct type.
From your link :

Amy shoemaker says:
May 19, 2020 at 5:42 pm
• I think you should be more specific which fleet products shouldn’t be used because fleet also makes qlycerin Products that of used correctly aren’t harmful. They actually have the same ingredients as the OTC feline enemas.

 

[silent meowlook]

Yeah, I saw that. But people just don’t know, and wouldn’t want someone killing their cat.

 

[myhrmayd]

My floof had an enema for his huge constipation ball, but I did not administer it. I only trust a vet to do that, I'd be afraid I'd rupture something!