Cat not able to keep down usual food

crystal dawn

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Writing about Emrys again. He's been unable to keep down most of the dry food he eats since yesterday. He spits it right back out soon after eating it. He's got a vet appointment scheduled for Monday. He's a very picky eater and won't eat very many things. So he mainly eats dry cat food, occasionally tuna when I give it as a treat, cat treats, and sometimes he'll eat chicken. He doesn't like canned food or eggs, or most human food for that matter. I'm concerned as I know it's not good for cats not to eat for more than a day maybe two, and he's going on day two already.

I was thinking about baking or steaming a plain chicken breast and giving him a tiny bit of that and see if he can hold that down. Not sure if that's a good idea.
 

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When you say he spits it right back out soon after eating, do you mean regurgitation (totally undigested), or is it semi-digested and would then be considered vomiting? Is he drinking water? How is he doing otherwise?

I would try the plain chicken breast and see what happens. Hopefully, he will eat it and keep it down. If he doesn't eat it, go to the store and buy some baby food meat (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut) and try to see if he will eat that and be able to keep it down.

If neither works, I would suggest calling the vet back and tell them what is going on and see if they can get you in sooner. He really can't afford to go until Monday if he won't eat or can't keep anything down.
 
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crystal dawn

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When you say he spits it right back out soon after eating, do you mean regurgitation (totally undigested), or is it semi-digested and would then be considered vomiting? Is he drinking water? How is he doing otherwise?

I would try the plain chicken breast and see what happens. Hopefully, he will eat it and keep it down. If he doesn't eat it, go to the store and buy some baby food meat (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut) and try to see if he will eat that and be able to keep it down.

If neither works, I would suggest calling the vet back and tell them what is going on and see if they can get you in sooner. He really can't afford to go until Monday if he won't eat or can't keep anything down.
It's totally undigested when he does it. It's been less now. Though I'm basically hand feeding him one piece of food at a time and doing about ten-15 pieces, and he seems to be keeping that down ok. He's drinking water with some encouragement from me and keeping that down okay. Otherwise, he seems okay right now, he's responding to attention and treats like normal and hanging out in his usual place. He will sometimes also act like he's going to regurgitate but nothing comes out. That's usually when I give him a bit more than his tummy can currently handle.

He's peed in the litter box, but I haven't seen a poop yet.
 

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You might want to consider that his food has gone bad, or if a new bag it is contaminated? I am not sure that would explain the gagging it appears he is doing now, but it could be connected as his stomach is all messed up with regurgitation and the possibly bad food.
 
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crystal dawn

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You might want to consider that his food has gone bad, or if a new bag it is contaminated? I am not sure that would explain the gagging it appears he is doing now, but it could be connected as his stomach is all messed up with regurgitation and the possibly bad food.
This is a bag he's been eating from for a little while. It's possible the food is an issue. Though, a bit more background on this situation. Yesterday at 230am He tried to expel a hairball that was a bit too big and got choked on it, he pooped trying to expel it. We managed to get to him and help him with the first bit. About 6am, he expelled another fairly large hairball and some partly digested food. He's had issues keeping food down since. I'm thinking those events have led to stomach upset. I have two other cats who eat the same food he does and they both are keeping it down just fine.
 

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You probably are right in your assumption about the hairballs and the stomach upset. But, don't rule out that there is still hair left that might be partially semi-obstructing his stomach, or even part of his intestines/colon. Not trying to freak you out, but just be on the lookout for more hair, and/or more throwing up - honestly, either truly does mean a more urgent vet visit.

That's a lot of hair, so something must be going on for him not to pass it normally and/or it to lodge in his stomach/digestive tract. I hope he keeps the food down now and that the vet can run some tests to determine what might be the underlying issue.
 
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crystal dawn

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Yes, I'm hoping the vet does testing and stuff to make sure he doesn't have a blockage somewhere. I feel a bit stuck on what to do right now. I gave him a bit more food, and he regurgitated 4 of the pieces. It doesn't help that he doesn't really chew the food either, and seems to mainly swallow the pieces whole.

Yeah, he's a long hair cat, and he's been shedding a lot, and I've been distracted and not brushing him properly. I'm not sure why the hair isn't passing like it should other than maybe his diet. He doesn't like or eat canned food most of the time or anything like that and dry food doesn't help with hair passing from what I know. He's been pooping just fine up until the last day or so. So I don't think he's had a blockage or anything though now it's a possibility, though he's not showing signs of one other than regurgitating his food. He was lethargic yesterday and not interested in eating, and that way early this morning. Though now he's got some energy and is interested in eating, but keeps regurgitating his food. He's also not really interested in going out for supervised exploration. Though he has been eating a lot of grass lately from outside and his regularly chewing on the cat grass I'm growing inside.

This is a complicated situation and I feel like I'm failing to make the right calls for him.
 
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I gave him a bit more food, and he regurgitated 4 of the pieces. It doesn't help that he doesn't really chew the food either, and seems to mainly swallow the pieces whole.
Get the baby food meat. If it does have something to do with swallowing pieces whole, the baby food will preclude that aspect.
 
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crystal dawn

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Get the baby food meat. If it does have something to do with swallowing pieces whole, the baby food will preclude that aspect.
I asked my mom to pick some up while she's out running errands. She said that he was keeping food down now so didn't need it or something along those lines. There is a store I can walk to when she gets back if I need to. I could possibly crush the food we have into smaller pieces. Not sure if that would help. I just noticed that he seems to regurgitate the ones he swallows whole and is able to keep the ones he chews down.

I also have canned tuna and chicken I could blend up and give him a small amount and see if he can keep it down. I wish he would eat canned cat food but so far I haven't found a kind he's interested in eating when he's well much less when he's not.
 
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crystal dawn

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She picked up a jar of the chicken baby food that's just chicken and chicken broth after all. I gave Em a very small amount and after some coxing he licked up about half the amount. That was a few minutes ago, and he's not acting like it's upset his tummy or anything.
 
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crystal dawn

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Emrys seems to be feeling much better now. He's been keeping down the baby food better than anything else.
 
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crystal dawn

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Thought I would update here. Emrys seems to be feeling fine. He's not acting like he's in distress or anything however he ate a peice of cat grass and then reguritated it along with a few peices of chicken and a treat he ate. It looked like some water was in there as well. Not sure if the peice of grass triggered it or what. He also reched and nothing came out. He seems fine now. He got a good drink and is resting now.

I'm trying to decide if I'm being overly anxious over nothing or if there's something serious going on that requires a vet sooner than Monday. My mom who I rely on for transportation has left for two or three hours to visit my grandmother and run to the store. I was thinking about watching him for those hours and see how he does and go from there. If nessary I can call her and get her to come hom sooner so we can rush him into the vet if he becomes distressed.

Right now his laying comfortably on his favorite table enjoying the sun and looking at me when I talk to him or one of the other two cats and is behaving pretty normally for him. Perhaps it's just my anxiety as at the end of july we lost our 12 year old dog and she stuffered as she went and we didn't know how bad it was til it was to late. So honestly I'm scared the same thing is happening to Em. She was clearly in distress and he doesn't seem distressed at all so I'm taking that as a good sign.

Monday afternoon just can't come quick enough as after his vet visit I'll know more about what's going on with him and feel much better. I think it's the not knowing that's bothering me the most.
 

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Just keep watching him, and continue to try to get him to eat. Eating - and, not throwing it up - is essential. It is not a complete meal, but if the baby food meat stays down, continue to give him as much of that as he is willing to eat. A single jar contains around 70-80 calories, so more than just one jar a day would be preferable - and some chicken if he can keep that down too. Those foods should be enough to keep him going until you take him to the vet Monday, assuming nothing else happens between now and then.
 
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crystal dawn

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Just keep watching him, and continue to try to get him to eat. Eating - and, not throwing it up - is essential. It is not a complete meal, but if the baby food meat stays down, continue to give him as much of that as he is willing to eat. A single jar contains around 70-80 calories, so more than just one jar a day would be preferable - and some chicken if he can keep that down too. Those foods should be enough to keep him going until you take him to the vet Monday, assuming nothing else happens between now and then.
I'm offering him small amounts pretty frequently, as him eating to much at once is what seems to set off the regurgitation. He seems reluctant to eat the baby food and the chicken. He ended up regurgitating the chicken bits I did get him to eat by rubbing his fave treats on them, along with a piece of the cat grass I grow inside for them. So I'm trying to decide if I should try the bits of chicken breast again or not.

He seems to only want his normal dry food or treats and not really anything else. Which is what he's used to eating, but it's also upsetting his stomach. I'll continue to watch over him and keep trying to get him to eat things that don't upset his stomach so much.

He seems to be able to handle small amounts(5-10 peices) of his usual dry food okay.

Would tuna or seafood cat food be okay to give him? or even canned tuna? as I think he does like a certain brand of canned food that's tuna or seafood flavored and I can ask for that to be picked up while my mom's at the store. I'm concerned it might make things worse though.

I'm not sure if it's because I'm watching him or what, but he seems to be grooming more than he normally would. I've been brushing him out at least once a day for the last couple of days as well.
 
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He seems to only want his normal dry food or treats and not really anything else.
Would he eat a bit of his dry food if it was moistened with water (or the 'juice' from canned tuna)?
Would tuna or seafood cat food be okay to give him? or even canned tuna? as I think he does like a certain brand of canned food that's tuna or seafood flavored and I can ask for that to be picked up while my mom's at the store. I'm concerned it might make things worse though.
Try any of the above in small amounts and see what happens. If he can eat a little bit at a time and keep it down, then you might just be trying to feed him a small amount every hour or two!

Has he pooped any? I know he is not eating much, but he should be pooping at least a bit.
 
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crystal dawn

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Alright, thank you.
He pooped last night. So far, nothing today, but he hasn't eaten much of anything either. I know he'll eat canned tuna. He's drinking and keeping water down. I can get him to eat the baby food as well if it's a just opened jar. He doesn't seem intrested once it's been refrigerated even after warming it up a bit.
 
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crystal dawn

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I just got him to eat some baby food by pouring a bit of the water/broth from a packet of tuna onto it. Observing him now to see if it bothers his tummy, but so far no signs of it doing so.
 

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I can get him to eat the baby food as well if it's a just opened jar. He doesn't seem intrested once it's been refrigerated even after warming it up a bit.
As long as the baby food isn't sitting out for a long time, try not putting it in the fridge and see if that makes a difference. The warming might alter the taste somehow?
 
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crystal dawn

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As long as the baby food isn't sitting out for a long time, try not putting it in the fridge and see if that makes a difference. The warming might alter the taste somehow?
Alright, I'm not sure how long it'll be safe to leave it out though but I'll try that and see if it helps. The baby food seems to be helping things to move through his system as there was hair in his poo last night which is why I'm hoping one of the three flavors available he'll like. Just finished off the jar of chicken and he seems meh about it unless it's got tuna broth on it. I've got a jar of Turkey and a jar of beef now. There's also a kind of canned cat food he'll eat but I can't remember the brand or flavor for the life of me exactly but I think it's friskys, and it's a seafood or tuna flavor.
 

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As far as the baby food, you must be getting Beechnut. Gerber Stage 2 has the three same flavors that Beechnut offers, but they also have ham. Gerber has corn starch in it, but that is what I feed Feeby anyway. And, she likes the ham and chicken of that brand best. But, feed him whatever you can - if tuna 'juice' works, that for now is OK too.

I wouldn't expect there to be a big issue leaving out the baby food for maybe 3 hours. However, if he eats the baby food with tuna "juice" then maybe you don't have to worry about leaving it out of the fridge.
 
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