Cat throwing up brown vomit - xrays/ultrasound/hydrolysed diets - inconclusive (image in thread)

Wadi16

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Messages
8
Purraise
5
Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, but wanted to ask you all if you might have any idea what is going on with my cat. I'm really worried for him :(

History is detailed below:
Gender: Male
Age: 5 years 9 months
Neutered domestic short hair

Over the last 5 weeks he has been vomitting brown liquid. sometimes its really thin, sometimes its more thick (like semi-disgested food).
This has happened like clockwork every Thursday around 4-8am. It seems like he eats, goes to sleep but in the morning when he wakes up he throws up pretty much once a week. It looks like semi-digested food and has some hair in it. Sometimes there is more or less hair. In the 5 years i've had him he has never vomited like that! usually it is visible undigested food as he eats too fast - never this sort of brown sludge.

We took him to the vets, initially they gave him acid reflux injection and vomiting pill, but when we reduced the dosage this didn't really stop it. He has xrays and an ultrasound done and it was all clear - no obstructions. They then suggested he gets put on a hydrolysed protein diet for 8 weeks to rule out any irritation from food. He has been on it for about 6 few days (but we have just weaned him off his old food yesterday totally) so its too early to tell, but we hoped the vomiting wouldn't happen this morning :(

The vets suggested that if he keeps vomiting that he might need exploratory surgery and they mentioned IBD. What strikes me is that it happens on time every Thursday after waking up and its always: brown, most of time has clumps of hair. The fact that it is weekly tells me that something takes a week to build up...it could be a hairball or it could be increased inflammation from food over the week and then it reaches its tipping point and he pukes.

I don't know if its hairballs causing this suddenly, or if it gets worse with age as its never happened like this before? or if the hairballs coming out are due to a bigger/different issue like IBD causing inflammation and vomiting?

Thanks in advance!
 

Attachments

di and bob

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
16,582
Purraise
22,962
Location
Nebraska, USA
It could be hairballs. I would give him some treats specifically for hairballs, or that tube paste that you will have to smear tightly onto his front paw to lick off. Treats are easier. Is the food he eats close to the color he vomits? It almost looks like he is eating something that is irritating his stomach. Every Thursday is interesting, anything happening on that day that may stress him out? explore everything that happens on that day to try to figure out why that day. Stomach blood looks like coffee grounds and is black, so it doesn't look like that. Definitely treat fro hairballs, you might call your vet, and see if they have any prescriptions that may work better. I don't like the idea of 'exploratory' surgery, that seems awfully invasive for something that may not be found, or may be hairballs. I hope there are others here who have had this same problem. I wish you all the luck and please keep us informed!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

Wadi16

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Messages
8
Purraise
5
Thank you so much for responding!

His wet food is usually a lighter colour but he also has dark brown dry food which could be what's causing the colour. Though i have read many horror posts where brown vomit is something a lot more sinister!

Nothing in particular happens on Thursdays, it's pretty much the same as many other day (diet/household routine is all the same). I think it may not be linked to the day per say but more that there is something he cannot tolerate for more than a week.

I do hope its hairballs, though I've never had this issue with him in the last 5 years - it may be that as he has gotten older and we've gone into the summer that it is worse (though, i'm not sure really). I will definitely be trying out the hairball treats, i actually ordered some last week along with the paste, but we've been told by the vet to keep him on his diet for another 7 weeks. In the meantime i will try to reduce the hair he ingests by investing in better grooming mitts and will report back!
 

FeebysOwner

TCS Member
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
22,442
Purraise
33,215
Location
Central FL (Born in OH)
HI. Echoing di and bob di and bob . Give the hairball treat/paste/etc. to him, and keep up the new food. It does take several weeks for a food change to make a difference, if it is going to do anything at all. Are you still giving him the dry food? If the new food doesn't resolve the issue, you may have to replace the dry food as well.

Good luck, and please do keep us posted!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

Wadi16

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Messages
8
Purraise
5
HI. Echoing di and bob di and bob . Give the hairball treat/paste/etc. to him, and keep up the new food. It does take several weeks for a food change to make a difference, if it is going to do anything at all. Are you still giving him the dry food? If the new food doesn't resolve the issue, you may have to replace the dry food as well.

Good luck, and please do keep us posted!
Thanks for taking the time to post :)

We are still giving him dry food, but that too has changed to the hydrolysed protein version (both wet and dry foods are now Hill's Z/D cat range). He only just transitioned fully to pure Hill's so we will see how the next few weeks go! Hopefully this improves things - I guess I expected the food would turn things around but i've now read from multiple sources online that the effect of new diets takes a few weeks :)
 

Jem

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
5,573
Purraise
11,246
My boy used to throw up like that because he was always eating things he shouldn't and he easily gets hairballs.
1) we are extremely diligent about not leaving things he likes to chew on and eat laying around. That helped immediately, but didn't stop it.
2) he is extremely prone to hairballs and will either get constipated or throw up what looked just like your picture. Hairball paste/gel takes care of it like 95% - if we kept up with the maintenance dose.
3) we also changed our cats dry food to a fiber and probiotic formula from the vet.....just for now until I finally make up my mind of what food I want to get...Honestly I'm not sure how well it contributed to the issue but his poop doesn't smell as bad as when we first adopted him....although we have not quite reached where I wish we were on the smell-o-meter yet!
4) When he decides to eat his full servings of wet food, he does better. It's just to get him to eat a full serving of wet food, he's not a kibble addict, it's just that he usually only eats a small amount in one sitting...and I work full time so I can't feed him 4-5 wet meals a day.

So, more wet food, hairball paste or gel, perhaps add some probiotics to his food and make sure he's not eating things he shouldn't.
That's what's working for me.
 

CeilidhCat

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Jun 2, 2023
Messages
6
Purraise
11
Location
Canada
Thanks for taking the time to post :)

We are still giving him dry food, but that too has changed to the hydrolysed protein version (both wet and dry foods are now Hill's Z/D cat range). He only just transitioned fully to pure Hill's so we will see how the next few weeks go! Hopefully this improves things - I guess I expected the food would turn things around but i've now read from multiple sources online that the effect of new diets takes a few weeks :)
 

CeilidhCat

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Jun 2, 2023
Messages
6
Purraise
11
Location
Canada
Hi Wadi16, , did it go with the Hills ZD? I’m in the same boat! But I see I am reading very old posts!
 

FeebysOwner

TCS Member
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
22,442
Purraise
33,215
Location
Central FL (Born in OH)
Hi Wadi16, , did it go with the Hills ZD? I’m in the same boat! But I see I am reading very old posts!
Yes, it is an older thread, and the OP hasn't been back on this site since January 2021, so very doubtful you will get a response. Anything in the other posts in this thread that you can try?
 

CeilidhCat

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Jun 2, 2023
Messages
6
Purraise
11
Location
Canada
Thank you for being observant and getting in touch. I’m new to this, but will figure out how to spot the newer posts eventually. If only our cats knew how diligent we are, lol.
 
Top