Cat Vomiting Getting More Frequent.

[Sadee]

My cat Sammy started vomiting once a week/month a year ago, due to him being on steroids and chowing down his food because he felt like he was starving. In December of last year we finally took him off of it, he took steroids from May to December of 2017. He has plasma cell pododermatitis which is the reason he was on steroids for a long period of time, I forgot to mention that the milligram was for an 80 pound dog, at that time he was 12 pounds. Anyways, after we took him off of it he puked once a month either from eating too fast or a hairball, up until last month he started doing it once a week again, he is not on any medicine, 95% of the time it was just whatever he ate/drunk. A few times there was a chunk of hair in it, another few times was at his food dish, and the other few times was when I wasn't watching him. He vomited today, almost instantly after he went to eat and drink, I'm not sure if it was just from him eating too fast since I was in the bathroom when he did it. Another weird symptom he's had was sneezing, I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it. No sniffy nose, no drainage from eyes.

He is peeing, pooping, eating, drinking, and sleeping normally. My family and I are struggling to put food on the table, we can't afford a vet visit, especially super expensive visits. My mom and grandmother both have applied for care credit but have gotten declined.

He is turning 7 on the 30th of this month, and is about 15 1/2 pounds or 16 pounds.

I've felt around his stomach not feeling anything strange, nothing seemed to be causing him any pain.

I'm worried to the point it's made me cry, everyday I'm looking out for him, I'm watching to see if he's doing anything different.

I've looked up everything I could think of off the top of my head like kidney disease, liver disease ect. Nothing seems to match him since the only 2 symptoms are the vomiting and sneezing.

 

[silkenpaw]

OK, I’m not getting a clear picture here. Let’s forget the sneezing for now. I don’t know what that’s about. Can you answer these questions:

So is he vomiting right after he eats? And it’s food or a hairball? When did the vomiting start? How frequent was it then? And how often does he vomit now? When did he start steroids? What was the steroid medication and the dose? Was he on any other medication along with steroids? When did he stop steroids? Is he on any medication now?

Thanks, just trying to get a picture.

 

[Sadee]

OK, I’m not getting a clear picture here. Let’s forget the sneezing for now. I don’t know what that’s about. Can you answer these questions:

So is he vomiting right after he eats? And it’s food or a hairball? When did the vomiting start? How frequent was it then? And how often does he vomit now? When did he start steroids? What was the steroid medication and the dose? Was he on any other medication along with steroids? When did he stop steroids? Is he on any medication now?

Thanks, just trying to get a picture.

Alrighty, sometimes he vomits within 2 minutes of him eating. Sometimes its just food, only a few times has had hair in it. The vomiting started when he was on the steroids which was May of last year, he did it weekly, after he got taken off of it, the vomiting went to once a month. The weekly vomiting has now started again as of early last month, although he isn't on any sort of medicine anymore. He stopped taking doxycycline and predisone last December. He was on doxycycline for 1 1/2 months, and the predisone for 6-7 months. He was given one pill daily of both the doxycycline and predisone. The predisone was 20mg, I'm not sure about the doxycycline.

 

[silkenpaw]

OK, so my thinking is, maybe the steroids were irritating his stomach and that's why he was vomiting weekly. Then his stomach got better when he went off the steroids and now something new is going on.

So, judging from what the vomitus looks like, is he vomiting right after he eats or at some later time? Is there always food in the vomit or is it just liquid sometimes? When there is hair, is it an actual hairball or a lot of hair? Does he have any diarrhea?

 

[Sadee]

Does

So, judging from what the vomitus looks like, is he vomiting right after he eats or at some later time? Is there always food in the vomit or is it just liquid sometimes? When there is hair, is it an actual hairball or a lot of hair? Does he have any diarrhea?[/QUOTE]

No liquid, all food. No diarrhea, he vomits sometimes during eating, sometimes a few minutes after. The vomits that did have hair in it were penny size chunks.

 

[cat1967]

I wish I know something about this problem but I don't. Is he generally happy though, is he sleeping normally and playing or moving around like before? I would guess that something is upsetting his stomach. Have you tried a different kind of food? A prescription diet that you can get from your pet shop, from Hills or Royal Canine. You could ask there, telling them the symptoms and try some wet food for stomach problems since you cannot afford a vet visit which is understandable. We all want to help our beloved pets but the cost of a vet or a treatment could be very high. Give a try with a specialized for upset stomach food for a couple of days and update us.

 

[Sadee]

I wish I know something about this problem but I don't. Is he generally happy though, is he sleeping normally and playing or moving around like before? I would guess that something is upsetting his stomach. Have you tried a different kind of food? A prescription diet that you can get from your pet shop, from Hills or Royal Canine. You could ask there, telling them the symptoms and try some wet food for stomach problems since you cannot afford a vet visit which is understandable. We all want to help our beloved pets but the cost of a vet or a treatment could be very high. Give a try with a specialized for upset stomach food for a couple of days and update us.

He vomited again today, right after he ate, there were 2 chunks of hair in it, one was the size of a penny and the other was the size of a half dollar. He is happy, he is playing like he normally would especially at 1 am, he is still moving wonderfully. Right now he is on the Purina one sensitive stomach dry food, and on Purina one wet cat food. I tried to switch his dry and wet to blue buffalo, he did not like it, he barley ate for a week because I mixed it with his dry food. We wasted $44 dollars on food he won't eat, which will now be going to the local humane society.

I'm also wondering if he has a large hairball and is just trying to get it out?

 

[Timmer]

Sure, it could have been from the medication and maybe it's still working out of your cat's system, but.....If there is always hair in the vomit then it might be helpful to brush your cat out daily.

If your cat is eating too fast and that is what is causing the vomiting, put the cat food on a flat plate, not a bowl. See, when they eat they push the food against the sides of the dish and it's easier to get it in faster. If it's on a flat plate, it slides around and slows their eating down.

Royal Canin makes a dry food called Hairball Formula that I started giving to my cat, not because of the fur but because she was constipated. That really helped.

I had a cat who vomited frequently and she had kidney issues. The vet told me kidney cats have excess stomach acid which causes a lot of vomiting. I'm not saying your cat has kidney issues, I'm just saying.

 

[Timmer]

And by the way, if you got that food he won't eat at Petsmart they will take the food back and give you a refund. I just had a discussion about it with them a few days ago because I happened to get a new food for my girl.
I've also returned unopened cans of food when I find they won't eat that flavor or brand.

 

[silkenpaw]

He could be vomiting because he's eating too fast. Try Timmer 's solution. If he's still vomiting, you need to take him to the vet. Cats should not vomit daily. My vomiting cat turned out to have Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

 

[xcourtney3]

This was happening to my cat last year. He was vomiting up food and hairballs on at least a weekly basis, sometimes more. The vet decided it was likely IBD. Luckily I figured out the culprit fairly quickly - fish. I took him off foods with fish in it and he doesn't vomit anymore

 

[cat1967]

He vomited again today, right after he ate, there were 2 chunks of hair in it, one was the size of a penny and the other was the size of a half dollar. He is happy, he is playing like he normally would especially at 1 am, he is still moving wonderfully. Right now he is on the Purina one sensitive stomach dry food, and on Purina one wet cat food. I tried to switch his dry and wet to blue buffalo, he did not like it, he barley ate for a week because I mixed it with his dry food. We wasted $44 dollars on food he won't eat, which will now be going to the local humane society.

I'm also wondering if he has a large hairball and is just trying to get it out?

Exactly my thought. That was my thought right before I read this post.
I know about money. I spend hundreds of euros changing from one food to another, buying cat wipes because he wouldn't groom himself buying this prescription can food which cost five times the normal can food a.s.o. but what can you do. You cannot leave him like that. I was thinking though if it IS a big hairball in his stomach you could buy this special paste that pet shops have or even special food for hairballs. But, if it isn't a hairball it may cause more nausea and vomiting.

 

[Sadee]

Update: He had a huge hairball on the 29th of July, hadn't vomited since except today, he decided to eat something, not sure what it was, something plastic, he ate it, and about 2 minutes later he vomited it back up.

 

[cat1967]

Benji also had this awful thing with eating anything. We had him operated on twice because he had a part of a silicon ball in his bowel the first time and the second a plastic lid from something. Both operations went ok but he was 2 years old and 4 then. How is your cat doing now that he has Thank God vomited the plastic thing. Does he seem ok?

 

[cat1967]

Any updates? How is your baby doing?

 

[Sadee]

Any updates? How is your baby doing?

Sadly he is still doing the vomiting once a week, well a week and 2 days. My family and I are looking into blood test costs and stuff like that.

 

[cat1967]

I am so sorry about Sammy. I have a Sammy too you know. He is 13 years old now. I don't know what the blood tests could show. They will definitely find about the liver and kidneys. I know that because that is what my vet checked for Benji first. Along with the simple blood tests which show signs of anemia or an infection etc. I would do that if I were you but if budget is an issue then you do that and see. If your cat eats and is playful and all, just enjoy his company. After all I went through I have come to realize that tests can tell you a lot but most of the times they cannot save a cat's life. I am having issues with my Yorkie now. I have only one dog and we are running tests as he started having a wobbly gait. He walks and jumps when he wants food, which is like all the time, he enjoys his walk in my yard but there must be some neurological problem. The vet run blood tests twice within three weeks and they are all clear. But to have a good picture he has to have an MRI on the head and then the spine, and they have to take fluid from the spinal cord etc and my vet said it costs thousands and still there is no cure whether it is neurological or a brain tumor for example. So why have them then? Anyway enough with my problems. So I understand money is an issue in these days we live so don't feel guilty about it. I am sure you and your family are doing everything you can. Just give him your love always and hope for the best.
Lots of hugs and kisses to you both!

 

[Wile]

Sorry to hear about this. My cat (fingers crossed) used to vomit intermittently. Sometimes it was once a week, sometimes it was once a month. Turned out that it was caused by a food intolerance. I've been doing food trials with different limited ingredient diets for the past year to isolate the cause. In my cat's case the culprit was poultry. Good luck figuring things out with your cat!

 

[Notacrazycatlady]

Hi, I'm new here so take my 'advice' with a pillar of salt but I have a kitten who was throwing up a little and other times would gag like he was trying to throw up but nothing happened. I suspected hairball issues and started giving him a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil every day for 3 days (fortunately he loves olive oil and just laps it right out of the spoon). If a hairball is the culprit, the olive oil will help it move out the other end. It stopped his throwing up--my Angus hasn't thrown up since. I still give him a teaspoon of it once a week or so because it has other health benefits. If your cat doesn't like it, just drop the oil on his front paw and he'll lick it up as he cleans himself. This only helps with hairballs so if there's a more serious problem, this isn't going to solve the problem. Good luck, I read your post because I'm cat-sitting for my niece's cat and he's throwing up but under slightly different circumstances.

 

[Sadee]

Sammy vomited yesterday twice, the first time was like regular vomit so i assumed he was doing what he's been doing, he did it a second time, it looked more like what a hairball vomit would look like, he did it while my family and i went on a walk and it had 2 chunks of hair in it. I'm now going to be getting a hairball lubricant out of my mothers next check.