Cat vomiting

Furballsmom

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I just looked for unflavored and organic, --without anything else to go by it seemed to make the best option for purchasing :)
 
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Lindsayj014

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So I'm almost positive another one of my cats threw up this morning. There was no hairball, it was all mostly undigested food right about a half hour after I fed them. I'm pretty sure Jax was with me when the vomit happened and now I'm even more worried since I believe I have two cats throwing up. The kitten that I brought in last month had diarrhea this morning as well. I did start them on a new food and I'm still on that first bag its Purina One Tender Selects Blend Chicken. Should I throw that bag out and start on the new one or maybe just go back to the old food I had them on that caused no issues (Science Diet Sensitive Stomach and Skin)? They were only on the sensitive stomach food because my cat that passed away in June would throw up after she ate sometimes, but they were on that for over 4 years. I don't believe its the wet food I'm giving them since I've been giving them different varieties of Fancy Feast for years too.

I've only had Jax's sample tested for parasites, is it worth it to have any of the others tested (especially the 6 month old kitten) when his was negative? I have 4 cats in total now and all of them have had loose stool and/or vomiting on and off for the last couple weeks. Previous to the last couple of weeks, none of my current cats have had any vomiting episodes, beyond a hairball every few months.
 

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Can you give them just the wet food for a couple days, hopefully get tummies settled down, and then see about adding back the old kibble?
 

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So I'm almost positive another one of my cats threw up this morning. There was no hairball, it was all mostly undigested food right about a half hour after I fed them. I'm pretty sure Jax was with me when the vomit happened and now I'm even more worried since I believe I have two cats throwing up. The kitten that I brought in last month had diarrhea this morning as well. I did start them on a new food and I'm still on that first bag its Purina One Tender Selects Blend Chicken. Should I throw that bag out and start on the new one or maybe just go back to the old food I had them on that caused no issues (Science Diet Sensitive Stomach and Skin)? They were only on the sensitive stomach food because my cat that passed away in June would throw up after she ate sometimes, but they were on that for over 4 years. I don't believe its the wet food I'm giving them since I've been giving them different varieties of Fancy Feast for years too.

I've only had Jax's sample tested for parasites, is it worth it to have any of the others tested (especially the 6 month old kitten) when his was negative? I have 4 cats in total now and all of them have had loose stool and/or vomiting on and off for the last couple weeks. Previous to the last couple of weeks, none of my current cats have had any vomiting episodes, beyond a hairball every few months.
How was your transition process to the new dry food? Many cats cannot have an abrupt shift. It could be that the food switch went too quickly. I have had to blend two bags of food for Magnus for two orders of food before.
 
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Lindsayj014

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Can you give them just the wet food for a couple days, hopefully get tummies settled down, and then see about adding back the old kibble?
I can try this. I did forget to mention that i've been giving the kitten a separate dry food, Solid Gold, but he hasn't been eating it that much lately so I'm sure hes eating the Purina as well. I have seen the other adult cats eat a little bit of the Solid Gold kibble as well but never that much. I have dry food out all the time for them because I had an issue with Jax not getting enough food due to one of the other cats eating so much when I took him in as a stray in May. I think this is what led to Jax's liver issues so I always make sure they have dry food available now. I do try to separate them as best as I can now when I feed them wet food and I make sure Jax gets his portions but I still worry sometimes that he doesn't get enough food but hes never had a huge appetite the 7 years I've had him and has always maintained a weight between 9-10 pounds.

I thought I would try a different dry food for him since he was on the Science Diet for a long time and always ate it but never that much. This new Purina food however, he seems to love, as do all of the other cats. Which is what makes it frustrating if it is the food that is causing all of the digestive issues they are having.

How was your transition process to the new dry food? Many cats cannot have an abrupt shift. It could be that the food switch went too quickly. I have had to blend two bags of food for Magnus for two orders of food before.
I will admit that I made the transition too fast initially. When I noticed the loose stool a couple weeks ago I started giving them more of the old food again but as of right now I'm putting more of the new food in the bowls than the dry food. Probably about 3/4 new, 1/4 old. Should I be doing the opposite? Its probably been about 3 weeks since I started them on the new food.
 

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If they start having issues I always backtrack. Usually just one step back so not the opposite but maybe 1/2 and 1/2.

If the food is not well digested, try giving less dry food at a time. Dry food does absorb liquid and bloat in the tummy, so if they eat too much too fast, about 30 minutes to 1 hr later, they will throw up. A cat's stomach is only the size of a ping-pong ball.
Magnus for example could only have about 10 peices of kibble at a time at first. Now he has about 25 peices.
 
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Lindsayj014

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Hello,

I'm having issues with my 8 year old cat Jax again, mostly with diarrhea. His stool was pretty normal all of October with no vomiting. He had a great amount of energy as well, the most ive seen from him since he was young, which is probably the b12 supplement I'm giving him. He's also taking Proviable Forte as well and that seemed to be working for a while. Last Monday, I gave him some Meowmix wet food to try that I gave the stray cats outside and the next day he threw up a very small amount of yellow/white foam and had soft serve like stool. But after a couple days that went away and he seemed fine. On Saturday, I gave him some Friskies wet food to try and he seemed to really like that but he also threw up the same type of foam the morning after (again a very small amount) and had diarrhea also. Could the new wet food be messing with his stomach if hes never had it before? I've gone back to what I normally give him now and he won't be getting any new food until I can speak with the vet.

As of last night, that has turned into watery diarrhea with terrible gas. I believe he did that twice last night about 4 hours apart but he hasn't gone since then. I did order some S. Boulardii for him after reading some of the posts here but I'm wondering if there is anything I can give him today until that gets delivered tomorrow? He has gone from 9.8 to 9.6 so not drastic but I dont want him to lose anymore weight. I do have a vet appt scheduled for him this Friday. I'm not sure if I should be too worried about his weight since he's always been somewhere between 9-10 pounds. The steroids he was on in July made him go up to 10.2 but after he was off them he went back to his normal weight of around 9.8.

I really think this might be IBD but he did have an ultrasound in July that showed no abnormalities in the intestines or around the stomach area and at his physical in September the vet didn't feel any masses or anything. His blood tests have been normal recently too. I guess I'm just asking for advice on what to give him today so he doesn't keep having these diarrhea episodes? As of this morning, his appetite was still pretty normal and he is acting pretty normal as well but seems to have a little discomfort in the abdomen area and is licking his anal area and his back legs quite a bit.
 
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Lindsayj014

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He's really sensitive there when i've tried to touch around that area to see how bad he's licking himself He doesn't have an stool stuck or anything in the area, it's mostly just red. Is there anything over the counter I can get him to help that area and relieve him from the discomfort the diarrhea is giving him until the S. Boulardii gets here tomorrow? Does IBD tend to come and go if he's not really on a special diet or taking anything for it? I have him on the Jackson Galaxy B12 supplement and the Proviable Forte but nothing else. When he was on the steroids and an antibiotic, they kinda messed with his mood at first but the diarrhea cleared up.

I haven't had experience with this type of issue. I have had two cats that have had cancer (one was FELV+ ) but both times they took a turn for the worse very quickly and didn't come back from it. But Jax has had symptoms since June right when I put my last cat with cancer down. He went to the vet in July and the symptoms cleared up in a couple weeks with steroids, liver supplements and an antiobiotic. He did have loose stool/diarrhea again for a week or so in September after he went off the steroids but that seemed to clear up with the B12 and probiotic and now hes having issues again. He started vomiting his food with hairballs for a week in September too but that cleared up within a few days after starting the probiotic. But now hes starting to throw up small bits of foam which he has never done. That has been once a week for the past two weeks. I've been dealing with issues with my cats since April of this year and its really starting to take a toll on me.

I'm really hoping the S. Boulardii helps. How much should I give him initially? Is it about 1/2 of a pill?
 

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I don't know the dosage of the boulardii, and I don't know for certain if IBD flares up and then calms down for a time.

You might try just warm water and a soft cloth. There are pet wipes but you'd want one with the absolute least ingredients. I'm also wondering if store bought unflavored chamomile tea (not garden grown which is unsafe for cats) might help ease his discomfort. It's safe if he licks it.
 

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For today, you can give him some plain yogurt. That's what I have given mine in the past when they've had diarrhea and it worked well. And if you have it on hand, slippery elm bark syrup is also good for diarrhea, Plus a bland diet, so perhaps baby food for a couple days, or make his food for a couple day by just poaching chicken breasts without seasonings or spices and then when it's cool chop it up and give it to him along with the broth. Or you can blend it in a blender if he prefers pate. This won't be nutritionally complete but that's ok for a few days.

IBD does cause flare-ups, but since he doesn't have thickening of the intestines, it doesn't seem as if it's IBD. I'll be anxious to hear what the Vet says.

The vomiting of foamy stuff in the morning is often indicative of excess stomach acid. Odd that only certain food would cause this. Definitely mention this to the Vet. What do you normally feed him?
 
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Lindsayj014

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The ultrasound that was done in July was a weird one. He had high liver enzymes so they charged me $75 to do an abdominal ultrasound which sounds very cheap. I know I paid more in May at a different vet when my other cat was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I was told they looked at everything because I specifically asked if the intestines looked thickened because I've been suspecting IBD since he started having these symptoms. Nothing looked abnormal then I guess, not the liver or anything else. I'm taking him to a cat specialist now so I'm hoping to get better answers now then I have been previously.

Jax eats about 1 1/5 to 2 cans of Fancy Feast a day and 1/4 to 1/3 cup of Purina Tender Selects Chicken dry food, which is always out. But I have 3 other cats so i'm not sure how much he actually eats of that. He has never had a big appetite at all and has always been very finicky but has somehow always maintained a good weight. He mainly likes chicken and tuna. I did change the dry food a couple months ago to a more budget friendly food. I was feeding them Science Diet Sensitive Skin and Stomach but that was mainly due to my cat who recently passed because she would throw up after meals occasionally and also had constipation on and off. I didn't really notice that Jax might have these issues as well until she passed away.

Jax has never really ate people food but i can certainly try the yogurt or baby food. He doesn't really care for pate either, he mainly just eats the gravy flavor. Since he is so picky, I just give him what he will eat. I've tried more nutritional wet cat food on him but he doesn't seem to care for it that much. He will only eat Fancy Feast. And now apparently Friskies too.
 
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