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- Nov 8, 2014
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I started posting here back in November about my cat Peanut's long term issues with vomiting. That issue is still not resolved with no clear diagnosis and is a roller coaster ride for sure. She seemed to be doing better with some dietary changes. I wanted to go raw eventually, but can't get the cats off kibble. So I at least had switched to Nature's Variety limited ingredient Turkey kibble. I tried tons of different wet foods being very careful about ingredients and even made home-cooked chicken with Alnutrin. I made bone-broth for them. I also switched to freeze-dried treats, in cooked chicken and raw rabbit. Peanut was taking her "Vet's Best Hairball Relief Digestive Aid" very well as a treat every day that has psyllium, slippery elm bark, and some probiotic and digestive enzymes. I thought we were doing better overall. She even went 3 weeks betweens vomits.
I kept trying to decrease their kibble meals to encourage them to eat more wet food, but they were stubborn and seemed less and less interested in the wet food. They started to loose a little weight and Peanut starting vomiting again about 1-2 times a week. In an attempt to peak their appetite I decided to try some new flavors and gave them some of the Fancy Feast Classics beef for a couple of days. I had been previously avoiding beef and fish since they are more likely to be irritants to an IBD cat, but was desperate to get them to eat more. The next day I wake up to find large piles of vomit. Peanut's brother Red is very agitated and vomiting multiple times, then he had some very watery diarrhea and no appetite. He was previously my best good little eater with no digestive issues. Later that day Peanut is vomiting, but continues to eat and have normal stool. So I figure this is just one of her normal flare ups, but very unusual for Red.
After two days Red is still eating hardly nothing at all and very lethargic. I take him to vet and they do an abdominal x-ray. Three vets looked at the x-ray and show it to me. There were very angular gas pockets in his intestines and they were all bunched up. They say it looks like he has eaten something like string that is stuck and cinching his intestines into a tight mass. They said it was possibly only inflammation, but the foreign body they suspected could do massive damage if not removed promptly. So he had surgery that day and they found no foreign body. His lymph node was very inflammed so they did a biopsy on it. It showed no cancer and also ruled out bacteria and fungal causes. Vet said it was most likely a viral cause that was either introduced or a latent infection flared for some reason?? He got an injectable antibiotic, anti-nausea meds and sent home feeling pretty crappy. Got home to find Peanut now had watery diarrhea as well and had vomited multiple times. We were told to give both cats the anti-nausea meds (ondansetron), but Peanut continued to vomit. I took her in for a shot of Cerenia and fluids. They both got the ondansetron and an appetite stimulant (mirtazapine) and finally started to eat and put some weight back on. Baby food helped kickstart Red's appetite too.
Red got his staples out today 10 days post op. We have had no vomiting with either cat, but still some lingering diarrhea issues to work on. Now my question is *** happened! They don't go outside or are around other cats. The beef is something they don't normally eat, but I wouldn't expect that severe of a reaction. My third cat (their brother) had no issues, and neither did the dog who regularly cleans up their leftovers. I don't leave wet food out longer that 20-30 minutes. The homemade food I made hadn't been served in over a week (and if anything I overcooked that rather than undercooked).
So now I am left trying to figure out what to do next. I am going to order some better probiotics to try after reading here about the Nexabiotic and S. boulardii. Maybe will get some of the slippery elm bark powder too. They seem to have developed an aversion to the Vet's Best pill after throwing up the psyllium bulked up vomit that day. I even opened a new bottle and it is still a no go. I will probably have trouble getting them to eat the supplements. They don't fall for hiding in treats, are so fussy with wet food, and the pilling I had to do so far is very unpleasant for them. I asked the vet about B-12 injections since I am willing to do that myself, but she said since Peanut usually just vomits with no diarrhea it isn't helpful for that.?? I am running out of ideas and any further advice would be helpful.
I kept trying to decrease their kibble meals to encourage them to eat more wet food, but they were stubborn and seemed less and less interested in the wet food. They started to loose a little weight and Peanut starting vomiting again about 1-2 times a week. In an attempt to peak their appetite I decided to try some new flavors and gave them some of the Fancy Feast Classics beef for a couple of days. I had been previously avoiding beef and fish since they are more likely to be irritants to an IBD cat, but was desperate to get them to eat more. The next day I wake up to find large piles of vomit. Peanut's brother Red is very agitated and vomiting multiple times, then he had some very watery diarrhea and no appetite. He was previously my best good little eater with no digestive issues. Later that day Peanut is vomiting, but continues to eat and have normal stool. So I figure this is just one of her normal flare ups, but very unusual for Red.
After two days Red is still eating hardly nothing at all and very lethargic. I take him to vet and they do an abdominal x-ray. Three vets looked at the x-ray and show it to me. There were very angular gas pockets in his intestines and they were all bunched up. They say it looks like he has eaten something like string that is stuck and cinching his intestines into a tight mass. They said it was possibly only inflammation, but the foreign body they suspected could do massive damage if not removed promptly. So he had surgery that day and they found no foreign body. His lymph node was very inflammed so they did a biopsy on it. It showed no cancer and also ruled out bacteria and fungal causes. Vet said it was most likely a viral cause that was either introduced or a latent infection flared for some reason?? He got an injectable antibiotic, anti-nausea meds and sent home feeling pretty crappy. Got home to find Peanut now had watery diarrhea as well and had vomited multiple times. We were told to give both cats the anti-nausea meds (ondansetron), but Peanut continued to vomit. I took her in for a shot of Cerenia and fluids. They both got the ondansetron and an appetite stimulant (mirtazapine) and finally started to eat and put some weight back on. Baby food helped kickstart Red's appetite too.
Red got his staples out today 10 days post op. We have had no vomiting with either cat, but still some lingering diarrhea issues to work on. Now my question is *** happened! They don't go outside or are around other cats. The beef is something they don't normally eat, but I wouldn't expect that severe of a reaction. My third cat (their brother) had no issues, and neither did the dog who regularly cleans up their leftovers. I don't leave wet food out longer that 20-30 minutes. The homemade food I made hadn't been served in over a week (and if anything I overcooked that rather than undercooked).
So now I am left trying to figure out what to do next. I am going to order some better probiotics to try after reading here about the Nexabiotic and S. boulardii. Maybe will get some of the slippery elm bark powder too. They seem to have developed an aversion to the Vet's Best pill after throwing up the psyllium bulked up vomit that day. I even opened a new bottle and it is still a no go. I will probably have trouble getting them to eat the supplements. They don't fall for hiding in treats, are so fussy with wet food, and the pilling I had to do so far is very unpleasant for them. I asked the vet about B-12 injections since I am willing to do that myself, but she said since Peanut usually just vomits with no diarrhea it isn't helpful for that.?? I am running out of ideas and any further advice would be helpful.