Chronic Vomiting

corvidae

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Hi everyone,
I’ve posted before about my cat Jem’s penchant for throwing up after eating. Jem is a ~7 year old neutered male cat who is very high energy and full of life- he loves to play, to learn tricks, and to cuddle. We adopted him in August 2018 from the SPCA, and ever since he throws up within 10-15 minutes of eating, at intervals between once every two weeks and twice a week. This behaviour has remained consistent, and the notes from the shelter even mention him throwing up there. We have a whole lot of methods to slow his eating: he eats dry food out of a little maze bowl and his wet food is smushed into a mat meant for dog enrichment. Even with that, I give him several “breaks” during breakfast to try to prevent his vomiting, to varying degrees of success.
At his first vet clinic, his vomiting was never really commented on, but this past spring we switched to a different clinic.The new vet seemed much more concerned with Jem’s vomiting, especially because we do have so many measures to slow him down. She recommended laxatone in case vomiting was from too much hair ingestion (he is a meticulous groomer and also bathes another of our cats regularly). That made no difference to his vomiting frequency. The latest intervention was a switch to a sensitive stomach food - Royal Canin’s hypoallergenic dry and Royal Canin’s VR selected protein for wet. Admittedly, he was still getting one freeze dried chicken treat sprinkled on his breakfast (he has me well trained), but during the last 5 weeks on these foods he has stayed exactly the same as far as vomiting frequency.
I called the vet today to get their okay with taking him off the prescription food, expecting them to agree it doesn’t seem to be an issue. Instead, the vet wants Jem to come in to take another look at him. Since our previous vets were never this concerned about Jem’s vomiting, this has me worried - I don’t want to ignore a sign of something bigger that’s wrong, but I also don’t want to shell out hundreds/thousands of dollars for stressful tests just to end up at “yeah some cats are just like that.”
I would greatly appreciate any advice you all have, or questions I should ask the vet when I bring him in - his appointment is January 4.
 

dragonlady2

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We had the same issue with our torti. Ocassional “vomitIng” after meals.I realized, after some research, it wasn’t vomiting, but regurgitation. Some factors were any change to routine, high winds, loud noises etc. I raised her food dish from the floor so she didn’t have to bend over so far. I feed her 4 small feedings ( mashed down) and I finally found a food she liked a lot. She still has the occasional episode, but I have tried homeopathy, meds...just didn’t feel right. She is just high strung and we have worked around her issues as much as possible.One thing I done, is remove any food containing carragenen ( sp?) as for some cats it creates a problem in their digestIive track. This may or may not help with your situation...just some thoughts.

We also went the vet...same deal as you. A few hundred dollars later, blood tests and no answers. The cat is doing much better...less stressed and we will play it by ear. This was also the same situation with our calico. Food change, schedule change and adding pumpkin to her diet to help with hair balls has totally changed the cat. No kibble for either.
Good luck in your search For answers.
 
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fionasmom

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I am going to address only the vet angle of your post as it is certainly a valid concern. Personally, in case this new vet is smarter than the average bear, I would not ignore their concern. However, I would ask for specifics as to what is suspected, treatment plans given various scenarios, and would also have a discussion about what you can afford. I would not pay for throwing a lot of money at the wall to see what sticks; at least work from a good suspicion based on some evidence.

Aside from the continual vomiting, Jem does not sound like a sick cat. I don't think you are taking his life in your hands by asking the vet to clarify what concerns her and going from there.
 

arr

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I’ll be watching this thread with interest because we have a cat that does the same. Regurgitation, shortly after eating, averages anywhere from two to seven times a month. In every other way she is completely fine. Energetic, playful, normal poop and pee, no other vomiting. Unlike your vet, my vet discouraged running a bunch of tests because in his experience, it’s hard to find an answer for cats like mine. He says some cats are just prone to regurgitation. He said we could try a sensitive stomach formula and it made absolutely no difference. What’s really frustrating is she’s not even eating fast, she is a slow, relaxed eater. We feed her in a raised bowl. We’ve tried different varieties of food and she enjoys it all, she’s not picky, but it makes no difference to her regurgitation. Ive pretty much decided that unless she starts acting sick, I’m not going to worry about it. I assembled a clean up caddy for each floor of the house and bought a carpet cleaner for really bad ones, and I just go with it.
 

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I have 2 cats just like this. Kid you not, I have to feed bothon small increments. VERY small. Like I can't give more than 20 or so kibbles at once, and then I have to wait 15-20 minutes in between each feeding.
Yes, I am a stay-at-home cat momma.😄 They were both outside stray cats, and my vet said their woofing down food without even biting it could be a learned behavior. Pretty much, I'm just screwed to this kind of schedule the rest of their lives.
I had a cat with intestinal Cancer that used to throw up daily too. She used Pred daily for 4yrs. Until I was told about & researched cbd oil. Her last year and a half we ditched the steroids (though still on chemo drugs) and the cbd oil kept her from getting sick every day.
 
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corvidae

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Thanks for your input everybody! Now that you all are mentioning the regurgitation/vomiting distinction, I’m wondering if I clarified that to the vet last time I was on the phone… it’s definitely in his file, but maybe it’s worth bringing up again at our appointment. Either way, hopefully I can get a clearer understanding of what she’s worried about with Jem on Tuesday.
 
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corvidae

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Hey everyone! An update, as promised: we went to the vet yesterday, and she was really helpful explaining what she is looking for/why it’s important. She said that in decades past, vets might just have said “some cats barf a lot” and moved along, but apparently veterinary science is getting to a place where they’re thinking even things like hairballs, while obviously common, aren’t “normal”
With Jem specifically, she wants to make sure he’s not experiencing inflammatory bowel disease, which can turn into lymphoma - or that if he is, we find a way to help him. Jemmy was SO GOOD at the vet- he had home sedation (gabapentin and zylkene), but we ended up there for much longer than expected because as we were almost done driving through a snowstorm to get there, we got a call that there was an emergency that required surgery so his appointment was pushed back an hour. We sat in the car listening to calming cat music and he did so well!
The vet said the first steps are a blood panel and urinalysis, so we collected samples for that- I figure even if they don’t show anything it’s good to have bloodwork as a baseline. The next step would be imaging, and the vet made a great case for why ultrasound would be more cost effective than an X-ray, since X-rays don’t show a ton of detail and if we started with that we would likely have to do an ultrasound after anyways.
I think there are further/more expensive tests if everything from those comes up normal, but we are going to talk about that when we get there. His blood and urine results should be back today or tomorrow, and I’ll keep you folks updated!
 

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Thank you for the update. You are right; the US is a better diagnostic tool for this and, even if you do the x ray, a US will almost immediately be recommended.
 
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corvidae

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Jem’s blood and urinalysis came back excellent! On the one hand, that’s good to know, and on the other, that means we need to proceed with imaging. I’m going to call to figure out a time for an ultrasound. I’m attaching the actual report because I thought it was really cool!
733D580E-466B-43BB-98FC-AEFB25FB55EC.jpeg
 
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corvidae

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I brought Jem in for his ultrasound this morning. I just got a call from one of the vet assistants that the oral sedation wasn't enough for Jem, and that he's extremely stressed. I gave them permission to give him an IV sedative so they can complete the ultrasound safely for him and the staff. I hung up the phone and teared up - I feel like such an awful dad for putting him through this. I really hope it gives us some answers.
 

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You are not a bad dad!! You are, in fact, a GOOD DAD!!!! You are doing what is necessary to help your baby!

Do not think of it that way.. I know how you feel.. I have been thought this, too often...

((hugs)))
 
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corvidae

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Jeez, what a day! Finally at home safe with Jem. Because of the IV sedation they kept him longer than anticipated and even contemplated keeping him overnight. He’s home and hungry and happy now so that’s a relief to my sensitive heart!
I haven’t gotten to talk to his vet yet- I’m going to try to call her tomorrow to go over what’s going on. From the brief notes on his discharge and what the tech told me, his ultrasounds look totally healthy. The next steps would be sending the images to a specialist- and I think unless the doctor makes a good case for doing that I’m happy to stop our investigation here. It turns out Jem might just be more of a barf-y cat than others. I’ll update once I hear from the vet tomorrow, but for now, some well earned rest. Looking forward to not having to wake up at 5 tomorrow- that is when I had to give him the oral sedative today!
 

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You are a great cat daddy! Don't let the sedation thing throw you off. Jamie has often needed that for his ultrasounds which are somewhat regularly donr. I now just give permission to knock him out however they need to in order to get a clear result.
 
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corvidae

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Back with an update- it took a while to get the image interpretation. This is what the vet wrote:
28C7CCB5-FFDD-46C9-AC1C-3CD6AED061E7.jpeg

I’m not sure what I’d like to do as far as next steps. The hypoallergenic food did not seem to help- I’m wondering if something like RAWZ or another single protein food would be worth a try? Right now he’s on Dr.Elsey’s cleanprotein kibble and Nulo medalseries pate wet- the Nulo does have multiple protein sources in each recipe. I would love to hear your thoughts!
 

artiemom

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I am a little confused with the first paragraph of the report.

There are 5 layer of mucosa seen. For me, that would be normal. Then it goes on to describe what it would look like if there were cancer. Nothing about Jen having a thickened mucosa—- which ; I know is IBD.

To me, a retired Ultrasound Tech , and having a prior cat with IBD and mega colon, it seems like a normal report.

Especially at the end when he says he is happy to share the good news. But then explains a novel protein diet!!!

Just my thoughts.
If it were me, I would call for clarification.

In order to see if a food novel protein diet would be helpful is to try one for at least 6 weeks.

Unfortunately, with ALL the Current Supply issues; it is impossible to get novel protein food.

You can try Rawz. It seems expensive. I would stick to one protein source. Be a bit careful with ingredients — read labels.

Try omitting chicken and fish.
Perhaps try some duck?

I am having the same issues regarding vomiting with my current guy. His ultrasound and all tests came back negative.

I feed him prescription rabbit which is in a worldwide shortage. I am going crazy.

Never fed hydrolozed food. It may be an option.

MY gut feeling is that my guy has an emptying issue along with gastric reflux—acid reflux.

Good luck.
I hope this helps a bit.
 
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corvidae

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Thanks so much for your help, artiemom artiemom ! Yeah, that is confusing now you point it out. We tried the special diet for 4 weeks but could always try again and be more attentive with treats/etc… but I’ll definitely give the vet a call tomorrow when they open up to see if I can get some clarification. He is still vomiting but also still doing fine in every other way.
 

fionasmom

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IBDKitties – Helping Save Lives…One Paw at a Time

This website may be of some help, but I would do what artiemom artiemom is suggesting as a first step. I also wondered about the explanation, although I am not saying that you vet is incorrect.

The way I am reading the report, however, does say that there is a thickened mucosal layer and the presence of hyperechoic striations. As I see this, he is applying it to your cat.....unless he is generally talking about what can be seen in ultrasounds from time to time.
 
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