Consistent Vomiting - switch food every 3 weeks

[FelicitysMom]

My cat is one year old and has been consistently visiting the vet every 3 weeks or so since 3 months old. She is a chronic vomiter. It always involves food; she always vomits within 30 minutes of eating. We started with a slow feeder - no improvement. Went to I/D food where she went 18 days with no vomit, then started back up with vomiting daily and looking “sad” and acting lethargic every time she ate a meal. We switched to hydrolyzed protein diet and same thing... after ~3 weeks of no issues, the vomiting started again. Just recently tried Gastrointestinal Biome food with probiotic supplement and same thing.... 3 weeks on the mark of no issues we are back to vomiting and lethargy almost every meal. Vet has run tests showing no issues blood-wise - only a slight elevation of Cobalamin AND folate....
We are about at wits end with the vet visits and the consistency of every 2-3 weeks dealing with an unhappy and pukey cat.
HELP.

 

[FeralHearts]

Hi! Firstly I am so very sorry you and kitty are going through this. It's I'm sure frustrating and stressful for you both.

How have you been doing the food transitions? Slowly - or just changing?

Have you tried novel proteins / carbs?

Have they checked kitty for bowel / intestinalis issues?

Is she eating too fast is that why you tried the slow feeder?

Have they / you considered an ultrasound at this stage?

I assume kitty is drinking fine? Not constipated or stuff up with fur balls?

 

[FelicitysMom]

Totally stressful!

Slowly transition over 5 days each time - she never vomits when we switch. It seems to make her happier when she gets more of the new food

what is the difference between novel protein/carb? - we tried the hydrolyzed protein diet and it did not do anything

I have not moved forward with the biopsy of the intestines/stomach. She’s so young and her life has been so vet-centric, I’m not ready to do that yet. - we did do the GI blood panel and that’s where they saw the slight elevation in cobalamin and folate

slow feeder/eating too fast was debunked as the issue. We did slow feeder, dry and wet food and she eats all at a normal pace

we have done X-rays for obstructions, not ultrasound. What could this show?

no issues with drinking or pooping... although the hydrolyzed protein diet did make her constipated. Her poops have been amazing on the Gastrointestinal Biome food, so disappointed it’s no longer working

 

[FeralHearts]

Novel carb / change in proteins would be search for a sensitivity / allergy. Hydrolyzed protein is great for eliminating a protein allergy most of the time but if it's an allergy it's just like people - could be anything from a grain to an additive to - you name it. Novel just means something she has never been exposed to before. Kangaroo for example. Sadly if it's a serious allergy to something building up in her system - it could be anything. So trial and error is all you can do there .... and you've been doing that.

Ultrasound can show many things and less evasive then the biopsy. It could show thickening of intensities, ulcers can show (but those may show on an x-ray too). It may give a better view than an xray as some things. Something to talk about with the vet if they think it may find something for you. I just put my baby through that rather than a biospy. They saw enough to get an idea on what was going on intestinally. Worth the discussion.

Cats toss cookies at constipation. Though if she wasn't always often constipated that's not going to explain it.

Honestly - I'm tossing out any idea I can for you as this is a bit mysterious.

I'm hoping someone comes along that has had a similar issue to what your experiencing and shed some light for you as my heart breaks for you.

 

[FeralHearts]

Apologies for the double post but I thought of something else.

I never want to assume but she's been tested for Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth ? or Gardenia?

What about adding a probiotic?

or .. and I'm just experimenting with this now wth one of my girls. Raw? Not kidding. It scares the bejezzus outta me but she's doing well on it and I'm being careful.. another possible option to try?

 

[SwissMiss]

Two different cats I had/have developed severe vomiting. With the 2nd one especially I tried lots of different diets. Your cat may have inflammatory bowel disease which in cats refers to the whole digestive system not just the bowels. Perhaps ask the vet to test for this in the least invasive way. Mine both got better with life long medicine - sometimes a steroid calms things down. The one that worked for my cats was prednisolone. I wouldn't suggest this right off the bat but it sounds like you've tried lots of different diets etc. and you and your poor kitty are having such a hard time.

 

[maggie101]

My cat is one year old and has been consistently visiting the vet every 3 weeks or so since 3 months old. She is a chronic vomiter. It always involves food; she always vomits within 30 minutes of eating. We started with a slow feeder - no improvement. Went to I/D food where she went 18 days with no vomit, then started back up with vomiting daily and looking “sad” and acting lethargic every time she ate a meal. We switched to hydrolyzed protein diet and same thing... after ~3 weeks of no issues, the vomiting started again. Just recently tried Gastrointestinal Biome food with probiotic supplement and same thing.... 3 weeks on the mark of no issues we are back to vomiting and lethargy almost every meal. Vet has run tests showing no issues blood-wise - only a slight elevation of Cobalamin AND folate....
We are about at wits end with the vet visits and the consistency of every 2-3 weeks dealing with an unhappy and pukey cat.
HELP.
[/QUOTE

What kind of cat do you have? Does she lick her food or eat in pieces? My cat peaches is a licker and eats fast so pate she throws up but not shredded chicken or ground meat like farmina venison,turkey,or quail in pumpkin. Maggie is tall and eats prices of meat. Coco has a small mouth and eats close to the ground only pate. She has trouble eating shredded. Except for Coco their bowls are elevated. Feeding them late at night with a timer has really helped my cat that used to eat fast

 

[FelicitysMom]

Apologies for the double post but I thought of something else.

I never want to assume but she's been tested for Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth ? or Gardenia?

What about adding a probiotic?

or .. and I'm just experimenting with this now wth one of my girls. Raw? Not kidding. It scares the bejezzus outta me but she's doing well on it and I'm being careful.. another possible option to try?

Definitely plan on bringing up the novel carb idea and probably just continuing to try a bunch of different foods until we find one that sticks.
The vet did suspect Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth, but normally cobalamin is depleted with this and she had slightly high cobalamin and folate..... her current food that she just started throwing up was a prebiotic formula and we were also adding in Proviable probiotic...