Dry Heaves?

[rexinminn]

Punkin is 14 1/2 and in great shape, showing a strong appetite (a good thing after her debacle with an allergic reaction to medicine last Fall) and a lot of energy. She's very healthy. But for the past several months she has started to exhibit "dry heaves," esp. after I have picked her up and put her back down again. I've been a cat owner most of my life and believe I know how to pick up a cat, but I'm obviously doing something that is exciting this reflex in her which often leads to her spitting up a hairball. Once on the floor she will crouch and begin this "gasping" which I liken to the dry heaves. It is on the exhale only, a kind of wheezing. It will go on for about a minute and then she'll either throw up a hairball or the symptoms will simply cease. I comfort her when she's doing this on occasion and she does not see averse to this. She has never been averse to my picking her up or any of the play we engage in, esp. with her sister, Peanut. Because of the bad experience with the vet last fall (she wouldn't eat after I gave her medicine prescribed by Dr. Camp of the Andover Veterinary (MN) and then after the clinic called to check on Punkin I told them she wasn't eating, and Dr. Camp never called us back, so I'm reluctant to go back to a vet. Plus I think they'll just give us medicine again which will only make things worse. I'm not completely against vets, hardly, but I want to do what I can on my own first. Why might this be happening to her? Punkin and Peanut both eat raw food produced locally (Woody's) and are indoor cats who are otherwise very healthy, happy cats.

We occasionally give them fresh catnip. Maybe we should be giving them more of it??

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I don't know why after all these years Punkin is getting hairballs if she hasn't always had them, but the dry heaves are what Feeby does related to hairballs. She rarely throws up one, but I think the dry heaves are her attempt to do so, but she is 'dislodging' the placement of the hairball's location, enabling her to swallow it and then it passes. That is my guess anyway.

I feed her Temptations Hairball Control Treats daily, but in the past I have also given my cats a dab of Vaseline from my finger or placed on their paw to lick off, maybe twice a week. If not Vaseline, there are malt flavored pastes that are probably more palatable to cats than Vaseline (I just happened to have one cat who LOVED it). You can also try a dab of butter or margarine administered the same way as the Vaseline, to help her pass hairballs. Initially you could give her a dab for a few days in a row, and then back off to a couple of times a week.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Since you are a raw feeder, I'm guessing thinking of giving them something "unnatural" for hairballs isn't up your alley, but have you thought about giving her (or them) a raw egg yolk a couple times a week. It's good for hairball control and might help. I actually give my boys this EZ Egg Yolk because they don't like raw egg yolks. Also, I use Vet's Best Hairball and Digestive Health, which I think is much better and healthier than other hairball "treats", and they like them. Ingredients include slippery elm bark and marmallow root.

 

[kittenmittens84]

My previously hairball-prone cat started getting a little dab of vaseline every 3-4 days, and never had another hairball for the rest of her life. Like FeebysOwner said, my cat also LOVED the taste of vaseline, so I saw no point in buying hairball paste/treats that were mostly flavored petrolatum anyway.

Actually I used to put vaseline on a q tip and use it to remove particularly stubborn waterproof eye makeup, and one day I lifted up my living room rug only to discover a small pile of Q tip sticks and shredded bits of cotton underneath. Turns out my cat had been stealing the vaseline covered q tips from my bathroom trash, licking and grooming them, and then stashing the remnants under the rug for the better part of a year LOL

 

[maggie101]

My cat does that almost every morning then usually spits up water and fur. Since I have been giving her proviable DC she only does that twice a month.

 

[rexinminn]

Thanks for this. I do believe it is hairball related and that as she ages she's just not as efficient at getting rid of them. The ones she spits up tend to be small (by an earlier standard) and some are formless, but nonetheless there, you can tell esp. after the fluid dries and all that's left is fur. We do have the hairball remedy but I'm somewhat averse to using it. But after your note I think I'll try it again. Thanks again!

 

[rexinminn]

You're right, I'm somewhat averse to using treats for hairball control, and I do give both cats egg yolk from my own plate (breakfast) but it's very minimal...both cats are very attracted to it, not sure if it's the actual yolk or perhaps the salt I cook my eggs with. But I truly appreciate your other suggestions as well, always good to have a few more arrows in the quiver!

 

[rexinminn]

That is a great story! Thanks for adding a bit of kitty humor to the conversation. I will definitely be trying the vaseline trick. I think it's totally weird that cats are attracted to this stuff, one might thing it were toxic (petroleum??) but I'm game for trying it based on what you and other people here are saying about it. Thanks again!

 

[darg]

Find a different vet and bring the cat in for a check-up. There may very well be nothing wrong with the cat other than hairballs. But, especially when they get older, it's wise to have a check up with the vet every so often. At least once a year even when everything seems fine. Just the physical exam if that's all you want. You aren't obligated have any tests run if you don't want to.

 

[rexinminn]

I'm just about there. Actually had an appointment for this morning with a new vet but my wife wound up needing the car. That's actually OK because it gives me time to experiment with the other hairball remedies a bit, which would give us more information when we finally DO make it to the vet. Thanks for the reply!