Hairball or something else?

[Time 2 Recognize]

Hi all,
I posted this thread end of last week detailing a visit to a local vet for an ear that had been scratched bald. The vet gave my girl .5cc penicillin, .5cc dexamethasone steroids and an oral pill. She had a bad reaction, which included ripping out hair from around the injection area (about 1 inch by 1/5 inch rectangle) and I was able to get in touch with the regular vet (who I thought was on holiday vacation when I went to this other one). ANYWAY..she definitely ate the fur she ripped out, because it was no where around our living quarters. I'm pretty attentive to her letterbox and did notice stools that had a fair bit of hair (I used gloved to check two occasions).

It took 5-6 days for her to start acting like herself again, which seems to coincide with the half life of the dexamethasone leaving her system. She started acting 90-100% normal yesterday. Personality and energy came back. She's been eating just fine through this thankfully and she eats wet food with occasional dry or freeze dried treats. Since this though, she has had 2-3 moments in the last week of seeming nauseous and kinda wet burping.

So today, I gave her breakfast around 10am. She ate just fine and is active. I work from home so I've been around to monitor her. About 30 minutes ago/ 1:20pm, as I was in the bathroom and unable to see exactly what happened (naturally), she vomited a small amount of clear liquid and a bit of food, plus what I think was a teeny tiny bit of hair. Definitely not enough to be considered a hairball. I felt her tummy, no negative reaction from her and feels normal...She's a few months shy of 2 years old and had hairball once before 2-3 weeks ago that she threw up, but I don't remember noticing her having nausea episodes in days prior. Just vomit one morning and there the fur-cylinder was with a bunch of goop.

First time cat mom. How do I know it's a hairball and when do I get concerned? I have hairball gel...should I ask vet before giving to her? I literally just rescheduled a vet appointment from today to next Wednesday and it's the only vet I kinda trust in the surrounding area.

 

[JamesCalifornia]

~ Personally I would not be very concerned unless kitty shows more symptoms. Medications can cause different reactions for a while. You are keeping a close eye on her and can always call the Doc if necessary.
My cats sometimes spit up a little for unknown reasons.

 

[huxleysmom]

Trust me, first time cat owner or not, when your cat throws up a hair ball, you’ll know. If you’re around when it happens, you’ll hear it. My cat Sophie had two and each time she did, she made some weird coughing noises a few days before hand (not sure that always happens though) and when she puked it, it was a very different sound from regular throwing up noise. Second of all, you’ll most likely see it. First time I saw it, at first I thought it was a small dead animal or maybe a large insect she vomited whole and then it looked like poop (sorry for the gross detail.) only after I got close do it did I realize what it was: a gross, slimey ball of hair. Lovely.

 

[Time 2 Recognize]

Thank you guys! She's napping now so will just keep an eye on her. Yeah I missed the vomit in action so I didnt hear if it sounded like the hairball scenario from a few weeks back... I definitely remember that sound. I woke up to it and was like "OMG WHAT ARE YOU SUMMONING" and then found her pointing me to the tubular slime pile. Lol.

She's just of age where hairballs are more a thing now so I'm still getting used to it. I'm scared about if it were to become an impaction issue? I had been giving the gell stuff once a week but stopped after the wayward vet scenario from last week just to keep variables to a minimum until she felt better.

 

[JamesCalifornia]

~ You can also give an eyedropper of olive oil to lube kitty

 

[Time 2 Recognize]

Okidoke so she took a long nap and was pretty much in sleep/rest mode for several hours. I got her out for a tiny treat (I don't want to give her dry stuff if its hairball or whatever) and a couple minutes of light play. But she shortly after went back into her carrier and has been in there sleeping since. So since around 3pm until now 10:47pm. Now I'm getting worried that she isnt feeling well and I'm not sure from what....I shouldn't have canceled the vet today...I will call in the morning and likely be up all night worried and watching her.

I gave her some laxatone several hours ago. Like a regular dose amount. Not sure if I should give more or if I should give dinner or not... Any advice please?

 

[MissClouseau]

They don't always actually throw up hair when there's a hairball-related problem. Sometimes they don't throw up anything but just feel nauseous. I am not familiar with Laxatone but I use GimCat Extra Malt Paste Soft daily/almost daily depending on the season, and it works fine for Hima.

I remember reading in another thread you change her wet food almost daily. Is it still the same? One of them might be working poorly for her, even if it worked well in the past. Food intolerance alone might cause nausea, IBS, gastritis,... Did they do blood test to check her liver, gallbladder, pancreas, etc the last time you were there?

And for wet burps, this is probably not the main reason right now but, I realized this year my cat gets tummy ache over gas cramps and has (more) wet burps when she eats wet food on her own. I believe it's because she swallows more hair when she eats by herself. In case your kitty has any tummy ache or gas, maybe try giving wet food by handfeed or smaller meals and see if there is any improvement.

 

[Time 2 Recognize]

Ok, thank you. No she's never had a blood test to check those things or a full CBC panel in general. She ate dinner and ended up becoming her 80% her normal self and wanting to play a bit at like 1am. But she slept through the night with me (most of the time she wakes up before me and goes window gazing or something) and is a bit lower than normal energy today. It's also rainy though. I just called my vets office and apparently they are closed today. I shouldn't have canceled yesterday (she was happy go lucky up till 1:30pm so I thought it would be ok).

Yes I do regularly change her food and actually, the evening before and morning of yesterday she had 1/2 can of a salmon pate from a brand she likes (I don't feed fish based foods usually but it was new years celebration thing). She has had salmon before without issue, but it was months ago so perhaps it wasn't to her liking. But it could also be the steroid shot still wearing off from last Thursday or withdrawal of it maybe because I believe it should be clear of her system, by now. I don know.

She had one wet burp coming down from her cat tree after breakfast today. She did eat less this morning but I also didn't put her normal topper on it. I don't know what to do because there isnt anywhere else I trust really. I'm supposed to be gone all day tomorrow, but will email vet/leave voicemail and if they can see us tomorrow I'll cancel my plans