Help! Poorly Kitten Can't Keep Anything Down

[Cynthia11]

So, on Thursday my 8 month old kitten threw up for the first time, came up with a little hairball and two pieces of what I've now identified as a piece from a toy that I've since removed and thrown away. These pieces were soft.

Friday he threw up twice, once coming up with another, larger hairball, food and more pieces from that devil toy, this time what roughly resembles short pieces of that glittery, stringy Christmas decoration (what's it called?). Took him and that hair/stuff to the vet. No temperature, belly felt normal, sent him home with digestive food and some medication.

After that he ate and kept down two portions of his normal food, pooped. But since Saturday, I don't think he's kept anything down, it's all coming back up, undigested. No more hairballs and no more toy pieces are coming up, just food and bile.

He's definitely hungry, he tries to lick his food and eats some treats, but then just chucks it back up. He's moderately active, but sleepy and clingy. As I'm typing he's laid down on my arm to sleep after chucking up what I think is the only thing he's eaten today, a couple of treats and a few bites of food. He's been sleeping deeper than usually, which makes sense, poor thing must be hungry and exhausted.

I was boiling him some chicken and broth to try, as he's not keeping the vet's food down (which i suspected, he's raw fed and they gave him some Hill's, which is so different). He won't touch his usual food now though.

I'm so worried, do I take him to the emergency vet? I will definitely be going tomorrow in any case.

 

[Jem]

He may have a blockage from the tinsel or a left over piece of the toy.
First thing - Get rid of ALL the tinsel in your home and never use it again. Every. Last. Piece. That stuff is an ER visit in the making for animals. Our cat ate some once, and we were very lucky that we did not need surgery, that he passed it eventually. But it was scary.

When he pooped on Friday, what did it look like? Was there anything in it?
I know you already took him to the vet, but at the time he may not have been completely blocked, and whatever was still in there is now stuck. Has he pooped again yet?
They may need to do x-rays to see if there is something stuck, if I understand correctly from your post, they only did a physical examination??

 

[Cynthia11]

Thank you, Jem.

I don't own any tinsel, nor any Christmas decoration, strings etc in general. I initially had no clue where he could possibly have found any, turned the whole place upside down. It turns out it was a usually unloved toy that came home with him from the breeder, which we never noticed is clearly not safe. It's spent most of its time forgotten in a corner. It has little pom poms on it, which include some tinsel-like material. I was horrified. He never played with it and I never even noticed that bloody stuff until now. So, so mad at myself for not noticing it sooner. Devil toy.

His poop on Friday was normal, I believe, normal little firm turd. He didn't poop on Saturday - he usually poops about once a day.

Yes, vet only did a physical exam.

Tried giving him some boiled chicken now, but he doesn't want to eat. He's sleeping now, again.

 

[Jem]

Good on you about the tinsel stuff, I was just making sure.

How long were the little bits of tinsel like stuff from the toy?? The good news, and I'm only hypothesizing this, if it came from a fuzzy ball, they can't be very long, so hopefully it would not be enough to get stuck. But if it had "stuffing" in the center, that could be hard to pass, especially if it mixed with his own fur causing a nasty hairball.
Between what was left of the toy and what you got from his vomit, do you think that's all of it?
Sometimes plain pumpkin puree can help calm an upset tummy, and help with constipation and hairballs, but you have to ensure he has plenty of water too. The pumpkin binds the stool and draws more water into the colon to help pass things along.
One other thing that I have done in a pinch, although I don't like the idea of doing too often, but a small glob of Vaseline (petroleum jelly) can help pass whatever might be backing him up, if he has something in there. It is safe, but as I said, I don't like doing it as a long term solution for constipation or hairball issues. They don't absorb it, it just lubricates the colon as it passes thru the system, hopefully bringing the poop with it.
If he's still grooming himself, just smear it on his paw and he should lick it up. Cat's tend to not like greasy feeling things on their fur.

 

[Kflowers]

The one upside here is that most cats actually like the taste of Vaseline. There's a good chance he'll just like that right down.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
I'm not suggesting this in place of a vet visit, but maybe something here will get him started eating again.

Sit with your cat and scoop some food on your finger or a spoon and hopefully your kitty will lick it. Or gently tuck some food inside the cheek.

(You might want to double-check with your vet just to be sure these things below are ok for your kitty).

Try some raw egg yolk. Egg white must always be cooked, and some people cook the white and make a slurry of sorts by adding in the raw yolk.

Also you could try some Nutri-cal or similar product.

Try making the Pedialyte here;
tent test for dehydration and home-made pedialyte recipe - The Daily Kitten

Also, try making one of these;
Kitten Glop Recipes - Supplementing Cats and Kittens with nutritious formula you make at home: presented by Bengal Cat breeder Foothill Felines. --This website has a number of kitten glop recipes, with ingredients that you may very well have in your house.

These can be used on their own or combined with food. Also, as mentioned if you heat the food a little - stir it so there aren't any hot spots from the microwave.

Or you could heat some water, about a tablespoon, and add that to canned food. A small glass works to stir it all up.

• Chicken, beef or ham flavored baby food such as Gerber Stage 2 - make sure there is no garlic or onions in the ingredients

• Tuna and/or the juice, a low mercury/low/no sodium brand is called SafeCatch

• Salmon, mackerel

• Sardines (make sure there are no bones)

• boiled cut up chicken or turkey with no seasonings

• canned kitten food any brand

• Try mixing in Kitten Milk Replacer - there are recipes on the internet or store bought

• Fish, tuna or BBQ flavored canned wet food (I personally have never seen BBQ flavors, but...)

• Lickable cat treats or pouch treat 'gravy' poured over the food

• kitten glop (recipes in website link above)
• Bonito flakes
• fortiflora
• fish oil
• green beans, asparagus mushed up

• goat milk, or no lactose cow milk
• whole cooked eggs (the white must always be cooked) or raw egg yolk now and then
• broth with no salt and no garlic or onion or seasonings of any kind
• There are also commercial toppers, Applaws is a brand that can work well as a topper
  
• Some good treats would be freeze dried Purebites, Orijen, Meowtinis, Meowables, Only Natural Pet, Primal

• There are also Lickimats that you could spread types of soft food onto, even plain unflavored yogurt, and even freeze it. Licking something can help a cat to feel better emotionally The LickiMat - Food Puzzles for Cats
• shredded cheddar cheese

 

[Cynthia11]

Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions! I appreciate it!

First, an update: I ended up going to the emergency vet, they did another checkup and an x ray.

- he does have something still stuck in his stomach which isn't obstructive, but obviously is very likely what's causing the continued vomiting.
- he does still have some poop to pass, but the cursed thing is not among it.
- he'll have another x ray tomorrow to see if it has moved at all.
- he's not dehydrated at the moment and he is still drinking, but not eating. He's refusing his usual treats (an assortment of freeze dried treats), favourite foods, chicken broth, boiled chicken with broth, vet pouches, and those sticks with liquid treats.
- he's thrown up some foam/bile after we came home.
- I got him to lick up some vaseline and I got him to have some pumpkin puree as well as his medication (if he didn't spit it out again or is planning to - so far so good)
- the horror of having pumpkin and a tablet forced on him shocked him enough to hungrily crunch on a few Dreamies. Not exactly nutritious, but it's something. Finger crossed they stay down.

Jem The tinsel bits were very thin and quite short, maybe 2 cm once pulled free from the fuzz ball. They almost look like ordinary fuzz, which is probably why I missed them. Once they fall out, they're easy to miss. So i think that's why they combined themselves with the hairball he threw up and luckily it seems they aren't causing any blockage, if there are more of them.

I'm currently examining the toy again and it may be that he ripped off and ate a fuzz ball. That could potentially be the thing still stuck inside. It's not very big and it is soft. Maybe 1 cm long at most and less wide than that. I imagine he'll have a hard time passing it though, unless he eats a reasonable amount of food to move it through. It would make sense, since the tinsel fibres in it are probably tickling and irritating his stomach, prompting the throwing up. Having an empty stomach is probably making it worse. I'm contemplating trying some cat foods which produce large or at least larger stool volume, to give it a vehicle to ride out on, so to speak. I'm guessing that his normal foods just didn't produce enough stool for the thing to get swept along.
Problem is getting him to eat that food. He wasn't keen at all on the vet food. I might grab some Felix or something.

Furballsmom Thank you for reminding me about egg yolks! I will try giving him one, he does like them. I'll work my way through your massive list of suggestions as well, hopefully something will get him to eat.

K Kflowers oh really, I did not know that! You may be right, while he did look at me like I'd finally lost my mind, he did not seem that unhappy to lick it. Happier than he was about the pumpkin lol

 

[Kflowers]

Well, this is good news. Right? It's amazing the things that turn out not to be cat friendly.

What might he like that would give the whatever a bit of a push?
Butter?
Milk - I know he's too old for milk, but that might be just the thing to give the whatever the shove it needs and the slipperiness.

Ice cream? cream?

Not very helpful, so I'll just keep the good thought for you guys.

 

[Furballsmom]

.

 

[Cynthia11]

He's kept down an egg yolk last night and I've just tried giving him some 'junkier' foods - he's not keen but he gave the Felix an okay little nibble and had a few pieces of kibble too. He's hungry and comes over when he hears food being prepared but he's just not that keen on what I've tried so far.

I'll pick up a spread of things now in hopes that he'll eventually nibble enough to produce a good, large stool and flush the devil thing out with it.

Vet wants to see him again for more x rays today but I don't see the point - it won't have moved much on his empty stomach, what he needs is something to get him eating and to get some stool moving. So I'm tempted to move the appointment or go to ask for something to help his appetite

 

[Cynthia11]

Update 2: moved his appointment to tomorrow morning, as he hadn't thrown up so far, but supposed to call them up if he vomits. Now he just motioned as if to vomit, but ultimately didn't. A few drops of bile or liquid came up, but no food.

I'm not sure if this is good or bad? Reason to call the vet again?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
I'm a little late this morning, did you ultimately call the vet?
Did your baby throw up some more? I think if you haven't called them, you may want to, in order to update them and just in case they feel this is an indication if something.
Hang in there!!

 

[Cynthia11]

Sorry for the late update. I did call the vet, went for a consultation that day and they took him in for observation over night the next day and now he just came home. After the few droplets he did throw up bile once more, but since then, no more vomiting. They say he ate well while he was there, but he hasn't eaten lunch yet so far, he didn't seem keen. So this raises an eyebrow, how come he turns his nose up at their food when he's here but eats it when there? Maybe he's not hungry yet, but he did sniff and seemed disappointed when I put it out.

He still hasn't passed stool yet, but the hope is that he will pass the foreign body once he starts again.

 

[Kflowers]

What did they feed him? maybe he prefers that. Or, perhaps, he was gathering strength through food to make an escape and doesn't want to escape you.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! How are things now?

 

[Cynthia11]

They said he ate half of an Applaws pouch which I gave them, since I know he sort of likes those. Other than that, they feed Hill's, I honestly doubt he ate much of that at all, he doesn't even like it when he's feeling well.

He's not eaten a couple of bites of Applaws and that's it. It's nothing. He's a 5.5kg kitten, he eats around 300g of raw on a normal day :/

He's not doing great in my opinion, they say he's been bright and eating well. I don't see that. He's sleepy and sad, doesn't want to play, but sometimes runs around a bit to explore.

 

[Kflowers]

I expect the vet's people are comparing him to sick kits and you're comparing him to when he feels good. There's a good chance he spent most of his time at the vet awake and watching. I've had them come home from an overnight so hoarse they couldn't make a sound. Spending the night at the vet isn't restful, it's exhausting. Now that he's home and feels safe, he probably just wants to sleep.

 

[Cynthia11]

So it turns out I was right. He wasn't well and when they discharged him to me as a "bright and happy cat, not in pain, doesn't even need pain relief, doesn't need the imaging he was here for, who is eating well and likely to pass the object by himself" he was actually obstructed and in a good deal of pain.

After they failed to call me back that evening, he threw up by the next morning. I took him straight back to the vet, a different one thankfully, who immediately identified him as a cat in pain, but who was hiding it. With a tender abdomen that seemed suspicious, she admitted him straight away for imaging and surgery.

So far, they seem happy with his progress and he does seem better, but I'm honestly terrified. Last time they were happy with how he seemed, he in reality wasn't well at all.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hopefully this different vet is MUCH better than the other one!!!! It sure sounds like it so far. Keeping my fingers crossed...

 

[Cynthia11]

Problem is, it could be any of them on duty. Maybe I'm overreacting, but it feels like playing Russian roulette with your cat's health to be honest. I don't think I'm going to sleep well until all of the critical days have passed.