Kibbie Has Been Vomiting Sometime During The Night.

[geercom]

My male gray and white who is 15 months old has just started vomiting a couple times during the night. The rest of the time he is fine, like normal. This has happened a couple of nights now. It doesn't seem to be hairballs and there was a piece of kibble in the one patch of vomit. He gets meow mix hairball control for his regular food.

I put about 40 pieces of the kibble in his dish, enough to just cover the bottom of a regular coffee cup, and leave it until it is mostly empty before adding more. I have been using the meow mix a while and this just started. I use mostly Pet Valu freeze dried chicken liver treats, Friskies Party Mix with real chicken and flavors of liver and turkey, and sometime during each night he gets Head to Tail Vitamin +. Some nights I forget to give that one, but he's been getting it for weeks and the vomiting just started.

I don't always feed him at the same times, just when his dish is empty or mostly empty, but I've always done it that way. I wash his fishes every morning and rinse them.

When he won't eat the last of his food in the morning before I wash his dishes, I crumble some of the Pet Valu on his food and he eats it right up. I have been doing that for a while too.

I use about 5 pieces of the Party Mix to get him to follow me into his room so I can keep him there while I work (I work from home). I don't keep him in for more than a few hours or so as I know he may get hungry.

He has recently been on a mild prednosone does for scratching his shoulders bare. The vet said I could also put neosporin on the wounds, which I do once a day. He also just got his flea medicine from frontline put on Saturday. A month ago he got his shots for rabbies, feline leukimia innoculation, and some other innoculation called VS FCV Virulent systemic vacc.

The vet said he might have allergies causing him to scratch his shoulders bare. They are getting better. He got some kind of medicine for that. I believe it was topical. That was also last month.

He likes to drink from the bathroom sink and I put a trickle of water running for him when he hops in there. I have been doing this for a long while and only now the vomiting.

He wakes me up a few times a night and if his dish is empty I feed him then. It's only when I wake up in the morning that I find he has vomited in a couple of spots, usually within a couple feet apart.

I am going to call the vet today too. Let me know what you think.

 

[geercom]

ALso I keep is kibble in a clear plastic container from I think Rubbermaid to keep ti fresh. He is just now getting to the end of that bag's worth and there are more crumbs at the bottom with the food. Also, I use a clean coffee cup to scoop his food out with. It is clean when I start using it. I usually wash it out once and a while while still on the same bag of food. I haven't this time, though I haven't use it for anything but cat food.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Good idea to call vet, just to be safe! The most recently introduced item to your cat was the Frontline. Has he had it before? If not, maybe he is having a bit of an allergic reaction to it.

However, that is probably not real likely if he is eating, drinking, playing normal otherwise. If the food he throws up overnight is mostly digested, then it would be unlikely that he is scarfing it down too fast, causing him to vomit.

Is there anything else around the house he could be getting into while you're asleep (munching on plants, as one example)?

 

[geercom]

Yes, I have an appointment with the vet tomorrow. He had the Frontline last month and I don't recall any upchucking around that time. There is at least one whole chunk of Kibble in one patch each morning. There are no plants in the house. There is nothing new he could be getting into that i know of.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Does he tend to "inhale" his food whole?
How long has he been on the prednisolone compared to when this started, as a side effect can be GI upset/vomiting.
Let us know what the vet says.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Good luck with your vet visit!

 

[geercom]

He doesn't inhale his food; he does chew it first for the most part, though he does finish a bowl of 40-50 pieces of kibble in a few minutes. He has been on the prednisone for eight days. This started a couple days ago.

 

[geercom]

It seems I was wrong about inhaling his food. Last night's pile of cat barf had several pieces of whole kibble in it. How do I stop him from eating it whole? Should I not be feeding him throughout the night?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Based on your original post, it sounds like whatever is causing him to throw up his food is escalating (one piece of kibble at first, to multiple now). Please be sure to tell that to the vet when you take him in. Maybe he has a bad tooth that is getting worse?

If you are waiting until right before you go to bed to re-fill his bowl, perhaps, you could do it earlier and then watch him as he eats. He might slow down some if you watch him - and, you could observe his behavior as well. And, then only leave what remains for overnight.

 

[geercom]

Doc said oral hairball med (possible hairball obstruction in throat/stomach), oral flea med (scratches shoulders bare), and don't feed during the night. I am to continue his prednisone (small dose for itching) and neosporin on wounds where he scratches.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Thanks for the update. Sorry for so many questions...and, please don't think I am 'grilling' you; just a tad confused.

What kind of hairball med? How long are you to give it to him, and what are you supposed to be looking for to know if it is taking care of a possible obstruction? Why would an obstruction issue only cause vomiting at night - because he is scarfing the food too fast (as discussed in some of the prior posts)? I am guessing the vet wants to see if removing the night feeding either stops the vomiting - or causes him to vomit during the day, when he might likely start to scarf food since he can't eat at night?

Does the vet think that he might be allergic to the Frontline and therefore gave you an oral treatment instead?

Do you actually see any fleas on him or in your home? Is he an indoor cat only? If the answer to these two questions are no and yes respectively, and you are only using a flea treatment as a precautionary thing, you could stop it and see if he actually needs it. Just to get him off a treatment that might not be necessary.

Did he have any suggestions about the cause of the scratching? You can't give him Prednisone forever, so ultimately the culprit causing the allergy/scratching is going to have to be identified. Did the vet suggest trying different foods, in case he has an allergy to what you're feeding him?

Will you ever talk to me again, after all these questions (ha,ha)?

 

[sabrinah]

Just one more thing for you to consider:
Worms can cause a cat to throw up. Even a relatively small tapeworm infestation (they only need to eat one infected flea to get tapeworms) can cause symptoms. Has he had a fecal test done? I deworm all my pets at least every 6 months.