Millie's dry heaving, not acting herself

[eva21513]

Hello,

I have a 1.5-year-old spayed Ragamuffin, Millie. I've had her for 6 weeks. My ex-boyfriend and his cat (to whom Millie was never introduced) just moved out on Saturday, and since then she has had full run of the apartment.

On Sunday she had a big loose stool. Not completely out of the normal for her. I think her stools between then and Tuesday were normal, but she really buries them deep so it's hard to tell - the big loose stool she didn't bury at all

Tuesday morning, I woke up to hear her retching - she vomited frothy liquid under the bed. She wasn't nearly as playful as normal (we have a routine that has not been broken until now) and an hour or so later, she dry heaved again. This happened several more times; ultimately, she tried to drink some water and immediately started dry heaving, then hid under the bed, and that's when I brought her to the vet. They did an exam and gave her an anti-nausea shot and some easily digestible wet food. Vet advised not to do an x-ray as there was no swelling or fever.

She was not herself all day on Wednesday, but I chalked it up to the nausea med. She didn't play, didn't follow me around like usual, didn't talk to me (). Mostly hid under the bed. Ate and drank a TINY, tiny bit. Had two small stools - very soft - and one urine (she normally pees a few times a day). Today, more of the same - not herself, trying to play a bit but not anything like her norm. Acting hungry but very picky. I've moved the food, heated up the food... I finally gave her some wet food - her favorite kind, just a little - Royal Canin Mother & Babycat - and within minutes of eating it, she had another dry heaving spell, and then hid under the bed for hours. She's back out now, playing a little, and acting hungry.

I have no idea what's going on. My vet is closed, and I don't know if I should take her to the emergency vet 45 minutes away - we just had a nor'easter, to complicate matters. She ate some kibble and drank a bit of water and has kept it down with no dry heaving for about half an hour now. I brought in some new rugs/furniture in and might have missed some plastic; she could've eaten a piece of a toy that my ex's cat left somewhere I didn't see, or maybe there's some environmental thing she's sensitive to in the living room or kitchen... I guess I'm just asking - what would you guys do? Take her to the ER, or wait until the morning? I'm so worried about her, and I miss her being herself.

 

[Jcatbird]

Oh my! I am so sorry we missed your post! I was not on yesterday but I am here now. Is she any better? You said she ate dry food okay so maybe she should just stay on that briefly until the nausea passes. If she is still heaving then definitely get back to the vet. I am hoping she passed whatever got her tummy upset.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Give your vet a call as soon as he's in. If she is keeping anything down, she should be ok for a couple of days. This might well be stress. Make no mistake, she was very aware of the presence of another cat in the house, and that cat is now gone. She has the run of the whole home, rather than have an area restricted. And she may be reacting to any stress you have about the breakup. That can be enough to upset the digestion of a sensitive cat. And keep us updated as you go along, please.

 

[eva21513]

Thank you both so much, Mamanyt1953 and Jcatbird ! I emailed my vet last night and they called me this morning with two options - either try metronidazole and mirtazapine and see how she does on that, or bring her in for an x-ray and bloodwork. Keeping in your mind your remarks about stress as a potential culprit, I opted for the former. I managed to sneak the mirtazapine into a chunk of tuna (she's a tiny cat and it was a tiny sliver of a pill, but I noted a disgusted and almost offended reaction and didn't see anything drop from her mouth...) Have to go pick up a pill popper to give her the metronidazole.... and even then I'm a bit worried, had trouble getting her painkillers in her after her spay and lumpectomy (this poor girl has been through a lot!) and that was with another set of hands!!!!

She loves catnip, and I read another thread here about a cat with similar symptoms whose owner was advised to feed a bit of catnip - so, I mixed some catnip with her kibble and she ate quite a bit of that. I have cat grass but naturally, she doesn't touch it.

She seems to be hiding less today (let's see how that changes after the pill popper, oy) and was a bit more playful this morning, though nothing like her normal self. Maybe she's not actually as playful as she seemed when she was confined to a small area? Maybe she needed to burn off more energy since she wasn't walking around, or maybe she was more stressed and exhibiting it through play, since I wasn't with her as much as I am now? She was certainly aware of my ex's cat - even when we knew we'd break up, we were feeding them on opposite sides of the door just to try to reduce their stress about the presence of another feline.

I'll keep updating here - and here's a photo of her being a velcro cat when she was feeling a bit better!!

 

[FeebysOwner]

HI. If the pill popper doesn't work out for you and Millie, you can try any of the following techniques:
1.) baby food meats (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut - neither have additives like garlic, onions, etc.) - just enough to mix the meds with so you know she is getting all of her dosage.
2.) human canned tuna or chicken in water, again, just enough "juice' to get her take the dose - and, you can give her a piece of the tuna or chicken afterward as a treat.
3.) any number of lickable treats, such as Applaws, Tiki Cat Stix or Mousse, Wholehearted, Inaba Churu, Vitakraft. Squeeze out enough from the tube/container to mix with the foods.

All of the above have worked when I needed to give Feeby meds, even the nasty tasting ones! I have also done this with both pills and liquid meds.

I hope Millie gets back to her normal self soon!

 

[eva21513]

She was acting so much more herself last night and this morning, but had another violent dry-heaving spell and diarrhea this morning, so the vet advised bringing her back in. I feel terrible - had a tough time getting her pills in her today (she is SO PICKY - she’s never eaten any of the treats I’ve gotten her - tried to hide the mirtazapine at least in tuna, in a piece of salmon, in her favorite wet food - no dice) and she reacted horribly to the carrier for the first time I hope this isn’t all for naught; I’m afraid she’s going to hate me for this and I just adore her They’re doing X-rays now and might do blood work depending on what the X-rays show - I just want to get all the diagnostics done so I have an answer and don’t have to torture her again

 

[FeebysOwner]

Sorry to hear you have to take her back to the vet, but it is probably for the best so they can try to get to the bottom of her problem.

When she is feeling better, she will forget all about the vet visits, I am sure !!!!

 

[Jcatbird]

Just remember, you are doing all this BECAUSE you love her so much. I have had to do many things the kitties don’t like in order to keep them healthy. They do forgive. They may be wary for awhile because cats are smart but in time they understand that pills don’t come forever. I am currently having to medicate a kitty here and I give some treats without medicine so she doesn’t get wary of my tricks. I hope you get an answer and solution to her nausea.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I promise she won't hate you forever. She will, however, wring every last possible drop of guilt she can from you, because...cat.

 

[eva21513]

Thank you all so much for all your kindness and support! The vet sent us to the emergency vet on Saturday because Millie’s stomach looked really full on X-ray when she’s just been nibbling. The E-vet did full bloodwork and a CT scan and ruled out an obstruction, which was my #1 fear. She’s having really slow gastric emptying and continues to have diarrhea (day 4 now of Flagyl, though I think I missed her dose this morning) and has dry heaving spells unless she’s on an anti-emetic. But she’s eating, and she managed to avoid the appetite stimulant yesterday so I think it’s her real hunger.

Of course, these days you can’t accompany your pet into the vet/e-vet, so after they took her in, I wandered the vicinity, including a petsmart, and made some guilty/anxious-cat-mom purchases

She’s such a good girl, though - she started talking to me on the drive home (an HOUR - I live in the sticks) and once we got home she actually initiated a game of fetch! She’s still a little wary of me now - she’s not rubbing up against me - but we’re still buddies.

 

[eva21513]

Just updating here... it's been a week and Millie is STILL having soft stools. I'm still giving her Flagyl but a bit concerned what will happen after I run out of those pills (today). I started giving her S.boullardi as well, after doing some of my own research. That seems to be helping some and I might start increasing the dose now that I know she's tolerating it.

Buuuut we have a new problem - she started sneezing a lot on Saturday. I thought it was just because she somehow managed to wedge herself under the fridge to retrieve a ball - I had no idea she could get under there, it's an ancient fridge up on some blocks because the floor is uneven, and I've never been able to clean underneath, and doubt anyone has since it was bought, which was probably in the early 90s. She came out COATED in dust. I wiped her off as best as I could but the sneezing started then, and then it turned productive (she'd sneeze and some white mucus would come out) and runny. Yesterday it turned into congestion, and she's been snorting/sounding like it's hard to breathe through her nose since last night. Called the vet this morning and they can't see her until tomorrow. I've been running a humidifier since Saturday (unfortunately she hates it and won't sit next to it), trying to trap her in the bathroom when I shower since Sunday, and giving HomeoPet Nose Relief since yesterday morning. She's been taking lysine supplements ever since I brought her home. I might try giving her half a tablet of Zyrtec today - I've read it's safe for cats and I'm wondering if this is all caused by a dust allergy. Also have two air purifiers arriving today.

I kind of feel like an awful cat owner, though. I've never had a cat have to make this many trips to the vet, you know? Part of me wonders if I'm overreacting, if I wouldn't be as concerned if I wasn't working from home, but there's just such a difference and she sounds and looks so uncomfortable. She normally purrs anytime I look at her, let alone pet her, but no purring since yesterday afternoon, she's not playing - she normally plays fetch throughout the day and loves it, and she keeps trying, but then she seems to get uncomfortable when she tries to return the ball to me, and she quits after 1-2 throws. Poor thing, I just feel awful for her and I hope I'm not to blame =(