My Cat Is Sick. Vomited. Not Drinking

[juntjoo]

He just came home after a longer than normal period, a few hours. He stays around the block. When and since he arrived he's been making cute little noises basically telling me he's not feeling well. He's walking around slowly and sniffing the water but not drinking finding different covered areas to lay down for a while then moving and occasionally growling then maybe a hiss. Mostly the cute noise of just his little voice telling me he doesn't feel good. He doesn't have any injuries. He's never been sick since I've had him the last four 4 years. He's about 9. I cooked some cow liver yesterday with garlic and rice and turmeric salt and paprika I think. I mix it usually a variety of the regular canned foods I call 'McDonald's' since they dont usually like my cooking. Usually I cook chicken gizzards, usually liver and hearts with garlic and a little veggies sometimes rice. Last night was the first time tho I got cow liver. I just wanted to change it up. Idk. I'll see how he does tomorrow but I don't like going to the vet. They're usually only good for necessary procedures like surgery and euthanasia. Otherwise they take an arm and leg for unnecessary medications and once urged me to have them remove his eye which after a month healed. Insane. Anyway. So I'm just hoping maybe someone might have an idea what's going on and /or have some advice. I read ACV for vomiting cats. Who would've thought...? I shall start adding small amounts to their dinner.

 

[catwoman707]

Are you aware that garlic is toxic to cats?
Garlic, garlic powder, garlic salt should never be fed to cats.

It sounds like he ate or drank something that hurt him.
I would watch him very closely to be sure it was a one time vomit, and he starts eating and drinking soon, otherwise he should surely be seen by a vet, who knows what to look for poison wise, etc. and can help him recover.

It's the car that has a small leak in the radiator that scares me, cats love the sweet taste of the coolant/anti-freeze and it is deadly. Even a very small amt like a teaspoon.

He may have also eaten grass which will cause vomiting, but you should see grass in the vomit.

 

[stephanietx]

He needs to see the vet now.

 

[Geoffrey]

I cooked some cow liver yesterday with garlic and rice and turmeric salt and paprika I think. I mix it usually a variety of the regular canned foods I call 'McDonald's' since they dont usually like my cooking. Usually I cook chicken gizzards, usually liver and hearts with garlic and a little veggies sometimes rice.

I am a human doctor, not a vet but it seems likely that you may be poisoning your cat with garlic which is is highly toxic to cats. The effects of eating garlic on cats include blood haemolysis, or destruction of the red cells of the blood, causing anaemia and impaired oxygen transportation. This is usually apparent after several days following the ingestion of the garlic.

The active principles in garlic also affect the muscle of the heart, control of blood pressure and affect the clotting of the blood causing bleeding. A direct effect on the stomach and intestine causes vomiting and diarrhoea.

You should certainly stop feeding garlic, and you must take your cat to your vet as soon as possible, no matter the cost, and tell the vet that your cat is ill and that he has been eating garlic.

Can you let us know what happens?
With all best wishes to you and to your cat,
Geoffrey

 

[maggiedemi]

I wouldn't recommend apple cider vinegar personally, it made my cat vomit. How much liver are you giving him? I've read that too much liver isn't good.

 

[juntjoo]

Thank you for all your replies. Didn't know that about garlic!

Fortunately he's in the hospital now on IV. I took him in yesterday because he was just in too much pain and apparently, and I don't have the technical terminology off the top of my head, but he developed a rare condition that caused his wee wee to get blocked up with urinary crystals supposedly possibly due to stress and recently there have been a lot of changes like the loss of his little brother whom he loved very much and the adoption of a new less friendly, initially at least, female kitty. They're getting along better now but maybe these last couple months caused this. But when I took him in yesterday apparently the vet manually helped him free up his swollen bladder and he peed out a lot of blood. So hopefully by tomorrow he'll be ready to come home.

Here's a little vid I made for the vet before I brought him in before I just decided to rush him in.
He didn't quite express his pain as much in this as much as what was going on in reality

 

[maggiedemi]

Poor little baby! Glad you got him to the vet. Crystals can be caused by food too. Like from too much minerals in the dry food or if the homemade food is unbalanced. Maybe you can look up recipes for cats with urinary problems.

 

[IndyJones]

I've also heard the mineral deposits in some municipal water supplies can cause issues too. Have you tried distilled water?

 

[juntjoo]

I've also heard the mineral deposits in some municipal water supplies can cause issues too. Have you tried distilled water?

Thanks. I give them filtered water, so IDK if that could be an issue.

 

[juntjoo]

Poor little baby! Glad you got him to the vet. Crystals can be caused by food too. Like from too much minerals in the dry food or if the homemade food is unbalanced. Maybe you can look up recipes for cats with urinary problems.

Yeah, good idea. I have before but not much. I shall be looking more into modifying his (their) diet

 

[juntjoo]

He's home at the moment. I visited him yesterday and took him home. When I picked him up I was heart broken by his reaction digging his head into as if to say "OMG take me home. I miss you soooo much!" He is kept overnight in kennel not knowing what's going on basically in solitary. I just can't imagine how being in there can be conducive to healing. But we agreed I'd pick him up at night and bring him back in the morning. So far I have not and haven't opened the antibiotics and morphine drops. 1, I am not into over medication. I prefer the idea of allowing the body to naturally handle health challenges as much as possible, 2, I think they just overload you with costly unnecessary precautions.

The doc doesn't sound optimistic about his chances of recovery and has mentioned the option to put him to sleep a few times. And well I wouldn't either monitoring him in that environment. You know, he's in a strange stressful place and you see how they handle your babies, with much less sensitivity than you would and you don't want to instruct them to do their jobs with more care like by handling your pet by their bones rather than their bellies where they hurt for ex. And I'm not bashing them at all but hospitals are primarily a business first, then the care comes 2nd. And it's expected if you're doing this for a living you'll be a bit desensitized. And I actually don't mind their pessimistic approach in the sense that they set you up for failure so that in case they don't recover you're prepared but in the likely event they do recover you leave an even happier customer. The downside is they set you up for failure - #1 I haven't been to a hospital since I was 20, 20 years ago, knock on wood. And these pessimistic prognosis come with the expensive and excessive medications.

But as far as his condition, no pain whatsoever expressed since being home. Been drinking and barely peeing but trying. Don't know if I mentioned all the blood he'd peed out when I first brought him in yesterday, but now there is little blood, some pee and he's doing it on his own and really very happy and peaceful to be at home. Keeping my fingers crossed it be continues on to full recovery and I don't have to take him back. Thanks for your comments, suggestions and overall concern.

 

[maggiedemi]

If the vet said to give him antibiotics, please give them to him! This is the only thing that saved my male cat. He had to take them for 10 days. What are you feeding him? Do you have any canned food? I wouldn't give him any dry food right now unless it's urinary food from the vet. He needs antibiotics from the vet and moisture from canned food. Please avoid fish. I don't know much about home cooking, but I think too much bone content could have too much calcium and magnesium for male cats. I don't know about liver, that might have too many minerals too. Maybe somebody else could help you with the recipes.

 

[juntjoo]

If the vet said to give him antibiotics, please give them to him! This is the only thing that saved my male cat. He had to take them for 10 days. What are you feeding him? Do you have any canned food? I wouldn't give him any dry food right now unless it's urinary food from the vet.

I prepare most of his food and will be adding water to it. And I mix it with canned depending on how well he likes my cooking. And I understand your concern and thanks but nothing is absolutely good or bad for you, antibiotics are no exception, so as a general practice I exercise my own balance of choices, which isn't to say I'm necessarily good at it, but I guess you could say i have trust issues, and I have the meds in case he doesn't continue to improve. But far too often I find myself with extra expensive meds after taking my pets in because either my cats could do the healing job on their own, which is better for long term health, or the doc over prescribed, which is what they're supposed to do. Thanks

 

[maggiedemi]

Normally I would agree with you, but this is an emergency for male cats! My cat almost died, the antibiotics saved him! You only have a day or two to get them unblocked before they die. I'm just trying to help you save your cat. The problem with home cooked food is that you have to watch the mineral content, like with the bones and liver. I hope you know how to do that. I would just use canned for now. But it's up to you. Just trying to help.

 

[juntjoo]

Thank you. I appreciate everything anyone tells me and take it all into account and will do my best to make the best decisions, and am definitely going to reading up on cat diet

 

[maggiedemi]

Did the vet say to give him the antibiotics? I would listen to him. This is the one thing that can't be cured on it's own. Good luck. Let us know what happens please.

 

[Geoffrey]

I am a human doctor, not a vet but pathological principles apply to both mammals. A potent cause for infection is stasis, that is an inability for fluids to flow as they are supposed to in the body. This applies specifically to urine and you mentioned that your cat is: "barely peeing'. This means that there is a considerable risk of urinary tract infection.

The vet, who has a great deal of experience treating cats, has prescribed antibiotics and morphine drops. I suggest that you take the veterinary advice that you have already paid for. The antibiotics are there to combat the urinary stasis as a cause of urinary tract infection. The morphine is there to combat the pain that your cat is suffering - and cats are very adept at hiding pain so that you cannot really tell whether your cat is suffering.
With all best wishes to you - and to your cat,
Geoffrey

 

[juntjoo]

So I decided to continue his antibiotics and pain mess and now am manually "expressing" his bladder. This is very sad. It's only been a couple days so I'm keeping hopeful. Doc says basically his bladder is so shot he can't internally squeeze it and she's worried about his kidneys as his T blood cell count is really high. So it's not good ATM. Anyone have any experience with this? If so how long did it take for the bladder to heal? Again my doc is quite pessimistic, I guess understandably but I'm quite optimistic. I suppose that's the best option to take. He has always been healthy and recovered 100% from a previously hopeless eye injury so... Anyone have any luck with a condition like this? Or any tips on emptying a bladder, manually or otherwise.

I just started doing it and don't have the skills to do it like my doctor who just expertly squeezes him empty causing a good deal of discomfort but manageable. I have to do it drop by drop. I'm thinking 'how to soften the bladder'. Any ideas? Might be worth googling...

 

[maggiedemi]

I was lucky, I caught it in time with my male cat, the antibiotics and switch to wet canned food worked to get him peeing. I'm so sorry! I wish I could help. I know that some people have their vet put in a catheter to drain the bladder. Can you go back to the vet or a different one? I wouldn't dare try to do it on my own, I would have no idea how to do it.

 

[juntjoo]

I was lucky, I caught it in time with my male cat, the antibiotics and switch to wet canned food worked to get him peeing. I'm so sorry! I wish I could help. I know that some people have their vet put in a catheter to drain the bladder. Can you go back to the vet or a different one? I wouldn't dare try to do it on my own, I would have no idea how to do it.

Thanks yes, she mentioned the catheter but didn't recommend it due to scarring potential or something. How long did it take for your cat to heal? It's been only a couple days but I hope it won't be for much longer but last year a vet insisted we remove his eye from this bad injury/infection but after 3-4 weeks it finally healed up! So I'm optimistic he'll heal up without any further complications but I'm afraid of how long it will take. We'll, it shouldn't matter as much as just that it will but I hate the daily background concern that nags at me. I've lost two in the past year already, beloved guys these are. I've never had this experience with humans. I mean, people I've loved have died, but.., call me mean but I guess I didn't feel a similar closeness as I did with these fury guys. They're like children. Geez, can't imagine if I ever have any how I'd deal with them. Love costs a lot. Especially when it's for beings that you're their sole guardian. No one else feels my heart break when one dies. My first two cats were accidental adoptions. Had no idea. They just grow on you. Little furry balls of free love. Well, all in all probably like a $2.50 a day med bills included.

Anyway... Here's kinda a funny vid of me trying to empty him. It kind of worked. Maybe I'll make it "public" on YouTube and perhaps get some tips.