Please help! Cat lethargic and licking mouth a lot

[TobyTims]

Hi everyone

I am hoping to get your advice about my medium hair cat Lola, turning 1 tomorrow!

Since last night, she has been off. She didn’t want to eat her dinner at all (but did eat two “creamy treat” pouches which are her favourite). She was also licking her mouth a lot, hunched over and seemed like she might need to vomit.

I suspect a hairball, but she has never behaved like this before. It’s quite unlike her. She rarely if ever has hairballs at all.

This morning she was a bit more lively, played with her sister and ate about 1/3 of her food with coaxing. Then she went back to being huddled and generally looking unhappy. She also used her litter tray, and I noticed her poo was long and thin in parts which is unusual.

I went and got her some cat laxative gel this morning and gave it to her about two hours ago but haven’t seen any impact. She has not coughed up anything

I just wanted to get a second opinion from the lovely people on this forum about whether I should be worried and taking her to the vet, or just continuing to monitor?

I should note that we are currently transitioning her from kitten to adult food, but we have been doing it for about a week and she seems to like the adult food fine 85% of the time.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thank you

 

[LTS3]

. She was also licking her mouth a lot, hunched over and seemed like she might need to vomit.

Those are signs of nausea. I'd get the cat to a vet as soon as possible.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Since she IS eating a little bit, and pooping, I'd say it's probably ok to wait a little bit to see if the hairball gel does it's thing. But she does need to eat at least 1/2 to 2/3 of her usual food or things could go haywire. Keep a close eye on her and if she stops eating or pooping, then she definitely needs to be seen. This does sound like nausea, but could be caused by a stuck hairball.

 

[stephanietx]

Please get her to the vet as soon as possible. Lip licking is a sign of nausea. She can get med to calm her stomach. She also should have an x-ray to rule out a blockage.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

With the Christmas holidays coming up, this should probably not be a "wait a day and see" situation. I'd suggest you call your vet tomorrow. The mouth-licking is from nausea, which could be something simple, but could also be something that requires vet intervention, and the sooner the better.

Please let us know how your cat is doing, and what you find out!

 

[TobyTims]

Thank you all.

I am at the vet now, I managed to get an appointment due to a cancellation. He has done a thorough examination, and says she is in good health although intestines feel a bit inflamed/thickened.

He did not recommend an x-ray as no evidence of a blockage and I have been with her 99% of the time and did not see her eat anything unusual.

Right now he is giving her an anti-nausea injection and also doing a blood test to rule out anything else that could be causing the issues. I will get the results later today. He is also sending me home with some anti nausea tablets.

Thank you all for giving me advice! I really hope she feels better soon - it’s her 1st birthday tomorrow! I’ll keep you updated

 

[stephanietx]

I'm so glad you got her to the vet! Is she getting an antibiotic as well?

 

[TobyTims]

No I don’t think so! I can ask when the vet comes back but it’s not something he recommended, at least at this stage.

 

[Whenallhellbreakslose]

I agree with Mamanyt1953 this time of the year can be dangerous for our pets. Vet hospitals are filled with cases of cats and dogs who ate a holiday decoration or plant that caused a blockage or was very toxic to pets. Your kitty could have a blockage (partial). Feel yout Kitty's stomach is it very hard? How long can your kitty can hold down his food for? Does he look lethargic or in pain? I would make an appoint with the vet to rule out obstruction and other serious condition (stomach or bowel cancer). My sister's cat had to be put down because of what was later believed to be bowel cancer. She would throw up a lot and struggled to have a bm and when she did make one it was strange, malformed, and smelled weird.

This may very well be something far less seriously like a large hair ball that needs to be vomited up. You can try to give your kitty Laxatone or some other hairball remedy and see what happens. I would do that, but make a vet appointment as well. It is better to err on the side of caution.

I wish you well. I hope that this is nothing serious.
Please don't hesitate to put up an ask more questions. I have been through a lot with my cats, so I know how it is.

EDIT. So glad that it is not a bowel obstruction. I hope this is nothing serious. I also want to mention about plants. Please be mindful of holiday plants like Poinsettias that are toxic to cats. There are others to watch out for, but just wanted to leave a brief message. I wish you and your kitty well.

 

[TobyTims]

Thank you! That is all helpful advice. I tried the laxative gel this morning, pre vet, but it did not help No plants in our home except fake ones haha but I definitely know that’s something to look out for.

Good news is that we just got home and, with the anti nausea injection in her system, she has already eaten nearly half a bowl of food.

Still waiting on the blood test results so fingers crossed nothing bad there, but feeling pleased she has eaten something

 

[Mamanyt1953]

That's half the battle with cats! HUGS to you, and a gentle stroke for her!

 

[TobyTims]

Hi everyone! Hoping to get some more advice.

The good news is that Lola’s blood results came back normal so nothing to worry about there. She also ate basically all her dinner last night, and has some of her breakfast this morning (this is normal, she always eats slowly over the course of the morn). She is still quiet but does seem a bit more lively.

The bad news is that she is still licking her mouth - less than before, but now it’s particularly after eating, sort of like the eating has made her feel sick

Particularly this morning, after eating, she has had about 4 instances where she looks like she has vomited in her mouth - no other way to explain it!! She crouches like she needs to vomit, makes a gurgle noise like a little something has come up, but then seems to swallow it. Gross, I know!

To be clear she’s not hacking or contorting like when cats vomit up grass or a hairball. A much smaller movement.

Have any of you every experienced anything like this? Should this be happened with the anti nausea shot in her system?

The vet ultimately wasn’t sure what was wrong with her but said to keep an eye on her and bring her back into an emergency vet if she doesn’t improve over the next few days. Unfortunately being Xmas period it’s going to be tough getting her in anywhere and might mean leaving her at the vet for awhile until they can look at her, which I want to avoid if possible.

Any thoughts on what I should do? I’m still baffled what has made her this sick - could it have been my attempt to transition her to adult food? I should mention she also had cat flu when she was younger but my vet ruled that out as the cause of this illness

Many thanks!

 

[Whenallhellbreakslose]

Hi everyone! Hoping to get some more advice

The bad news is that she is still licking her mouth - less than before, but now it’s particularly after eating, sort of like the eating has made her feel sick

Particularly this morning, after eating, she has had about 4 instances where she looks like she has vomited in her mouth - no other way to explain it!! She crouches like she needs to vomit, makes a gurgle noise like a little something has come up, but then seems to swallow it. Gross, I know!

To be clear she’s not hacking or contorting like when cats vomit up grass or a hairball. A much smaller movement.

Have any of you every experienced anything like this? Should this be happened with the anti nausea shot in her system?

The vet ultimately wasn’t sure what was wrong with her but said to keep an eye on her and bring her back into an emergency vet if she doesn’t improve over the next few days. Unfortunately being Xmas period it’s going to be tough getting her in anywhere and might mean leaving her at the vet for awhile until they can look at her, which I want to avoid if possible.

Any thoughts on what I should do? I’m still baffled what has made her this sick - could it have been my attempt to transition her to adult food? I should mention she also had cat flu when she was younger but my vet ruled that out as the cause of this illness

Many thanks!

The few things that come to my mind is that maybe you transitioned her too fast onto the adult food and her system can't handle it (it is also possible that this specfic brand of food doesn't work for her). It could be also possible that your cat has allergies.

So happy to hear that her blood work came back normal. I hope you find out what is causing your kitty to be nauseous/vomit after eating. Here us an article I hope you find helpful.
Cat Vomiting: 10 Quick Tips | Honest Paws

 

[TobyTims]

Thank you!

It’s the only obvious thing I can think of - although I started giving her the adult food two weeks ago, and all I did was switch her from royal canin kitten jelly pouches to the adult jelly ones, so I thought they wouldn’t be too hard of a transition? But maybe the ingredients differ more than I assumed.

I’ve been back to giving her the kitten one yesterday and today given it’s higher calorie and more familiar to her. Hopefully that helps :/

 

[stephanietx]

You can try mixing them with a 75% old and 25% new food ratio and transition her to the new food. She just might not be able to tolerate the new food and you might need to look for something else. Call the vet tomorrow and ask about giving her Pepcid to help her with the lip licking. Not sure if it's safe for kittens (even though she's 8 months old)

 

[TobyTims]

Hi everyone. An update on Lola - it’s now been a few days since her vet visit and anti-nausea injection.

She has her appetite back, mostly. I’ve got her back on her normal kitten food, and she is at my bedside begging for food in the morning like normal! She is also playing with her sister mostly as normal and has energy.

However, Lola is still gagging after eating and licking her lips a bit. To be clear, she isn’t hacking like she’s bringing up a hairball. It’s a little gag, like throwing up a little in her mouth, and swallowing it. She still has not actually vomited anything. We’ve also noticed her meow sounds a bit different to usual, a tiny bit hoarse / breathy.

Ive been googling a lot and think maybe it could be something respiratory? Maybe she needs antibiotics? She has had cat flu when she was younger, but the vet didn’t think this was causing her issues at the last appointment.

Ive got her booked into the vet again in 2 days - it was the earliest appointment I could get, given the holidays, and since she’s eating, pooping and largely acting like normal I figure it’s not an emergency.

If anyone has any thoughts or ideas on what this might be, or anything I should ask the vet to check, please let me know! She has already had a blood test and everything was normal.

Thank you

 

[TobyTims]

I should also clarify that I’m pretty confident she isn’t just eating too fast - she is actually a very slow eater who eats her breakfast in small chunks over a few hours!

 

[FeebysOwner]

I wonder if she just hasn't had enough time back on her kitten food to help with her digestive tract being out of whack. It sounds like her gagging is happening once the food hits her stomach? So, it would seem her stomach is probably aggravated - and the anti-nausea meds might help some but not entirely. I am basing this somewhat on the vet suggesting she had inflammation in her bowel, which could be affecting her stomach and upper intestines too. The gagging into her mouth and then swallowing it could be something like acid reflux - which has irritated the lining of her throat - hence the hoarseness. Just something you might want to consider asking the vet about. Also, ask the vet if a fecal test looking for various bacterial/viral issues could possibly shed any light on anything.

 

[Whenallhellbreakslose]

Okay here is a list of all possible conditions related to the symptoms you provided. I know some of them are already ruled out by the vet, but to be thorough I will post the complete list (for anyone who may see this thread).
Here they are:
Acid Refux
Anemia
Anxiety
Morning sickness
Diabetes
Food intolerance
Travel sickness
Medications
Hydrocephalus
Chronic kidney disease
Umbilical hernia
Diaphragmatic hernia
Motility disorders
Hyperkalemia
Liver disease
Pancreatitis
Hypoglycemia
Infectious diseases
Stomach ulcer
Gastrointestinal obstructions
Gastritis
Inflammatory bowel disease
Cancer.
Metabolic acidosis
Hyperthyroidism
Hepatic lipidosis

The condition that came to my mind with the naseau and throat hoarseness is Acid Reflux. Here is an article on that which I hope helps. I hope that they find the root to your kitty's problem. TG, some of the more serious conditions have been ruled out. Hopefully a member on this forum who had a cat go through something similar share their experience on this thread.

Acid Reflux in Cats

The uncontrollable reverse flow of gastric or intestinal fluids into the tube connecting the throat and the stomach (esophagus) is medically referred to as gastroesophageal reflux. Learn more about the causes, symptoms and treatment of acid reflux in cats here.

www.petmd.com

 

[TobyTims]

Thank you both! That’s really useful for me to think about and take to the vet.

FeebysOwner Lola was eating new food for about 2.5 weeks before these issues arose - that’s the only thing that makes me think it’s not her food. Then again I have not transitioned a kitten to adult food before, is it common to have a reaction after several weeks of the new food? It’s a good point you have made though, if that is the cause, maybe her little stomach is still recovering.