re-gurgitating kitty

[2ketzels]

ok, I started a new thread.  in answer to the other person's query - miss kitty is probably around 6 or so; she was adopted. and no, the problem isn't solved because she still periodically throws up, including mucous. by 'occasionally' I mean about once a week or so. when I first got her I took her to the vet several times and at first they said she might have 'giarditis' - is that the name? then she stopped throwing up and then she began again a few months later. she doesn't go outdoors; she's protected inside; there aren't any other people or pets. since the vet was charging me about $700 each time, I stopped taking her. that's when I got the probiotics idea which worked for a while. is it usual for a picky eater to throw up so often? or is once a week or once every 2 weeks ok? the vet finally said there was nothing wrong, the last time i took her there. do kitties really have 'sensitive stomachs'? aren't they wild animals? would it be better to feed her something raw? any suggestions would be appreciated.

MY ORIGINAL QUESTION:

just wondering if anyone has a kitty like mine, regurgitating-wise. miss kitty eats a little bit at a time...it's almost as if her stomach is too small. and she always eats slowly, usually taking the food out of the bowl and then eating that small portion.  sometimes she'll actually eat from the bowl but she only likes pate and prefers only trout--- tho' she used to tolerate other fish (I'm talking canned).. 
on the weekends i have the time to be home and can 'serve' her whenever she wants a bite. I seal her 'leftovers' in a little plastic baggie so it's handy for a re-feed.
the problem is that I have to work Mon-Fri so I give her food in the morning...she usually leaves a lot in the bowl and, if I'm lucky, she doesn't throw it up and I won't be late for work again.
for a while I put babies' probiotic sprinkles on the food. I did this for a few months but then, suddenly, she started throwing up each time so i stopped. now we're back to straight food.
she never throws up hairballs. any advice?  

 

[zoneout]

Thanks for starting the thread.   It will help others who come along to focus strictly on your issue.

First, I am sorry, but not surprised,  to see that your kitty is only 6 and having these issues.   I say not surprised since there is an epidemic going on with feline health which the AVMA refuses to acknowledge (as far as I have seen).   But then again, why should they...  sick cats are good for the business of their dues paying members.

 is it usual for a picky eater to throw up so often? or is once a week or once every 2 weeks ok? the vet finally said there was nothing wrong, the last time i took her there. do kitties really have 'sensitive stomachs'? aren't they wild animals? would it be better to feed her something raw? any suggestions would be appreciated.

No, it is not usual for a picky eater to throw up often or any healthy cat to throw up often.   A cat throwing up every 2 weeks is not OK - I don`t care what anyone says.   Cat throwing up regularly - whether it be hairballs, food, or mucous - is not normal.   We have become brainwashed and desensitized to this as a problem because it happens so often nowadays that it is `the new normal`.    So your vet seeing so many cases of heaving kitties now has the mindset that it is `normal` thus `nothing wrong`.

Now please listen carefully....  you asked if kitties have `sensitive stomachs`... this is marketing propaganda from pet food makers to get you to buy specialized probably more expensive food from them after their regular food has already damaged your kitties GI tract.    

Now here is the hard part...very hard....  trying to find out what is making your kitty vomit is going to test your frustration level.   You see there are many, many, many things that cause cats to vomit.   There are lists of reasons on the internet... but it becomes a frustrating game of process of elimination to find the root cause.   And in fact if a kitty is really sick there could be multiple causes.

You may get very lucky and the first thing you scratch off the list (say food allergy) happens to be the magic bullet -- well you just won the lottery.    But in all likelihood - it is usually not that easy.

Most people knee-jerk first advice is to say take your pet to the vet.   You have already done that - forked over much hard-earned cash - and have gotten nowhere.

So my advice to you is threefold:   seek out a holistic vet - even if you have to drive a little further.    Spend time researching on the internet....  it will allow you to understand what questions to ask your vet (simply googling `cats vomiting` should provide enough material occupy you for days).   Lastly, post here.   There are people on here that deal with these situations all the time and are very wise.   But you still need to educate yourself to be able to reconcile if the advice you are getting is correct or not.

I wish you and your cat better days ahead.

Z

 

[peaches08]

What has been done so far?  Blood work?  X-rays?  Ultrasound?

Also, are you talking about giargiasis, a parasitic infection?  Or gastritis?

 

[2ketzels]

THANK you all for replying!

yes, you are right, giargiasis-- that's what they said in late 2009 when i got her and when i've taken her back to the vet they couldn't figure out why. I think there was bloodwork too; they kept her overnight at the vet's several times. I'd have to check the billings for her. 

actually, when i think back, the place i got the kitties from said they were 3 years old-ish back in 2009... so i guess they're 8-ish now.

by the way, miss kitty 'the picky eater' has been regularly throwing up since I got her in 2009....except for that period (Jan/14) when I put her on probiotics until that didn't work any longer (June/14) and I'm pretty sure it was then the probiotics which was setting her off. when I read in the VB forum that someone suggested keeping a journal, i guess that's what i should do.   

this week I switched her wet food to a higher protein but...after about 5 minutes she retched so I guess changing food isn't a good idea?  thank heavens there are no littler problems or scratching problems - they really are very good kitties.

also, I just researched the Blue 'reviews' website and was horrified to read that their products are now so terrible and that the company was sold to China! is that really true? I whipped out my latest bag of Blue Wilderness crunchies bag and it says 'made in the USA' - unless Canada is getting the older products?? or...those reviews were written to off-put people buying Blue??  I checked all the ingredients and nothing seems to have changed. I wonder what the truth is.

Boy kitty, miss kitty's brother, has never thrown up anything but hairballs and not very frequently but he grooms a LOT - being a tuxedo he's very vain. the more i furminate him, the less throwing up there is and...he has NO problems with Blue or anything else - he eats as if he were starving altho' i think he is now actually overweight. I read somewhere that if your cat begins to look like a football then that means he's overweight so I'm judging by that.

 

[peaches08]

Total typo, I meant giardiasis.  I believe specific tests are needed to detect giardia, were these done?

I don't know about Blue products.

 

[2ketzels]

yes, giardiasis - yes, the tests were done and the results were:  not giardiasis. the reason the vet did the tests is because my kitties were housed in a cage with about 8 other cats so i guess they were speculating she might have picked up something altho Boy Kitty never had these problems - they were in the same cage.

the odd thing is that I remember when I had a cat in the 50s and the 60s, we fed them Dr Ballards, I don't remember any cat throwing up anything except...hairballs sometimes. I don't think Dr Ballards was particularly wonderful but maybe it was just basic and maybe all these new labels are just hyper-eco or hyper-touted - altho things APPEAR to be 'better' in the sense of all our heightened consciousness about nutrition and supplements et al.

I know in my life when I have lived most simply, closest to the earth, eating things directly from nature, whether it was fresh-caught fish or veggies from the earth the same day, the food was uncomplicated, good tasting and...I thot, healthy. in my day, the only supermarket kitty food was Dr Ballards - or the occasional backyard mouse - how about you? the biggest danger were the cars outside.

 

[zoneout]

Never heard of Dr Ballards.  Is that a canadian brand?

Yes, I agree the best food I ever had in my life was fresh right off the farm.    I still remember the exquisite taste of eggs I had one morning about 50 years ago out on a Long Island farm.   There is nothing like a fresh tomato right off the vine.   And for me, to this day I cannot eat apples unless its one I got from a pick-your-own farm during the fall.

 

[lily.loves.pusheen]

do your cats eat apples..my cats will literally attack me for an apple