Vomiting cat

[QueenOf6]

Hello, my Lola seems to be under the weather. She vomits here and there but over the past 48h, she has been vomiting more frequently, and right after eating. She does ask for food but is not as excited to eat. I had to travel out of town for a family emergency so I made sure to take her to the vet on Thursday evening (problem started Wednesday). She had a complete set of labs including cbc, chemistry, and thyroid function tests. She also had an abdominal xray. Everything checked out fine. She was ok after I brought her home on Thursday, she ate dinner. Friday morning was fine too, I fed her dinner before leaving for my flight Friday night, and that went well. Now the sitter is coming in to feed her twice a day, and she has been vomiting after every meal. I am beside myself, worried sick because I’m not there. I feel terrible. I won’t be back home until Tuesday morning. The sitter has tried a few different foods including dry, and each time there’s a vomit. She’s acting fine otherwise is what I’m told. I told the sitter to try some Pepcid in the morning. Do you guys have any recommendations? I am so scared and worried

 

[stephanietx]

It's most likely stress of you being gone. Our babies love us so and get attached to us and it freaks them out when we have to leave them for periods of time. If you have any unwashed shirts that you've worn to lay out for her, I'd ask the sitter to do that.

 

[QueenOf6]

It's most likely stress of you being gone. Our babies love us so and get attached to us and it freaks them out when we have to leave them for periods of time. If you have any unwashed shirts that you've worn to lay out for her, I'd ask the sitter to do that.

I really hope she’s not sick with anything. She’s an indoor cat, no new changes in her environment. I travel every 6-8 weeks and she’s never done this before. We had a major scare with a cancer misdiagnosis last fall so I’ve been weary of every change in her but she got a clean bill of health from the vet this Thursday so I duno what to make of this. We will try the famotidine.

 

[silent meowlook]

Can you get your pet sitter to take her to the vet? Also make sure they send you a video of your cat so you can be sure she seems fine.

 

[QueenOf6]

Can you get your pet sitter to take her to the vet? Also make sure they send you a video of your cat so you can be sure she seems fine.

If Lola declines further and continues to experience vomiting then yes I’ll ask her.

 

[mani]

My two have been doing this recently while I've been away. They fret.
I asked my friends who were looking after them to feed in very small amounts, if possible (let them eat some and then settle, before giving more). That did help, as did cuddles and attention. I asked others if they could drop in to visit them, but that may not be possible for you.
I truly doubt she's sick.. just missing you. But of course it's really important to be aware of that potential, and contact the vet if there is more concern.

 

[QueenOf6]

The sitter gave her some Pepcid this morning, waited then fed her and waited some more and no vomit while she was there. She’ll let me know how things go this evening. She spends more than an hour with them at each feeding, she’s actually one of my friends and she’s really good with Lola and Nala. Lola could be stressed from me being gone, she’s very attached to me and lately I’ve been going through a major life change and quite stressed myself. I plan on calling the vet today and letting him know what’s happening.

 

[lisahe]

I agree with the others that this is most likely stress... we go through this with one of our cats, too. It doesn't help that she also has a wonky gut! If Lola's vomiting right after eating, that is most likely regurgitation, which we see when our cat is agitated or active right before her meal. (That happened recently when I fed her right after she was chasing a bug, oops...)

There are a few supplements I might suggest asking your vet about. Rescue Remedy drops go in a cat's food. We use them regularly for Edwina, though they're best at calming a cat after something scary happens. Thry work fast for her! Given her gut issues I've been looking for something else with ingredients she can eat and am about to try Fera's goat milk calm supplement, which the vet said to go ahead and try, particukalry since the ingredients are so basic. Composure in treat form works well for both our cats though one stopped liking them and the other seemed to have a problem with an ingredient. Solliquin treats work incredibly well for Ireland and I hope she will continue to eat them! She's our anxiety cat but has been getting great notices for behaving at lots of vet appointments of late. Our vet has started selling Solliquin and seems very pleased with it.

I hope Lola starts to feel better soon!

 

[QueenOf6]

Me too. The sitter is trying stomach sensitive food and in small portions plus Pepcid. Thank you for everyone’s input. I’ll keep you all posted.

 

[lisahe]

Me too. The sitter is trying stomach sensitive food and in small portions plus Pepcid. Thank you for everyone’s input. I’ll keep you all posted.

Small portions is good! Spreading the food out on a large plate can be helpful, too.

Fingers crossed that she does better.

 

[QueenOf6]

Small portions is good! Spreading the food out on a large plate can be helpful, too.

Fingers crossed that she does better.

Spreading it out on a plate sounds good. I’ll try that.

She eats in elevated ceramic bowls to help keep found down and avoid regurg issues.

 

[lisahe]

Spreading it out on a plate sounds good. I’ll try that.

She eats in elevated ceramic bowls to help keep found down and avoid regurg issues.

Yes, elevating the dishes helps, too, we do that as well. I started spreading the food out to slow Edwina down but then read that it's supposedly calming for a cat to lick at the food. (I thought about buying her a licky mat but then saw product reviews saying that some cats chew pieces off the mats... unfortunately, both our cats are chewers.)

 

[QueenOf6]

I got home this morning. She greeted me at the door and asked for food. I gave her a can and she finished it and then went to sleep. She had dinner as usual, no vomit. I am grateful.

according to her records, between November and now, she’s lost half pound but I swear she looks thinner, especially when I look at her backside. Fur doesn’t look that great either. But she’s behaving fine. As I stated earlier, labs and belly scan looked normal. I don’t know what to make of this.

 

[silent meowlook]

I’m glad you are home now.

 

[lisahe]

I got home this morning. She greeted me at the door and asked for food. I gave her a can and she finished it and then went to sleep. She had dinner as usual, no vomit. I am grateful.

according to her records, between November and now, she’s lost half pound but I swear she looks thinner, especially when I look at her backside. Fur doesn’t look that great either. But she’s behaving fine. As I stated earlier, labs and belly scan looked normal. I don’t know what to make of this.

I'm glad you're back and all's well!

Stress came up earlier in this thread and it's a definite possibility. We've learned a lot in recent years about our cats' stressors. Weather and noise are big factors: we've had hotter and lots of extreme weather in the last couple years, plus there's been more loud construction and machinery in our area than usual. Noisy, hot days are especially tough for our IBD cat. Some of their issues correlate with swings in barometric pressure: they shake their heads a lot because their ears sense changes in pressure. (I learned about this last year from a holistic vet program and it's been, as they say, a game changer. I now check pressure forecasts so we're prepared.) Calming remedies help a lot but calm, quiet attention is at least as important for them. They love quiet play, being brushed, and just sitting with us. They've calmed a lot over the years, though some of their anxieties will probably never go away, given that they came to us as underfed, anxious kittens.