Vomiting cat, losing weight - help! =(

Hello! I need some help/insight and I don't quite know where to turn (and this is long, I'm sorry)...

Our 9 1/2 year old DSH Penny has been sick for close to a month now. She's always been a slim, active cat, weighing in around 8 lbs most of the time. It was almost overnight that she took a 180 and got sick on us. Within a matter of a few days she wasn't eating, she was sleeping all of the time, refusing interaction and meowing hopelessly. We also noticed that she was peeing directly outside of her litterbox. She was so weak. Obviously, this called for an immediate vet's visit. They did bloodwork on site, and did more extensive bloodwork which was sent away. They took x-rays of her heart, lungs, intestine - basically everywhere from her head down. They noticed that her right eye's pupil seemed more dialated than the left (something we began noticing about a week prior to taking her in, but thought nothing of considering her optimum health up to that point). They said that this could be caused by a brain tumor, a blow to the head (which none of our family had witnessed), or an infection.

All of her bloodwork came out perfect. She tested negative for everything, lukemia, hyperthyroidism, everything. Her x-rays were "wonderful", the only thing they could say about them was that she had terrible gas buildup in her intestines from not eating. Her weight had dropped though to 6 lbs. They put her on an antibiotic and steriod to help her eye and increase her appetite. I noticed that a few days into taking the antibiotic, she'd have a crusty buildup in the corner in her eye. The medicine seemed to help that situation. Whereas she could hardly look at anyone in the right direction prior to the medication, her eyes focused so much better on everything, including light changes.

After the third vet's visit, they pretty much scratched their heads and suggested "heartworm maybe? it could be heart disease?". So it pretty much seemed a dead end with them. They told us to monitor her, which you know we did day and night to observe any changes.

She began having trouble keeping her food down just recently. It seems that she is soooo hungry (I can hear her stomach growl), eats entirely too fast and then throws it right back up. The vet didn't seem to think that this was a big problem. WHAT??? I hate this. I don't know what to do to avoid this. It's been suggested to me that it could be a food allergy so I bought some hypoallergenic food (lots of rice and lamb) to see if that seemed to keep her from throwing up (she HATES it). I even bought Science Diet Sensitive Stomachs for her which she absolutely LOVES, and she has seemed to handle it better than soft food...but she just keeps overindulging I suppose and throwing it up!!

It's been 24 hours since she's thrown up, thankfully. I'm horribly worried about her though because of her weight. She feels so light and I am afriad to even hold her because I can feel her bones. She becomes fatigued SO easily. We have been keeping fresh water all around the house so she can very easily hydrate herself, which she has. I've been sure to keep her groomed, which not only delights her (she loves any contact ), but keeps that fur out of her stomach since she's puking so much.

Does anyone know what can be done for this? All I know is that we're not taking her back to our regular vets because I've been hearing stories...but that's a whole other story. Are there medications they can prescribe to keep this overindulgence/vomiting issue under control? It's not like she was overweight to begin with. Any foods recommended and portion sizes? Any advice and insight would be SO greatly appreciated on my behalf and Pennys! In the meantime, I need to find a great vet, and soon.

Thanks so much!!

 

first I'd find out if you have a cat only vet in your area and go there.
When you do feed her offer only a small portion so she can't wolf a lot of food...see if she holds that down.
Does she go outside?
But I'd be seeking a 2nd opinion

 

Did you get the blood level tests back? Her symptoms sound a lot like chronic kidney failure.... our cat Loki has it. He started dropping weight and would barf up everything in sight. He's been on a maintaining diet for 6 years now and is slowly beefing back up...

I would go with the other posters and find another vet!

 

did you do fecals?? i know you did bloodwork.

so sorry to hear she is struggling...maybe a kidney stone or something along those lines.

a/d is high calorie, highly palatable food that they give kitties who need nutrition. maybe a supplement of some kind to make sure your kitty is getting the nutrients, like nutrical. make sure she has electrolytes. i believe there is a product that you can put in water...make sure she eats something every day, even if you have to feed through a large syringe. when max was throwing up, i fed him a teaspoon of wet food every hour. if you cant swing that...six small meals a day. sometimes they just eat too fast, and you cant free feed them...there is a shot they can give them for vomiting, and a shot for stimulating appetite. the urinating outside of the box...thats a mystery. suggests kidneys, but what do i know??

seems like if there was something major, the bloodwork would show elevations. geez...i would definitely go for a second opinion. ask around. call a reputable shelter or boarding facility to see who they recommend, or see if there is a "cats only " vet. thats their specialty...

good luck. keep up informed.

 

lols...i must have posted exactly when mary and mockingcat posted...there were no posts when i started, lols...great minds....

 

Nope, she's an indoor only cat.

The bloodwork did all come back and they couldn't find anythiing wrong with her at all! All of her blood levels were just where they should be, according to the vet's. So I really don't know what to think about that.

A second opinion is definitely in order....

Mockingcat, what food did you give to your cat that their stomach handled well?

 

Oh! I did forget to mention they did fecals, that came out fine too.

It's so confusing...so many little mysteries about her and all at once. She's been the picture of health for all this time, and now all at once?

The idea of the small meals seems great. Hopefully she won't vomit so much? I think our biggest mistake once her appetite started coming back was that we were leaving too much of an option of food sitting out for her. We'd have hard and soft food for her to choose from - and I think that inadvertantly made her worse. Guess there's a line that's crossed between spoiling your cat and spoiling their health, huh?

Where can I get these foods that have been suggested? And thank you SO much everyone for your kind advice and help!!!

 

Also, if you're feeding her wet food, try different flavors... Loki will always barf if we feed him seafood types, but seems find on poultry and beef.

 

a 2nd opinion would be the best choice....my vet recently gave one of my cats a death sentence with a diagnosis of FIP. I did tons of research, "talk" to people who have actual FIP cats and came to the conclusion that Tilly needed a 2nd opinion.
Her 2nd set of bloodwork came out normal. And she's started to put on weight again and gain her playful nature - I think she had a virus which affected the first set of tests.
Anyway....if you know your cat is (or in my case isn't) well you know your cat better than the vet and if there is any doubt in your mind do it.
You could also start giving your cat some NutraCal....very nutritrious and high in calories. Good stuff

 

i have my cats on d/m for diabetes management. but none are diabetic. its easier on the intestines, and very high in protein. max has irritable bowel so he needs something that is easy on the stomach. he was in i/d but i dont know that that did anything. k/d is a good food too. my otis that died in march of 04 had been on prescription food alll his life. he was almost twenty when he died. first, he was on c/d, then w/d, then k/d. k/d kept his kidney levels stable for four years.

other foods that are good are wellness, wysong, chicken soup for the cat lover, and trader joes brands. but, i would definitely only feed tiny amounts for now. a teaspoon of food, not more than two teaspoons, all throughout the day.