Cat Regurgitates Entire Meal Much Too Often - update 2/5

[JB]

I had a kitty, and currently have 3, who can’t be fed a full breakfast first thing in the morning, or it WILL come back up. I’m not even sure if it’s vomited or regurgitated, even after reading the above definitions (very helpful!!). I’d say it’s probably vomited up, since the abdomen gets involved, but it also comes out “tube shaped”, so… But, for them, the fix is fairly easy - do other stuff first so they get active, or feed a half meal, then feed the other half later.

In our case, I don’t think it’s due to eating too fast, at least in all cases, as one of them eats pretty slowly, always the last to finish, but if it’s a full meal, she’ll just turn around and puke it back up :rolleyes:

[Beethoven]

[QUOTE=JB;6815183]
I had a kitty, and currently have 3, who can’t be fed a full breakfast first thing in the morning, or it WILL come back up. I’m not even sure if it’s vomited or regurgitated, even after reading the above definitions (very helpful!!). I’d say it’s probably vomited up, since the abdomen gets involved, but it also comes out “tube shaped”, so… But, for them, the fix is fairly easy - do other stuff first so they get active, or feed a half meal, then feed the other half later.

In our case, I don’t think it’s due to eating too fast, at least in all cases, as one of them eats pretty slowly, always the last to finish, but if it’s a full meal, she’ll just turn around and puke it back up :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]

If there are abdominal contractions then its vomiting. Yes kitties of course break the rule and can have tube shaped vomit.

O and I have a test on this tomorrow…not even joking! 5 questions based on an hour lecture about telling the difference between vomiting and regurgitation!

[yankeeclipper]

I had a white long haired cat that was jokingly called the bolemic kitty because he would eat and than barf. He did not have worms. He did eat very fast because of where he was born. He ended up dying of stomach cancer. This was easily 15 to 20 years ago.

The only vet advise I got at the time was to do exploratory stomach surgery.

[Lori_B]

Took Jett to the vet today. Pulled blood for bloodwork, expecting results tomorrow. X-rayed, nothing seen on x-ray. If we don’t get any clues from her blood work, will ultrasound. She’s lost about 0.6 lbs. in the last few months. Vet agrees that something’s up, possibly IBD. Stay tuned…

[SquishTheBunny]

[QUOTE=Lori B;6817964]
Took Jett to the vet today. Pulled blood for bloodwork, expecting results tomorrow. X-rayed, nothing seen on x-ray. If we don’t get any clues from her blood work, will ultrasound. She’s lost about 0.6 lbs. in the last few months. Vet agrees that something’s up, possibly IBD. Stay tuned…[/QUOTE]

Glad to hear she went back to the vets. Cats are so much more difficult to diagnose if it isnt the “normal” cat diseases (hyperthyroid, IBD, lymphoma, renal disease) causing the vomiting/regurging. Here’s hoping you get a quick answer and a treatment plan can be established.

We had one cat in recently that presented with similar issues - he actually had addisons which is not common in cats. Cost the owners quiet a bit since they had to start ruling out the obvious ones first, but at least there’s a diagnosis!

Jingles for your kitty!

[Lori_B]

Thanks for the jingles and advice, all.
Kitty is on metronidazole, which she hates (hates!), and hasn’t thrown up since I switched her to Avoderm (chicken). Her blood work came back normal, thyroid values are a little high, but nothing else out of the ordinary. So, we are going to do an abdominal ultrasound, to rule out cancer. (!!!) Stay tuned…

[SquishTheBunny]

Did the vet start her on thyroid medications? I know cats with even boarderline high T4’s can have GI symptoms.

Why did the vet put her on metronidazole, is she having diarrhea? I thought her signs were vomiting? Interesting!

[Lori_B]

No diarrhea. And thyroid values are reportedly still below the range where the vet pre-emptively treats. ???

[SquishTheBunny]

Well if they are suspecting IBD, the metronidazole will generally calm the GI tract, however its not typically the drug of choice for regurgitation/vomiting (generally administered to treat diarrhea), and metoclopramide is given as its an anti-emetic. However, if there is strong support for IBD I can see how the metronidazole may help even if there is no diarrhea.

How far off the reference range was the T4?

[Beethoven]

Jingles for you kitty! Glad you are being proactive about finding a solution!

[Lori_B]

I don’t know, STB, I haven’t seen the lab numbers, but I might stop by to look at them.

Jett was tired and not acting like herself on the day we went to the vet, but I started a different food that day along w/ her meds, and she hasn’t vomited since Tuesday a.m. She’s now acting like herself (she’s a very interactive cat, chatty, playful, zooms around like a younger cat), but she does make noise when you pick her up if you touch her stomach, so that’s the main reason I’m going ahead w/ the abdominal ultrasound. Crossing my fingers, she’s just such a fun sweet kitty.

[Lori_B]

Cat is acting happier and hasn’t vomited since Tuesday. (which is really good, in recent terms) I am seriously tempted to cancel the ultrasound appointment until / unless she starts throwing up again and switching foods doesn’t fix it.

Can anyone tell me a compelling reason not to wait and see on the ultrasound? If she has cancer, (seemingly low probability) I’m not going to be doing chemo, but palliative care. If she has IBD (higher probability), then treatment is metronidazole or steroids + selecting a food she hasn’t eaten before w/ as few ingredients as possible, and switching when she starts throwing up again.

Am I missing something? I just can’t stomach $450 that isn’t going to change my course of action. Thoughts?

[SquishTheBunny]

If your kitty is doing better, I would hold off the ultrasound…financially a “normal” ultrasound my piss you off just as much as it may relieve you haha!

I would suggest monitoring her for the next little while and if she relapses or goes downhill at all, then you have a next diagnostic step in line. I would also repeat the T4 in 3-6 months for reference.

Glad to hear she is doing well!

[Lori_B]

Thank you, Squish, that’s what I was thinking. I just cancelled the u/s, until and unless her vomiting flares up again and switching foods doesn’t fix it for her.

I’m starting a new job next week, and I don’t really need to spend $$ on possibly unnecessary diagnostics. No cost to waiting, since her bloodwork was normal, she has no detectible abdominal masses, and has stopped throwing up…

[britts450]

Hi Lori B- new to this post, so hopefully this is going through correctly. I am going through the EXACT same thing right now. same food for years. “Chronic Vomiter” and now i cant keep her under control. I have done the bloodwork (normal) Xray is also normal- late last week. I have been giving her Cerenia, not religiously, as she hates it. The vomiting begins only when she eats… minutes later coming back up. I think its the food- Iams (which I know is horid but it stayed down until now). What are you using… and are you treating for IBD? I am panicking and the vet isnt being that helpful.

[Chall]

Examine the vomit. At the end of my kitty’s was a clump of hair.

She went into renal failure, hospitalized for 3 days. Came home, wouldn’t drink and in such bad shape I had her put down. But second guessing myself, I think she had an obstruction. She regurgitated, food looked exactly the same as it did on the plate, meaning no digestion at all.

[PiedPiper]

I have one cat who pukes all the time. I have realized that it is tied more to soft food than hard food which luckily is what he is more apt to eat (I feed the soft for the older cat).

When he is off of soft food completely, he really doesn’t puke, as soon as he eats soft food again, puking all over whatever will stain the most or is most inconvenient.

[lilitiger2]

My old girl who now lives with my mother had this - vomiting. i thought, “Uh oh, here come the renal issues, been there/done that”, but it turned out not to be the case. Normal bloodwork and all that.

she is doing well on Z/D and now D/D, duck food (also prescription stuff) - no vomiting, no diarrhea (she was also on metronidizole). I took that stuff several times when I have had giarida, NOT fun!!!

And she gets the hairball stuff.

Hope your girl feels better, so frustrating when we don’t know what 's wrong!

[Fairfax]

Pancreatitis. Withdraw all food for 48 hours…just allowing water. It allows the pancreas to start to settle down. You can purchase a fatfree solid and moist food from a vets office. This is the most common cause of ongoing vomiting. Many times the stomach cavity will feel extended and may be painful.

After she has had the two days…start her on one table spoon of the soft…increase it over the next 5 days. Then start to introduce the fat free solid food.

[Simkie]

[QUOTE=Fairfax;6861252]
Pancreatitis. Withdraw all food for 48 hours…just allowing water. It allows the pancreas to start to settle down. You can purchase a fatfree solid and moist food from a vets office. This is the most common cause of ongoing vomiting. Many times the stomach cavity will feel extended and may be painful.

After she has had the two days…start her on one table spoon of the soft…increase it over the next 5 days. Then start to introduce the fat free solid food.[/QUOTE]

Really? In cats? I have never heard that before. And with all the vomiting cats I’ve had, I’ve never, ever had one with pancreatitis. If I had to guess, I’d say the most common cause of vomiting in cats is renal disease, followed by IBD, but that would just be a guess.

I’d advise caution in withholding food from a cat, though, especially one that might not have gotten much nutrition in the past few days because it’s vomiting. Hepatic lipidosis isn’t fun

My SOP in a vomiting dog is to withhold food, but I would not withhold food for a kitty unless it had been seen by a vet and that was the instruction given.

FWIW for those looking for alternative food options, my IBD cat is doing very nicely on Hound & Gatos rabbit. We have a positive dx of IBD via ultrasound. Treated with steroids and Cerenia, which resolved the diarrhea, but we still had vomiting. Switched to the rabbit and vomiting has resolved completely, and we’ve even been able to stop the Cerenia.