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Old December 12th, 2011, 07:26 PM
kwolf68 kwolf68 is offline
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Feline-Calico-13 yo...confusing issue/health

Hey all-First time poster. I searched around the forum for similar issues, but haven't found anything so I decided to post.

My cat (indoor) started throwing up a few months ago and it got progressively worse to where she was losing weight and I took her to the vet.

Currently, the cat throws up everything she eats, almost immediately after. I have tried 10 different types of food, none make a difference. She is still a pretty active, seemingly happy, cat. If she wasn't so skinny and I didn't see her throw up all the time I'd swear she was healthy.

But she is not.

I had a blood panel done (nothing major) and we did an ultra sound.

Issues of concern where the stomach was full and the pancreas was swollen, leading us to think the digestive enzymes were not digesting the food. We didn't see anything else conclusive. She went on Baytril antibiotic and Predinisone. Been doing that since last week and there has been no improvement.

It almost seems like the food isn't even getting into her stomach. It comes back up almost as she ate it, but with mucus. In all the regurgitation except 1 I haven't seen a hairball. One time she threw up a pretty substantial hairball was expelled, but since then no more fur.

I've googled pancreatic cancer and all kinds of other bad stuff, but her symptoms just don't seem to add up. It almost seems like the stomach is block, so the food gets spit back out. I would have guessed a blockage would have been seen on the ultrasound. Plus, the stomach HAD something in it...perhaps the blockage is the 'other way'. Again, I don't guess the ultra sound showed that.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. K
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Old December 12th, 2011, 07:42 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kwolf68 View Post
I have tried 10 different types of food, none make a difference.
What types (brand/flavour/wet/dry) did you try?

Has she had an fPLI test done? (blood test sent to a lab to check for pancreatitis)
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Old December 12th, 2011, 07:50 PM
kwolf68 kwolf68 is offline
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You name it I've tried it..wet, dry, food the vet gave us, etc. The food literally doesn't make it to her stomach. Now, if you have a magic bullet food formula I will be more than willing to try it out. Can't hurt.

She has a great appetite. She will even go back to eating after vomiting if I let her.

No fPLI test done. I think they could see the pancreas swollen on the ultra-sound, so I am guessing they didn't feel a need to do that test.

We were going to run another blood test Friday to see how this medication is working, but I don't need the blood panel to know it's not working.

Thanks so much for engaging in feedback.

I kinda like this cat and would like to keep her around if at all possible.
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Old December 12th, 2011, 11:39 PM
kwolf68 kwolf68 is offline
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OK. Some new news. If I feed her really small amounts of food (like a tablespoon) she is not throwing that up (at least not yet).

This is food she previously had vomited when I let her eat as much as she wanted.

So food itself doesn't seem to be triggering the vomiting, but rather a certain amount of food.

She's not overly pleased that I'm feeding her such small amounts, but for now that's the plan, so that she can get the nutrients she needs.
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Old December 13th, 2011, 12:39 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kwolf68 View Post
You name it I've tried it..wet, dry, food the vet gave us, etc.
Have you tried a canned food with simple ingredients (ie one protein source and no plant-matter)? Something like By Nature Organics would fit the bill.

Another option would be a raw food diet. There are some good commercial products that make this easier than it sounds.


Quote:
Originally Posted by kwolf68 View Post
This is food she previously had vomited when I let her eat as much as she wanted.
Good ol' Scarf-n-Barf. Feeding her smaller, more frequent amounts is definitely a way to prevent that. This also tends to happen more with kibble since it expands when it absorbs the moisture in the stomach, so my recommendation to feed wet food (which is healthier for ALL cats anyway) still stands.

Fingers crossed that you've solved the problem! Wouldn't entirely explain why her pancreas is inflamed though.
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Old December 13th, 2011, 03:30 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarcatmom View Post
Have you tried a canned food with simple ingredients (ie one protein source and no plant-matter)? Something like By Nature Organics would fit the bill.

Another option would be a raw food diet. There are some good commercial products that make this easier than it sounds.




Good ol' Scarf-n-Barf. Feeding her smaller, more frequent amounts is definitely a way to prevent that. This also tends to happen more with kibble since it expands when it absorbs the moisture in the stomach, so my recommendation to feed wet food (which is healthier for ALL cats anyway) still stands.

Fingers crossed that you've solved the problem! Wouldn't entirely explain why her pancreas is inflamed though.
AND with canned and raw, you can flatten out the food so the cat eats at a slower pace.

My Puddles vomiting has pretty much stopped since feeding her a quality canned/raw diet and only occurs now if she has a furball or if she is really hungry and eats too much. (I feed her 3-4 times a day)
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