cat may be throwing up bile

[kmarissa]

I was wondering if anyone had any words of wisdom for me, and whether you think I should take my cat to a vet. Here's my story.

My family has had our cat, Catamount, for about 13 years now (he's probably about 14 years old), but it was only a few months ago that I took him off my mom's hands.

He has always been a "puker", ever since he was young. We think he originally came from a kitten mill, and he seems to have somewhat deformed eyes and nasal cavities, but we're not sure if that has anything to do with it. Vet after vet has told us that there's really nothing they can do. Probably once a week or so (sometimes more often, sometimes less), or whenever he would get particularly hungry before a meal, he would bolt down his food, then puke it back up. Again, this has been a problem for him as long as we have had him.

Ever since I've taken him, however, things have gotten a bit strange. I'm home more during the day, so I can feed him more often, which might be helping with the food-bolting issue, as he hasn't really had problems with throwing up his food. However, instead, he has been throwing up a small amount of clear to light yellow colored liquid (bile?) pretty frequently, that is, every day for the past few days (and usually at about 5 a.m.). A brief online search found the statement that cats sometimes throw up bile when they are on an empty stomach, but he always has food in his bowl when he throws up, so I know he's not hungry. Other than the puking, he seems fine; i.e., is chipper (annoyingly so, as always), and is eating his food, grooming himself, etc.

So essentially I'm not sure whether to take him to the vet over this or not. As I said, he has been throwing up his whole life, and prior vets have told us that there was nothing really wrong with him and nothing they could do. However, now, he's not throwing up food but some clearish liquid that may be bile. Is this just part of owning a "puker" cat, or is this a sign that something else is going on? Should I be worried?

Thanks,
KMarissa

[badger]

You could try changing the food he is eating, older cats can develop intolerance to certain ingredients.
However, given his age, I would take him to the vet and, if you can afford it, have a blood panel done. It may be unconnected to his earlier puking (once a week is almost normal, in my book) and be a sign of something else. Better safe than sorry.

[OntarioGreys]

THis is a change that could indicate a health problem, best to have checked out by a vet should include a bloodtest

[kmarissa]

Okay, I'm sure that is the safest bet, especially since there doesn't seem to be much easy-to-find info online about it (not that I'd diagnose my cat based on info online, but I'd be less worried if this seemed like more common behavior). Thanks!