16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up

On Mon, 21 Mar 2011 07:38:00 -0700 (PDT), B
wrote:

My cat is 16 yrs. old and for the past several months constantly
throws up. The vet did some blood work and his sugar was a little
high, which she attributed to the stress of the visit. His kidney
function is slowing down a bit and now she wants to take a urine
sample. She has changed his food to a type that can only be bought at
the office and is a gastroenteric formula. The food is not cheap, $34
for a case of canned and $28 for a 6# bag of dry food. I don't know
what to do for him; there are times that he doesn't seem to know where
he is or who I am. Is some of this just part of the "aging process"?
He is an indoor cat, up to date on his shots and has never been sick.
I really don't know what more to do for him. Has anyone else faced
this problem or had a similar situation w/their cat?

Most folks have given good advice so far - avoid dry food.

Nico was my 15 year old cat who started throwing up a lot. It turns
out that it was inflamatory bowel disease. There really isn't a whole
lot do be done with that, even in humans. Prednisone keeps it down,
but long term use of that is very bad. Unlike in humans, IBD in cats
often becomes lymphoma, and that's what happened with Nico.

After he collapsed one day I rushed him to the vet and he sent me to
the vet specialists who kept him alive and diagnosed the IBD. After
four days and around $4000, I picked him up and no animal was ever
more happy to see his slave. He sat on my lap as I drove home.
Unfortunately he had picked up rather severe diarrhea, which made for
a messy trip home.

I gave him prednisone and leukeran for several months. He got better,
but never was his old self. He never climibed the cat tree after his
collapse so I have to assume that he felt too ****ty. He diied after
around six months of that.

I don't know that your cat has IBD, although a CBC should reveal anyf
lymphoma. Hopefully it is something less serious.