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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. |
#12
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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
"jmc" wrote
Stay on canned food. Fancy Feast is actually very good for cats. High protein and low or no carbs. Well... some varieties. My understanding is that the quality of Fancy Feast varies between varieties. Correct. About 40% of them are grain-free and perfectly fine. For instance, I remember reading that the grilled versions are not a good choice, though I can't cite my reference. Meep mostly gets the classics, usually something with liver or giblets. I read the cans and get the grain free ones (she has had ear and coat issues on grain versions, pretty sure it's wheat gluten in her case). Daisy-chan can handle a few treats with grain (say, 1-2 pounce a day) with no harm, but not her regular food. I vary the brands about though as I learned a long time ago, a cat fed the same thing too long gets turned into a picky eater and i don't mean just the normal 'I don't like (insert type of meat)' but refuses to eat anything else even when obviously hungry. Oddly most of my cats have refused 'tuna' but they generally like anything else though they may have a second item they didn't like much. (Vamp didn't like shrimp, Roscoe wasn't fond of chicken, Face wasn't fond of beef and so on). I vary types of food and brands as well. I don't get wellness. They don';t have any grain free versions here. |
#13
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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
Temptations for Hairballs and/or Cat Lax will not cause dehydration if
given at the recommended dosage. Diarrhea can cause dehydratiion, but if you use the products as recommended, you shouldn't have that problem. Having a cat that wouldn't eat and kept throwing up and lost 50 percent of his body weight and the vets had no idea what was wrong - even after going to a specialist some distance away, I tried the hair ball products and after 13 days of hurling a hairball - that is 13 hairballs people - the cat was fine again. Do you have any idea what space hairballs consume in a cat? The older they get the less likely they are to rid them by themselves. The petroleum coats the hairballs and makes them easier to eliminate by either end. Please do NOT take to hairball remedy laxitives. *Sure, cats hurl hairballs at times, but that is a laxitive which makes dehydration worse if your kitty has kidney issues. |
#14
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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
Buddy's Mom wrote:
Temptations for Hairballs and/or Cat Lax will not cause dehydration if given at the recommended dosage. Diarrhea can cause dehydratiion, but if you use the products as recommended, you shouldn't have that problem. Having a cat that wouldn't eat and kept throwing up and lost 50 percent of his body weight and the vets had no idea what was wrong - even after going to a specialist some distance away, I tried the hair ball products and after 13 days of hurling a hairball - that is 13 hairballs people - the cat was fine again. Do you have any idea what space hairballs consume in a cat? The older they get the less likely they are to rid them by themselves. The petroleum coats the hairballs and makes them easier to eliminate by either end. Please do NOT take to hairball remedy laxitives. Sure, cats hurl hairballs at times, but that is a laxitive which makes dehydration worse if your kitty has kidney issues. Our Meggie, (about 10 years old) had a huge growth in her abdomen, qnd stopped eating. the vet operated on her, and found the "growth" was inside her stomach. They opened up her stomach, and there was a huge hairball. They removed it, and Meggie is fine. That was a couple of years ago. Total cost: a little over $800. |
#15
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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
"cshenk" wrote in message ... "jmc" wrote Stay on canned food. Fancy Feast is actually very good for cats. High protein and low or no carbs. Well... some varieties. My understanding is that the quality of Fancy Feast varies between varieties. Correct. About 40% of them are grain-free and perfectly fine. Do you have a list of which ones these are? |
#16
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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
"Nitesbane" wrote
"cshenk" wrote "jmc" wrote Stay on canned food. Fancy Feast is actually very good for cats. High protein and low or no carbs. Well... some varieties. My understanding is that the quality of Fancy Feast varies between varieties. Correct. About 40% of them are grain-free and perfectly fine. Do you have a list of which ones these are? No sorry, I just read the labels. I know if I randomly select 10 versions out of their 30 or so, 4 will be grain-free. It may be higher because Daisy-chan will not touch tuna so I don't bother to check ones with tuna obvious on the label. What I have now (not all is fancy feast but this is the fancy feast onhand list) is "Cod, Sole, and Shrimp Feast classic", "Tender Beef and Liver Feast, Classic", "Tender Liver and Chicken Feast classic'. Don't let the 'classic' on all 3 lead you astray, that's just what was on sale for 55cents a can that day. I got a box of each (24 per box) with a bunch of 1$ off per box coupons inside them. I just grab a can, take my glasses off (the print is pretty small) and look for: Wheat gluten, vital wheat gluten, gluten, soy or soy by-products, corn or corn by-products, corn starch and skip those cans. With cats, you see mostly the wheat gluten (especially on beef ones with 'gravy' made to look tastey to us '2foots' but cats don't care about that). Dry food, I use a little kibble because she likes it as a treat. There, you have really GOT to check labels. Some of the most expensive 'promises to be perfect' foods are worse than alley cat. I allow only 'Blue Wilderness' and a local brand that is of same level grain free quality. I have the wonderful luck to have a cat and 2 dogs, all with grain allergies so my idea of a good food is a grain-free one. With dog food cans you have to check for all 3 (wheat, corn and soy). I've not seen soy in a canned cat food that I can recall but i probably put it back so fast I never looked at the brand again. In general, it is *much* more problematic to get quality dry items at a decent price that are grain free for cats and dogs. The only 'dry treats' Daisy-chan can get, are from the doggie isle. Dried duck, chicken, or beef and sometimes you see salmon. These are sold as pet jerky and we snap off little bits as treats for them all. The last time they had a friskies canned sale, I didn't find any that suited us but i seem to recall they have a few that are decently grain free. Wellness also per the web site has some that are grain free but are not sold in my area. Common grain allergy symptoms in cats: Ear infections, over grooming especially of the belly (may lick bare patches). Advanced cases, raw patches and severe skin issues. Scratches self alot. Common grain allergy symptoms in dogs: Ear Infections, chewing on toes and belly or legs, bare patches. Advanced cases, may knaw holes in skin creating lesions and other severe skin issues. Lots of self scratching. Both tend to be mis-diagnosed as ear mites and flea allergies (even when they have no fleas or ear mites). You can spend a bundle at the vets or you can just test grain free only foods for a few weeks and watch it go away (but you'll still have to treat the ear infection caused by the grains untikl it goes away). |
#17
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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
On Mar 21, 10:38*am, 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? Quite feeding him milk, ASSHOLE. |
#18
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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
On Mar 21, 10:38*am, 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? I swear my bros dog had acid problems fixed with an acid reducer pill. I am Leary of vet food. Vet suggested food for our bird. Bird would not touch it. Smelled like cardboard and I tasted it, cardboard. Greg |
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