My sick cat needs help! Advice please

My cat is 3 years old. Ever since we have had him he has had puking fits
about once every 2-3 weeks. When he has these fits he will throw up food in
a couple of big piles, and then he'll continue to throw up what looks like a
milky, mucas like substance. He has now developed another problem in the
last couple weeks. He has been getting into these hacking fits that almost
sounds like he's trying to get a hairball out, yet he never coughs up
anything. It's like the hairball doesn't exist but he sure is struggling
with whatever is causing him to make this gurgling/hacking sound. His
purring has also gotten like 3 times louder than normal. It sounds like he
has flem in his throat that he just can't clear. We give him hairball
treats and try to give him hairball medicine, but nothing seems to be making
this go away. We took him to the vet, but they just always blow us off like
nothing's wrong. They just keep telling us "we have a puky cat." I'm
sorry, but I don't buy that crap! I've known many cats over the years and
have never seen anything like this. Our vet did say that he is most likely
getting into my wife's dried flowers, and possibly the garbage at night and
is eating things that would upset his stomach and could make him throw up.
This part might be true considering he destroyed what was left of my wife's
fern the other night, and the very next day he was puky. But that still
doesn't explain the wheezing, gurgling, and hacking that's been going on the
last couple of weeks. I've been trying to thing of anything that we've done
differently around here that would have caused this. We've had him on
Purina One Indoor Cat Formula for a long time now, so it shouldn't be the
food. The only thing that's been different the last couple weeks is that we
accidentally bought regular Scoop Away cat litter. We normally buy
Multi-Cat Formula. I wouldn't think a change in cat litter like that would
make a difference, especially since it's the same brand. Any thoughts on
what we should do? Thanks.

~ Phil

"Phillip" wrote in message
. com...
My cat is 3 years old. Ever since we have had him he has had puking fits
about once every 2-3 weeks. When he has these fits he will throw up food
in
a couple of big piles, and then he'll continue to throw up what looks like
a
milky, mucas like substance. He has now developed another problem in the
last couple weeks. He has been getting into these hacking fits that
almost
sounds like he's trying to get a hairball out, yet he never coughs up
anything. It's like the hairball doesn't exist but he sure is struggling
with whatever is causing him to make this gurgling/hacking sound. His
purring has also gotten like 3 times louder than normal. It sounds like
he
has flem in his throat that he just can't clear. We give him hairball
treats and try to give him hairball medicine, but nothing seems to be
making
this go away. We took him to the vet, but they just always blow us off
like
nothing's wrong. They just keep telling us "we have a puky cat." I'm
sorry, but I don't buy that crap! I've known many cats over the years and
have never seen anything like this. Our vet did say that he is most
likely
getting into my wife's dried flowers, and possibly the garbage at night
and
is eating things that would upset his stomach and could make him throw up.
This part might be true considering he destroyed what was left of my
wife's
fern the other night, and the very next day he was puky. But that still
doesn't explain the wheezing, gurgling, and hacking that's been going on
the
last couple of weeks. I've been trying to thing of anything that we've
done
differently around here that would have caused this. We've had him on
Purina One Indoor Cat Formula for a long time now, so it shouldn't be the
food. The only thing that's been different the last couple weeks is that
we
accidentally bought regular Scoop Away cat litter. We normally buy
Multi-Cat Formula. I wouldn't think a change in cat litter like that
would
make a difference, especially since it's the same brand. Any thoughts on
what we should do? Thanks.

~ Phil


Make sure that none of your houseplants are toxic. I don't have a link to a
web page that lists what plants are toxic off hand but you should be able to
do a google search and find one.

OTOH cats will eat plant matter when their stomach is upset. My guys keep my
spider plants well trimmed. Some people will grow grass for their guys to
eat. I've tried that and haven't had much luck growing it for long. Must not
have the right sun exposure or something so spider plants must suffice.

You could see if there is a cats only vet in your area and take him there
for a second opinion.

I would bear in mind that 49.999% of all veterinarians are below
average for a vet. Though it's true that liscenced vets aren't at all
likely to be idiots, they won't necessarily be clever either.

I have a 'puky cat' too, but his situation appears to be a hairball
purging method, as he has lots of long hair. He pukes about every 12
days or so., but not in 'fits'.

From your description, it sounds like there could be a respiratory
component to the problem. I wouldn't exclude the chance that he is
allergic to something in his environment. Flem in the throat sounds
consistent with that, but also could be other problems.

Cats even have psychological problems like OCD and it may be difficult
to understand what may be stressing them out (for example a dog moves
in and you may think they might become good friends but the cat has a
different impression).

If I were you, I would consider getting some kind of air filter in your
home to reduce air-borne dust levels.

Let's eliminate cat litter. He had the problem before the cat litter
switch.

Also, if you are saying that "the last couple of weeks" have been
notably worse, I would include tree pollen among the list of possible
allergens.

I would suggest one possibility is that the puking fits and recent
hacking are related to one cause, feline asthma exacerbated by some
allergies. It stands to reason that a hacking fit may be
indistinguishable from a puking fit to most people. In the course of
some hacking fits, the cat gets so upset with the process that the
stress causes him to puke also, reinforcing the idea in your mind that
it was apparently about puking.

I would throw out the 'eating strange things' theory, as he would
likely have to have access to the same strange thing
continuously to express the resultant symptoms on a long-term basis..
garbage suggests varied strange things, with varied consequences.

Still, it may be true that he is a puky cat, but wheezing is not a
thing of the stomach, so I would install air filters in every room and
try to eliminate possible sources of irritation. Sources of airborn
contaminants could include an unvented dryer,
dust everywhere (dust is everywhere), occasional industrial sources,
even open fields.

So, I don't buy that crap either. I think it's asthma caused by
airborne irritants, possibly reinforced by hypersensitivity.

Maybe an antihistamine could help in the diagnosis ? I think your
solution could be removing the contaminants, though filtering may seem
extreme, there is a lot of material floating around. The airways and
throat are actually tubes of muscle,
which contracts upon getting the right electrical signal. The signals
are communicated from cell to cell, and the source of this signal can
be exaggerated by hyperresponsivity of the immune system. Therefore,
even though the throat contracts enough to cause wheezing sounds, the
actual entry point of the allergy agonist does not have to be the
throat itself.

Inside the cat, normal chemical signals which regulate throat
muscle tension may be exaggerated by being excessive in proportion to
the actual cause.. and this causes the constriction, or, the chemical
response mechanism is normal but inside the muscle cells which receive
such signals there is a cellular latching mechanism which allows the
cell to maintain tension without doing work, and -that- could be the
hyperresponive part. Even top scientists at Harvard only have the
loosest grasp of exactly how even muscle cells work, their research has
centered around this perspective.

... and, I would bet trying a different environment out as a test is
worth a try. Whatever gets into his system, if it gets into his lungs,
stands a good chance of being removed by microphages within an hour.
So pick up his wheezing furriness and bring him to a much different
environment for two or three hours, then bring him home again. That
may be revealing.

It's may well be difficult to solve, but that is what I think is going
on.

Geoff

Suddenly, without warning, Buddy exclaimed (5/22/2006 6:10 AM):
Do you ever find hairballs when your cat pukes? I think he just needs
some help with the hairballs. Some cats have a really tough time
getting rid of them. He may be blocked up with them. I use
Temptations hairball treats and they seem to work really well.


This is true. His symptoms suggest that he may have a hairball that is
too big to throw up; these sometimes require surgery.

My suggestion: Try another vet. Doesn't seem like yours is up to the job.

jmc

I was told to give my cat a little bit of vegetable oil or butter once
in awhile to help pass hairballs.