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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
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? |
#2
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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
"B" wrote in message ... 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? Did he check for thyroid problems also?. Some vets only do a partial panel for blood and not a full work up. Sorry about the furball I lost my beloved Phantom at age 16. He was at that point that I needed to help him cross the bridge. Since he is having problems with his kidneys IMO try to stay away from the dry food Your cat is equal to a 81 year old human. Let us know what the results of the urine testing is. I might shed so more light on the situation |
#3
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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
Suddenly, without warning, Matthew exclaimed (3/21/2011 10:44 AM):
wrote in message ... 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? Did he check for thyroid problems also?. Some vets only do a partial panel for blood and not a full work up. Sorry about the furball I lost my beloved Phantom at age 16. He was at that point that I needed to help him cross the bridge. Since he is having problems with his kidneys IMO try to stay away from the dry food Your cat is equal to a 81 year old human. Let us know what the results of the urine testing is. I might shed so more light on the situation I feel your pain. My cat will be 16 in a couple of months. She already has health issues, so I get anxious every time she has a bad day... I agree with what is said above - get him on wet food, and suggest a full thyroid workup. I'd be a little leery of the vet-recommended food. Sometimes it's not really the best for them... years ago the vet I had then put Meep on Royal Canin Urinary (dry) for cystitis problems... she continued to have problems until I stopped ALL dry food. Now she eats 100% canned/wet food, and is much healthier. It's a mix of the expensive stuff, and select varieties of Fancy Feast, to help keep the cost down. jmc |
#4
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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
Along with checking the thyroid, I would also wonder if she has
hairballs. As they age, they lack the ability to get rid of them. I would highly suggest using Temptations for Hairballs or Cat Lax for a couple of weeks to help the hairballs pass and see if this decreases the vomiting. Stay on canned food. Fancy Feast is actually very good for cats. High protein and low or no carbs. |
#5
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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
It would help if you could describe the vomiting a little more (I
know, it's sort of gross). When does he vomit and what is in the vomit? I agree with jmc in saying that I don't trust vet-recommended food. If you look at the ingredients, they are downright scary. There are probably grains in that food too, which can sometimes be an allergen for cats. IMO you should feed a high-quality, grain free wet food. It won't cost any more than the prescription food. Try a novel protein like duck, venison, or quail to see if it helps. No fish, as that can be an allergen too. Warm the food a bit. Sometimes cold food can cause a cat to vomit, and at age 16, it will make the food more appealing to his diminished sense of smell. I know how frustrating this is. Vomiting is one of those catch-all things that can be difficult to diagnose. |
#6
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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? Sorry to hear that your cat is having problems. I have a cat with kidney disease and, as per the vet, started giving her 1/4 of a pepcid 10mg tablet daily. I hide it in a pill pocket, which she loves. That really helped with her throwing up. I know you want to have less protein for cats with kidney disease, but I haven't had much luck with her wanting to eat the kidney diet food. She will eat it for a while then just turn up her nose. I gave up and mostly feed her Proplan wet and a little Nutro dry. So far her kidney numbers are staying pretty stable. She is older and thinner than she should be so it is more important for her to eat something healthy that she likes than to eat the kidney food, IMHO. I don't know about the disorientation. I haven't had a cat that experienced that so far. As long as he seems happy, wants to cuddle, eats and enjoys most of his life (like napping, sitting in the sun, etc) then I guess you just try to treat the kidney disease and love him. If he starts to get very fearful then you should talk with you vet about his quality of life. Wishing you luck, Debbie |
#7
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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
Rene wrote:
It would help if you could describe the vomiting a little more (I know, it's sort of gross). When does he vomit and what is in the vomit? I agree with jmc in saying that I don't trust vet-recommended food. If you look at the ingredients, they are downright scary. There are probably grains in that food too, which can sometimes be an allergen for cats. IMO you should feed a high-quality, grain free wet food. It won't cost any more than the prescription food. Try a novel protein like duck, venison, or quail to see if it helps. No fish, as that can be an allergen too. Warm the food a bit. Sometimes cold food can cause a cat to vomit, and at age 16, it will make the food more appealing to his diminished sense of smell. I know how frustrating this is. Vomiting is one of those catch-all things that can be difficult to diagnose. Not only that, but all vet recommended food is horribly expensive. We have five cats, and we not only feed them, but also a bunch of wild raccoons and a couple of possums and unknown number of squirrels and birds. We spend a significent percentage of our household income on critter food, and we can't afford to buy specialty cat food that costs several dollars a pound. Our cats get an unending supply of cheap kibbles, and lots of roasted chicken, which is a great buy in today's inflated market. If I were doing it all over again, I would have bought a chicken farm when I retired, and have 50 cats instead of five. |
#8
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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
"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"? It can be several things but the 'don't know who he is or you who are' sends a signal of kidney problems to me. Kidney problems are far more common in Cats fed mostly dry food over years of time. It doesnt matter that many of the web sites about this are wacky 'new age', it's a fact shown by stats but even those fed always wet, can develop problems by age 16. The only answer having dealt with this many times (I rescue elderly cats) is to get more water into them then have a vet who actually knows geriatric cats and how to read bloodwork. Most of the cats I have rescued have been 14-18 and fed crap like 'purina' until suddenly they 'developed problems the owner could not deal with'. Basic alzheimers sort of thing. At this point, I dump a vet who first takes me to the KD dry (or wet) stuff. My experience is that they know far less than I do (and i am always into follow vet advice normally but this is the exception if they do that). Commmon sense, kidney problems in cats are usually related to not drinking enough. Over years, this can make it worse and damage the kidneys. Cats don't really like 'water' that much but an effective way to get them to drink is by adding a bowl of salt-free broth (2-3 TB) about 3 times a day if possible. Feeding wet food also helps a good bit. I agree with one of the posters, that once you learn to read *labels* much of the 'Fancy Feast' is workable. About 40% of the versions are grainfree. 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. |
#9
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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
Suddenly, without warning, Buddy's Mom exclaimed (3/22/2011 6:07 AM):
Along with checking the thyroid, I would also wonder if she has hairballs. As they age, they lack the ability to get rid of them. I would highly suggest using Temptations for Hairballs or Cat Lax for a couple of weeks to help the hairballs pass and see if this decreases the vomiting. 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. 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. jmc |
#10
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16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up
Suddenly, without warning, cshenk exclaimed (3/22/2011 8:23 PM):
"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"? It can be several things but the 'don't know who he is or you who are' sends a signal of kidney problems to me. Kidney problems are far more common in Cats fed mostly dry food over years of time. It doesnt matter that many of the web sites about this are wacky 'new age', it's a fact shown by stats but even those fed always wet, can develop problems by age 16. The only answer having dealt with this many times (I rescue elderly cats) is to get more water into them then have a vet who actually knows geriatric cats and how to read bloodwork. Most of the cats I have rescued have been 14-18 and fed crap like 'purina' until suddenly they 'developed problems the owner could not deal with'. Basic alzheimers sort of thing. At this point, I dump a vet who first takes me to the KD dry (or wet) stuff. My experience is that they know far less than I do (and i am always into follow vet advice normally but this is the exception if they do that). Commmon sense, kidney problems in cats are usually related to not drinking enough. Over years, this can make it worse and damage the kidneys. Cats don't really like 'water' that much but an effective way to get them to drink is by adding a bowl of salt-free broth (2-3 TB) about 3 times a day if possible. Feeding wet food also helps a good bit. I agree with one of the posters, that once you learn to read *labels* much of the 'Fancy Feast' is workable. About 40% of the versions are grainfree. 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. To add to the water bit - I add a tablespoon or two of warm water to each of Meep's feedings, plus she has a Petco brand water fountain that she drinks from a lot more than the Drinkwell she had before. Between those two, she's remained hydrated enough to have almost no cystitis attacks in the last few years, and despite being geriatric, she looks great and her kidneys are fine. Still, we do a workup every 6 months to ensure if they start to fail, we'll know about it early. jmc |
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