Reptile & Amphibian Forums

About 2 or 3 months ago I had to take my mother's cat in with me. According to my sister and mom she has always had a puking problem. The first month or so whe was puking a lot of hairballs mostly and white foamy liquid. Sometime she'd puke up partially digested chunks of food too. About once a week maybe if that. However, I went away for the weekend and came back and her food bowl was almost full. Since then I've noticed she is not eating much and if I give her treats, she pukes it up within a few minutes - all liquid. Before she pukes, I hear crunching sounds and I see her start to contort her face. She is about 10 or 11. A year ago my sister took her to the vet who found no problems but now this not eating thing is starting to worry me. I'm going to call a vet tomorrow but I've never owned a pet and readings these forums has me concerned that this will cost me an arm and a leg.

The other weird thing I've noticed is that in the last couple of weeks she's been licking the carpet where the cat litter is and licking the cat litter! I am so worried about her

She is an indoor cat and has never been too active. She just sits around different places around the apartment and likes to sleep near the sun. I haven't noticed any behavior changes.

I'm going to call a vet tomorrow but I've never owned a pet and readings these forums has me concerned that this will cost me an arm and a leg.

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Congratulations on opening your home to your mother's cat. She is very fortunate to have you taking care of her. It is good you are calling a vet. If she isn't eating, I'd get her in ASAP. When cats don't eat for a couple days, they can have complications (liver problems). Chances are your vet will be able to figure out what is going on and it won't be too expensive. I have two Senior cats (turned 15 this month) and have found their care isn't outrageous. Vet bills for them are very reasonable. You'll sometimes hear horror stories, but it depends on what our own threshold is for pet care. Some people think spending $50 at the vet once in a while on a pet's care is outrageous. Others understand we have to spend a little occasionally to keep them healthy as we do for ourselves and our other family members. We all have our thresholds. If you take her in to the vet regularly (about every six months for a Senior cat) and get her blood panels run (not too expensive), you can find any problems out early and costs are very low vs. waiting until something finally shows up after weeks or months of simmering below the surface. I pay very little for my two cats' care as most of their problems we find out right as they start and nip them in the bud. I find it funny that what start as simple problems can escallate fast because folks don't want to take the cat to the vet and try home remedies. If they'd talked to the vet early on, like you are, much is resolved fast and inexpensively (compared to problems escallating and needing more care). Many folks that complain of high vet costs hold off as long as possible taking the cat to the vet and by the time they do, the cat is in dire straits.

It's good you are staying in tune with her habits. Just remember, any time she stops eating for 24 hours, call your vet and get her looked at. Two of our biggest keys as cat owners are diet and litter box habits. If eating changes or litter box habits change (not going #2 or straining to go #1, for instance), get her in immediately. When it comes to eating and litter problems, many times it is a simple fix at the vet, but the longer we wait for it to "solve itself" the longer we put them in jeapordy and the higher costs get...

Welcome to the wonderful world of cats. You should have many years left with her. She's still relatively young for a cat. 8/9 is the start of Senior years and around 11 is the start of Geriatric years anymore. Most indoor only cats (with good diet and vet care) will live to 16-18. Taking her in to the vet every six months will do wonders for keeping costs down and addressing problems early on.
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

Thanks for the reply! I found a vet that can take her in this afternoon and so I'm going to do that. While I've grown to really love this little cat, I am hoping that once my mom gets well, that I can return her to my mom. I'm allergic to cats and although I'm not as allergic to Nala as I am to other cats I've been around, all the cat hair in the apt has made my allergies a lot worse

Hi There,

Not to scare you, but your kitty needs to be seen by a vet ASAP. She needs an exam and should have bloodwork and a urinalysis done. With the litter eating, my biggest concern is that she is anemic, possibly secondary to kidney disease. Most senior cats will develop some degree of kidney disease at some point.

This is going to cost you some money, but you can ask the vet to keep the expenses down as much as possible. Some panels are cheaper to run than others, although getting the additional information is worth paying more. You might be able to skip the urinalysis, but bloodwork alone does not give the whole picture of how the kidneys are functioning.

Senior cats are at high risk for several things. You really have a responsibility to take this cat in and find out what is going on with her. She hasn't been to a vet in a year, anyway, so she is really due for another vet visit.

Please make an appointment and let us know how it goes.

Regards,
PHKitkat

So I took her to the vet. Turns out it DID cost an arm and a leg. Over 300 for the checkup, fluids, xray and blood tests. I need to call tomorrow for the blood tests. The vet said the Xray showed a very inflamed bowel and arthritis in her back. Said that he can't say what is causing her not to eat until he gets the bloodwork back. They had to gas her to take the X-rays They then had trouble taking her blood and I heard her screams from the waiting room - they said they had to sedate her a bit and muzzle her and that it took 4 of them to hold her down He said any kind of treatment might be difficult b/c chances are it could be a chronic condition and that her not liking to be held or touched might make treatment difficult. They also wouldn't cut her nails b/c she was so violent He warned me about touching her when I got her home.

However, as soon as I opened the cat carrier she came out and went straight to her food bowl! She also let me pet her. I was so worried she would be angry at me. I was almost in tears at the vet and I don't even like animals!

I'll definitely say a prayer the results come back that it is something treatable. You are doing a wonderful job giving her the best care you can.
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

Hi,

I don't understand why, if they had to give her gas to take x-rays anyway, they didn't do everything else while she was asleep. It would have been much easier for everyone involved.

Anyway, $300.00 isn't all that bad for everything that was done. Don't forget that they are charging for anesthesia also, and gas is expensive. So are x-rays. And the vet may have ordered one of the more expensive panels to get more info.

Please let us know what the tests show.

Regards,
PHKitkat

Regarding the gas, what happened was that originally the vet said it was okay to do the blood tests next week since I did not have the money to pay upfront. After he showed me the xrays though, he then said he would be willing to bill me for the cost of the blood tests which was 150 and after that he did the blood tests.

I called yesterday to get results. He said everything was normal - CBC was normal, urinalysis was normal, glucose was ok, except she had somewhat high but not a lot amount of triple phosphate crystals? He said to get her a low phosphate food - low mineral diet. He said everything was ok however.

BUT - today I noticed she had diarrhea and he said to call if she had diarrhea so now I'm worried again. She ate a lot yesterday and today I put out 2 pouches of wet food - different flavors and she has only eaten about the equivalent of one and I've had to lead her to the food to get her to eat.

Right now I am researching wet foods to see what kind would be best. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd welcome them. She is usually not playful but she normally rubs up against my hand when i massage her neck and she hasn't been doing that since Friday

Thanks so much for your support and knowledge!!

Good that everything came back normal, except phosphate which it appears he suggests treating with diet change... You ask for food suggestions -- did the vet have any he recommended? Something to ask when you call him about the diarrhea. Don't put off calling him long about the diarrhea -- especially if it is chronic. She can become dehydrated.

I wouldn't worry overmuch until you talk to him. He may have some ideas and anticipated diarrhea (maybe from diet change). He's already let you know everything pretty much came back OK. One thing that causes diarrhea is diet change and it sounds like you put out two pouches of new different foods for her to try... One thing you'll want to do is get her on a steady diet once she likes something and slowly introduce any food changes (mixing old with new when it comes to dry). Steady diets of the same food = less diarrhea.

Working w/your vet on her changes will be the quickest way to resolve this. Hopefully he will have some diet suggestions for you when you call about the diarrhea.
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

Hi,

It's good to hear that most of the test results came back normal.

What I would do if I had a cat with crystals, is look into prescription diets that can dissolve them. There are diets designed for cats with different kind of crystals. Please ask the vet which ones are carried there.

A female cat is unlikely to block from having crystals, but they can cause a lot of pain and discomfort. Also bleeding, and the likelihood of infections developing. I am assuming that since x-rays were taken, your kitty doesn't have any bladder stones. These are sometimes removed surgically.

Regards,
PHKitkat