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On the scratching I have a lot of room for improvement so thank you everyone for the suggestions. One way or another I don't have the heart to declaw him.
I feed him wet food most of the time, it's a patte though. For the vomiting I'm just thinking that he willfully vomits. The difference between wet food and kibble is the amount of steam cleaner I use when he throws up anyway. I've tried a bunch of different Purina wet foods... just different color stains on the carpet to me. Brushing et all doesn't seem to make a difference either.
I guess I'm consider giving up on him because when I add the bills up he's going to cost several thousand for me this year and yes, I do put a price on that. I'm shuddering to think what the baseboard(s) he scratched up are going to cost when I stop renting here and my landlord likely demands that everything be in pristine condition.
I guess I haven't given the full spiel on his joint... I noticed he was limping the other week and took him to the emergency vet where, after an xray, I was shown the arthritic joint and kind of a hairline fracture that they wanted to repair. They said the arthritis was caused by an injury when he was about 1, before I adopted him, and he aggravated the injury. He isn't limping anymore, and he isn't hiding under the bed, but yeah, he is feeling it and I can tell he sleeps more than usual. So he isn't miserable now per se but it does look like I will probably have to get it fixed if I want to keep him. I'll allow that getting a second opinion (hopefully without new, $300 xrays) wouldn't be a bad idea though.
The laser therapy may be a better option than surgery for that injury. Get the x rays, or a copy, from the vet (you've already paid for them)
Most vets use digital equipment these days so you will probably get a disk with the x rays on it. Make sure the other vet has the capability to read the disk.
Upgrade the food. He is probably sensitive to one or more of the ingredients, most likely one of the crappy ingredients. Those stains are from the DYE in the foods. Read the labels, you will probably be grossed out to find out what you've been feeding him, and will no longer wonder why he regurgitates.
Get him a horizontal wood scratcher (make sure the wood is untreated) and putty up and paint the baseboards when you move.
vomit can deifnatly be the result of eating too fast or eating too much (or both) and is much more likley to happen in animals that eat kibble.
my vet things its because once the kibble hits the stomach like any dehydrated food it begins to expand...what was 2 mouthfulls now becomes 4 and we all know what happens when you eat too much, or eat too fast.
wet food doesnt expand like kibble in the stomach.
My cat is such a pig she throws up so she can make more room to eat.
We had a unipuker too. Think how miserable it would be to upchuck almost every day. It is not normal. Our solutions was to nix all dry food. he did well on Wellness until the recall and the new formula had him puking again. Now we are happy with chicken or quail, turkey but NO BEEF Before Grain with a tiny bit of Fancy Feast once a week for a treat. I also give him hairball gell on my finger once or twice a week. This has stopped or at least greatly reduced the vomit. The scratching can be curbed by redirecting to quality multiple scratching posts.
Please work with him. 8 is young and he will surely be killed in a shelter.
pet ownership is a lifetime commitment.
Just joined you in the likes of having trouble with a puker and a stuff destroyer so I thought you would get a kick out of someone else going through some heartache!
My 18week old kitten has decided that while he likes to eat his food - he no longer wants to keep most of it in his stomach - oh what fun! By 9am this morning I had cleaned up vomit (for the 5th time this week) and cleaned poop off of nearly everything in my house. This included giving him his first bath I also found while doing my bed sheets (because yes, there was poop on those too where he felt it necessary to get in bed after the "incident") that he had chewed two holes in my blanket! That's just fan-freakin-tastic!!
Days like this are why God made wine. Lots of wine.
My elderly cat has started puking almost every day now.
Its mostly the dry food that he pukes up, but just this afternoon, after feeding him a small amount of wet food, I discovered he tossed that up.
I don't mind taking him to a vet, but I am suspecting they won't have any answers.
Why would you think that? There are many things that can cause vomiting in senior cats, and most are treatable if caught early enough. Get him in and get his blood work (be sure to ask for thyroid testing) and urinalysis done. Find out what's troubling him and what can be done to help him. That's what vets are for.
You have a great cat. I would love to have a cat like that. My two males are great but they don't really like to snuggle and only want to be held for short periods.
I have decided that mixing cats and leather furniture just doesn't work. I bought an expensive leather recliner from Ethan Allen that has been ripped up quite a bit. It still looks decent enough but I do keep it in the sunroom/cat room. The cats can even rip up fabric on other furniture so it's not just leather. You can buy sprays that encourage cats to stay away. That might keep them away from the leather. I'd test any sprays in an inconspicious area to make sure they don't damage the leather.
Why would you think that? There are many things that can cause vomiting in senior cats, and most are treatable if caught early enough. Get him in and get his blood work (be sure to ask for thyroid testing) and urinalysis done. Find out what's troubling him and what can be done to help him. That's what vets are for.
Well the reason I am skeptical is that I used to take him to the highest rated animal hospital where I live. I thought the service was really good.
But, he developed daily severe diarrhea. I went in for test after test, tried medication after medication. Nothing helped.
They suspected it was some sort of cancer after all of the different medications failed to help.
he was on a prescription dry food and they suggested switching to a different version of the same brand. That didn't help.
I told them I could not afford ultrasounds, etc. and they said even if they did ultrasounds, they may not be able to know what sort of cancer he had, and that not all cancers can be treated successfully either, So I just prepared for him to eventually die.
One day, after about 8 months or so of the daily diarrhea, I decided to go to a natural pet food store and buy some natural canned food. I figured since he was losing weight and getting weak, this might give him some extra strength.
Within 24 hours of the new food, the diarrhea completely stopped and now, almost a year later, it has never come back.
Given how highly rated this place was, I am very surprised that they never once considered a food allergy or something like that. I had to figure it out on my own, and had I not done that, he would probably be dead by now.
That experience is the basis for my skepticism and lack of trust with vets.
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I also found while doing my bed sheets (because yes, there was poop on those too where he felt it necessary to get in bed after the "incident") that he had chewed two holes in my blanket! That's just fan-freakin-tastic!!
