Feeling so guilty about ignoring vomiting for so long

[Tracysherm]

My cat Herbie is now being treated for "presumed" inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). I was surprised, in my reading about it, and from my experience with Herb, how IBD can present in so many different ways.

He is 8, and was completely healthy up until last Saturday 10/13 when he suddenly started puking up everything he ate. He would vomit all the way down to bile, until nothing else would come up. Then he'g go eat, and start all over. I was following him around for 2 days with spray cleaner and paper towels.

I took him to our regular vet Monday 10/15, after this had been going on a little over 2 days. He had no fever, and his exam was normal. He was not even dehydrated at that point. We got the blood work back Wednesday 10/17, and the vet said it all looked perfect. Since he had not eaten or drank any water since going to the vet Monday, my vet advised us to see the internal medicine specialist that my other cat sees. Since he stopped eating, he was no longer throwing up food or bile, but hacking up bubbly saliva over and over.

Herbie was examined by the specialist the next Day (Thursday 10/18). She also said he seemed very healthy, though a little dehydrated. I was concerned that he had ingested some foreign body, and maybe had it stuck in his throat, since he kept gagging and hacking. She scheduled him for an endoscopy the next day.

So Friday 10/19, he went back, got more blood work, and had the endoscopy under anesthesia (we're now up to almost $3000 total). They found no lesions, no foreign objects (like strings, etc), no growths or strictures. Nothing in his throat. They took biopsies, which won't be back till this Wednesday 10/24. So at this point the differential diagnosis is inflammatory bowel disease vs. intestinal lympohoma (my other cat Fletcher is being treated for intestinal lymphoma).

He had to stay over in their ICU until Saturday, and they got him hydrated again, and injected him with steriods. Since we don't know yet if it's cancer, IBD, or a combination of the two, he was started on oral prenisolone, since that would be prescribed for both diagnoses.

It's now been two days since he came home, and he still is not eating or drinking. He has a whole "buffet" of all kinds of foods to tempt him, but he won't eat. Giving him the pills is awful, and takes a lot of struggle. When I finally get the pill in his throat, he gags and hacks, but eventually gets it down.

To me, it's just so strange that a problem in the intestines would seems to present with symptoms that seem to be in his throat, the vomitting, hacking, and gagging. But both vets who saw him say that IBD often presents this way, though it usually comes on more gradually, rather than overnight like with Herbie. They say that when cats are nauseous, even though the nausea is felt in their stomach, due to a lower GI problem, they will show the nausea with upper-GI symptoms like gagging. I would have bet money that is was something stuck in his throat!

We'll get the biopsy results in a couple days, but it's so upsetting that he isn't eating or drinking. I have him sequestered in a room so I can monitor his inputs and outputs. He is still very cuddly and purry, and acting normally, except for not taking anything by mouth (except for the pills I force into him twice a day which he barely chokes down.)

From what I understand, IBD is a manageable illness, but that's dependent on him eating and drinking and taking pills. If it's lymphoma, what we do will depend on how progressed it is. Our other cat Fletcher has intestinal lymphoma, but eats and drinks very well, takes pills very easily, and is very comfortable going to the vet every 2 weeks. He's fighting the illness, and we took the cue from him to do all we could to fight it. But Herbie is very timid and is traumatized every time he has to go to the vet, even for a wellness visit. He's refusing to eat and drink, so we might end up going in a different direction with him, if it's cancer. The vet is leaning toward the IBD. I kind of agree, since he has not lost weight, while Fletcher has lost a lot of weight even thought he eats. Oh well, praying and crossing fingers...

[ParallelJJCat]

I think constant vomiting is never something to ignore, but I also think the myth that this is normal is widespread...even among vets, as the OP discovered.

Vomiting is a symptom. Now, it can be a symptom of something simple and passing, like a stomach virus or a hairball. But vomiting is simply not a feature of a normally functioning digestive tract...there has to be a cause. It can sometimes be very hard to discover that cause, and sometimes the mystery goes unsolved. That still doesn't make it normal.

It really, really bothers me that vets are so willing to pass this off with a shrug. JJ occasionally vomits for what appears to be no reason. He's not prone to hairballs, and lord knows I've tested and retested this cat for everything under the sign. Sometimes it happens because he gets excited and eats too fast...this is why I have to feed him every four hours. Going longer makes him too anxious and he'll bolt his food. But sometimes (like yesterday), it just happens...and I can always tell on those days that he's not feeling well. It's in the way he sits and the way he puffs his fur out.

I'm convinced he has something like IBS (not IBD, he's been tested.) I have IBS and there are many days my stomach is just 'off.' But if any doctor told me feeling like that was NORMAL just because IBS is something that can't be tested for (it's diagnosed when everything else is ruled out), I'd find a new doctor. Either that or its connected to his herpes (it's harder to tell when he has a flare without eyes.)

I wouldn't blame yourself, no kudzu, I'd blame your vet for dismissing it too easily and not warning you to do weekly weigh-ins.

[VickiR]

My DOG would eat, cough, spit it up and then re eat it. She also drools and coughs up siliva. Ok, I know we are talking about cats but some of these symptoms sound so similar.

Anyway...took the dog to the vet and they couldn't figure it out. She also lost a lot of weight. They thought it was IBD.

Took her to the vet school and thousands of dollars later...they said she had some type of esophogus issue. The symptoms sound like a stroke in a human but it has to do with her esophogus.

I sure wish our pets would tell us when they are sick!!!

Vicki

[Tracysherm]

At least I have good news: Herbie does not have cancer, and he has some signs of mild IBD. Since it's mild and he's now eating, they think he'll be able to wean off the prednisone after he is stable for a while.

[no kudzu]

Way to go Herbie!