throwing up!

[Emeraldgreen]

For the past couple of days my cat Jimmy has been vomitting up water after he drinks it. Not every time but a few times a day. I have heard that vomitting can be a symptom of IBD which he has but prior to a few days ago, he hardly ever vomits. Maybe a few times a year, if that.

His IBD seems to be under control for the first time in 6+ years after a few rounds of Metronidazole and a very strict diet of Meid-Cal Hypo Gastro dry and wet food. Because he did so well on the Metronidazole my vet said Jimmy is either benefiting from the antibiotic or the probiotic in the meds. She's hoping it's the probiotic so we can put him on just probiotics for life.
She gave me a free box of Forti Flora (a probiotic) made by Purina and it has 30 packets in it.

He liked it mixed in with his food but after I did some research on it, I took him off it after only two doses. There is a risk of an infection that cats can get that is super resistant to antibiotics so I didn't want to risk Jimmy getting this. The last dose he got of that was almost a month ago.

My vet said last month that the best thing for him would be a probiotic called Culturelle but it is only available in the U.S. at Walgreens and other stores. My brother mailed me some the other day and it should be here soon.

In the meantime, if Jimmy looks like he is feeling uncomfortable and sulking around a bit, I give him a dose of the Metronidazole I have left over. He's gotten one dose every week or so and sometimes not at all. It seems to be just enough to get him back on track and feeling good.

He is still having 99% normal poops, just a bit soft but almost normal. But now he is vomitting. He is such a good boy too, he goes into the litterbox to throw up. What a guy.

He's also been a bit sneezy. Not full sneezes but these little sneeze sounds he makes. And not all the time, just a couple per day for a few days.

My cat Sneakers has been making the same sneeze sounds for a few days and she just threw up all the pieces of left over turkey I gave her tonight.

Just wondering if anybody has any thoughts on why he might be vomitting and/or the sneezing. Maybe it's still IBD that has just changed in symptoms?? But Sneakers seems to have similar symptoms.

[Catty1]

IBD could be a red herring in this case. He may have something totally unrelated to that.

I'd talk to your vet and see if an appt is warranted.

Hugs to Jimmy and Sneakers!

[Medusa]

I've not had experience w/IBD in cats but my vet told me that if one of them vomits once, not to worry but if s/he throws up again, to call him.

[Barbara]

Vomiting can be nothing but it also can be a sign of kidney problems. Hope Jimmy'll be ok- or he better goes to see the vet.

[kb2yjx]

Hope the boys feel better soon!

[Emeraldgreen]

Vomiting can be nothing but it also can be a sign of kidney problems. Hope Jimmy'll be ok- or he better goes to see the vet.

Oh wow, I don't know why I didn't think of this. When Jimmy was taken to the vet a few months ago when he became very ill they did a bunch of different tests on him. It turned out that he had an infection in his colon that was treated. But when they did the ultrasound and xrays they found that he only has one working kidney. The one doing all the work is really big and the other one is all shriveled up.
The blood work showed that his one kidney was doing really well so that was a relief. Until that day a few months ago, we never knew that he only had one working kidney.

The other thing the vet told me was that they saw he had a kidney stone. She said it didn't seem to be causing him problems so she said we could leave it alone. But maybe this is the problem. I googled kidney stones and one of the symptoms can be vomitting.

He is managing to keep his food down but when he throws up, it's after he drinks water. I didn't see him do it today but he goes into the litter box to do it so I can't always know. But he is drinking a fair amount. He used to drink tons but he was also on prednisilone at the time so I think that is what made him so thirsty. But he hasn't had pred for almost 3 months and still drinks a bunch of water. Not as much as before but more than the other cats. I'm wondering if he is instinctively trying to pass the stone by drinking a lot of water??

I will call the vet tomorrow and let her know what is going on.

Thanks for the posts everybody! I knew they would help.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Lara, I'm sorry to hear this. Hopefully it's nothing serious. I'll keep Jimmy in my thoughts and prayers. Please continue to keep us updated about him.

[Medusa]

How's our Jimmy today?

[jennielynn1970]

Hey Lara, we're all hoping that Jimmy is doing better. What did the vet have to say?

[Emeraldgreen]

Thanks for asking guys. Jimmy has stopped throwing up and the hiccup like sneezy things he was doing have also stopped. I think he may have had something (like a piece of kibble) lodged in his throat or something and now it has passed? I didn't speak with the vet about it but I will when I go in next. I'm wondering if there are meds that could help break up the stone in his kidney. I don't think a diet change would work for him because he is doing so well on the Hypo Gastro food for his IBD.
Thankfully he is doing better but I will be keeping a close eye on him. He's such a special cat.