I’m based in UK. My 11-year-old cat has been struggling with recurring vomiting since April. She has bouts of seeming much better, followed by periods of worsening symptoms, but lately the bad periods seem to be happening closer together. I’m honestly at a loss about what to do next. She’s been in and out of vets for months, and now even a specialist hospital referral as my normal vets don’t know what else to do.
Her most recent ultrasound showed mild intestinal wall thickening and some reactive lymph nodes. FNA (fine needle aspiration) of the lymph nodes was compatible with inflammation. They also sampled some liver cysts, which they believe are benign. She’s had two ultrasounds, various blood tests, urine testing and FNA. She’s also under the care of a specialist referral vet, but we still don’t have clear answers. At the moment we’ve been trying hydrolised food trials since early September.
She’s never really suffered from diarrhoea. Her main issue is vomiting, sitting hunched, laying with her flat and arms tucked under, lip smacking. Bile vomit, and mostly vomiting straight after eating. It waxes and wanes.
Food trials: She didn’t get on well with Hill’s hydrolysed wet or dry food. She initially did much better on Purina HA during a trial in September, but eventually had another episode. She now struggles to eat enough Purina HA to meet her daily calorie needs, so I’ve introduced Dechra hydrolysed wet food alongside it over the past four days. She loves it and has great appetite for it, but now she’s being sick.
The difficulty is has eaten wet food her entire life and has never been a dry-food cat. I really don’t want her to have to eat a dry hydrolysed diet for the rest of her life if there’s another option. However, she seems much more likely to vomit immediately after eating wet food, including the hydrolysed Hill’s and now Dechra, whereas she rarely vomits immediately after dry food. But she no longer eats enough dry food to meet her calorie needs, which is why I’m adding the wet food. (I also use the wet food to disguise her meds so it’s a necessity).
She’s currently showing signs such as sitting hunched and sleeping with her head flat. Two days ago she vomited clear saliva, which looked yellow-tinged when wiped. Today she vomited immediately after eating Dechra, but afterwards seemed fine, watched the window and, 45 minutes later, ate more Purina HA and finished the remaining wet food.
She sometimes has Cerenia when the vomiting/nausea is particularly bad, which seems to help, but I worry we’re just managing symptoms rather than addressing the underlying issue. I’ve also been giving her a small daily dose of liquid gabapentin (0.25 ml), which seems to help her relax and eat better for a few hours.
She’s an extremely anxious cat and very attached to me, so I also wonder how much stress contributes.
Has anyone experienced anything similar, particularly vomiting immediately after wet food but tolerating dry food better? Have you found a hydrolysed wet food that worked, or eventually discovered what was causing the vomiting? Would you pursue further investigations or focus on getting the diet right first?
I’m exhausted and heartbroken watching her go through this. I feel like I’ve tried so much, and I just want her to feel better. ❤️
