Frequent Vomiting

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The_Dude

The_Dude

Member Since 2016
Hi everyone,
My fur baby, Dude, was diagnosed with diabetes about 6+ months ago. Long story short - due to the wonderful advice on this website - we have been able to control his diabetes with diet and he is no longer on insulin (I no longer test very frequently, but he is always in the 70-100 range with my home meter). He is getting 3 cans of Fancy Feast classic (one can every 8 hours). He will only eat the chicken and beef flavors, he either refuses to eat or will vomit up any of the fish flavors. Which brings me to my question - how much vomiting is normal?

Dude is a long haired cat, and has suffered from hairballs all his life. He was on hair ball control dry food his entire life until the diabetes diagnosis. We try and add pumpkin to his canned food when we can, but honestly we forget most days. The hairball issue I can understand, but ever since switching diet he also vomits if he gets too hungry (just vomits clear liquids). It can be like clockwork that he will vomit in the half hour just before his scheduled feeding time.

He has been staying a consistent weight (around 12 pounds), and we don't want to let him gain more weight back. Should we split up the 3 cans into more mini meals? I can't just sit around the house all day waiting to serve his highness his mini meals though. We have that rotating timed feeder thing, but he won't eat the wet food out of it because it dries up too quickly.

We have taken him to the vet specifically for the vomiting, but the vet couldn't find anything. We treated him for pancreatitis just in case, but nothing changes. Still dealing with vomit at least once a week, but usually more often than that. It seems directly related to low blood sugar and having an empty stomach. I can't let him outside before feeding time because he will eat grass out of starvation, then eat food and vomit it back up because he ate the grass first.

Not sure what my exact question is here, just wondering if others had this problem? Am I not giving enough calories with the 3 cans per day?
 
Has your vet seen a sample of the vomit? How clear is "clear"? No grass, no strains or any other color? You never know what's in that grass, country or city. Can you keep him inside for a consistent period of time and see what difference it makes? The timing of the vomit is strange, like he's getting hungry and nibbling on something he shouldn't when he gets hungry. Try and factor all that in, you'll get better advice soon.
 
He is pretty much an indoor cat, only spending a few minutes outside when he decides he would rather do his business outside rather than in the litter box. In the summer he might spend a bit more time outside when the weather is nice.

The vomit is clear, sometimes a little brown (vet hasn't seen it). I thought it looked bloody probably 2 or 3 times, which is why we took him to the vet. They gave him gastrafate (which was horrible trying to get him to take) but it only seemed to help during the week we gave him medicine - then the vomiting was back. Getting rid of the fish flavored foods helped, because he wasn't eating those or directly vomiting it back up (so we were going through a spell where he vomited every day).

We keep him in just to make sure he isn't eating anything outside. He vomited twice today (between breakfast and lunch time) and was inside the whole time. He had food in his bowl but it was like he couldn't remember it was there and was starving.

I did test his blood on one of his vomiting days and it was low at 68. So I still think he might need more little meals - I just don't know how I am going to achieve that when I am at work all day. How do you keep food fresh and appealing when in those turning timed feeder things?
 
Hello to you and The Dude! (Awesome name for a cat, Big Labowski reference I'm assuming :D). I'm new here myself, my little man was just diagnosed on Friday, so I can't speak to how the vomiting might relate directly to diabetes, but what I DO know is vomiting cats, specifically with no definitive reason as to why.

My guy has had problems with vomiting liquid, frothy foam, and bringing up dinner for a few years now (often close to or right after dinner as well). Vet never could find an absolute reason as to what was causing it. Pancreas, etc always tested fine. Eventually she came to the conclusion that, for whatever reason, he just produces more stomach acid than he should. She said it's not uncommon in some cats. He was put on a prescription diet that is easier to digest, and it helped for a while, but eventually we had to supplement his diet with an antacid.

He now gets 10mg of Famotidine a day, split into 5mg doses, one in the morning, one in the evening, if he has not vomited recently. If he has vomited recently, I quarter the pill into 4 doses, to keep the acid under control throughout the day, and continue at 4 doses for a few days until the vomiting subsides. He gets the pills 1 hr to 30 min before each meal.

I know you mentioned the grass eating, this is a classic sign of upset tummy. Is he also licking his lips a lot, or does he often sit in a low, hunched up position (also known as "meatloaf position" due to them looking like a meatloaf in a pan). Does he sometimes refuse to eat? Acid can cause a lot of stomach pain and nausea. The timing of Dude's vomiting leads me to believe he may be accruing too much acid in his stomach, especially since they will naturally produce more the closer it gets to feeding time.

You might want to discuss adding an antacid to his regimen with your vet. My doctor suggested the Famotidine, since it was the easiest to find in round 10mg tablets (10mg is the max dose per day for cats on Famotidine, unless vet says it's ok to use more, and the round pills are easier to split and quarter). I stuck with that and it seems to work well. Your vet may suggest a different antacid. Some work better for certain cats than others, but you MUST be consistent with them. Acid can build up quick and cause a lot of damage in just a short amount of time, so they have to get whatever amount the vet prescribes every day, even if you have to delay feeding by a few minutes to get that pill in their stomachs. You might also want to ask about an anti nausea med as well. I use Cerenia, though sparingly and only if he refuses to eat or has multiple bouts of vomiting.

I also want to mention that some vets don't like the idea of consistently using an antacid, as there is the risk that it might raise the chance of making the intestinal tract more susceptible to things like cancer. It's a risk vs. immediate quality of life thing that you and the vet will have to weight together. Choosing to use it with my cat has given me a few more years with him. He will turn 18 this year :)

Good luck to you and The Dude!
 
Thank you! That is really helpful information! I also think it is too much stomach acid, because he is always the worst before eating.

The other change in his behavior is obsessive licking on his arms (don't know how I forgot to mention this part). He has started licking them almost bald in some spots. The vet said it was just a stress related activity and that it becomes addictive. I was concerned because it seems odd for my 14 year old cat to suddenly be stressed when nothing else is really changing. It might just be from nausea though.
 
No problem! Glad I can help with something since I'm so new with this whole diabetes thing. Hmm, I don't have any experience with stress grooming. If it is indeed stress related and not any kind of allergic reaction you might want to check out Feliway products here. Vets often sell them and mine uses the diffusers in their cat exam rooms.

Feliway sells all kinds of products (sprays, wipes, & diffusers) that use pheromones to calm cats. Might be worth it to by a few diffusers and plug them in near Dude's favorite spots or rooms he frequents. Or spray his favorite bed, etc. Worth a shot at least :)
 
Per info from Tanya's site excess stomach acid can lead to vomiting up clear/foamy liquid. As others have advised above smaller, more frequent feeds might help (you can use Petsafe 5 and Catmate 20 feeders to dispense food with a little added water while you're out during the day or at night when you're sleeping).

In addition to checking kidney function if stomach acid is an issue also ask your vet about is liver function and gastroparesis, another complication of diabetes. Another thing to check for is thyroid issues. I've discovered recently that thyroid imbalances (especially hyperT) can lead to gut motility changes which may present as unusual, frequent vomiting and/or vomiting/loose bowel motions. If liver marker are out of whack then be sure to check liver markers - they can be completely out of whack if it's a thyroid issue. Definitely ask your vet about getting some blood work done. (Note: out of whack liver markers may sometimes point to dysfunction of thyroid regulation.)


Mogs
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I didn't get a copy of the results, but when we took him to the vet for the stomach issues they did a bunch of bloodwork and couldn't find anything out of line. All of his numbers looked excellent of course. I am not sure if they thyroid was checked as well.

I have the Petsafe 5 but the food dries out before feeding time and he turns his nose up at it. How far ahead do you put food in yours? It sounds like you are adding water as well, just a little to keep it mushy?
 
The_Dude said:
I didn't get a copy of the results, but when we took him to the vet for the stomach issues they did a bunch of bloodwork and couldn't find anything out of line. All of his numbers looked excellent of course. I am not sure if they thyroid was checked as well.

I have the Petsafe 5 but the food dries out before feeding time and he turns his nose up at it. How far ahead do you put food in yours? It sounds like you are adding water as well, just a little to keep it mushy?
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Sorry no advice here, but just wanted to say The Dude is handsome!
 
I put an ice cube right on to of the wet food in the feeder. It keeps it cool, as water, and I've never seen it dried out by the time it opens. You could fill the ice cube tray half full with water if he will turn his nose up at to much water. But bigger cubes would be best for the later meals.
 
StephG said:
I put an ice cube right on to of the wet food in the feeder. It keeps it cool, as water, and I've never seen it dried out by the time it opens. You could fill the ice cube tray half full with water if he will turn his nose up at to much water. But bigger cubes would be best for the later meals.
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Thanks Steph G. Just seeing this now, I appreciate the help
 
Haha, it's ok. I know what you meant. Lately he hasn't been vomiting as much, but now he just doesn't want to eat very much. Sigh....he only seems to eat all of his lunch, but I have to toss half to a quarter of his breakfast and dinner away.
 
The_Dude said:
Haha, it's ok. I know what you meant. Lately he hasn't been vomiting as much, but now he just doesn't want to eat very much. Sigh....he only seems to eat all of his lunch, but I have to toss half to a quarter of his breakfast and dinner away.
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Maybe he's a grazer. Takes my cats hours to finish. I just leave it out.
 
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