Charlie's vomiting

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SuePea

SuePea

Member Since 2015
This cat NEVER throws up and he's been puking up his breakfast and then more. His numbers have been great...
 
no, same stuff he's been eating for a week and a half. He was kind gobbling, could it be he ate too fast?
 
The good news is that with no added insulin in his system, he's not at risk of hypo even if he drops into the 40s. :) No need to treat for a hypo - some non-diabetic cats can get very low readings naturally and without insulin in his system forcing his numbers down, he can't hypo. :) Now we just have to figure out why he's vomited. It could be that he just ate too fast - my civvie Regan does that fairly regularly. And it is hairball season. How does he seem apart from the vomiting - is he fairly bright and happy or does he seem miserable or like he's feeling ill?
 
Some cats do react to vomiting by seeming a little miserable for an hour or so afterwards. I think I'd keep an eye on him for a couple of hours first before you do anything else to see if he perks up or if he continues feeling ill. If he starts seeming better, you could try him with a very small amount of food (I wouldn't give him much at a time because you don't want a repeat). And if you have ketostix, I'd go with getting a ketone test just to be on the safe side. A lot of the time a single vomiting episode isn't anything to worry about, but with our diabetic kitties we always do worry more (Rosa had an off day a few weeks ago too so I do understand your worry).
 
If he will drink a little, that might help with any dehydration. I don't think I'd force food or water into him just yet though - he might just need an hour or two to recover.
 
ok, thanks...I have a little SQ fluids here from something a while back. I am tempted to run it just to get something into him that won't upset his stomach.
 
OK, my panic may be over. he seems to be perking up now...and he just headed for the litter box. I don't have any ketone strips unfortunately but his numbers have been so low I can't imagine him having ketone problems...
 
There's probably no good reason not to give the fluids - it's not something I've ever tried for vomiting so I'm not entirely sure. If it rehydrates him while he gets over the shock of vomiting it might help.

Hmm - that's exactly what Rosa had a few weeks ago - vomiting followed by diarrhea. The other cats had diarrhea the day after but no vomiting - in the end I figured it was a dodgy can of food because only the cats that eat the wet food were affected. I still don't know if that was the answer, but she was fine after the first day and doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects overall. I gave her a little baby food to encourage her to eat and 1/4 of a Pepcid AC to settle her stomach a bit but I didn't give any other treatment.
 
it won't stop the vomiting unless the vomiting is caused by dehydration. But it's usually the other way around so I think that's what I'll do. He just passed a normal amount of urine and the diarrhea was actually largely well formed but then followed by liquid. I am kinda wondering if there was something with the food. Our civvie ate from the same can but he's outside and I don't know if he's feeling odd. (or could just have a stronger stomach?)
 
I can't see it doing any harm - rehydrating can only be a good thing I'd have thought. :) That does sound exactly like the situation we had here - the diarrhea did last a day or so, getting less all the time (just so you know it might not clear immediately). It might or might not be the food - I put it down to that because it was too much of a coincidence that the 4 cats who only eat the wet food had it, but our housemate's 2 who had been in his room all day (so for once hadn't touched the wet food) didn't. I do think it's possible that occasionally a can of food might not be good but I don't know if we'll ever be able to know for sure in this sort of situation. If he seems OK in himself, I'd stick with keeping an eye on him for now and see if he carries on acting like he's OK.
 
ok, I am going to take a couple of nice deep breaths and give him the fluids and then just watch him for a while. He hasn't vomited since that first big eruption (followed by a smaller one) and then the diarrhea. Thank goodness this cat is not horrible about getting stuck..
 
It always helps when you don't have to stress about giving them any sort of meds. I'll be about all day if you have any concerns with how he seems later on so just shout out if you're not sure about anything. :) Hopefully it'll be a one off and he'll be feeling better later on. :) It's scary when they suddenly do something like that that's out of character for them so I hope he doesn't do anything else to worry you today. :bighug:
 
me, too. Today's a day I am usually out of the house most of the day. I have to get all my shopping done (including getting him more cat food!) and I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon. (for me). Thanks so much for getting me settled... (btw I love your emoticons, how do you get that little hug one going?)
 
Fingers crossed he'll be fine by this afternoon and you'll be able to go out without worrying. :) The emoticons are built in - if you click the little smiley face at the top of your new post when you're typing it, you'll get a whole row of them at the bottom of the post - you just click on the one you want and it'll put it in there for you!
 
Does Charlie ever get hairballs? A few years ago, Mitz went thru a bout of vomiting and diarrhea that lasted a few days. I never did get a definite diagnosis but I suspect it was related to hairballs. This happened a couple of years in row in the spring. She got better with an anti-vomiting medication and a few doses of Pepcid. Hope he continues to perk up!
 
he does get hairballs but I didn't see any sign of it this time. This was just digested breakfast. He's doing better (knock on wood) and I am off to PetSmart to see if I can rassle up a low-carb AND low-phosphorus canned food for him. I do worry about his kidneys at this age; his kidney numbers were normal but heading for the high end of normal. If I keep slamming him with the high-phosphorus he's been getting from 9 lives I suspect it won't last long.
 
He sounds so similar to Rosa - we were told to keep an eye on her kidney levels too...again, high side of normal though they're not sure if the odd readings were being caused by the diabetes. I guess if she makes it through the last couple of days of her trial, I can get bloodwork done after that as she's been in normal numbers and see if they've come down at all. The Friskies Special Diet pates are low in both and not over expensive though I've found a lot of places only stock one or two of the flavors.
 
Well, I found the Frisies Special Diet at PetSmart, on sale even! They had all of the flavors, I think. Charlie's still not feeling great. No more vomiting or diarrhea as far as I can tell but he's just not himself.
 
Great stuff - I'd let him have a try at that as it covers both the low carb and low phosphorus. Ours all really like it, though they do all have different flavor preferences of course (it couldn't ever be so straightforward that I'd only have to buy a case of one flavor, could it?) ;) Rosa was also not quite herself the day she was sick but was fine by the next morning - I think it just takes them a few hours to start feeling better sometimes.
 
I'm trying not to freak out right now. He is hanging over the water dish and looking really ill.
 
Awww - poor Charlie :bighug:

I think just because of the diabetes, if he goes much longer without eating, I'd be inclined to call the vet and see what they think. With most cats it'd be fine to watch and wait a bit longer, but our diabetic kitties just seem that bit more fragile. If he's still looking ill and just camping out by the water it might be that he does need a quick check over by a vet to make sure there's nothing more going on than simple vomiting. If he'd just eaten too quickly he should have been feeling better by now.
 
Just some (hopefully) helpful info for you

If Charlie threw up right after eating and it was still pretty well "formed" (like it came out of the can) it could very well be a "scarf and barf" where they eat too fast and it comes back up within the first 10-15 minutes

If that's the case, you can slow them down by spreading the food out onto a flat plate instead of a bowl, or by putting something in with the food (like a golf ball) they they have to "eat around".

Next, it's totally normal for the BG to go down a few hours after eating in Non-diabetic cats...when the pancreas is working the way it's supposed to, eating triggers it to release insulin and the BG goes down

Do you have some Pepcid in the house? (generic famotidine) You might try 1/4 of a 10mg pill to see if it'll settle his stomach.

If he continues to vomit and/or refuses to eat, it's probably a good idea to get a once over at your vet. They also have medications that can help like Cerenia and Ondansetron that are good for nausea/vomiting.....Whether your vet would give you a script for either one without seeing him I couldn't say but they're great to have in your "medicine chest" for when you do need them
 
I'VE BEEN WORKING OFF BAD STRIPS!!! I just opened a new box of strips and his sugar is 413!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no wonder he's feeling bad!!!!!
 
Well that would explain him camping the water bowl for sure! He'll come back down - but I think he might need his insulin tonight! I would get another test or two in first though just in case the 413 was a bad strip...his numbers have been so consistent over the last few days that a reading that much higher probably warrants a double check.

Feeling ill could make his levels higher too, but if he's gone up that much since this morning then I think you might need to get him checked out by the vet to rule out any underlying issues.

Whether you shoot now or later depends a bit on whether you can be fairly flexible with your shooting schedule over the next few days if necessary to get him back on track. And probably on whether or not he'll eat - isn't ProZinc one of the insulins where he needs food in his system at onset?
 
yeah, he does have to eat when he gets his shot. My schedule tomorrow might be flexible but the days after won't. I am literally SHAKING.
 
OK, can you get another test to make sure the 413 wasn't the bad one. Let's start with that and take this one step at a time. He'll get through this - if he is that high, you've caught it early and you've been able to keep an eye on him today so you know how he's feeling.
 
Oh, and 413, while high and therefore undesirable isn't the worst it could be - Rosa was over 600 pretty consistently for over a week after diagnosis. So while it's cause for concern that he's suddenly gone that much higher, the number in itself isn't the end of the world.

When he's had some water is fine - I doubt his number's going to change all that much in the space of half an hour or so if he hasn't eaten.
 
With 20% meter variance, those aren't all that far off being possibly close to the same number. I think I would call the vet at this point and see what they think. They might not need to see him and they might be able to prescribe something that will help him eat so you can get those numbers under control with some insulin. Feeling ill can certainly increase BG but that's a big increase over where he's been the last few days. If you are able to pick up some ketone test strips (Walmart have them as will any of the pharmacy chains) it would help to get a test for those too.
 
I hope all goes well with the vet - good luck to you and Charlie :bighug:

Please update at some point when you get a chance so I can see how he's doing!
 
Every time a new food batch comes out, there can be enough changes in the composition to make it like suddenly switching food, with nausea, vomiting, of inappetance as a result. Its good idea to track the lot numbers on the cans, in case there is a recall, or to report systematic problems with the food to the manufacturer and in the US, to the FDA.
 
Hope he's feeling better. This time of year, Fred is shedding his winter coat, and barfing the lovely hairballs every day, almost. But if Charlie's barfing food, not fur....there is occassionally a bad can of food.
 
we're home and he's doing fine. It looks like I had a bad set of testing strips; his sugar had gone way way up. We have got him on a new dose of insulin, much lower and we're going to just stick with it for a week to give his system time to adapt. He peed in the carrier on the way there so we know his kidneys are working still & she said he's not dehydrated. She thinks the way I was playing with his dosages got his system confused so he spiked. We are switching to the new food tonight.
 
If you get 14 days with glucose under 130 mg/dL without insulin, he'll be off the juice.

Slow deep breathing and a nice bath work, too.
 
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