Chronic Vomiting IBD & Lymphoma Article

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tiffmaxee

tiffmaxee

Member Since 2013
Hi. So often I see posts about vomiting and hairball. Vets are more and more thinking that it's not normal and IBD or whatever we choose to call it can turn into lymphoma causing many to treat this more aggressively while the cats are doing well. Someone posted an article that I think is worth reading. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but knowledge is power. Anyway, here's the link.

http://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/Chronic-Vomiting-in-Cats-isnt-Normal-After-All/

:bighug:
 
My cat's specialist has always said that vomiting more than once a month is not normal and should be looked at. I'm glad this concept is now becoming more prevalent and something to watch out for. Years ago regular vets would tell you that it was normal in cats so I'm glad more are now seeing that it isn't.
 
I had a cat that would vomit almost every meal. Wet, dry, high end, low end - didn't matter. I called him my bulimic fat cat as he still had weight. At age 13 we lost him to lymphoma - which most likey started in his bowels. I am glad they are taking the condition seriously but it would be even better if they could figure out why there is so many cases of this condition - food per chance?

ETA - I took him to a two different vets that said he had a easy gag reflex that is why he vomited. Didn't know better than to question.
 
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Yes it would be great if they looked further into the cause. Some do feel it is the commercial foods and possibly allergies to the commercial foods. I'm not sure I would want to start right off with treatment of pred and chlorambucil if they were sub clinical. These meds can cause serious problems on their own down the road.
 
Lillie said:
Yes it would be great if they looked further into the cause. Some do feel it is the commercial foods and possibly allergies to the commercial foods. I'm not sure I would want to start right off with treatment of pred and chlorambucil if they were sub clinical. These meds can cause serious problems on their own down the road.
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I know, I am dealing with the pred issue - he became diabetic but for him, it helps. Tried the chlorambucil and that did not go well but from our recent visit I don't think that is something we need to do at the moment and the IM actually agreed.

The opposite of under diagnosing is over diagnosing...which is just as bad.
 
I'm just glad the regular vets are now becoming more aware of this. It used to be that IBD/Lymphoma wasn't even considered unless there was chronic diarrhea. Now we know there are more indicators than diarrhea.
 
Lillie said:
Yes it would be great if they looked further into the cause. Some do feel it is the commercial foods and possibly allergies to the commercial foods. I'm not sure I would want to start right off with treatment of pred and chlorambucil if they were sub clinical. These meds can cause serious problems on their own down the road.
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I think that diagnostics are important if anything is out of the ordinary. A biopsy on a still healthy cat should be considered earlier rather than later. Even that needs to be done by a skilledvet with lots of experience.
 
Tracey&Jones said:
I know, I am dealing with the pred issue - he became diabetic but for him, it helps. Tried the chlorambucil and that did not go well but from our recent visit I don't think that is something we need to do at the moment and the IM actually agreed.


The opposite of under diagnosing is over diagnosing...which is just as bad.[
/QUOTE]

I have to disagree. I don't think overdiagnosing is the problem. My Tiffany was acting fine but had very soft stool just once a day. It might have been from something in tge food but now I think she had the starting of small cell. By the time she was vomiting it morphed to intermediate cell lymphoma. Had she been diagnosed sooner that might not have happened.
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Not all cats can tolerate biopsies due to age or frailness. Other than ultrasounds the specialist would have to diagnose by clinical symptoms. Then a decision would need to be made as to treat as lymphoma or IBD. It's a hard decision to make at that point and reliance on a specialist you have faith and trust in is important. My current cat was healthy enough for biopsies to be taken but my previous elderly kitty was not so I had to rely on her specialists' experience and knowledge for diagnosis.
 
Lillie said:
Not all cats can tolerate biopsies due to age or frailness. Other than ultrasounds the specialist would have to diagnose by clinical symptoms. Then a decision would need to be made as to treat as lymphoma or IBD. It's a hard decision to make at that point and reliance on a specialist you have faith and trust in is important. My current cat was healthy enough for biopsies to be taken but my previous elderly kitty was not so I had to rely on her specialists' experience and knowledge for diagnosis.
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Exactly. That's my point. Whenever possible the cause of hairballs, vomiting food, loose stool, whatever, should be figured out early at the first signs when the cat is feeling well rather than waiting until they are acting sick. We can't just attribute it to typical cat behavior any more.
 
I'm hoping that the GP vets are getting better training on this so that they can spot things earlier. I've already concluded though that any of my cats or future cats will be seen by a specialist for anything other than a simple UTI, ear check, sniffles, or routine blood work.
 
Ok, I see where you are going with that @tiffmaxee . Be more attentive to signs and verify them before it is a huge issue and you can get to the right diagnoses that is backed up with the proper test results.

Now we just need to the pet parents on board. I am for doing everything I can, my vet clinic staff and vet will verify that. If you don't have experience with the issues sometimes it is hard to interpret what the vet is saying and determine what is best. I was brought up, a cat is a cat, it gets old, it gets skinny and then kitty was gone. Not that I feel that way - my bank account can prove that!
 
It's hard to catch everything early. Cats are well known for being able to hide their illness or general unwellness. Since they do sleep an awful lot anyway it's hard to tell sometimes especially if they run outside to throw up or if they're used to pooping somewhere out in the yard and not in a litter box.
 
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