Kind of at the end of my rope

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Justin J Pederson

Member Since 2019
So I have a handsome boy named Jack. Been a diabetic for around five years. With in the last six months has had chronic vomiting. My vet has been amazing and done everything she can for him. She believes he may have IBS. I know that I am failing him somehow. Jack is always happy go lucky, but I know I am doing something wrong. These bouts of vomit never occur with the pet sitter when I leave for extended periods of time. So my question is how am I failing Jack and how do I fix it.
 
I don’t think this is your fault or that you are failing him. A failure wouldn’t come here and ask for help in a difficult situation!

I don’t have experience to answer your question well but I will tag a couple of people I know have more experience and maybe they will know someone who can help!
@Wendy&Neko @Chris & China (GA)
 
IBD is much more likely than IBS in cats. Has he had an ultrasound to see if there is inflammation in the intestines? Is there any different food with the petsitter? Vomiting can result from food allergies. A novel protein diet may help.
 
Is he vomiting or regurgitating? We tend to call everything that comes back up "vomiting" but they are two very different things.

Charlie had diabetes and IBD. In his case, the vomiting was caused by chronic pancreatitis, which isn't at all uncommon in diabetic cats. Has your vet run an fPLI test?

How many meals a day do you feed? Does your pet sitter do the same? Is the food the same? What about treats? Do you ever share "people food" with Jack?

What color and texture is the vomit? Is it chunky or liquid? Clear or colored? Foamy? Is there ever any hair in it? (Sorry to be gross)

It might be totally coincidental that the vomiting never occurs when the petsitter is providing care. Or maybe not. Time to put on your analyst hat ... let's see if we can figure this out.
 
Last edited:
My girl also has IBD and chronic pancreatitis, as well as a suspected food intolerance, all in addition to her diabetes! I recommend testing him for pancreatitis if you haven’t already and make sure it is the fPL test that must be sent out, not the SNAP test that is done in house. Both the one she got done with her normal blood work as well as the ultrasound showed that she didn’t have pancreatitis, but the other test did. The vet tried to talk me out of getting the test that’s sent out and insisted she didn’t have pancreatitis based on the ultrasound but I held my ground, and well, I was right.

I also switched her diet to food made with rabbit, no chicken. Which was very difficult because even a lot of the foods that claim to use a different protein still have chicken when you look at the ingredients!
 
Last edited:
So I will try to answer as many questions as I can. I have not had the ultra sound done. I live in a very remote area and Jack doesn’t travel well at all. Last time I attempted to travel with him he ended up in a ER.

There is no difference between what I feed Jack and the pet sitter. The food is the same and times are the same.

When Jack throws up it is everything under the sun. Whole food, bile, and hair. Very gross.

I can’t be one hundred percent on if Jack has had a test for pancreatitis. I have told the vet to run every test available and they have all come back clear of anything.

A update for today. After a horrible nights sleep for me. I checked on him every couple hours.....which he hated. Jack ate just fine this morning and seems to be back to normal. I guess I just have to wait for the next episode.
 
It might be worth checking with your vet and seeing what all they did. I also told them to “run all the tests” and all they did was run a mini blood panel, not even a full one. Even though Sophie had every symptom of pancreatitis (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, no appetite), none of the vets she saw thought to run a GI panel until I specifically requested it and was adamant they include the fPL. She also goes though flare ups, where’s she’s fine and then she’ll start the whole thing again a few months later. But now I know what to tell them to treat for at least

You can also see if your vet will prescribe him gabapentin for car rides, I give it to Sophie when I have to leave her at the vet so she doesn’t maul everyone
 
Justin J Pederson said:
So I will try to answer as many questions as I can. I have not had the ultra sound done. I live in a very remote area and Jack doesn’t travel well at all. Last time I attempted to travel with him he ended up in a ER.

There is no difference between what I feed Jack and the pet sitter. The food is the same and times are the same.

When Jack throws up it is everything under the sun. Whole food, bile, and hair. Very gross.

I can’t be one hundred percent on if Jack has had a test for pancreatitis. I have told the vet to run every test available and they have all come back clear of anything.

A update for today. After a horrible nights sleep for me. I checked on him every couple hours.....which he hated. Jack ate just fine this morning and seems to be back to normal. I guess I just have to wait for the next episode.
Click to expand...
If there's hair in it he could have had a stuck hairball.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top