Throwing up every few days, need advice

[Neko’s Mama]

Neko has been throwing up every 2-4 days ever since she was diagnosed with diabetes. Mostly hairballs, but some with food in it aswell. I took her to the vet a week ago and they think it’s either that her BG levels are too high and it’ll stop once I get her regulated, or she might have IBD.

When she was diagnosed, I switched her to Fancy Feast pate four times a day, alternating flavours. I thought maybe it was the beef that was bothering her since she’s never had it before, so I switched her to strictly chicken for now, but she’s still been vomiting. I do feed her extra calories to make up for her being unregulated, so I’m not sure if this could all be from over feeding.

Her stool has been normal, no diarrhea. She’s acting normal and loves to eat.

She vomits at any time of the day, sometimes shortly after meals (as I can tell food came up with it), and sometimes it’s just bile and a hairball. Could this be IBD? And if so, what wet food could I feed her that would help with that but still be low carbs?

Side note: I’ve been giving her more catnip than usual. Not sure if catnip can cause vomiting

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

If she has IBD, she will need an anti vomit med like ondansetron or Cerenia. That’s really what helps the most. Bobo takes both daily and Minnie was on ondansetron daily too. Removing beef helped them but not sure it works for every act. I know some folks here feed their IBD cats raw food.

Btw, I just peaked at her spreadsheet and both the 54 and the 41 3 days ago earned her reductions. You should have gone done to .5 units. Have you been posting on the Lantus forum for dose guidance?

 

[Neko’s Mama]

If she has IBD, she will need an anti vomit med like ondansetron or Cerenia. That’s really what helps the most. Bobo takes both daily and Minnie was on ondansetron daily too. Removing beef helped them but not sure it works for every act. I know some folks here feed their IBD cats raw food.

Btw, I just peaked at her spreadsheet and both the 54 and the 41 3 days ago earned her reductions. You should have gone done to .5 units. Have you been posting on the Lantus forum for dose guidance?

Is it normal for a cat with IBD to only throw up every few days? Or would it be more often? Thank you for the advice!

She was too high at 0.75 U, so she was increased to 1.00 U but now it’s too much. Ive contacted my vet about it and im waiting for them to get back to me, since I can’t measure between 0.75 and 1.00. But I will post in the Lantus forum aswell thank you!

 

[tiffmaxee]

With SLGS you reduce the next cycle if the bg falls under 90 so please take the reductions.
I have a cat with either IBD or lymphoma. I’d get a vet probiotic and ondansetron or cerenia. If possible get both.

Take her down to .50. Do your syringes have half unit markings?

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

I was about to tag Elise and she took the words out of my mouth about SLGS. Even with TR she would have earned a reduction with that 41. Your vet will likely disagree with our dosing methods fyi, but the dose is clearly taking her too low. Anything below 50 is a take action number and you don’t want that again especially overnight.

yes, they don’t vomit every day it’s just whenever the IBD acts up. Also, are you leaving a snack out overnight? It’s better for them to not go too long without food and on an empty stomach. No more then 7 hours for sure. The best IBD probiotics according to Minnie’s nutritionist is Visbiome.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

If you’re in the US, you can get 1-2 unit marked syringes from any Walmart. These are the ones I used:

 

[Neko’s Mama]

With SLGS you reduce the next cycle if the bg falls under 90 so please take the reductions.
I have a cat with either IBD or lymphoma. I’d get a vet probiotic and ondansetron or cerenia. If possible get both.

Take her down to .50. Do your syringes have half unit markings?

My syringes do have half markings yes. But her BG was too high at 0.75, so wouldn’t doing 0.5 be dangerous? I will take her back down to 0.75 though until I figure this out. Issue is she wasn’t doing well with her numbers that high. Her neuropathy was getting worse and she was howling all hours for food. Now she’s calmer and happier and she jumped to the top of her cat tree for the first time since her neuropathy started.

What are we suppose to do when 0.25 increments are too big of a difference? Since I can’t measure in between.

In regards to SLGS, isnt the goal still to regulate them? How do I know when to get her below 100? Only reason I’m doing this method is because I work full time so I can’t check her BG often enough.

 

[Neko’s Mama]

If you’re in the US, you can get 1-2 unit marked syringes from any Walmart. These are the ones I used:

I’m in Canada, I use syringes the vet gave me with half unit markings

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

My syringes do have half markings yes. But her BG was too high at 0.75, so wouldn’t doing 0.5 be dangerous? I will take her back down to 0.75 though until I figure this out. Issue is she wasn’t doing well with her numbers that high. Her neuropathy was getting worse and she was howling all hours for food. Now she’s calmer and happier and she jumped to the top of her cat tree for the first time since her neuropathy started.

What are we suppose to do when 0.25 increments are too big of a difference? Since I can’t measure in between.

In regards to SLGS, isnt the goal still to regulate them? How do I know when to get her below 100? Only reason I’m doing this method is because I work full time so I can’t check her BG often enough.

Maybe it was too low then but now she’s telling you the dose she’s on is too high. As their pancreas start to heal, the doses will start to decrease because the pancreas is starting to produce more insulin and so less insulin is needed. This is the process to find the ideal dose and get her regulated. I’m not sure what you mean by when to get her below 100. The goal is for her to be in the normal range which is 50-120 as long as possible. You can’t ignore the reductions because then you’re risking a hypo especially if you’re not around all day.

you can eye ball the 1/4 unit increments with a 1/2 marked syringe. You need to take the reductions and her new dose will be .5. It’s also possible that the reduction won’t stick and you’ll need to increase her dose again, but this is the process with dosing. You can’t just stay at a dose forever if the data is showing it needs to be adjusted. Makes sense?

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

From the SLGS yellow sticky note:

“Hold the dose for at least a week:

• Unless your cat won’t eat or you suspect hypoglycemia
• Unless your kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L). If kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L) decrease the dose by 0.25 unit immediately.

After 1 week at a given dose perform a 12 hour curve, testing every 2 hours OR perform an 18 hour curve, testing every 3 hours. Note: Random spot checks are often helpful to "fill in the blanks" on kitty's spreadsheet. The goal is to learn how low the current dose is dropping kitty prior to making dose adjustments.

• If nadirs are more than 150 mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L), increase the dose by 0.25 unit
• If nadirs are between 90 (5 mmol/L) and 149 mg/dl (8.2 mmol/L), maintain the same dose
• If nadirs are below 90 mg/dl (5mmol/L), decrease the dose by 0.25 unit

As your cat's blood glucose begins to fall mostly in the desired range [lowest point of the curve approaching 100 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/L) and pre-shot value around or below 300 mg/dl (16.6 mmol/L)], do lengthen the waiting time between dose increases. If you decide to change another factor (e.g., diet or other medications), don't increase the insulin dose until the other change is complete (but decrease the dose if your cat's glucose numbers consistently fall below 90 mg/dl (5.0 mmol/L) as a result of the change).

Don't be tempted to rush the process along by increasing the dose more quickly or in larger increments-- no matter how high your cat's blood glucose is! Rushing towards regulation will cost you time in the long run, because you may shoot past the right dose.

Lather, Rinse, and Repeat!”

 

[Neko’s Mama]

Maybe it was too low then but now she’s telling you the dose she’s on is too high. As their pancreas start to heal, the doses will start to decrease because the pancreas is starting to produce more insulin and so less insulin is needed. This is the process to find the ideal dose and get her regulated. I’m not sure what you mean by when to get her below 100. The goal is for her to be in the normal range which is 50-120 as long as possible. You can’t ignore the reductions because then you’re risking a hypo especially if you’re not around all day.

you can eye ball the 1/4 unit increments with a 1/2 marked syringe. You need to take the reductions and her new dose will be .5. It’s also possible that the reduction won’t stick and you’ll need to increase her dose again, but this is the process with dosing. You can’t just stay at a dose forever if the data is showing it needs to be adjusted. Makes sense?

OHHHH okay. Sorry I was so confused but I didn’t understand about the pancreas healing and how it all happens. I’ll reduce her to 0.5 and see how that goes. Thank you so much for explaining!!!!

 

[Neko’s Mama]

I was about to tag Elise and she took the words out of my mouth about SLGS. Even with TR she would have earned a reduction with that 41. Your vet will likely disagree with our dosing methods fyi, but the dose is clearly taking her too low. Anything below 50 is a take action number and you don’t want that again especially overnight.

yes, they don’t vomit every day it’s just whenever the IBD acts up. Also, are you leaving a snack out overnight? It’s better for them to not go too long without food and on an empty stomach. No more then 7 hours for sure. The best IBD probiotics according to Minnie’s nutritionist is Visbiome.

Sorry I forgot to replay to the IBD part. I feed her every 6 hours. I’m not able to leave a snack out for her when I’m gone or asleep becuz I have 3 other cats and they’ll steal it. I do get up middle of the night and give her some freeze dried chicken treats.

Will I have to fight with my vet to get something prescribed for her, or is this something I can get over the counter? My vet told me all I can do is a diet change which isn’t ideal with the carb issue. She never mentioned any medications or probiotics. Just suggested a vet food which would be even more expensive then what I’m feeding her now

 

[tiffmaxee]

You don’t need an RX for Visbiome.

 

[.:. in.active .:.]

What are we suppose to do when 0.25 increments are too big of a difference? Since I can’t measure in between.

I'm not sure whether this applies to SLGS, but I'm using the calliper method to fine tune mine's dose (TR), because similarly to you, we have been having issues with the 0.25 IU being too little/too much as well.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

You’ll need a prescription for both ondansetron and Cerenia. Ondansetron is a human med so you can get it at any human pharmacy. I think you can say she’s vomiting often and I hear from friends who have cats with IBD that this really works and I’d like to try it. I don’t know your vet but hopefully he/she is a bit flexible. Sometimes I’ve had to push hard and sometimes they just give it to me

 

[tiffmaxee]

I'm not sure whether this applies to SLGS, but I'm using the calliper method to fine tune mine's dose (TR), because similarly to you, we have been having issues with the 0.25 IU being too little/too much as well.

Yes. Calipers work no matter what method. I had to increase and decrease in 1/8 unit increments at times. Calipers were my friend.

 

[Neko’s Mama]

I'm not sure whether this applies to SLGS, but I'm using the calliper method to fine tune mine's dose (TR), because similarly to you, we have been having issues with the 0.25 IU being too little/too much as well.

I will look into this, thank you!!

 

[.:. in.active .:.]

Yes. Calipers work no matter what method. I had to increase and decrease in 1/8 unit increments at times. Calipers were my friend.

Thanks for clarifying, I wasn't sure whether the SLGS protocol allows room for such fine dosing too, as I can't recall seeing anything about it in the SLGS stickies. But I might be mistaking.

I will look into this, thank you!!

No problem! Once the initial tuning is done, it really is one of the best things imo. If you're lucky, there are people here that use the same brand of syringes you do, so they can help by giving you the maths, you just need to double check to make sure they're indeed fitting to your syringes.

 

[Neko’s Mama]

You’ll need a prescription for both ondansetron and Cerenia. Ondansetron is a human med so you can get it at any human pharmacy. I think you can say she’s vomiting often and I hear from friends who have cats with IBD that this really works and I’d like to try it. I don’t know your vet but hopefully he/she is a bit flexible. Sometimes I’ve had to push hard and sometimes they just give it to me

I spoke with my vet and she gave me FortiFlora probiotic to try. She also wants me to stop testing Neko daily and only do it every couple weeks, and said that it’s okay for her to drop low before a meal and to only worry if she shows any signs of hypo. Not gonna be doing that!!! I told her I test her before every meal, so 4 times a day, and she thinks that’s too much and I’m just stressing Neko and myself out. Neko doesn’t even react to it anymore and I’m more stressed out when I don’t know where her BG is sitting.

She also wants me to switch Neko back to 2 units, even though I said she’s getting too low with 1 unit. She thinks 1 unit is a very small dose. I don’t know why she thinks doubling her dose after she’s hitting lows is a good idea but I’m certainly not doing that!

 

[.:. in.active .:.]

It's beginning to look a lot like "vet changing" season

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

I have to agree, I think you need a new vet. A vet that’s not concerned with a cat dropping too low and it’s actually telling you to increase the dose is simply putting your cat’s life in danger. You will end up with a hypo and at the best case scenario a super expensive trip to the ER to fix her mistake. I hope you won’t follow her advice and I just feel she doesn’t have your cat’s best interest at heart. Forti Flora is not IBD specific and this shows how little your vet understands about the nuances of feline health issues. You can order Visbiome online from their site (hopefully they ship to Canada!). Just go on their website and read about it. It’s made specifically for colitis and IBD. Of course, I’d never have discovered if I hadn’t taken Minnie to a nutritionist. General vets can be very useless and I learned that the hard way after I almost lost Minnie. I only go to specialists now. Even for Bobo’s checkups, we see his IM.

 

[Neko’s Mama]

I have to agree, I think you need a new vet. A vet that’s not concerned with a cat dropping too low and it’s actually telling you to increase the dose is simply putting your cat’s life in danger. You will end up with a hypo and at the best case scenario a super expensive trip to the ER to fix her mistake. I hope you won’t follow her advice and I just feel she doesn’t have your cat’s best interest at heart. Forti Flora is not IBD specific and this shows how little your vet understands about the nuances of feline health issues. You can order Visbiome online from their site (hopefully they ship to Canada!). Just go on their website and read about it. It’s made specifically for colitis and IBD. Of course, I’d never have discovered if I hadn’t taken Minnie to a nutritionist. General vets can be very useless and I learned that the hard way after I almost lost Minnie. I only go to specialists now. Even for Bobo’s checkups, we see his IM.

Unfortunately there are only 2 vet clinics in town, and I’ve had bad experiences with the other one. But I won’t be following her advice at all. I’ll look into Visbiome and see if they ship here! If not I’ll have a look through the forum for alternative suggestions. For now I’ll give her the stuff the vet gave me and see if it helps at all, since I’ll likely have to wait for shipping

My vets first suggestion was anti nausea medication that she could only have for a couple of days. I asked for something else because this isn’t something that will just disappear with a couple of pills.. The entire 13 minute phone call just had me standing there with my jaw dropped.

I live in a small town so there’s no specialists or anything for animals, unless I can find someone online who I could speak with but no one I could physically take her to.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

I’m so sorry, but it sounds like you have a plan!

Ondansetron can be taken daily. Bobo is on it daily and so was Minnie. Cerenia used to be advised to be taken only 5 days at a time, but that’s no longer the case. Ondansetron always worked better for both my cats and again it can be taken daily and in conjunction with Cerenia. The vomiting can be an issue because it can get progressively worse to the point where Bobo refused to eat. A diabetic cat who won’t eat is a problem. I’d see if you can get a human doctor to prescribe it if the vet won’t. I had to push with my first vet for ondansetron too because I did a Google deep dive and found several articles saying it was the best for cats with IBD. Too much vomiting can also cause aspiration and Minnie ended up with pneumonia because of it. I don’t mean to scare you, but I’m sharing my experience having had 2 cats with IBD. It’s not normal for a cat to vomit several times a week and it does need to be addressed. Not to mention is can’t be fun for her

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Hello from another Neko's mom.

s it normal for a cat with IBD to only throw up every few days?

Yes. Or it could be another GI condition. I've had three kitties in a row with the vomits, some every day, some less frequent. By the way, chicken, beef, and fish are all common allergens. You might want to try turkey or another food like lamb, venison, duck for example. There are quite a few low carb options in other proteins. Or you can make your own with a premix.

I’m in Canada, I use syringes the vet gave me with half unit markings

You can buy the BD Ultrafine II (purple and yellow box) at most human pharmacies. I'm in Canada too. I feed Visbiome to the current IBD kitty, ordered from visbiome.ca - you can get it send directly from Canada(Ontario) to you. Depending where you live - it'll arrive in a few days. That's my experience from BC. Fortiflora is a good flavour enhancer, but not a good probiotic.

Please don't listen to your vet - you need to continue testing Neko. Otherwise you wouldn't have found that the 1 unit dose is taking her dangerously low.

I live in a small town so there’s no specialists or anything for animals, unless I can find someone online who I could speak with but no one I could physically take her to.

What province are you in? I know there's a least one vet telemedicine organization that one of our local rescues had a great experience with. The vet needs to do more investigation to find out what is causing the vomiting, figure out how to stop the vomits, and a longer term treatment plan.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

An ultra sound should shed some light into it for sure.

Bobo got eventually put on budesonide which Minnie was on, and became diabetic so I tampered it off and he went into remission. Since then, I’ve been able to manage his IBD with daily ondansetron and Cerenia

 

[Red & Rover (GA)]

the beef pate comtains fish.
https://www.purina.com/cats/shop/fancy-feast-timeless-favorites-classic-pate-beef-wet-cat-food

 

[Neko’s Mama]

Hello from another Neko's mom.

Yes. Or it could be another GI condition. I've had three kitties in a row with the vomits, some every day, some less frequent. By the way, chicken, beef, and fish are all common allergens. You might want to try turkey or another food like lamb, venison, duck for example. There are quite a few low carb options in other proteins. Or you can make your own with a premix.

You can buy the BD Ultrafine II (purple and yellow box) at most human pharmacies. I'm in Canada too. I feed Visbiome to the current IBD kitty, ordered from visbiome.ca - you can get it send directly from Canada(Ontario) to you. Depending where you live - it'll arrive in a few days. That's my experience from BC. Fortiflora is a good flavour enhancer, but not a good probiotic.

Please don't listen to your vet - you need to continue testing Neko. Otherwise you wouldn't have found that the 1 unit dose is taking her dangerously low.


What province are you in? I know there's a least one vet telemedicine organization that one of our local rescues had a great experience with. The vet needs to do more investigation to find out what is causing the vomiting, figure out how to stop the vomits, and a longer term treatment plan.

Thanks for the advice! I’m in SK.

The vet told me the only way to know if it’s IBD is to do a biopsy and that it’s really invasive and expensive

 

[Neko’s Mama]

I’m so sorry, but it sounds like you have a plan!

Ondansetron can be taken daily. Bobo is on it daily and so was Minnie. Cerenia used to be advised to be taken only 5 days at a time, but that’s no longer the case. Ondansetron always worked better for both my cats and again it can be taken daily and in conjunction with Cerenia. The vomiting can be an issue because it can get progressively worse to the point where Bobo refused to eat. A diabetic cat who won’t eat is a problem. I’d see if you can get a human doctor to prescribe it if the vet won’t. I had to push with my first vet for ondansetron too because I did a Google deep dive and found several articles saying it was the best for cats with IBD. Too much vomiting can also cause aspiration and Minnie ended up with pneumonia because of it. I don’t mean to scare you, but I’m sharing my experience having had 2 cats with IBD. It’s not normal for a cat to vomit several times a week and it does need to be addressed. Not to mention is can’t be fun for her

Are those 2 medications expensive or a relatively affordable price?

Neko used to throw up every so often, and then she had a fit of throwing up back in December where I had to rush her to the vet and she stayed overnight for fluids. The vet said it was likely just that once she started throwing up she couldn’t stop. Could this have actually been the first sign of IBD and it was acting up?

 

[.:. in.active .:.]

The vet told me the only way to know if it’s IBD is to do a biopsy and that it’s really invasive and expensive

Although that's the most certain way to know, she should have offered a blood and stool test as first line of evaluation. Should those indeed suggest IBD (re: protein levels in blood, blood in stool and it's colour to determine where the bleeding is coming from - if any, that is) only then should opt in favour of a biopsy, given that it is very invasive.

Edit: has Neko's vomiting been constant, or more "seasonal"? (I'm sorry if you already covered this somewhere above/in previous threads.) I'm asking, because I'm accustomised to one of my cats throwing up more during the summer, and hardly ever during the colder seasons. Which suggests (although I might be wrong) that her stomach just doesn't agree with the wet food left out and getting spoilt quicker in warmer weather.
My other, however, always barfs the tuna back up, almost instantly, which obviously implies his intolerance to it. Then there was a certain brand of dry food, all three of them were constantly vomiting on, which indicates some nasty additives in said type/brand.

(Ramble ramble... just sharing observations and experiences, in case you can identify any of these in Neko too, and therefore it could possibly open up opportunities for you to approach the matter differently - as in cheaper and less invasively.)

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

Exactly biopsy is the only definite way but there are steps before that. The ultra sound can reveal thickening of the GI tract which can mean IBD or lymphoma. The ultra sound would be the next thing to do before a biopsy and then you can decide to not do the biopsy and just treat the symptoms as if it is in fact IBD. The treatment is pretty similar for both I believe but @Wendy&Neko knows more about it I think. Minnie had a biopsy and endoscopy because she was already at the hospital and was going under for a feeding tube anyway so her IBD was 100% diagnosed. Bobo had just the ultra sound and I opted to treat the symptoms, which were the same as Minnie’s, without doing the biopsy.

Ondansetron is very cheap. I think something like .10 cents a pill of 4mg, which is another reason to try it first. Cerenia is more expensive as it’s a pet med. a generic version has been approved this March, but it’s still hard to find. Minnie was on daily ondansetron and she’d get Cerenia when she had a flare up. Budesonide is the next med to try after all these are not working anymore but it is a localized GI tract steroid that may or may not raise the bg.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

They didn’t suggest any of this when she was hospitalized? Not even the ultra sound? You do need a specialist to do the ultra sound

sorry, I see now you said she stayed at the vet overnight not a hospital. I know you said you’re in an area with not a lot of options, but maybe look into how far a specialist is from you. If all of this is too much, I say treat the symptoms. Get her on ondansetron daily and see if it helps. If it does, great. You can also try novel foods to rule out food allergies and it’s good for the IBD too

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

The ondansetron dose is based on weight btw. How much does she weigh? Bobo is 15 pounds and he takes a 4mg pill twice a day. It can be taken every 6-8 hours if needed but he does okay with every 12 hours. He started on 1/2 a pill and was upped to 1.

 

[.:. in.active .:.]

Out of curiosity (apologies for clogging the thread) wouldn't an ultrasound involve GA in the US/CAN? I understand that it'd be more reliable than a blood and/or stool test, but where I'm at, they put pets under GA during ultrasounds and make us sign an acknowledgement/disclaimer before any procedure that involves GA, outlining all the risks etc so it isn't the preferred first line of assessment here in many cases.

(E.g. I opted in favour of a proBNT as opposed to the suggested echocardiogram, which only involved drawing blood, no referral to a specialist and long waits, saved us hell of a lot of time and trouble... especially given the nature of the matter - GA when having heart murmur is high risk, so I have no idea why would the vet suggest that to me at the first place...

The more I brows this forum and learn about feline health in general, the less faith I have in some vets, honestly.)

 

[Wendy&Neko]

The vet told me the only way to know if it’s IBD is to do a biopsy and that it’s really invasive and expensive

Not entirely true. Ultrasound is the first step. If there is inflammation, the next step could be either a biopsy, or a endoscopy. Endoscopy is less invasive, no overnight stay required, but it can only reach certain parts of the bowels so cannot be used in all cases. You do want to differentiate IBD from small cell lymphoma, or in the case of my latest kitty - they could have both. Don't let the SCL phrase scare you, it's a slow moving disease that can be treated and the majority of cats go into remission if following the right treatment protocol. The treatments for IBD and SCL do differ, though there are some overlaps. IBD responds well to novel protein diet, as well as probiotic and psyllium husk powder. If your cat gets better on that, then you have know there is IBD present and might not have to proceed to biopsy/endoscopy. SCL kitties will not respond to diet change. SCL needs a steroid, for at least a year, then can be tapered off. IBD may or may not need a steroid, and sometimes only during flares and it could be for life. SCL kitties get a mild chemo pill at home every couple of weeks. That can be stopped after kitty has been in remission for a while. Both conditions may require ondansetron and/or Cerenia.

Ondansetron is very cheap.

Sadly, not true in Canada. Each 4mg pill is around $4 if you get the generic and depending on the cat weight, dose is 1/2 or full pill, at least twice per day.

wouldn't an ultrasound involve GA in the US/CAN?

No, anaesthesia not required. Some cats (like my Neko who could get a bit "feisty"), some sedation may be required. My other two GI issue kitties, not so much. My vet lets caregivers be with their pets during the visit by the travelling ultrasound specialist. My boy kitty loved the "belly rubs".

Are you anywhere near Saskatoon and the veterinary medical hospital? They would be a great resource.

 

[Neko’s Mama]

Although that's the most certain way to know, she should have offered a blood and stool test as first line of evaluation. Should those indeed suggest IBD (re: protein levels in blood, blood in stool and it's colour to determine where the bleeding is coming from - if any, that is) only then should opt in favour of a biopsy, given that it is very invasive.

Edit: has Neko's vomiting been constant, or more "seasonal"? (I'm sorry if you already covered this somewhere above/in previous threads.) I'm asking, because I'm accustomised to one of my cats throwing up more during the summer, and hardly ever during the colder seasons. Which suggests (although I might be wrong) that her stomach just doesn't agree with the wet food left out and getting spoilt quicker in warmer weather.
My other, however, always barfs the tuna back up, almost instantly, which obviously implies his intolerance to it. Then there was a certain brand of dry food, all three of them were constantly vomiting on, which indicates some nasty additives in said type/brand.

(Ramble ramble... just sharing observations and experiences, in case you can identify any of these in Neko too, and therefore it could possibly open up opportunities for you to approach the matter differently - as in cheaper and less invasively.)

Out of all my cats she’s always thrown up more often. I’ve had to change her food a lot of times over the years because she’s extremely picky and gets bored, and some didn’t agree with her. Some brands, that I found out after the fact were basically like junk food, she threw up almost immediately after eating. It wasn’t seasonal but she would go through times where she threw up more often and then would go a long time without throwing up at all. Also I don’t leave wet food out for her, she gobbles it up and I have 3 other cats that would steal it if I tried to leave some out anyway

Prior to her diabetes diagnosis, I had switched her to Blue Buffalo Tastefuls, both the dry sensitive stomach, and the canned food. She didn’t throw up at all on that. One day I ran out of cans and had to substitute one meal with a different brand and she threw it up. I only switched her to Fancy Feast because of the low carbs and I can’t find any info on the carbs for the Blue Buffalo Tastefuls specifically. I tried figuring out the carbs myself but they only have the guaranteed analysis and not the as-fed.

She started throwing up every few days once she was diagnosed and I switched her to FF and I thought maybe it was the beef so I took that out but she still threw up. She’s always eaten chicken and fish, and the previous cans she was doing fine on were chicken, turkey and fish. I had just assumed that since she only throws up every few days that it wasn’t the food; I thought she would be throwing up every time she ate it like she had with other brands in the past. But idk if that is how it works?

 

[.:. in.active .:.]

I'd try one of these carb calculators for the brand that agrees with her. I believe (again, could be wrong, someone please correct me if I am) the guaranteed analysis stated on the packaging is for "per 100g". Once you input the details, it gives you the carbohydrate content per 100g. The dry matter carbs is the one that needs to be below 10% (preferably below 6%) for it to be considered safe for diabetic pets.
Once you have that, you can map out how much carbs she consumes "as fed". E.g. if 100g food has 10% dry matter carbs, you'll know that an 85g pouch you feed her has 8.5% carbs. I hope it makes sense?
That's my logic and how I've been mapping things out for mine, but if I'm doing it wrong, someone please pop in and correct me.

She behaves exactly like my cat I mentioned above (the non-diabetic, seasonal puker). She's more sickly than my other two, but it's mostly clear froth, or food that doesn't agree with her, like the dry brand (Thrive) I spoke of above and made all of them sick.
Does Neko go out at all and/or chase flies, insects etc? I noticed they'd all puke after catching (and ingesting ) flies that somehow make it in the flat over the summer. Since I became more mindful of this and have a curtain up in front of my balcony door, we have seldom any flies in the flat AND less unwanted puke patches are found in the mornings, too.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

Out of curiosity (apologies for clogging the thread) wouldn't an ultrasound involve GA in the US/CAN? I understand that it'd be more reliable than a blood and/or stool test, but where I'm at, they put pets under GA during ultrasounds and make us sign an acknowledgement/disclaimer before any procedure that involves GA, outlining all the risks etc so it isn't the preferred first line of assessment here in many cases.

(E.g. I opted in favour of a proBNT as opposed to the suggested echocardiogram, which only involved drawing blood, no referral to a specialist and long waits, saved us hell of a lot of time and trouble... especially given the nature of the matter - GA when having heart murmur is high risk, so I have no idea why would the vet suggest that to me at the first place...

The more I brows this forum and learn about feline health in general, the less faith I have in some vets, honestly.)

Ultra sound doesn’t usually require any type of sedation. For neither one of my cats at least

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

I knew Wendy knew more about the differences than me. She guided me when Minnie was being diagnosed. Thank you @Wendy&Neko !

 

[Wendy&Neko]

because she’s extremely picky and gets bored

That's a classic IBD symptom. Some cats build an intolerance to a particular protein over time, so what might have worked in the past might not now. There are lots of novel protein foods that are low carb. One that's probably easy to get is the FF Turkey and Giblets. Just make sure the can is made in the US, cause the Canadian one has fish in it now. Sigh! Always check the ingredient list of foods and every can. Sometimes it's not the protein, but other additives like gums or wheat gluten that are causing the allergy.

The Blue Buffalo Tastefuls, at least the Chicken one I checked, have rice and sweet potato in them. Those are higher carb ingredients.

This list has some Canadian only foods that are lower carb: CANADIAN Food Chart

Other brands that have novel protein, that I've seen readily available at least in pet food stores near me are: Rawz, Ziwipeak, Canada Fresh (lamb), Koha, Instinct Limited Ingredient, and Merrick Limited Ingredient. A lot of those are lower carb options and are listed in the food list. There are also freeze dried novel proteins, if kitty likes a little bit of crunch.

 

[Neko’s Mama]

They didn’t suggest any of this when she was hospitalized? Not even the ultra sound? You do need a specialist to do the ultra sound

sorry, I see now you said she stayed at the vet overnight not a hospital. I know you said you’re in an area with not a lot of options, but maybe look into how far a specialist is from you. If all of this is too much, I say treat the symptoms. Get her on ondansetron daily and see if it helps. If it does, great. You can also try novel foods to rule out food allergies and it’s good for the IBD too

Neko doesn’t do well with car rides and it would be at least an hour and a half drive to anywhere that might have a specialist I’m going to see what I can find for alternate foods here or maybe order something if I need to and if it doesn’t help I’ll talk to my vet about the medication. I need to talk to them anyway so I might just ask if that’s something they’d be willing to prescribe me so that I know what my options are.

Also she weighs 10 lbs. She used to be overweight, almost 14 lbs, and then she suddenly lost a bunch of weight. She had pancreatitis and then she was fine for a bit until she started having trouble eating. She got a dental done and that helped her to be able to chew her food again but she wasn’t gaining the weight back. Took her in for a checkup and the vet I had that day praised her for losing weight, even though she was now underweight and lost 4 lbs in 6 months! She ended up throwing up a bunch and that’s when she had to stay overnight for fluids. They tested her for pancreatitis but she didn’t have it that time. I kept trying to get her to gain weight and that’s when I noticed issues with her back legs, thinking she was weak because of being underweight, and took her to the vet again. Finally one of the vets had a working braincell and realized that maybe something is actually wrong with my cat and tested her BG. She’s looking much healthier now that her diabetes is being treated! I was, and still am, so upset that something was clearly wrong with Neko for months and they just kept shrugging it off. I know that diabetes can look like a lot of other things but it took them way too long to actually test her for something.

Sorry, kinda went off on a tangent lol I’m just really thankful I found this forum and can get advice from people who actually know what they’re talking about.

 

[Neko’s Mama]

I feed Visbiome to the current IBD kitty, ordered from visbiome.ca - you can get it send directly from Canada(Ontario) to you. Depending where you live - it'll arrive in a few days. That's my experience from BC. Fortiflora is a good flavour enhancer, but not a good probiotic.

Do you use the Visbiome Vet, or the human one? And how much should the starting dose be?

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Last I ordered, the vet version was not available in Canada. Dose is about 1/20th of a packet, get the unflavoured one.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

I ordered the regular bottle with 60 capsules and I gave her 1/4 capsule a day

 

[Drashiel]

Hi.
If helps, my cat have IBD diagnosed 3 years ago.
He start to eat a little less and few days ago with vomits and stop to eat or eats a little.
This was strange because he rarely vomits and he likes the food. He lost about 600 grams prior stay with vomits and he never had diarrhea.
I use cerenia at early stages but we moved to prednisone and get goods results, he start to eat and gain weight. On the other hand, prednisone is not good to diabetes because affect to insulin. You can try with hypoallergenic food too. I started to looking for a food IBD, renal and diabetic compatible. I'll share my finds with you if interested.
Regards.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

@Neko’s Mama I know this might not be the best time for this but
Happy birthday!

 

[Gracie85]

We have a "scarf'n'barf" cat, who started gobbling down his food so fast that he'd vomit it back up, sometimes right into his bowl. He started eating so fast when he realized that if he did that, he could then steal some of the other cats' food, too. We now feed him separately, behind a closed door, and he calmed down a bit. At the start, we'd put half his portion in his bowl, let him eat that then wait 5-10 minutes, then give him the other half, so that he didn't overload his stomach so quickly. But now that he eats "without competition", while he still eats quickly, he isn't forcing it down so fast that he then throws it all up again.
He also sometimes pukes up just bile if his meals are late, I guess he's just so anticipating food that he sets his stomach off. That happens much less now that he's slowed his eating and is much calmer about it, knowing that he gets to eat in private with no danger to his food supply.

This may only play a small part in your problem, but it might help some while you get the rest of his needs settled.

 

[.:. in.active .:.]

We have a "scarf'n'barf" cat, who started gobbling down his food so fast that he'd vomit it back up, sometimes right into his bowl. He started eating so fast when he realized that if he did that, he could then steal some of the other cats' food, too. We now feed him separately, behind a closed door, and he calmed down a bit. At the start, we'd put half his portion in his bowl, let him eat that then wait 5-10 minutes, then give him the other half, so that he didn't overload his stomach so quickly. But now that he eats "without competition", while he still eats quickly, he isn't forcing it down so fast that he then throws it all up again.
He also sometimes pukes up just bile if his meals are late, I guess he's just so anticipating food that he sets his stomach off. That happens much less now that he's slowed his eating and is much calmer about it, knowing that he gets to eat in private with no danger to his food supply.

This may only play a small part in your problem, but it might help some while you get the rest of his needs settled.

He sounds bulimic

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

These are symptoms consistent with IBD, especially the vomiting bile part. Have you talked with your vet? An exam and ultra sound are the first steps to try to diagnose it. Bobo is on metoclopramide x2 a day for the regurgitation and it’s helped significantly. How long is he going without eating when he vomits bile? Cats shouldn’t go more than 5-6 hours without food that’s typically what causes that. I give Bobo a snack overnight to avoid that.