UPDATE 5/2 Morlei...won't eat...skip PM shot?

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Becky & Morlei

Becky & Morlei

Member Since 2012
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=69865
AMPS 270
+.75 317

Ok, so we went to the vet on Monday and got her bloodwork done. Vet was happy that we came in a few days before because then she can send the blood out rather than them checking it there. She was going to do the EKG but when she called the consulting cardiologist's office they were already closed. She said it's no big deal, they'll do the EKG Friday morning, Morlei will just have to sit for another half hour or so while they wait for the results to come back.

However, now I'm worried because we have a new issue on our hands.
Yesterday I came home from work and there was vomit on the floor, no big deal, with four cats that usually happens every few days. It looked like one of the cats had eaten some little bendy twigs that fall off of plants (I don't know how else to explain it) and they had come back up. I figured it was Morlei because she likes to chew on those when we let them outside (we try to stop her but she always does it).
Then Morlei vomits again about two hours after her PM meal...and it looked to be her whole meal. She still meowed for her PM snack but about an hour after that DH said she vomited, looked to be her food.
This morning she wasn't by the door when I got up so I knew something was wrong. I go downstairs and she had just thrown up some clear liquid/foamy stuff. She wasn't interested in food this morning but I got her to eat enough so I could give her shot.
But I'm totally worried now because if this continues can she have her dental on Friday? Obviously she would be fasting but this morning when she threw up the foamy stuff it had been about 8.5 hours since her last meal. If it continues tonight I'm going to call the vet tomorrow and ask what I should do. I was feeling ok about this whole dental thing and now I'm worried sick again :sad:

ETA: I let her have the leftover FF classic chicken from the boys and that's what she ate enough of so I could give her shot. It's going to bring her numbers up but making sure she eats takes precedence. I mixed a little more water in with all the leftover food and left it out so hopefully she'll nibble throughout the day.
 
Re: 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

What are her health issues?

I'm less concerned about the clear frothy vomit which could be excess stomach acid from not eating. The blood work will show if there are kidney issues for example. Did you do a pancreatitis test?

The vomiting food two hours after eating though - do you know if she vomited it up 2 hours after eating or you found it two hours after eating? Her stomach should have completely processed that food within two hours. Has she had an issue like this in the past?

Do you know the name of the plant she was eating?
 
Re: 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

Karrie and Maverick said:
What are her health issues?

I'm less concerned about the clear frothy vomit which could be excess stomach acid from not eating. The blood work will show if there are kidney issues for example. Did you do a pancreatitis test?

The vomiting food two hours after eating though - do you know if she vomited it up 2 hours after eating or you found it two hours after eating? Her stomach should have completely processed that food within two hours. Has she had an issue like this in the past?

Do you know the name of the plant she was eating?
Click to expand...

We didn't do a pancreatitis test, just the general pre-dental bloodwork. These issues developed the next afternoon.
No known health issues besides the diabetes and the vet considers her to be overweight.
It was about 2 hours after eating, we fed the cats about 10-10:15 pm and she vomited around 12:15 am. I think she has had this issue once since we moved into our new house, so once within the past 2 months. (Sorry if this is too much info...) The vomit was liquid and the color of the cat food.
No, I don't know the name of the plant, and I doubt our landlord would remember. But we have let them out a few times before and she's probably eaten the same thing and we didn't have any vomiting issues then.

julie & punkin said:
good questions, karrie. i wonder if that plant is making her sick, or if she's developed pancreatitis. here's an informational post on that: http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/read.php?8,876722,876722

no, if she's sick you would not want to do the dental. it could be rescheduled - but friday is still 2 days away.
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I really hope she'll be fine because I already took the day off and have everything planned but hey, what can you do? I know cats hide their pain fairly well but I haven't seen her in the meatloaf position, she's been acting the same...I'm really hoping it's not the construction behind the house that's causing her stress and anxiety...she seems to get stressed over things like that... Last time we had people over during their PM meal she only ate with a lot of coaxing and didn't want much of her PM snack and vomited after one of those meals if I remember correctly.
 
Re: 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

i was just reading something yesterday about how easily cats get stressed - yes, all of those things you mentioned can stress them.

it's never too much info. ;-) what comes out of them tells a story. :lol:
 
Re: 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

julie & punkin said:
i was just reading something yesterday about how easily cats get stressed - yes, all of those things you mentioned can stress them.
it's never too much info. ;-) what comes out of them tells a story. :lol:
Click to expand...
This cat likes to make sure we have no social life haha.

I called the vet's office, she's in the middle of a procedure so she'll call me back this afternoon. I'm going to see if she thinks we should (or can) add the pancreatitis test to her bloodwork or if we should just wait it out and see if it's stress.
 
Re: 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

Please talk to your vet about the vomiting. It may be just an acid stomach or due to the plants but it's better to talk to your vet.
 
Re: 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

Another random thought while I'm reading about pancreatitis and not working...
The vet tech said her temp was fine on Monday. I don't remember what the number was but both him and the doctor said she looked great.
Everything in the litter box looks fine, no diarrhea or anything out of the ordinary.
 
Re: 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

I would talk to the vet also.

Watch her appetite and whether the food digests or she brings it up again. Maybe the plant upset her tummy, but the food should have moved through her system by the two hour mark. Hope its just a one off thing.
 
Re: 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

Just how "bendy" are these twigs? Are they all the same, or are some stiffer than others? I'm wondering if one might be stiff enough to stick or poke in the GI tract and provoke the vomiting.
 
Re: 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

BJM said:
Just how "bendy" are these twigs? Are they all the same, or are some stiffer than others? I'm wondering if one might be stiff enough to stick or poke in the GI tract and provoke the vomiting.
Click to expand...

There looked to be maybe 4 twigs in the vomit, at first I was like WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!? Then I looked closer and pulled one out and it bent pretty easily, but didn't snap. When I get home from work in about 3 hours I'll go outside and try to find some more and take a picture to post on here. I do think that they might have been stiff enough to provoke vomiting, I would say that they were about 3-4 inches long...idk how she ate them. I'm sorry I can't provide a better description, I can't think of a better way to describe them.
I don't think we have any pine trees in our backyard, but then again I don't notice things like that lol. But it looked kinda like a dried pine needle but not from a pine tree if that makes sense.
 
Re: 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

I hate to say this, but if it was pointy enough to stick in the esophagus or small intestine, there is a slight risk of perforation. It wouldn't likely show up on an x-ray either. Maybe give a call to your vet to notify them and see if there is something they recommend doing to help any twig bits pass. Also, have you got an emergency vet with endoscopy equipement anywhere near you?
 
Re: 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

The vet is supposed to call me back sometime this afternoon so I'll ask her then and see what she recommends. They may have the endoscopy equipment because they offer emergency care and have a vet on-call 24/7.
 
Re: 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

UPDATE:
Talked to the vet, she said if the vomiting calms down and she doesn't vomit within 24 hours of the dental that we can go ahead and do it. If she does continue to vomit we'll cancel the dental and wait till she is feeling better and/or take her in to be looked at. She thinks it may have been the plant/twigs she ingested.
And....she also said one value on her bloodwork came back a little high...it has to do with the pancreas....she said that we may want to consider getting a GI panel done because it could indicate pancreatitis....great...all I wanted to do was get her dental done and now we have a possible pancreatitis diagnosis.

Got home, there was no vomit anywhere and the plates of food I left out were empty. Her +7.5 was 271 so I think she ate some and was able to keep it down. I just gave her 1/4 can of wellness salmon and turkey and although she didn't scarf it down like she usually does, she ate pretty much all of it. Usually when she's got tummy issues I switch her from FF to wellness...it helped when she had diarrhea so I figured why not give it to her now.
And I just checked and she is now eating what the boys left on their plates, it's ff classic chicken so I'm going to let her eat as much as she wants, if her numbers go up a little bit because of the slightly higher carb % from both foods then so be it.

Untitled.jpg

Here's a picture of the "twigs" I think she ingested. They snap easily when dry but when I pulled the one out of the vomit it was wet so it would just bend. The ones I found in the vomit weren't quite as long.

If she can keep her food down tonight and tomorrow we'll go ahead with the dental and get the pricing for the GI panel. If she can't keep her food down we'll cancel the dental, get her in to the vet, and spend the dental money on the panel instead. Hopefully graduation will bring in a few extra bucks so we can get everything done.
 
Re: UPDATE 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

Gave her another small spoonful of wellness just now, ate most of it. Now we'll see if she can keep it down.

ETA: As I was testing her I felt her abdomen and pressed down a little to see if I would get a reaction out of her...she didn't meow, cry out, or try to get away from me. Sat there and let me do it like it was no big deal.
 
Re: UPDATE 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

Did the vet say if the amylase was high? Some vets consider that to be an indication of pancreatitis but it is not a test you can use to diagnose pancreatitis. I would not call that conclusive at all.

The best way to diagnose pancreatitis is with a spec fPL test and an U/S. If you can't to both, then the blood test will work.

Hope she is better.....sending Morlei healing vines!
 
Re: UPDATE 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

Marjorie and Gracie said:
Did the vet say if the amylase was high? Some vets consider that to be an indication of pancreatitis but it is not a test you can use to diagnose pancreatitis. I would not call that conclusive at all.

The best way to diagnose pancreatitis is with a spec fPL test and an U/S. If you can't to both, then the blood test will work.

Hope she is better.....sending Morlei healing vines!
Click to expand...

Thanks, we need those vines right now!
She didn't give the name, just said one of the results came back high and it has to do with the pancreas, so I assume it's the amylase. She said that it could be an indication of pancreatitis but wants to do the GI panel if the symptoms continue or she has another episode.
I just found her bloodwork results from January, this was the bloodwork used to diagnose her diabetes. Amylase is listed as high at 1302 with a reference range of 100-1200 IU/L.
I've heard of the spec fPL test, what is the U/S?

No vomiting and it's been over two hours, thank goodness.
 
Re: UPDATE 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

U/S is an ultrasound. The spec fPL is much less expensive although the blood may need to be sent to an outside lab.
 
Re: UPDATE 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

Sienne and Gabby said:
U/S is an ultrasound. The spec fPL is much less expensive although the blood may need to be sent to an outside lab.
Click to expand...

Thanks Sienne.

She's still doing ok...let's hope it stays that way!!!
 
Re: UPDATE 5/2 Morlei AMPS 270...vomiting...dental question.

I can't get her to eat...I've tried three different kinds of wet food...if she doesn't eat anything do I just skip her shot tonight?
 
i don't know what time you're shooting and if you still need advice. i think i would call the vet on this, becky. i'm not sure what to advise you in this circumstance. you said she was eating earlier and you were letting her eat as much as she wants. do you think she's just full still?
 
I got her to eat a little bit of lunch meat that I squished into some wellness. I gave her 4.5u because she definitely didn't eat enough. We're going to head to a pharmacy to get some Pepcid AC (or the generic 10mg famotidine tablets right?) and hopefully it will settle her stomach. If she doesn't eat a normal meal tomorrow morning then we're cancelling the dental and she'll go in for more bloodwork instead. I'm exhausted and I don't know what else I can do for her right now.
I was able to get a ketone test on her and it was negative.
 
glad you were able to get a ketone test, becky, and that it was negative.

giving a partial shot was a good idea, good she's eating a little bit. i hope she's eating like normal tomorrow.

i hope you can sleep tonight! :YMHUG:
 
Hey Julie!

Just got back from Walmart with some Pepcid AC, gave her 1/4 tablet wrapped in a small piece of deli meat. I don't think she was full from earlier because even though I let her eat as much as she wanted she didn't eat enough in my opinion. I'm really hoping she'll eat tomorrow morning because I can't take it off work...I already have Friday off because of the dental so even if we cancel that I'll keep the appointment time so I can get her in for more bloodwork. I assume they'll need more blood for the spec fPL test, I don't know what labs do with the sample once tests have been run and results sent back to the vet.
 
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