Not your typical daily vomiting story...

[kwarendorf]

Submitted FYI. Franklin wasn't an every day puker. He was more 2-4 days a week. Each of those days I would find 2-5 deposits on my carpet. It was not food, but rather similar to the liquid you describe. Other than the puking he was active with a normal appetite. Turns out he has Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). He now gets prednisolone every other day and he hasn't puked since he got the first dose in May!

[Dave_ph]

Originally Posted by wschuu

t Also, whoever it was that suggested bringing in... ahem... barf samples (EDIT: Dave_ph!!) - thanks! I don't know why I didn't think of that before! My pharm friend is even giving me test tubes for it.

I read that somewhere on the internet when I had two kitties barfing in a week. One was serious and had to be at the vets for hydrating and antibiotics for a few days. The other had hair in it when the emergency vet pulled it apart. yeah, I paniced when kitty #2 vomited.

They both looked amused that I had brought barf samples. The first e-vet looked at Mia's sample and said "Well, while my bio-chem professor said never to waste a sample I won't really need that".

The second e-vet pulled Fay's sample apart with her fingers. Ewww. But she's my first choice for e-vets now.

Mia was seriously ill and touch and go for a while both both kitties pulled thru.

[Auntie Crazy]

Originally Posted by kwarendorf

Submitted FYI. Franklin wasn't an every day puker. He was more 2-4 days a week. Each of those days I would find 2-5 deposits on my carpet. It was not food, but rather similar to the liquid you describe. Other than the puking he was active with a normal appetite. Turns out he has Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). He now gets prednisolone every other day and he hasn't puked since he got the first dose in May!

IBD is one of the many problems that are often traced back to kibble diets.

[wschuu]

Well, I have an update... But first I want to say thank you again to everyone who replied. It was really comforting to hear back from so many people, especially with this being my first post here. This place seems like a great community.

So, we took Nemo into the vet, a new person with a fantastic reputation. We wanted a second opinion, and I will never regret that decision. I am now going to be taking all three cats to this guy for everything. He was FANTASTIC. If you live in Memphis/Germantown Tennessee, see Dr Beatty at Germantown Farmington Animal Hospital. He took his time with us, explained everything, once he came into the room he stayed the entire time and focused completely on us. He talked us through every thought, really worked with us to figure out what was going on. He is obviously very knowledgeable, very friendly, an excellent vet.

Anyway... we described all of Nemo's symptoms, past treatments, etc. Brought in a sample. After some process of elimination with the vet, he zeroed in on her broken lower mandible. He said that most cats with a broken mandible have some sort of internal injury, because usually that kind of break is caused by trauma - hit by a car, abuse, etc. So we xrayed.

Sure enough... Nemo has had a broken spine!!!!! Even my layman's eyes could see on the xray that her spine was injured. It looks like three of her vertebrae are fused together and twisted completely around. She is a walking miracle - the vet and a radiologist both said that she was probably hit by a car as a kitten (she would have to have been a month old or less) and was able to heal herself. Likely, her two-ish month stay at the Humane Society, locked in a small cage, is what made this possible. My boyfriend and I noted how calm she was when we first saw her - the vet says this is probably because she was in pain, and didn't want to move much. My little Nemo healed her own broken back! The vet declared that it is amazing that she is even alive right now, but she is going to be fine. It's amazing, but she has no apparent nerve damage, no limited mobility, nothing. Her spinal cord is perfectly fine.

However, the vet did suggest that she probably had some internal organ damage, specifically to her stomach and liver. He noticed abnormalities in her xray, and we are going to be doing some further testing to see how this may be affecting her digestion. He thinks her organs may have healed themselves in a way that is causing the trouble. According to the vet, she should be fine long term.

Long story short: Nemo was probably hit by a car at less than 1month old, is still suffering from some lingering issues from the accident.

Just FYI - I've taken the advice of several of you, and have begun the switch to wet food. Unlike my previous experiences with wet food, they are LOVING IT. I'm trying out a few different varieties, but we have a great local pet store here where I can try several holistic brands. It hasn't helped with the barfing... yet at least... but it seems like the healthiest decision for them.

Thanks again everyone. Just wanted to update anyone who was interested in the outcome. I'll be around, and I'll let you all know what kind of treatment she ends up with. I hope this info can help anyone else suffering from 'mysterious frequent barf syndrome.' We are very persistent and committed to our pets, but I could see a person becoming so frustrated with this kind of thing that they give up on their cat. I don't want that to happen to anyone - there is almost always an answer, never give up on your little buddies! They rely on you for their health! Ha... well, except when healing their own broken backs, apparently they don't need any help with that...

Edited a couple times for grammar. Sorry!

[Abbie]

Wow, what a wonderful cat! She's a little miracle. Very glad she's going to be okay, poor thing- she must have been in such pain. How lovely that she now has such a lovely Mummy to take care of her. Sending lots of love and I hope you manage to stop the vomiting soon

[Mimosa]

Woah, a broken spine ?

I hope the issue resolves over time, it;s a great thing she has such wonderful people who will stick with her.

[marie73]

Wow. What an amazing little kitty! She's in the purrfect home now. And your vet rocks!