[Moxie989]

Hello, first time poster here.

My cat, Doc, is a rescue, and we have him guessed at about 8-10 months old. A few weeks ago he had been vomiting (mostly a yellow sludge with some hair), and I took him to the vet. He had a fever, and the vet put him on some antibiotics. Everything was fine for a handful of days, and now he seems to be back to vomiting again, only this time, some of it is obviously partially digested food, and at least one instance was a sort of pinkish foam with hair in it. He has also started losing fur in patches off his chest, neck, and one ear. I believe the neck and one ear may have been from him scratching at a new collar, but I can't imagine why SO much hair is missing, right down to the skin. Also, the little patches appearing convince me something else is wrong. I plan on taking him back to the vet, but thought I'd ask around as well. Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[drjean]

Ringworm or other skin infection, such as mites, can produce the symptoms you describe. These are all contagious to people, so hustle him back to the vet immediately for diagnostics including skin scrapings, fungal culture and woods lamp. It does sound like *something* is going on!

Cheers,
Dr. Jean

 

[kitkat]

Sounds like ringworm and better get it treated soon. My cats had that a long time ago and it got better with some cream my vet gave me to put on twice a day. Good luck! :wink:

 

[Moxie989]

I forgot to mention some other factors: A few weeks ago, my roomate's girlfriend brought her cat into the house, an 11 year old princess who'd only ever lived with her siblings. The vet did some tests and Doc is physically fine, so we figured the fur loss may come fom chronic licking, as well as the vomiting, due to stress. I've only had him for a month, and in that time he's gotten a new home, switched foods and litters, met a new cat, etc. I would be pretty stressed as well. Also, the other cat eats his food, so the vomiting may be due to "gorging" in an attempt to keep what's his.

So the vet gave him an antibiotic booster as well as some low grade anabolics for his gag reflex, and we'll see how he does from now on. I'm going to put him on a feeding schedule to hopefully help the vomiting, and possibly some hairball malt as well.