[spockally]

Hi! I am scared to see this and I am becoming panicky now...
My kitty Spock just vomited liquid and there was red stuff and it sure looked like streaks of blood. He vomited food today around 11am and it was all food, I thought. My husband cleaned it so I am not sure if it had blood in it. I wonder if this earlier vomiting hurt his blood vessels or throat... Does it deserve emergency visit now? It is already almost 11pm here... Or can I just wait and see how he is? Should I take him in
tomorrow? He is now just sitting next to my computer and purring as if nothing happened, but I am so scared I hope someone here will help me with tips soon. My vet office is open on Saturday only in the morning and I got to take my daughter to girl scout event.... I know my kitty is important but too much time conflict... sorry for venting but I am so confused...

He has hyperthyroidism and been on Methimazole cream. His test done in the middle of September was fine. T4, BUN and Creatinine were
all within the range and T4 was finally stabilized. Everything was fine according to the vet and he was doing fine, I thought...

Last weekend he vomited food twice, but he has not vomited since then. He has been eating good and acting good. Today after he vomited at around 11am, he ate lunch of wet food. I could not be with him because I needed to take my kids out, but he was eating well when I left. Then, he had a little snack of dry food at around 6pm. Then he vomited the one with blood streaks at around 10:30pm here in ET in the US.

I wonder if he is internally bleeding... I am scared. Any opinions or
suggestions I appreciate! Thank you!!!!

 

[minikin44]

Did he eat anything with red coloring in it? If not I can only assume it's blood, though I'm not sure what that means or how serious it'd be :-/ Can someone else take your daughter to the event or your cat to the vet?

 

[spockally]

thank you so much for your quick response. I do not think he consumed anything red. I did not give anything red to eat. The only thing I can think of is the spaghetti sauce that my daughter was eating, but I do not think my kitty ate it as far as I know.

I am thinking about not going to girl scout event. I feel sorry for my daughter but I cannot leave my kitty like this. I know I need to take her because I am assistant leader. I do not feel comfortable my husband taking my kitty to the vet... I am scared... Thank you for replying. It is so nice that I could talk about it. Thank you.

 

[minikin44]

No problem at all... I'm just sorry your kitty may be sick! I'm sure your daughter will be equally concerned about your cat and so will not be so upset about the event. I think I would stay up and monitor Spock and if all seems alright wait until the regular vet office opens in the morning to take him in. Is he showing any other symptoms or strange behavior?

 

[Penguin_Dreams]

It could be any number of things, many of them quite serious. Only a battery of blood tests and urine samples will be able to tell. But generally speaking the fresher the blood looks, the higher up it is in their digestive system. If it's black and tar-like, it's coming from the stomach or intestines and is probably extremely serious. If it's fresh and bright red, it could be coming from the mouth or esophagus and may be still be bad, but not immediately life threatening. (IANAV)

If you can afford it and have somewhere to go at 11pm on a Friday, go now. Next best thing is to get him to your regular vet first thing tomorrow. Best wishes to you and yours.

 

[spockally]

Dear minikin44:
thank you again for your kind words. Spock is not showing any other symptoms or strange behavior. He was hungry as this is the time that I usually feed them, so I just gave canned food. He is eating now.... He does not seem to be in pain or discomfort as far as I see him. Now he finished eating and just walking around. I am crying now because I worry about him. I think I will take him tomorrow, thank you so much for your time in reading and replying to me.

 

[minikin44]

It seems like a good sign to me that he's eating. I would cry too... it's terrible when something is wrong with your furbaby! Prayers sent and paws crossed that he will be all better by tomorrow, though I still think I'd get him checked out anyway, just to be safe. *hugs*

 

[spockally]

Dear Penguin Dreams:
Thank you so much for your reply and explaining to me about the color of blood. His was bright red. It sounds gross, but when I cleaned the floor with paper towel, I saved the towel and looked at it again. I remember my kids were eating pepperoni pizza as well, but his does not look like pepperoni, so it looks like streak of blood. I googled about the blood in cat's vomit and read some articles about coming from esophagus or mouth. I tried to check if he is bleeding in his mouth, but he did not let me open his mouth. I think I will take him in tomorrow morning. Now it is 11:40pm here. It takes about 1 hour to go to emergency clinic and I cannot drive during night due to my eye problem. My husband is already asleep.... Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it.

 

[crazyismycat]

You should be worried if the vomit resembles coffee grinds ( nurse here )

 

[spockally]

Dear Minikin44,
Thank you very much for your kindness and prayers. It means A LOT to me! I will keep eye on Spock all night and take him in tomorrow morning. Thank You so much for your support tonight. I feel very thankful that you were here for me tonight when I feel so helpless and anxious.

 

[spockally]

Dear crazyismycat:

Thank you for your reply. The vomit had a little streak or smear looking bright red thing in liquid. It did not look like coffee grinds at all. I read in some articles about the vomit that resembles coffee grinds indicating very serious illness. He ate canned food and now went back to little nap. When I go to him and talk to him, he purrs as usual. I am so scared now but I will watch him closely over night and take him in tomorrow morning. Thank you so much for sharing the tip.

 

[spockally]

I thank all of you for the help you provided to me last night. I took him in today and he seems to be fine. Dr. checked everywhere and did not find anything serious. I even brought in the paper towel that I wiped his vomit with streaks of blood in it (sorry it is gross and I am crazy... but I wanted to show it to Dr.). He said it is very tiny amount, so it is not too big of concern. He thinks it is not necessary to take another blood sample to check his health because he was tested about 6 weeks ago and everything was normal. He thinks it might be from inflammation on the wall of stomach or throat area from the last episode of vomiting. He gave Spock a shot of anti-nauseous medicine, Cerenia, to calm down his GI system. He also gave me the tablet of the same medicine to give Spock once a day from tomorrow for 4 days. If the vomiting with blood comes back again or the vomiting continues, further examination such as x-ray or another blood test will be needed, he said.

Before this happened, he was vomiting once in a while. Two weeks ago, he vomited once and then another one about a week ago. But, for each time, he just starts eating again and seems to go back to normal himself again, so I was not worried too much. After the visit to Dr., he has good appetite again and looks like he is happy at home. He gained weight again and now he is the heaviest in his life. I am glad that I took him in today! Thank you so much for your help. sorry that I got panicky... but I really appreciate your help

 

[Penguin_Dreams]

I'm glad to hear he's doing fine and the vet doesn't think it's a concern at this point.

Bringing in the paper towel was a good idea even if it does seem weird. It's easier to show something than attempt to describe it and risk a miscommunication or misleading information.

 

[minikin44]

I'm glad the vet thinks he's ok! It's always better to be safe than sorry, though, so I'm glad you took him in! I don't think the paper towel was weird... I've saved all sorts of lovely things to show the vet. I figure it's easier and more accurate for them to see it first-hand than for me to try to describe it!

 

[spockally]

Dear Penguin Dreams and minikin44:

Thank you so much to both of you for your wonderful and heartwarming support! Yes, I am glad that I took him in! I do not want to take any chance with him especially because he is already 13 yr old and have hyperthyroidism. I am glad that so far he seems to be fine and the vet confirmed that there is not much to worry at this point. I just hope this is it

It was strange to bring the paper towel and I felt bad to show it to him, but he did not mind. He was nice. He said that he was relieved to see only this tiny bit instead of big amount of blood. I agree with both of you about this little thing becoming good supporting evidence and I did not have to explain how big or what texture, etc. So, I am glad that I saved it. He asked me if I want to keep it as a souvenir, but I said no to that...

Thank you so much again to both of you. It was such a huge mental support last night that I could chat like this when I was all by myself here crying about Spock. Hope all of your kitties are in good health! Good health is really important! Have a blessed weekend!