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Nightingale

Any Vets out there? Need cat help...

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My cat has been puking daily for a month. The vet thought he had a blockage,but the x-rays ruled that out. He's pooping normally, and eating only slightly less than usual, I think. He's acting normal. He's just throwing up once every day.

He's also got these strange lumps... I noticed them when I took him in about three weeks ago. They're mostly about half the diameter of a pencil eraser, round lumps in his skin. They do not move independently of the skin. The lumps don't appear to be bothering him at all, and they're not red or irritated. They're on his collar area on his back, on the outside of his legs above the knee, and under his armpits. It seems like he's getting more. There's probably at least 50. He's seen two vets for this. The first said lipomas (benign fatty tumors), and the second said lipomas aren't very common in cats and is convinced it's an allergic reaction. I'm not sure what he could be allergic to; he's an indoor cat and, other than the carpet cleaner I've been using on the cat barf, hasn't been exposed to anything new (and I stopped using the carpet cleaner a week ago). The vet gave him a shot of benadryl, and it turns out the cat is allergic to benadryl. I didn't even know that was possible, but a few moments after the shot, he was foaming from his mouth and projectile vomiting. it doesn't look like the lumps itch him or anything, but he's rubbed a few spots on his face raw (no lumps on the face at all), but those raw spots have healed up just fine. Neither vet seemed very concerned about the lumps, but I'm quite worried.

So, other than the lumps and puking, he's acting like a perfectly normal, healthy cat. The vet seems unconcerned about the lumps, and thinks the vomiting may be due to hairballs, and wants me to try giving him a hairball remedy. We're starting that tonight. I'm worried. It seems like more than an allergy if the cat's got so many lumps, and the vomiting for four weeks straight sounds like more than hairballs...

I'd take him to another vet for a second/third opinion, but I just can't afford it. He's already run up $1400 on my carecredit account in three weeks, and the other vets I trust in the area don't accept carecredit. I know there are a few vets and quite a few cat lovers out there, so I was wondering if anybody has heard of anything at all like this before? Both the vets seem a bit stumped, and since my cat is very vet-phobic, I don't really want to take him to the vet unless I've really got something to worry about. It's bizarre... other than the strange puking and lumps, he's acting perfectly healthy.

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Have then done blood work on your cat? If so, what profile (aka Chem 8, 10, etc., CBC, electrolytes) did they do and what were the results?



No, they haven't done blood work as far as I know. Should I take him back and ask them to do that?



YES!!
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Have then done blood work on your cat? If so, what profile (aka Chem 8, 10, etc., CBC, electrolytes) did they do and what were the results?



No, they haven't done blood work as far as I know. Should I take him back and ask them to do that?



YES!!



To reconfirm

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Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

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They did do bloodwork:


The bloodwork results are:

WBC: 6.26
NE 5.08
(bold)LY 1.08 (1.5-7)
MO .05
EO .05
BA 0.0
%NE 81.16 (35-78)
%LY 17.22 (20-55)
%MO .81
%EO .81
%BA 0.0
%HCT 41.1
RBC 9.26
HB 13.0
MCV 44.4
MCH-Forcyte 14.0
MCHC 31.6
RDW 16.5
RSD 7.3
PLT-Forcyte 338.0
PCT .426
MPV 12.6
PDW 25.5

Na 159.0 (147-156)
K 4.5
Cl 125.0
NA_K 35.3
ALT 34.0
ALK 29.0
TPROT 6.9
GLU 142.0
BUN 18.0
CREAT 1.0
BUN_CR 18.0

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I wouldn't worry so much about the lumps, but the daily puking isn't good. It honestly sounds like some kind of mild poisoning to me.

Have you used ANY kind of pesticide in the house lately? Even the plastic traps for ants, roaches, etc. can make them sick. No, they don't need to lick or eat the traps... ants walking through ant traps, then across the food dish will make pets sick.

Give the floors where he eats a good cleaning, as well as any favorite hang out spots like window ledges.

If that doesn't work, just end his suffering. :ph34r:

Jeff

Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

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I don't use pesticide. Period. Not good for the kitties, not good for me.

There's really nothing he'd have gotten into that the other cat wouldn't have also been exposed to, since they're always together, eat and drink from the same bowls, and generally get into the same mischief. The other cat is fine.

The vet on justanswers suggested Inflamatory Bowel Disease, which my vet did bring up. My vet wanted me to try a hairball remedy first, so we're giving that a try this week, and if that doesn't work, we'll try the food and meds for IBD and see if that works.

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My work week starts tomorrow night. I'll print out this thread and just run it past my docs. They may/may not have any suggestions as to possible help for your kitty, but I'll see what I can do.
Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

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My frend Sally Strawn a cat Dr of DVM said:

vomiting and lumps could be related or separate issues.

hard to say without seeing it, of course, but if the lumps are from an allergy (and any cat, even inside, can have allergies - often airborne pollens, etc.), and if the cat is licking more because of the bumps, or even just while shedding, and swallowing more hair, that can lead to vomiting. In that case, the vomiting usually happens right after the cat eats and then they'll wait a while and eat without vomiting. The hair irritates the inside lining of the stomach, then when the cat eats or drinks, stomach acid is released, hits the irritated stomach lining, and the cat feels uncomfortable and throws up.

The best thing for vomiting from consuming hair is to feed a hairball diet (higher in fiber) and of course brush the cat daily to get rid of loose hair. The more you get out in the brush, the less there is to go down the cat!

The lumps could easily be allergic - far more common than tumors, though there are some that cats can get. The only way to tell for sure is to biopsy one. If they are distributed all over the body, and especially since there was some itching on the face, I'd think of either an inhaled allergy (pollens which are common this time of year, dust, etc - Spring and Fall are the most common allergy times) or a food allergy. Any change of diet before the bumps showed up??

It's not at all unusual for cats to react to Benadryl - lots of them can't take it and may need steroids instead of antihistamines to control allergies.

If the vomiting is not just after eating, or if the kitty is not eating as well or losing weight, then there may be something more going on. Inflammatory bowel disease is common in cats, but there are many other causes too. If the kitty is maintaining his weight and acting otherwise normal (which it sounds like he is), I'd sure start with brushing daily and feeding a hairball diet, plus whatever hairball medicine the doctor dispensed. Plus trying to figure out any changes (especially diet) that might have occurred just before the bumps showed up.... trying to figure out what he might be allergic to... though again it may be inhaled/ pollens/ etc.

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He's already on a special diet (science diet CD to prevent urinary tract crystals), and we're trying Laxatone for hairballs. I've started brushing him every day (up from once a week), and we'll see if that helps.

(edited to add: He's been on the CD diet for over four years, and hasn't eaten anything else AFAIK).

I can't get him to eat the laxatone, though, so I've just been smearing it on his nose and getting him to lick it off. It's sticky, so I can't just put it in a syringe and get it into the cat's mouth that way.

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My work week starts tomorrow night. I'll print out this thread and just run it past my docs. They may/may not have any suggestions as to possible help for your kitty, but I'll see what I can do.



Thanks! I'd take some pics of the lumps, but since the lumps aren't causing any hair loss, I'd have to shave the cat to get a good pic, and it just looks like normal skin anyway, except lumpy. I'm guessing the lumps are part of the skin, since when you move the skin, the lumps move right with it, and you can't move the lump at all without moving the skin. I've seen lipomas (Clownburner's dog has a big one), and these don't react like that at all. They really seem to be part of the skin, not under the skin.

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Hi Nightingale I am a Vet. The two possibilities I would rule out first would be an allergic/ autoimmune inflammatory condition of the intestinal tract easily treated with prednisalone and a hypoallergenic diet. If you change the diet you can monitor for urinary tract infections. The other thing would be a possible gastric foreign body. One abdominal X-ray would be helpful. I would also be concerned about all of the skin lumps, they sound allergic usually responsive to steroids. I have seen a lot of hairball induced gastroenteritis but they usually are not this chronic.

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They did three abdominal x-rays and ruled out a foreign body/blockage. Also, he's pooping and peeing, so I guess things are moving through the cat from one end to the other.

He's been on the laxatone for about 24 hours now. When I get home, I'll see if he's redecorated my carpet with cat barf again. Apparently, he can't barf in the same spot twice, ever, and by my calculations, he's managed to cover at least 1/3 of the carpet with cat vomit at some point in the last 4 weeks. ugh.[:/]

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Apparently, he can't barf in the same spot twice, ever, and by my calculations, he's managed to cover at least 1/3 of the carpet with cat vomit at some point in the last 4 weeks. ugh.[:/]



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