First, let me say that I plan to take my furbaby to the vet later today. I’m just trying to figure out how sick he actually is and if I need to cancel an afternoon of human patients to take him in.
My cat is a long-haired 2 year old male. About once every 1-2 months he vomits a few times until he hacks up a furball, then he is fine. My vet said that cats do this and not to worry. Last Thursday, I came home to find that he had vomited up a large furball. He was eating like a horse (antifurball food) so I watched him.
Now he does love to chew on plastic so I keep it away from him, but I do use a plastic garbage bag under his litter box which he has never touched. Friday morning, he vomited up what looked like small bits of plastic so I investigated and found large bites taken out of this plastic. I took it away and he seemed to have a good appetite.
Over the weekend, he was slightly subdued and more cuddly than usual. He kept coming up to me and purring. His belly wasn’t distended or sore, but he had a few episodes of vomiting bile, with another fairly large furball on Saturday night. I was hoping he was OK, but over the last 24 hours he seemed to be eating less, and when I scooped the litterbox last night, there was no feces from either of my two cats (the girl cat seems fine).
The cats have occasionally gone 24 hours without a bowel movement before, but this morning my kitty was vomiting a little bile again. He doesn’t look sick or dehydrated, he is running around (although not as much as usual) and he is drinking and peeing.
Like I said, I am going to take him to the vet today, but how urgent is it? Can it wait until the after hours clinic? Am I panicking over harmless hairballs?
The worst case scenario is probably that he has some sort of intestinal blockage. It also could be a stomach bug, which I’ve had pets get before. If that’s what it is (from my experience), the vet may give him some medicated water to drink. Or it could just be that he’s a cat and cats are weird sometimes. I swear it’s a conspiracy they’ve all hatched to freak their owners out. But I’m paranoid about these things so yeah, I’d get him checked out today.
Something that seems unusual is happening. You don’t know if it’s serious or not.
See the vet sooner rather than later.
What if it turns out it’s serious and you went for the later option?
Err on the side of caution and get him checked out, but get used to the idea that some cats throw up more than others. There’s nothing wrong with our 13-year old baby (regular vet visits and follow-up consults)–she’s just a serial puker. Comes with the territory with her, but no harm/no foul in the big picture. Some cats are just like that.
The same sort of thing happened to my cat, and she has a tendency to chew on plastic as well. I thought she’d been wolfing it down in secret, but it turns out she had allergies to something in average catfood and had to be put on something for sensitive tummies.
But, I’d always take her to the vet sooner rather than later. Just in case.
I took Boris to the emergency vet last night. Xrays showed a foreign body in his intestines, which apparently was a penny that he ate. They gave him fluids and antibiotics and he had surgery today. I hope he is going to be OK; he had a little bit of a fever this morning. Anyway, the vet says he seems to be waking up, and if I just pay him $2000, I can have my penny (and my cat) back.
OMG. He ate a penny? That is one for the file - I’ve never heard of a cat eating a coin before. I am sorry for the huge bill, but I am glad you got him checked out and that he’s going to be ok. I’d have the penny framed, or mounted in a necklace as your most expensive piece of jewelry.
wow! I’m glad you had him checked out. Zinc is toxic to kitties, and pennies do contain zinc. The fact that he ingested one sounds very serious to me, so be very very that you got this solved before he got too bad.
Sometimes I really wish pets wouldn’t eat such random things.
wow! I’m glad you had him checked out. Zinc is toxic to kitties, and pennies do contain zinc. The fact that he ingested one sounds very serious to me, so be very very glad that you got this solved before he got too bad.
Sometimes I really wish pets wouldn’t eat such random things.
Just an update. Apparently pennies are very very toxic to cats. As noted above, they have zinc, which can cause ulcers in the intestines, and after 1984 they have lead, which can cause lead poisoning.
I got Boris in just in time. He had actually perforated his intestines and they needed to remove above 2 inches. He seems to be coming through it OK. I had no idea that pennies were so bad for cats. He used to play with them but I never thought he’d eat one. From now one all change is being kept far away from the kitties.
That’s very scary but good to know for us cat-lovers. I’m just happy you caught it in time. Boris sounds like quite the kitty; I’m sending good vibes for a quick recovery.
I’ve always heard cats don’t take change well. :ba-dum-dum:
Sorry, just trying to inject a little levity. Hope Boris is OK. How is your girl kitty (please tell me her name is Natasha!) handling his absence? Give her some extra scritchins from me.
(And, uh, why the fuck would they put lead in something that human babies almost routinely swallow?)
Of course my girl cat is Natasha. They’re black, although Boris has some small patches of white. She’s been very clingy, and vocal, which is usual for her when she’s stressed. I think she’s happy not to have to share the food bowl, but she clearly misses Boris.
Sometimes I really wish pets wouldn’t eat such random things.