Why is my cat still throwing up food after two years of treatment?

Hello, and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear about Portifoy's diarrhea troubles! It's not clear from the history what sort of duration we're talking about, but it can take time (sometimes weeks) to get IBD symptoms under control. Many cats improve much faster if put on a tapering dose of steroids (often prednisolone is used), so you could talk to your vet about this. Depending on what diagnostics were performed that led to the IBD diagnosis, those symptoms could indicate IBD, but could also be consistent with a food sensitivity/allergy, or GI lymphoma, among other things. An abdominal ultrasound helps with a diagnosis, if that hasn't been done, with a GI biopsy being the ideal diagnostic (although that's also quite invasive, and your vet can help you decide if it's worth the risk). At this point, I'd recommend communicating with your vet and letting them know how Port's doing, as they may have been hoping his symptoms would improve with the medications you mentioned - but they may want to change things (such as adding a steroid, or discussing the next diagnostic step) once they know he's still having diarrhea. Feel free to request a consultation if you'd like to discuss Port's case in more detail. I hope this helps!

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I am sorry you are having trouble with Nigel and that he is sick. Vomiting in cats can be very difficult to diagnose the underlying cause, and often require many tests and treatment trials to find the answer. I would recommend working him up for either food allergies, or IBD. IBD would require a biopsy to diagnose. A scope is recommended as well for this. The other thing you could trial first is a diet trial for food allergies. Diet trials are very tedious and difficult to perform, as you need to feed the diet for 8 weeks, and have that the ONLY food that goes into Nigel, including medicated chews. You start with a diet like Hill's z/d or Hill's hypoallergenic. If the vomiting improves, then you slowly add in foods, one at a time, to determine what causes the allergy. Just switching foods for a week or two will not tell you if it is a food allergy. Discuss these options with your vet. If these don't work, then I would recommend a consult with an internal medicine specialist. Best of luck with Nigel!

I'm sorry to hear that Mercedes is sick. If IBD or GI lymphoma is suspected the next steps may be ultrasound or even biopsy. Biopsy is needed to confirm the diagnosis of IBD. However, I will frequently treat if it is strongly suspected on ultrasound. If IBD is confirmed it's worth doing a trial of a prescription GI diet. Although a/d is a good recovery diet it is probably not the best one to use as a maintenance diet if IBD is suspected. It would also be worth giving your veterinarian a call to see if they can give a Cerenia injection. This will help to resolve the vomiting and can be continued if necessary. Vitamin B12 injections can also be helpful when a cat is experiencing GI distress and will be needed if IBD is confirmed. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and best wishes to Mercedes!

Couple of concerns here. Were you given an option of referral to obtain a definitive diagnosis? Differentiation of these diseases requires biopsy. Did your pet have an ultrasound? Also having a chemotherapy medication made in to a liquid is a big safety concern unless a pet has a feeding tube. Were you counseled about safe drug and urine/fecal handling with this drug? Also has your kitty had blood monitoring with this drug for safety? There are typically some other things we do with cats with GI disease but this is case dependent. Also the dosing for chlorambucil is different for different cats. What would really be best, if you feel that you need more help beyond your vet, you could request referral to a specialist (either an internist or an oncologist). I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Pixie! Since Pixie failed outpatient medications then I agree she needs to be seen again tomorrow. I would not feed her for 12 hours before your appointment so she has an empty stomach. She needs blood work and belly X-rays. I worry that she may have eaten something that is stuck. Other causes are: intestinal parasites, viral or bacterial infections, toxin ingestion, pancreatitis, dietary indiscretion, food allergy/intolerance, new food/treat/table food. I hope this helps and I wish Pixie the best!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Coco. Unfortunately, we cannot access your previous questions so do not have any of her case history. You may wish to do a consult with a veterinarian here at Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach for more detailed information. If she is still sick despite seeing her veterinarian, then I suspect she will need a further work up. She may need blood and urine testing, fecal testing as well as x-rays of her belly. I hope this information helps!

Hello and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There are many different reasons why cats will vomit periodically. It could be an allergy or sensitivity to the food, to inflammation anywhere in the GI tract, pancreatitis, liver or kidney disease, and many more. These cases can be extremely frustrating and take lots of testing to figure out because of this. The first thing I recommend is screening blood work to look for organ dysfunction that could lead to vomiting. In the vast majority of cats who are acting normal other than the vomiting, the blood work is usually normal. X-rays are also performed to look for any obvious change in organ shape or size and to look for obstruction, masses, etc. Beyond that, the testing gets more involved and typically involves an abdominal ultrasound. Sometime this can give you an answer. Other times the only way to confirm a diagnosis is through biopsies of the affected organs. The other thing that is commonly recommended is a change in diet. If there is an ingredient that she is sensitive to, we want to try to eliminate it from her diet. This is best done with a prescription diet because over-the-counter diets can be contaminated with ingredients that are not on the label. Food trials need to be done for at least 6 to 8 weeks and they can't eat anything else during this time. If the vomiting resolves with the new diet, I recommend keeping her on that diet long-term.