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Original poster

Cat keeps eating everything in sight, also throwing up.

37 replies

Flightattendant27 · 04/03/2009 10:32

Our cat is 10 and normally Ok. lately she has been eating everything - I mean, hoovering up crisps from the floor, cheese, anything...

I've been feeding her two or three sachets a day, and tried giving her dried food (senior stuff) but every time she eats dry, she throws up.

Two days ago I gave her a drontal in case she was having worm problems (hasn't been treated for several months)

Yesterday she started throwing up her sachet food as well, then just nothing as she was empty. She seemed quite upset.

I fed her last night and I think it stayed down.. and now she is hoovering again. I'm a bit worried about her. She's quite slim, not skinny.

Could she have reacted to the drontal? She's had it before without any fuss.

OP posts:
bella29 · 04/03/2009 10:56

I doubt very much it was the drontal but there could be an underlying illness so she does need to see the vet.

Good luck x

Original poster
Flightattendant27 · 04/03/2009 11:02

Thanks Bella. I'll see how she is today and tomorrow. is it the hoovering that you think is worrying, or the throwing up?

OP posts:
bella29 · 04/03/2009 11:06

Both, tbh.

Original poster
Flightattendant27 · 04/03/2009 11:08

Ok. Thanks.

OP posts:
bella29 · 04/03/2009 12:02

Keep us posted, please.

If she were mine I would see the vet asap.

ChristIvelefttheironon · 04/03/2009 12:20

Really? Sorry if I sound blase about it. I've always rushed her to the vet before for various things...sometimes she would have cystitis, another time she vomited blood - but all they say is 'we could do investigations, but i can't find anything wrong with ehr and it would cost a few hundred pounds. That'll be fifty quid please'.

Which has put me off a bit considering she is usually fine within a day or two.

I hate money having anything to do with it - if she genuinely seems to be getting worse or continuing with it though, I will of course take her.

But she seems fine in herself now - just hungry!

bella29 · 04/03/2009 12:35

I'm not a vet but she does have symptoms which could point to hyperthyroidism.

Good luck anyway.

Original poster
Flightattendant27 · 04/03/2009 12:48

Oh dear

I will look it up - maybe this is something they could help her with. I might also try a different vet.

OP posts:
Original poster
Flightattendant27 · 04/03/2009 12:49

Thanks Bella.

OP posts:
Original poster
Flightattendant27 · 04/03/2009 12:59

Ok have looked it up...it could be this especially as she is getting on a bit.

She hasn't lost weight, not yet anyway...the thing is, it looks like there are two treatment options. Surgery, which we just can't afford, or giving her pills for the rest of her life - which I really, really don't think is going to work out - she hates it so much.

I'm not sure what to do. We don't have insurance as she is so old, I managed to find one company that would do it, but it turned out their policy didn't cover anything repetitive, like her cystitis - so jacked it in. Now she is 10 I don't know who would provide insurance or even if it would cover this.

OP posts:
ashoesandbagsbird · 04/03/2009 13:23

Have you tried switching him to a science diet like Iams or Hills?

We had a similar problem with our puss who is now 13 and had the same type of response with our vet. We switched him totally to Iams and after his initial reluctance to eat it, his condition improved.

He is still sick occasionally now but we think he sometimes fed at another house.

Original poster
Flightattendant27 · 04/03/2009 14:03

Thanks, it might be worth a try...I've felt her neck and she doesn't seem to have any swelling at all, so not convinced it's thyroid. Maybe she ate something outside that didn't agree with her...

OP posts:
ashoesandbagsbird · 04/03/2009 14:57

Quite possible. Is she eating grass too? They usually eat grass if their stomachs are off.

My vet advised that some cats have a tendancy to vomit alot and to alway avoid giving them milk. Its doesn't agree with them.

Hope she's better soon.

Simplysally · 04/03/2009 15:09

Is your cat throwing everything up or just some types of food? Might be worth keeping a food diary for a few days if she doesn't improve.

We've found that our cat can't seem to tolerate fishy foods so she tends to eat quite a lot of white meat with red meat once or twice a week - and we never give her milk. Cats don't really need it anyway - water should be sufficient.

Original poster
Flightattendant27 · 04/03/2009 16:35

Hello, yes I never give her milk. It's usually just the dry she can't handle - she has phases of it. Yesterday it was everything, poor lamb. But she hasn't been sick again so I think it might have been a one off.

Still asking for more food though...will see how that goes.
Thanks for all your help x

OP posts:
bella29 · 04/03/2009 19:09
newpup · 04/03/2009 20:06

Hope she is better soon. Legogirl may be able to help if she is around, she is a vet.

Hello Bella (waves).

Original poster
Flightattendant27 · 05/03/2009 09:19

Thanks!

I shut her in the dining room/kitchen last night in case of any accidents, it's comfy and there's heating, cat flap, armchair etc.

Found she had been on the table after a half eaten cream cake this morning! She definitely has a madly exaggerated appetite.

I am quite worried about that.

Off to google what could cause a big appetite apart from HT..

OP posts:
Original poster
Flightattendant27 · 05/03/2009 09:20

..although my mother's cat is the same, so maybe it's the weather?

OP posts:
OrmIrian · 05/03/2009 09:39

Flight - I don't wish to worry you but our old girl had similar symptoms and we ignored it thinking it was just feline oddness. It turned out she had a blockage in her gut - she was eating because she was hungry but nothing would go down.

Please take her to a vet if you can.

bella29 · 05/03/2009 10:08

I'll just have one last go!

It's not the weather. It isn't normal for a cat to suddenly start eating everything in sight.

It may not be hyperthyroidism but, even if it was, a vet wouldn't necessarily be able to tell by feeling her neck - they need to do blood tests.

I hope she's okay.

oopsagain · 05/03/2009 22:07

Hyperthroid, diabetes...
two of the main reasons for increased appetitie in an older cat.

I'd find a different vet and get an appt.

it is hard to feel the thyroid in a cat without holding her head right up neck staright- and you ahve to ahev the trained fingers.

takes years of practice

that's why it costs alot.

htht and good luck.

bella29 · 05/03/2009 22:35
Original poster
Flightattendant27 · 06/03/2009 09:23

Yes I take your point. I am not a vet, I can't diagnose her and even if our vet is crap, there are others who will be able to help.

But what then?

Either there's nothing wrong with her - in which case all well and good, I've paid whatever, 50 quid, for peace of mind. That's not so bad.

However if she has diabetes that will require injections twice a day, yes? this is a cat who freakes out when I approach the cupboard where the frontline is kept. She will struggle and scratch and go insane just having that done.
It's not going to work.

And if she has hyperthyroidism, that too is going to be pills every day, again, not going to work on this cat. Or an operation - which is going to be a few hundred pounds. I just don't have those kind of resources.

I'm not trying to be unkind and of course I won't just abandon her - but what the heck am I supposed to do with those options?

I can remember when vets fees were affordable, back in the mid seventies before insurance was introduced. I might be completely off the mark, and if so please do tell me and I'll take it all back - but it seems to me that pet insurance was the precursor to a lot more exciting and expensive treatments for animals that just didn't happen before.
But now that insurers copver themselves so well against almost anything your animal is likely to have, it's just backed a lot of people up against a wall.

I think it's a shame. Obviously vets have to make a living, but £50 for ten minutes? That's £300 an hour!!

(I must have that wrong - please someone put me straight, I have nothing against vets personally but it seems a lot)

OP posts:
bella29 · 06/03/2009 10:31

I don't get charged £50 for 10 minutes, but obviously prices vary.

Again am not a vet but I believe that both the potential conditions we are talking about can cause serious, irreversible damage if left untreated.

PDSA, Blue Cross etc can help in cases of serious financial hardship.

I can't (and won't) try any further to persuade you that your cat may be seriously ill and should be seen by a vet.

Over and out.