If your cat brought up yellow bile, how did it end?

[AppleButter]

(First of all, he was rushed to vet a&e today, got a basic check-up, an x-ray and a ultrasound scan and I am quite a bit poorer this month)
Our new shelter cat has come home, and on the second morning he regurgitated his rather large dinner(s) from the night before. He has been bringing up bile, not too much, every few hours and hasn’t eaten today.
The emergency vet couldn’t find an obstruction on either the xray or the ultrasound, his temperature was only slightly raised, wasn’t yet dehydrated, just tired and sad. They did find lots if gas collected in his system, but also noted that any obstruction in the small gas area wouldn’t show up on the screen.
We are going back tomorrow for another scan and blood tests etc.
Has anyone had their cat bringing up a deep, golden bile (not brown, not orange, not lime green) (sorry tmi), and food remnants were only really in the first round? Was your cat ok, what treatment did your cat need, what happened?
Please help, I am so worried he will die, I lost my 15-year old tomcat a few years ago and it was very traumatic. It still is.
Before he came I scoured the room for small pieces like lego, hairbands, and small parts, there are no toxins in the room, old logs removed, it could only be a mouse he found or i am scared that the cooked chicken I gave him may have had a bone left, (though i checked with my hands beforehand). No bones showed up in the scans. There is neither soil nor plants in the rooms.
He did eat his wet food voraciously when he arrived , and was previously a stray, and is so sweet and lovely I am distraught.

All suggestions appreciated for our second trip to the vets tomorrow, anything the vet could check for. Because he is new I don’t even have insurance yet but we can painfully manage these costs. He is hiding now because he is poorly, and didn’t like going to the vet, yesterday he was so very cuddly. I love him already.

Thank you @TheSpottedZebra great to hear that it is manageable for you. White fish is a good option when prescribed.

@Elzbells how was your cat after that, did the sickness return or was it just a one-off.

The Boy is in the clinic overnight and probably longer.

Hope the vet works out the problem and that he is home with you soon.

@AppleButter it's never returned, he's been fine ever since. Hope your cat makes a full recovery

The Boy is still poorly and I am very worries. He is overnight at the clinic connected to the shelter, he isn’t better yet. I don’t know if he is worse though.

He definitely had mustard-like stools at the shelter and they put it down to stress. It is traumatic for us that he got ill, but it also makes us look really bad - like we made him so ill within two days of arrival.

I don’t know what to do now, except wait.

Oh no, really sorry to read that he's still poorly.
No one will think that you've caused this or not looked after him though, so please try to put that thought out of your head.

@TheSpottedZebra I think maybe I could be blamed - but just for the randomness of it happening - he is the fourth cat I have had in this house and nothing so unexpected and sudden ever thankfully happened to them. I am worried I will be blamed for it somehow, and I superstitiously blame myself but I have background anxiety anyway.

Normally if cats eats something funny (which he didn’t) they just cough it all up and are fine but he must have had trouble beforehand. He didn't eat anything dodgy, and there were no plants or poisons in the room. I am perplexed.
I could feel every rib and spine contour. Surely that isn't normal, even in young cats? And the head and legs being too big for his long, skinny, greyhound-arched body.
I am waiting for him to return, and worship him already and love him, but will have discussions with the shelter whether we are good enough for him, and whether he can go outdoors in the future?

How is he this morning?

Please don't worry that you have caused this / that people will think you've caused it. That's just your anxiety talking, and you know that that voice isn't always a good friend to listen to.

A quick update, he is still very poorly and not eating but being fed. They have now mentioned giardia which would explain a lot, my kids were cuddling the cat and lying on the floor with him, but I did make then wash hands and change clothes just in case.
Right now I just want the cat to live and get better. He is in the best hands and I really don’t think they can blame me, he arrived lithe and bony like a greyhound and with loose stools. I would love to have him back later if that is suitable for him

Trying not to curl up with anxiety really.

He IS in the best hands and I am sending him healing vibes.
The way you describe him, he sounds horribly thin when he came to you, like he'd been poorly for a while. Poor mite. But lucky chap that he went to a caring home that got him help.

❤️ thanks @TheSpottedZebra

Hi op, one of my cats had pancreatitis and had very runny stools for ages. After antibiotics, the vet prescribed pro-biotic powder (Purina FortiFlora). Suspect this is similar to the synbiotic d-c capsules mentioned earlier in the thread. He loves it - just has a little on his food every day. It seems to have helped. I also bought him cat biscuits for a sensitive stomach.

Hope you get your little one sorted.

@TheSpottedZebra

He IS in the best hands and I am sending him healing vibes. The way you describe him, he sounds horribly thin when he came to you, like he'd been poorly for a while. Poor mite. But lucky chap that he went to a caring home that got him help.

@TheSpottedZebra the thing is, he looked furry and fine and gorgeous, legs were strong and fine and body just very very slim. But feeling his pronounced ribs and spiny vertebrae was something I haven’t even felt in kittens. And I have had kittens.

I mentioned at the shelter that he was very thin and that he had diarrhorea but they put it down to stress and being a young cat and stray. I don’t blame them, they have so many cats and they all get thorough basic checks, and good care. It is quite possible to miss things, especially giardia don’t show up on all tests.
It is just very unfortunate that the worsening happened under my care.

OP, I s not your fault. I had two kittens from a rescue that arrived at ours poorly, I was told they had been checked but became apparent they were both very poorly. The vet actually told me one of them unlikely to make it through the night. It’s not uncommon for rescues to miss these things, especially in kittens. Cats hide pain and discomfort extremely well. You need to stop beating yourself up about it and realise these things happen, despite everyone’s best intentions.

There seemed to be something about his proportions that was slightly odd - you could only see it when he stretched - a pronounced concave arch of the belly, bony torso (but you cant see it), and he is very leggy, like a supermodel.
Wondering if anyone else see it or whether the slenderness is normal despite a chunky face and legs). My poor beautiful lovely tom, who did this to you and who threw you out of the house?

Thank you @Hopeisallineed your words are very very kind. I know you are right but I am still grieving/processing this illness of his, the suddenness of it. And that he hasn’t recovered yet.

Sending your lovely boy get well wishes

No significant improvement yet in “my cat” who was mine for 48 hours. They have diagnosed giardia, stools tested positive, and that explains the gas and gastroenteritis inflammation. He must have been sick for a long time because it seems to have compromised his immune system, as well as caused the weight loss.
Because he was so friendly and cuddly and the boniness was hidden/interpreted as him being a young stray. All strays are tested for giardia at the shelter as routine but it doesn’t always show up positive. Moving enclosures in the shelter, and then coming to us seems to have triggered stress and this reaction.
The giardia medicine suppresses appetite, which is the last thing we need right now, he is getting drips and nutrition but he isn’t doing well.
I feel so miserable, I knew him for just two days but it ended in such a disaster. I just hope he gets better. We will be distraught if he has to be pts, would be so unfortunate and connected forever to his coming to our home.

What a sad story! I hope the Boy will get rid of the giardia and be able to come to your home soon! ♥️

Non of this is your fault. Hopefully he'll recover and have a long and happy life with you.

Doesn’t it seem like a bad sign, or omen, that he came to our house and the next day had gone from cuddly and sweet to sad and sick. Would he be happier elsewhere?
I would gladly take him when he is better and love him forever, we can afford quite a bit of veterinary checks and care and also insurance, can afford good food and outdoor space, but what if I am not meant to have him? Does anybody believe in these things?
(He definitely had mustardy poo and was very bony under his fur, to be rational about it. And i fell in love at first sight.)
Right now he just needs to survive, and then the shelter can decide.

I don't think it's a bad omen OP, in fact he came to someone (you) who recognised the seriousness of his symptoms and got him to the best place to help him within 48 hours. Please try if you can, to be kind to yourself, someone upthread made what seemed to me a good point, that the voice of anxiety isn't the voice of a friend. You have done so much for him and I hope he is back with you soon

Oh your cat is just beautiful OP! He reminds me of my old boy I think it's actually a sign that he could relax with you and that you could make him better. Cats do NOT like to show their vulnerability, as you know I'm sure having had four; he would have carried on as best he could at the shelter to just cope, and now he's in a new space with one-on-one care he's probably "let go". I'm glad you have a diagnosis and as long as he's on a drip and getting the medication he needs then hopefully he will pull through and he can come home. I bet he's a fighter.

For what it's worth, in that photo his proportions look lovely to me in terms of overall shape; he just looks very thin which is not surprising given he's come from a shelter and has had a parasite/gastro disease.

Praying for good news and turning a corner in the next few days. He's such a sweetheart

Thank you for the hand hold. I really needed it. I just had a little cry over these comforting words this evening, I just want him to make it through, I will just have to wait and hope.
I have lost cats before, but after longterm illnesses, which is still a very painful memory, and here the suddenness and unexpectedness and panic was so very distressing.

@AppleButter

I am so sorry to read all about your poor rescue cat.

Is there any update?
I am hoping for good news.

Hi @Lovesabadboy - thank you for asking the news is good in that he has survived his extreme episode - he needed to be on a drip for several days and refused to eat, partly also due to the giardia medicine. He is slowly on the mend, that is all I know for now, having only very narrowly survived it. I am very glad, I really thought he was going to die :(

The diagnosis was an advanced case of giardia, exacerbated by moving rooms at the shelter and then being adopted and thus changing environment. He had been tested for it and had been in his own room for 2 weeks, but it somehow hadn’t shown up.

I have been disinfecting the room and also need a steam cleaner for the wool carpet. Giardia are are to clean but it is manageable.