Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some advice or similar experiences regarding my 13-year-old cat, Chaussette. After three days in the vet hospital, the two vets he’s seen are still stumped... and I’m really starting to worry.
On the first day, he threw up blood three times in a few hours, so we rushed him to the VET.
He hasn’t eaten a thing on his own for 7 days now. He’s been tube-fed through a nasal tube and has been wearing a cone (Elizabethan collar) for the last three days. At home, we’ve tried everything: milk, Hill’s A/ D wet food (which is supposed to be super tasty), tuna, cooked ham... all the things he usually loves. But nothing works; when I put it under his nose, he backs away and looks nauseated, shakes his head, and sticks his tongue out. He’s clearly repulsed by it!!! The vet is being quite reassuring because his ultrasound scans were normal and his full blood count came back perfect. The vet told me it’s vital he starts eating on his own again and thinks it’s just a case of severe inflammation of the digestive tract.
At first, I thought it was just the nasal tube and the cone that were bothering him and making him not want to eat, but the fact that he has such a strong reaction and that look of total disgust really worries me. Has this ever happened to you??? Could he have something stuck in his oesophagus? A mouth abscess? Surely the vet would have spotted that, right?
For the timeline: It started on Monday evening. Chaussette wouldn't touch his wet food after spending the evening outside. He was acting a bit strange—eyes half-closed, walking slowly. At 11pm, he threw up a bit of a brownish liquid. He’s done that before, so I didn’t panic.
The next morning at 6am, he threw up again—bile tinged with blood. Very worrying. My husband and I decided to wait a few hours to see, but when he brought up blood again (a lot of it) with bile, my husband rushed him to the vet. The physical exam and palpation were fine. He was prescribed Phosphaluvet (a gastric coating liquid) and Emeprid to be given orally three times a day. He fights it, and after taking the Phosphaluvet, he starts drooling heavily and it's all thick and sticky.
Back to the vet the next day for an initial ultrasound. Everything looked okay, except for some dilated intestines. Blood tests were fine—everything is perfect despite him being 13! He stayed overnight at the vet and has been tube-fed via a nasal tube with Royal Canin recovery liquid for the last 3 days, along with Kaopectate (an anti-diarrheal and gastric coating). A follow-up ultrasound the next day was also fine. He hasn’t vomited again, either at home or at the clinic. He had two slightly soft stools with a bit of blood in them at the vet's, but he’s urinating normally.
At home, he tends to hide away a bit, but he moves normally with his tail up and can still jump onto the bed as usual. He doesn't seem completely flat, except for when he gets back from the vet (it stresses him out massively). His pupils are responsive, and he’s definitely let us know he’s unhappy by meowing like usual (he’s a veeeery chatty cat).
CAN ANYONE HELP ME?
