Well, Cameo's stomach seems to have settled down for now.  About 20 min. after that second vomiting episode, she went and ate some more of her dry food--a fair-sized portion.  In fact, she seemed rather hungry.  She kind of hiccuped or burped a few times afterward, but it stayed down.  Then about 2 hours later, she ate some more dry food, and that has stayed down too.  No burping or hiccuping noted.

I wonder, whatever originally upset her stomach, if the little bit of turkey heart was just too fatty for right now.  She eats them all the time with no problem, but maybe with whatever is out of balance now, that was too much.

I think I'll keep her diet rather bland for the next few days.  If she vomits again, I will definitely try to get her in at the vet tomorrow.

Good to read the happy news about Cameo!

Hi kobalt,

I'm sorry to hear about your kitty.  Can you give us more background.  How old is he?  What has he been eating the last few years?  What tests did your vet do?  What diagnosis did the vet come up with?  Do you have other cats?

How long has it been since he ate any food?  It is my understanding they shouldn't go more than a day or 2 without eating.

Did vet prescribe any medication or something to increase his appetite?

My cats are now indoor cats, but whenever they were in the yard and ate grass, they would immediately vomit.

Are there any insecticides, fertilizers in the grass he is eating?

Hi kobalt, and welcome.  To add to the good advice others have already given, the fact that Wilbur was getting sick just from smelling the cat food, even before eating it, suggests to me that there is some underlying condition that is causing the nausea.  That will need to be resolved first.  He may then have developed an aversion to eating due to having felt nauseated by food. 

I agree that the plain meat baby food is a good thing to try.

Temporary use of medication, which could include an appetite stimulant, anti-nausea drugs, or even mood-altering meds such as those used to treat anxiety disorders, might be something to consider.

Sending all good wishes for you and Wilbur!

As others have said, eating something is the most important at this point. Have you considered a feeding tube? My cat, CJ, had them three times to reverse liver disease (hepatic lipidosis) when she was very sick and stopped eating. It's a pain, but not so bad once you get used to feeding them that way, and if done early enough, the liver problems can resolve.

Good luck! Most of us here have had sick animals and understand how difficult it is for you.

catmom5

Kobalt,
     Welcome to Itchmo.  You can try some of the good advice given here, but only for a day or so.  You need to talk to your vet about what else you can do.  You may even have to get some food into him by syringe.  Ask the vet about A D cat food that is given to kitties who are having difficulty eating because of illness.  Good luck finding a solution, but it is most important that Wilbur gets more than grass to eat at this point. 

Thank you everyone for responding to Wilbur's illness.

Wilbur is about 6 years old and has been very healthy up to this point.  He is an indoor cat, and only goes outside when we are with him to monitor him.  We never use pesticides or any chemicals in the lawn or anywhere on our property.  I am very adamant about using chemicals for just that reason.  I don't even purchase RAID or OFF due to the toxic chemicals they are made of.

We suggested baby food to the vet and he gave Wilbur some, but he did not eat that either (not sure what flavor of baby food though).  We have been feeding all three of the cats (Wilbur, Frankie, and Mrs Murphy) Science Diet dry cat food.  Occassionally we will set a bowl of canned cat food down, but Frankie is the only one who will eat it.  The other two turn their nose up at it and only will eat the dry cat food.  Wilbur doesn't even like the "kitty treats" we offer him.  A treat to him is a pinch of catnip.

Today when I got home from work, the food we set aside for Wilbur wasn't touched.  He didn't drink any of the water either.

I did notice Wilbur walking over to the bowl and pawing the floor around the bowl.  Something he used to do prior to eating.  So perhaps the nausea portion is subsiding.

When we picked Wilbur up from the Vet yesterday evening after work, the vet suggested a feeding tube, but I'm hoping we don't have to go that route.  We are giving daily updates with our vet and he has been very supportive.  I was going to mention some of the suggestions everyone has made since my post this morning.

I realize that grass is not the final solution.  We just want to make sure that he is eating something.  If we don't see any improvement tomorrow, we will take him back to the vet, where he will most likely suggest the feeding tube.  One thing I didn't mention in my earlier post, was that Murph was in to the vet two weeks ago due to an illness, but she recovered within a week and did not have to stay at the vet's office as Wilbur did all last week.

Thank you all for responding.  I hope that I can return the favor to some of you or another new member.

kobalt

Welcome Kobalt - and so sorry to hear about your problems with your inappetant kitty.  It really is so hard to get a cat to eat once they've decided they'll have none of it.  I would also suggest more consults with the vet to rule out various GI issues.  Have you tried enticing your "vegetarian cat" with a small offereing of finely shredded chicken breast literally swimming in Beechnut Tender Green Peas babyfood?  Many cats like the smell and taste of green peas (my Cato included) and you can disguise the smell of the chicken in this manner.  Don't use catfood --- just plain boiled shreded chicken breast (just a wee bit) topped with babyfood green peas.  Beechnut is only 44c a jar - so if the green peas fail, try green beans... or butternut squash ... just try to "hide" the scent of the meat protein.

You can also try well-boiled and mashed red kidney beans.  This is amino acid rich, although not the best kind of protein for a cat. 

Another thing you can try is:  mashed up cooked egg white (this is one of the most bio-available animal protein source on earth!) smothered in pure green peas or green beans babyfood (I recommend BeechNut).  The eggwhites hardly smell like anything so, with any luck, all your kitty will smell is the peas or beans.

Good luck and keep us updated!