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Ask the Veterinarian/cat ate raw spoiled chicken
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Question
Last night I caught my cat with his head in a bag of raw
chicken that had been in the garage for probably 4 days. It
is cold in the garage but I am sure that the chicken was
most likely spoiled. In the middle of the night my cat
started to vomit and has continued to vomit throughout the
day today. The vomit is mostly watery but smells very bad,
and the last time he vomited it looked bloody. I have not
seen signs of diahrrea, just the vomiting. He also seems
very tired and weak. He is uninterested in eating his food
or drinking water. Is it good that he is vomiting and
getting it out of his system? Should I be concerned with
dehydration? As it is a Sunday night, I cannot call my vet,
I will have to wait til tomorrow. Thank you in advance for
any suggestions/advice.
This cat is very sick! Any time a cat vomits all day long he is very sick, and bloody vomit can be a very bad sign or it can just be that he has ruptured some blood vessels in his stomach from all of the vomiting.
You can call your vet or an on call vet and at least get some ideas about what to give him to help him tonight. I cannot recommend anything online.
He needs something soon and yes, he is going to get very dehydrated which is very serious. You cannot give him oral fluids or he will just keep vomiting.
Another worry is his pancreas being super inflamed from the vomiting and the bacteria in the chicken. Usually cats will not eat spoiled food at all so the vomiting could just be a result of him eating something rich that he normally doesn't eat.
Pancreatitis can progress to a fatal condition very quickly so please call the on-call vet in your area or at least try your own vet's answering service for help.
I would be very concerned about waiting until tomorrow.I hope that he will be okay.
Please call them and let me know how he is doing later on.
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| Comment | Thank you for your response. We ended up taking our cat to two different vets Monday afternoon (our vet could not do an xray so we had to go elsewhere). Both vets said that he was dehydrated but both were also concerned with the xray showing massive blockage of stool in his intestines/stomach/colon. Rather than waiting for fear of dehydration we took him to the emergency vet clinic last night. They gave him an i.v. for fluids and after 2 enemas he had a bowel movement. They repeated the xray after that and it showed that all the stool blockage was either completely gone or on its way out. He at a buffet of food they offered him for breakfast and is back to his normal self. We were able to bring him home! Thanks again, and I hope this helps someone else out someday! Oh- and no more chicken left in the garage! | ||
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Answers by Expert:
Jana Connell RVT, CVT
Expertise
PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING TO ME: I am NOT a vet and do NOT diagnose diseases. That is only for a licensed Veterinarian to do. I will give you suggestions and steer you toward calling your vet for help. You can call the vet's office and talk to the technician there or the vet at times. Don't be afraid to call them! If you have a serious issue with your pet please post it to one of the veterinarians in here- I will tell you the same thing in my answer. IF your pet is injured or in an emergency situation, CALL YOUR VET- Do not wait and post in here. Just call the vet's office and get them in to see the vet right away. Critical treatment time is lost if you seek answers here when you should have your precious pet at the vets!! Don't sit at home waiting for an answer when your pet is critically ill or injured!! I can answer most questions about small animal and wildlife care as well as small animal nutrition. I can also answer questions about all phases of dental care for small animals. I DO NOT answer questions about birds (unless it is wildlife or songbirds) or HAMSTERS/GERBILS/CHINS/GUINEA PIGS/REPTILES/FROGS/RABBITS/PET BIRDS OF ANY KIND so please submit these questions to the appropriate sections. I, as well as other experts in here, do NOT do homework questions- that is for YOU to do! Please respect these rules for all of us. Thanks!
Experience
I have over 35 years experience in the field of veterinary medicine. I specialized in small animals and did wildlife rehab for over 25 years, mostly raptors, squirrels and opossums. I am a Small Animal Nutritional Consultant with 6 certificates from Hills Pet Foods, CNM and Purina.
I also specialized in Small Animal Dentistry which is a field I truly love.
Organizations
Audubon,World Wildlife Federation, American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians.
Education/Credentials
Licensed with California and Oregon, RVT and CVT.
Certified Veterinary Dental Technician
Have over 500 logged hours of Continuing Education Credits(that means I keep up to date!).
Awards and Honors
Nominated for Expert of the Month for the last 5 years.
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