Expert: Jessica - 10/17/2010

Question
I have a feral cat now for 8 years, had her since 2 days old, bottle fed.  she has been fine for years, recently I find her eating litter, I changed litter yesterday to natural wheat litter, before she use the litter box she has thrown up bile about 5 times in the last 2 days, what are your thoughts???

Answer
Hi Doreen,

I would get your kitty in to the vet on Monday.  Sometimes cats get stomach bugs, and it's possible all your cat needs in an anti-emetic such as Cerenia to stop the vomiting, and perhaps a stomach acid reducer.  An antibiotic/anti-inflammatory to calm her gastrointestinal tract and treat any possible infectious causes of her symptoms will most likely be recommended, as well.  Most vets will prescribe an antibiotic like Flagyl to calm the stomach and treat bacterial and protozoan germs.  Also, a sensitive stomach prescription food can be given for 10 days or so to reduce stomach upset.

However, considering her age and her litter-eating behavior, I would also strongly recommend that you think about having a senior blood panel run on her.  Although in most cases it is found that Pica, the desire to eat non-food objects, does not have a cause, I have found that in my cats, they are usually anemic.  If your cat is anemic, this will show on her blood tests.  There are many causes of anemia, including kidney failure, cancer, the feline leukemia virus, and blood parasites among other causes.  A blood panel can confirm or rule out some of these problems and may suggest the possibility of others.  If your cat has never been tested for the feline leukemia and feline AIDS viruses, I might recommend that those tests be run at the same time (they are not part of the standard blood panel).  

As a general rule, most vets recommend cats aged 8 and over should have some basic blood tests run once a year, as this is the age at which common older cat diseases such as kidney failure, diabetes and hyperthyroidism begin to show up.  So even if all her tests come back normal, I believe they will have been worth running just for the peace of mind.

Best of luck!

Jessica