My daughter has a cat that is vomiting after eating if she gets more than a very small amount of food. Her coat doesn't look well, either. She's an indoor outdoor cat. Can anybody make any suggestions? Or refer me to an on-line vet? (They don't have any vet money right now.) Thanks!

-- Kathleen Sanderson in NH (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 10, 2000

Answers

This is so sad. I don't know why people have animals if they can't afford to take them to the vet when they're sick. But, that said, all I can suggest is that you keep the cat inside and quiet, encourage it to drink water and try to get it to eat warm soup. Something like chicken soup. Look for worms in it's stool (not pleasant, I know but try to do it). Call around and try to find a vet that will help without a fee. Sometimes some will do that. Also, call the ASPCA and Humane Society. They may have a volunteer vet on staff or know of one who will help. I don't mean to scold you but I have two cat's and had one before these two for 16 years and they get medical care as good as I do. I figure if I have them I'm responsible for them. Not everybody feels that way but I do.

-- Shooter (jcole@apha.com), November 10, 2000.

Try http://www.netvet.com There are others that a search should turn up.

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), November 10, 2000.

Kathleen, I need a bit more information. What is the cat's temperature, normal is 101.5 F degrees. If the temperature is normal, suspect worms or a bad case of hair obstruction in the gut, "hairballs". If it is a younger cat, under 2 years old, and has never been wormed, suspect roundworms, they cause intestinal obstruction and vomiting. They can pick up medication for either hairballs or the worms at a rural vet without bringing the animal in. The city vets will make you bring it in. They will need to know the cat's weight and age, to properly provide the correct dose of wormer. If the temperature is normal, and the cat hasn't been wormed recently, I strongly suspect roundworms. You can E-mail me directly if you want, glad to help. Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), November 10, 2000.

We have all been there when money is tight .I would go with worms too.There are over the counter wormers , they are not as good as prescription ones.Hairballs you can once again get otc or use veggie oil or mineral oil .Good luck.

-- Patty (fodfarms@slic.com), November 10, 2000.

Hartz has OTC wormer and hairball treatments available and they only cost a few dollars each. I have used them with success when our cats showed similar symptoms.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), November 10, 2000.

Thanks for all the help. I don't know if they have any way to take the cat's temperature or not, but will e-mail them in the morning about it. My first thought was worms, also. The cat is about four years old, and was last wormed about a year ago. But hairballs may also be a possibility. It is also possible that there is just something wrong with her -- she's very inbred (NOT by our family) and has other problems. Re: the finances, my son-in-law is working part- time and looking for another job, and they have two small children, one is a new baby. My daughter has had the cat since before they were married, and cares for it very much, but when it comes to a choice between medical care for a cat, or food for the children, I'm sorry, but the children come first. They are doing the best they can in a difficult situation. Yes, people who are IN a tight situation had not ought to be getting more animals, but we can't always predict the future, especially not several years in advance. And finding the cat another home is probably out of the question, as I doubt that anyone would want it (other than my excessively soft-hearted daughter!). But I do thank all of you for your help, and will try the web-site mentioned -- I had done a search but wasn't coming up with anything useful.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 11, 2000.

Animal Planet at www.discovery.com runs what they call the Yelp Line - - it isn't easy to navigate to find the right place to post a question to the vets, but it's in there. I managed it the other day and got a response in about 24 hours -- unfortunately, the 'recommendation' was 'see your vet -- they know best' (after I'd told them that we'd SEEN the vet, twice, and the animal wasn't improving on the medication). But you may get different advice.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), November 11, 2000.

Kathleen, was the cat wormed with OTC wormer, or from the vet stuff? OTC only gets some worms, and tapeworms are very hard to get rid of, especially if the animal hunts, they reinfect themselves constantly. Srongid for the roundworms and pinworms, and Droncit for the tapeworms can work wonders, her rough coat really indicate worm infestation, probably a heavy load of them. How long has she been vomiting after eating more than just a bit? Also, they can take her temperature more easily if they wrap her well with a bath towel, leaving her head stick out, and then place her flat on the floor and gently hold her still while someone gently inserts a LUBRICATED baby thermometer in her anus. An elevated temperature will indicate a condition other than worms, or in addition to worms. Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), November 12, 2000.

In the meantime, go to the cat section at Wal-Mart, or the equivilent and get a tube of "high calorie vitamin supplement". feed cat a quarter tsp or more a day. If she doesn't like it and won't take it willingly, you can squirt some on your finger and push it into her mouth like you're giving a pill. Once it's on her toungue, she'll get most of it down. The concentrated calories and vitamins in such a small amount of material should keep her healthy(er) and she shouldn't vomit it up. Have they switched foods lately? Many cats simply cannot tolerate changes in diet. My recently aquired kitty couldn't keep down dry food at all until she was much bigger, because she had been fed canned all the time previously.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), November 13, 2000.

One of my kitties vomits up her canned food if I give it to her straight out of the fridge. (I buy the large cans to save money and they go through about 1/2 a can a day). I have to let hers sit out and warm up a bit first. The other two don't seem to mind.

Is there a college with a vet school nearby? They may have a low-cost clinic where the students can get experience working with small animals.

Good luck! Sherri in IN

-- Sherri C (CeltiaSkye@aol.com), November 13, 2000.

This is a serious problem and may indicate bladder and kidney problems. I had a cat that did this too. Take the cat to a vet.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), November 14, 2000.

Thanks again for all the suggestions -- I have e-mailed the whole page to my daughter. I haven't heard from her about the cat since they were here a few days ago, so hopefully she's getting better on her own. If not, they may be able to find something helpful out of this!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 16, 2000.

If your daughter knows anyone who makes their own Colloidal Silver, give some to her cat in her drinking water. I give it regularly to my ducks, chickens, dogs and cats. I would suspect her problem is either hair ball or worms. The CS wouldn't help the hair ball, but it would the worms.

-- Duffy (hazelm@tenforward.com), November 17, 2000.