Vomiting cat.

Good to know Stinky is onboard!!!


I am trying not to worrit, Margo.

Sounds like the medication is "not agreeing" with her, Deb. After the injections. What does your vet say about this?

I hope the vomitting ceases ... & soon!

Hugs to the beautiful Miranda. (Oh & to Deb, too! )

"I think this is a reaction to an injection she has to have every few months, as this seems par for the course a couple of days after said injection."

There's your answer.

So, what is it that's being injected? What jumps to mind first of all is that it's probably depo-medrol (a sustained-release steroid), given to reduce kitty asthma symptoms (?).

At any rate, if this sickness occurs reliably after each injection, be prepared: ask your vet to scrip a few doses of an anti-emetic -- metoclopramide is good, cisapride is better, maropitant is best, and the cost of each drug reflects its ranking here. The old cheap one is frequently effective on its own; in very sick patients I've seen combinations used, and in at least one instance I've seen a dog receive all three. Famotidine or similar H2-blocker also might help.

I don't like seeing food withheld from cats for more than a few hours. Kitties are sensitive to the effects of fasting, and they can spiral, particularly if they've got other health problems.

Glad to know kitty is on benazepril and seems to be doing well (aside from the carpet bombs).

IMO--I'm not a professional but have long experience raising cats--vomiting now and then, say a couple of times a month, is pretty common, even normal for cats--some, especially fast eaters, almost do it on cue. Repeated vomiting however is not normal and I agree with Pdog, withholding food is not good idea as kitty can dehydrate quickly. If you have access to a vet, probably need to consult as there are a lot of uglies that can cause repeated vomiting. Odds sound good that she might have developed an allergy to her medication and that may need to be changed.

Actually, that makes sense (the steroid) as the vet says to come back if Miranda wheezes.


I gave her food back hours ago....and she is nibbling. She was bumming me for food a little while ago, but she HAS food in her bowl...just not heaps of it. She seems to like it fresh from the packet, and a heap in the bowl, even though it is kibble!

We'll see how she goes. She is back cuddling with me every chance she gets...which suggests she is feeling better.

I had thought the culprit was the pills...but she was absolutely wonderful until the injection, while still having daily pills. I have expressed concern about her reaction to the pills, but not to the injection. She had not been able to go so long without the injection since her major chest infection until now, so the association was not so clear.

She is ok the first day...just her coat looks a bit odd...gets kind of rough and yucky looking. Then the vomiting starts a day or two later. Now her coat still looks weird, and she is quieter than usual, but she seems to be recovering.

I'll talk it over thoroughly with the vet before she gets a shot next time.


Poor little girl...she's really been through the mill in the last few months. Stayed sweet and cheerful throughout.

I will raise it...but I think the vet will say she needs the medication anyway...I have commented on the effects when I thought it was the pills...but it seems she has to have them...(and, luckily as it turns out, she is fine with them after all)..and the response was that she needs the meds anyway. I thought at that time that the problem might be that, because she is such a little bugger for holding pills in her mouth and spitting them out later, that she might be suffering because the coating was dissolved too early..but I am using a pill thingy, and can normally get them down pretty quickly.


I will check if we can try another med...she reacted very badly to one of the antibiotics, and that was ceased.

Luckily, she was able to go from 12th January to 7th March between injections...so they are becoming less of a problem.


Thing is, her poor little lungs were so bad that, on x-ray, the vet thought she might have lung cancer, they were so awful. She was really very close to death.

I didn't react fast enough to the infection, because I had been told by another vet that her coughing was allergy based, and I had tablets for that. Also, she didn't ACT sick until she was at death's door. I felt like total ****, I can tell you, when I found how sick she was.

She's extraordinarily unreactive to serious illness for such a delicate little cat...when she had her first stroke, if she hadn't been falling over all the time, and carrying her head sideways, you'd never have suspected a thing! She purred and smooched and tried to run around as usual and ate and drank as though nothing was wrong.

Oscar, on the other hand, would let me know the minute anything was wrong, by doing a dying swan act.

Thank you for coming by Patio!!!!!

((((((((((well cuddles for Miranda))))))))))

I'll worry for you too, Deb! What is this periodic medication that she gets, if I may pry? I'll go worry now.....

If it is depo-medrol that's being injected (sounds likely, given the history of wheezing), it's unlikely to be a hypersensitivity reaction. Depo stays in the system for weeks -- which is why it is used -- and so would be a constant problem.

More likely Miranda is being injected once her body has adjusted to having the concentration taper off, is reaching peak plasma concentration a couple of days after injection, and is vomiting as a result. Vomiting is not an uncommon side effect of corticosteroids in cats.

I really would recommend at least treating with famotidine (that's Pepcid-AC, to the regular world) during her icky periods. It reduces acid production in the stomach, which helps a bit with the nausea, but more importantly this helps protect the gastric mucosa (which is compromised a bit by the steroids) and the esophagus (during vomiting and reflux).

Your vet can probably recommend a Pepcid dose over the phone, as it's an OTC drug. The anti-emetics are all prescription drugs.

All of which is moot if Miranda is past her pukey bout -- but definitely something to bring up at next vet visit and prepare for when you take her home.

Theres our guy!!.

Yeah, yer guy who called cisapride an anti-emetic. Was thinking of dolasetron. Nix on the cisapride, unless kitty's got a hairball.

Don't use either drug any more -- too expensive for our little operation.

Ah, I missed that it was a steroid...duh.... I think your suggestion is a good one. I gave famotidine to my dogs for something similar. Yes the steroid would upset the gastro system. I really have to start reading whole threads!

Thanks Patio. That makes good sense.

She seems better today...not 100%, but better. Tail's straight up again, for starters, and she's smoochy as all hell.

She's been very enthusiastic round the food bowl...so it's a bit wait and see.

Steroids are a bitch.

They're probably responsible for the interest in the food bowl, too, you know.

THAT makes sense too!!!

Normally she eats one or two crunchies every now and then!!!

Mind you, she HAS been showing an appetite lately, without the steroids.


Can they account for the bad coat?


She went from satin smooth and soft as silk, to bad.

Deb, they can account for a bad coat and a lot of things. My cat who had Addison's Disease and was on steroids for 5 yrs...he lived to a ripe 18 yrs had a bad coat. He lived a good life, don't misunderstand me, but there were things that went along with the steroid use. Like giving Pepcid, Cimetidine, or Zantac for coating the stomach. The steroids gave him some good years though...

I think cats just sort of stop cleaning themselves when they feel ill. Mine did that.

Nah....it's like almost an immediate change.