I'm very worried about my 2 - 3 year old cat.

[Hippykitty]

The vomitting was probably caused by swallowing fur after over-grooming due to the stress of you being away. I'd be a little more concerned about her ears. Does she sit in the window? In direct sunlight? She may be getting sunburn on her ears. This in turn can cause cancer. Depending where on the ear this is, this may not be a significant problem. I had a cat who had the same problem, she had a simple op to remove the affected area and was fine afterwards, in fact she lived to be 22.

I'd advise changing your vet; giving some oily fish or drizzling a little olive oil on your cat's food for a few days - for the furball - and having her ears checked out. Also, make other arrangements when you go away next time cos your neighbour didn't exactly do a good job of caring for your cat imho. I'm sure your cat would also benefit from lots of fuss and love.

Otherwise, don't worry, chances are she'll be fine.

[Bee]

...sounds to me like she just has a virus. I think scaring you with suggestions of auto-immune disease sounds a bit much! Although she is indoor only, my cats had one last year and the vet told us that we might have bought it in on our shoes which made a lot of sense to me. A week of just boiled chicken or fish and some tummy medicine and they were both fine. They had vomiting, loose stools and hot ears too.

Hope she gets well soon!

[Gillian Harvey]

Ok, i'll take your advice on that. I gave her Bob Martin initially which apparently is almost worse than death so what do I know?

If it was Bob Martin Double Action spot on for fleas, then thats fine (as its exactly the same as the veterinary Advantage flea treatment) but wouldnt touch any other BM products 

[msrisotto]

Ok, i'll take your advice on that. I gave her Bob Martin initially which apparently is almost worse than death so what do I know?

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

So pleased she is recovering and wonder if maybe Stronghold maybe better for her than Frontline as there are many reports of Frontline no longer working?

[alisonandarchie]

That is good news

It may be as well to get the spot checked out by another vet who may be able to shed some light on what was wrong from it

[msrisotto]

Hi,

Thanks for replying. Her ears have settled down and are a normal colour again. She does have a sore looking spot, might be a scab inside her ear....I'm not sure what that is but I reckon after a few weeks I will give her a frontline flea treatment and that might sort it. She is acting normally anyway. I might change my vet though! He scared me!

[alisonandarchie]

Do hope things are settling

[msrisotto]

Hey, well fingers crossed, her ears have calmed down and she's kept her biscuits down. I'm hoping she's getting better 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I am surprised he didnt give anything to bring the temp down and auto immune disease sound a bit far fetched.

If you have another vets that  you trust, no harm in getting a second opinion

[Tiggy's Mum]

Hope it's nothing untoward, my cat had gastritis (repeated vomiting) of unknown cause a year or so ago. He was really quite poorly with it  and we never got to the bottom of it - he is indoor too, the vet recommended the Royal Canin sensitivity pouches which although he didn't want to eat at the time as he was feeling so sick (do you ever feel like eating when you feel sick?) he now loves so if she isn't eating the chicken you could see if they stock the RC pouches.

[msrisotto]

When I took him to the vets they said he had a minor infection, plus temperature etc No formal illness was diagnosed as it was just a one off but I remember that his ears were really hot.

Did the vet give her anything for her sickness at all? Sounds like it's very early days yet and as she is young and otherwise healthy I would try not to worry too much at this stage 

See that sounds reasonable. I'll hold out for a couple of days before going to the (or maybe a different) vet.

He did give her a jab to suppress her gag reflex or something. I've been giving her plain chicken as per the vets instructions but she has never liked food not from a tin or bag so she hasn't eaten it. Gave her some biscuits just now and she had a few.

[Tiggy's Mum]

How did you know when your cat had a bacterial infection or virus?

When I took him to the vets they said he had a minor infection, plus temperature etc No formal illness was diagnosed as it was just a one off but I remember that his ears were really hot.

Did the vet give her anything for her sickness at all? Sounds like it's very early days yet and as she is young and otherwise healthy I would try not to worry too much at this stage 

[msrisotto]

Hi, thank you for replying.

We have been away for two weeks before and she was fine, this was one week.

How did you know when your cat had a bacterial infection or virus? I never dreamed it would be something as serious as auto immune disease, you know a simple virus or something maybe but then the vet said that....

She is pale, her ears are mostly white so it is easy to see her skin.

[Tiggy's Mum]

Have you been on holiday before and left her at home? Sounds like the over grooming could be stress related. I don't know much about auto-immune diseases but not sure they are something that just comes on overnight eg your neighbour reported no concerns throughout the week yet she had gone downhill in the day or so before you returned home hence the vomit piles.

Re: the ears, when my cat has been under the weather (ie a bacterial infection/virus or similar) his ears have been much hotter than usual. If your cat is pale then you would likely see the pinkness of hot ears coming through - could be an explanation.

[msrisotto]

I lost the details of this forum but thank goodness I have found it again. I am so worried about my cat, she's only small. It's a long post but any advice would be so gratefully received.

I got back from from holiday on saturday. A neighbour had been checking in on her (house cat - part ragdoll) everyday for us. Neighbour reported no concerns. When we got in, she had thrown up all over the house, there must have been 6 large piles of vomit dotted around the place. I wondered if she'd kept anything down since we left! We'd only been gone a week. Anyway, phoned the vet who said to take her off food for 1 day then give her chicken and rice. She's not eaten much of it (never has been a fan of food not from a tin!) but she hasn't been sick since.

Then I noticed that the fur above her eyes and near her ears was thinner than usual. Her skin in this area looks red and sore, she was jumping around like she had fleas and was over grooming. I gave her a flea treatment (Bob Martin, vet subsequently told me this was a terrible brand to give her! I didn't know!). She was less active than usual too.

I took her to the vet yesterday, he took her temperature (bit high) and felt her tummy (no soreness). He said it might be an allergy (to what? she doesn't go outside and the food is the same as always), could be a foreign body (hence the vomiting BUT he doubted it as her tummy wasn't sore). He was very concerned about the redness of her ears. He said that if it doesn't go down, to bring her back and he would do tests (to the tune of £130) as he was concerned it might be an auto immune disease!

I got home today and pronounced her cured - ears back to normal, cat back to usual self. I took a photo and sent it to my husband. Then the ears went back to red! Which is what they have stayed. Is it really likely to be an auto immune problem? Could it still be a flea allergy?

Thanks in advance