Hey everyone

One of our older cats who is 14 years old became sick a couple of days ago. He's been lethargic since then and isn't himself. He's stuffed up & sneezing. In the past few years he has thrown up at least once a day so we're used to that, but today's was really yellow bile. We are always trying to encourge him to eat as he doesn't really want to and he's not drinking much water. I am worried he is on his way out..

I don't want to bring him to the vet to get checked out because 1) he hates car rides and its unnecessary stress on his heart (he has a bad heart murmur) 2) if he is on his way out I don't want to be selfish and put him through dozens of tests to find out whats wrong only to find out its not curable.

My gut feeling is that its stomach cancer that's been slowly developing. It would account for the throwing up constantly over the last while. I'm just wondering what are your thoughts and if anyone has experienced this before?

If it gets to the point where he is suffering then I will make the decision to put him down, but right now its only as if he's got a cold. Its his age and heart that worry me.

I think it's worth a call to the vet.
Be sure to mention the part about not eating or drinking. An upper respiratory infection could cause a cat to avoid eating because it won't eat what it can't smell. And if nothing is in your kitty's stomach, the only thing to vomit would be bile. Your vet may want to put your cat on an antibiotic. With his age and condition, not treating an upper respiratory infection could mean a short & steady decline until he passes. We lost a kitten to an upper respiratory infection (their immune systems are not developed yet), and from first sneeze to death, it was less than 2 weeks.

I would take my cat to the vet and get it examined. You can always say "No" to expensive tests but if might be something simple that medication/diet would take care of. If vet suspects something more serious then you can evaluate your options and decide.

My cats also has a heart murmur and my vet has wanted to do more tests. I have said "no" because the test along would kill him from the stress. He gets so freaked out just going to the vet. I just figured that if he started declining, we would put him down. He is 12 and seems to be doing fine so far and is happy and has a good life.

Also, just out of curiosity, since both of you have cats with murmurs, have they been tested for bartonella? Bartonella is the cause of many heart murmur cases in cats. We learned about it from the veterinary cardiologist when we took our cat Sarah in for her heart murmur. Bartonella can attack the heart, but it can also attack other organs. There is no way to reverse damage, but bartonella is easily cured with a course of oral medication, and the test for it is about $60-$80. Sarah's test was about $90 from the specialist, and when she came up positive, we had Norman tested because the cats can give it to each other (AND they can give it to YOU -- we know it is as "cat scratch fever," but it can be dormant in you for a while and then just start attacking one of your organs). Norman's test was cheaper through the regular vet, and he was also positive. I was tested, as well, as I am the one who interacts with the cats the most and is most likely to be in a position to be scratched. I was negative, fortunately.
Bartonella being the cause of many heart murmurs is not necessarily something that all vets know. We only found out from a specialist who had been studying it. Your regular vet can test for it, though.

I suppose I should've been a bit more clear :o:

He is eating but it takes encouragement. If we put soft food on our fingers or in our hands he will eat it. I gave him a handful of dry food last night and he ate it all and didn't throw it back up.

Also we live an hour away from the nearest vet which is why I am hesitant to bring him in. When a vet used to do a mobile vet office in our area which was a 20 minute drive, we actually worried he wouldn't survive the trip. He stresses so much and his heart murmur is so bad (he can't go under general anesthesia (sp?) or he'll die). They say his heart sounds like a washing machine, no actual rhythmic pumping sound. Honestly I'm surprised he's still alive with a heart like that.

*sigh* :(

ETA: never heard of Bartonella. Buster has never been tested, but he's been around our other cats for years and everyone else is fine. The murmur was discovered about 5 years ago.

ALSO forgot to add again, over the last year he's lost a significant amount of weight. He used to be a very fat kitty but now he's about normal size.

I suppose I should've been a bit more clear :o:

He is eating but it takes encouragement. If we put soft food on our fingers or in our hands he will eat it. I gave him a handful of dry food last night and he ate it all and didn't throw it back up.

Also we live an hour away from the nearest vet which is why I am hesitant to bring him in. When a vet used to do a mobile vet office in our area which was a 20 minute drive, we actually worried he wouldn't survive the trip. He stresses so much and his heart murmur is so bad (he can't go under general anesthesia (sp?) or he'll die). They say his heart sounds like a washing machine, no actual rhythmic pumping sound. Honestly I'm surprised he's still alive with a heart like that.

*sigh* :(
Is he losing weight, it could be hyperthyroidism (in dogs it is hypo). It is totally treatable just a pill everyday. They get their appetites back and lose most of the lethargy. My 16 year old guy was diagnosed with it last year and since he has been taking his pills he is like a twelve year old again!! It is worth a call to the vet to go over the systems. My best friends cat had this and lived to be 23.

Norman had no symptoms, either. Only Sarah had a heart murmur, which was the only sign that there might be anything wrong. If I had to take a wild guess, I think Norman probably had it before Sarah. While both of them were born outside, we know the condition he was in when he came from the street because we found him. And he was absolutely loaded with fleas. Because it can be dormant, I think he just never developed any problems before we caught it in Sarah first.
Here is a brochure on bartonella in cats from the company that did the test:
http://www.natvetlab.com/PDF/catownerbrochure.pdf
Just as a warning, the pictures are a little gross.
You'll see chronic vomitting on the list of complications from bartonella.
I'm sorry that your vet is so far away. Perhaps he or she will call some antibiotics into a local pharmacy if he or she thinks it sounds like an upper respiratory infection.

:hug: :hug: :hug:

Oh dear. Could it be pancreatitis? My Hobie had it awhile back. Went through a number of tests after she kept throwing up. She lost a lot of weight. Are her gums white or pink?

I figured I'd update this since I haven't really said much.

Buster did a complete 180 over the weekend and is back to his 5-year old self. Its really weird. He's acting so much younger than he was even before he was sick. He's wandering around the house again instead of just laying on the couch like some king. :rolleyes:

I am glad to hear that he is feeling better!

I am glad he is feeling better!!!