My cat is in the hospital

[LawrenceN]

My cat was lethargic and would not eat yesterday. I watched her drink for more than a minute, which is unusual for her. Then she puked, twice, bile green with no solids. 

 

I took her to the vet. He drew blood and gave her saline under the skin. No fever. She spent the night there. 

 

Vet called with lab results today. No infection, WBC count normal. Two indicators of renal failure, and reduced liver function. Vet's diagnosis is poisoning. Let's nip this in the bud first: I don't think any of the neighbors poisoned my cat. We're friendly and mind our own business. It's more likely an environmental source, like a rat she ate or garden chemicals. My fertilizers are kept in closed containers, and chemicals in a locked cabinet. I use the pesticides sparingly, mostly on roses, which the cat shows little interest in. 

 

We have been feeding her a little mackerel every day for years. We buy it cheap at the local twice-a-week market. Vet says that could be the source of what ails her. That is, if there's a preservative in the fish or some other accumulated chemical, it could accumulate in the kidneys and bring a cat down. 

 

Our previous cat died of kidney failure. We fed her mackerel, too, but really, all environmental factors remained constant around our house. 

 

So here's my question: Do any of you have experience with problems feeding mackerel to cats long-term? Is this a known problem with mackerel as food for cats?  

[FritsSikkink]

Looks like once a week and only canned: https://petcareadvisors.com/cats/can-i-give-my-cats-mackerel/

 

[toofarnorth]

Not sure if they are mackeral but the wife gets platoo from along the way 3 for 10 B and my 2 cats love them , if not available I give them Pet 8 sardine from the local pet food shop , probably safer. I know what it is like to lose a cat , they don't ask for much but great company.

[bestie]

I had a few cats and two of them died after they start catching and eating rats. I can't tell why but maybe the rats are eating a strong poison and when the cat is then eating the rat, the cat is getting poisoned. Rat poison in general isn't immediately deadly it takes some time before it takes effect. That's my experience with two of my cats and what I can tell so far.  

[jak2002003]

I think it's very unlikely to be the fish.  After all, its fresh fish and for human consumption. 

 

I think it's more likely you cat ate some poisonous substance, with rat poison or some other toxic chemical.

 

My much loved dog died after eating a dead bird she found in the garden.  One of her bad habits was gulping down whole birds that hit the window sometimes.  I had no time to stop her.  I thought nothing of it as she has eaten lots before.  However 24 hours later she was dying.. and despite getting her to the vets she passes away in the night in a painful way.  

 

I realised it must be from the birds body having poison in it from eating poisoned grain.  There were many dead birds, doves and pigeons, around my home area, and apparently someone scattered poisoned seeds over the field near us to kill off the pest birds.

 

Maybe you cat ate a mouse, rat or bird that had been poisoned, or just found some poison bait around the area? 

 

Hope it gets better soon. 

[soi3eddie]

Any neighbours upset with your cat? Green colured puke. Just a thought: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/ethylene-glycol-poisoning-in-cats#:~:text=Ethylene glycol has a very,antifreeze can result in fatality.

[holy cow cm]

Green bile represent your cat eating grass. Normal. but the question is where is she eating this grass at? Do you spray for ants? Or is there grass under your roses?

[Hayduke]

 

Sorry about your cat....hope she gets better and is back home with you soon. Not sue about mackerel problems, but definitely keep a close watch on the kidneys

 

 

 

[Cake Monster]

We feed our Cat on some small fish ( 50 mm long ) that look a little like small Tuna with some Yellow Fins, that we get from the local market ( 1 Kg 60-70 Baht ).

Our Vet advised to boil these and then rinse off under the tap.

Apparently, its the Salt content of any food that can harm your Cat.

The dumb creature also loves the Sardines with Tomato Sauce in the cans.

Correction... just drinks the Sauce and leaves the Fish.

I hope the Cat recovers soon.

[HAPPYNUFF]

I lost my  beautiful cat some years ago in similar circumstances.  She was    bringing up  any food she ate, plus having   frequent bowel movements.   took her to the vet, who advised me NEVER  give  cat (or dogs)     cat or dog biscuits, unless you make sure they drink lots of water, as  both types  are  very heavy in salt content, leading to kidney and possible liver failure.     There is  quite a lot on the internet  about  the   junk  pet food business, which backs up the vets   advice to me.   Hope  your pet recovers soon.

[LawrenceN]

1 hour ago, toofarnorth said:

Not sure if they are mackeral but the wife gets platoo from along the way 3 for 10 B and my 2 cats love them , if not available I give them Pet 8 sardine from the local pet food shop , probably safer. I know what it is like to lose a cat , they don't ask for much but great company.

Yes, that's the same fish. 

 

Maybe you should watch this thread for good info (and ignore the bad). 

[LawrenceN]

1 hour ago, bestie said:

I had a few cats and two of them died after they start catching and eating rats. I can't tell why but maybe the rats are eating a strong poison and when the cat is then eating the rat, the cat is getting poisoned. Rat poison in general isn't immediately deadly it takes some time before it takes effect. That's my experience with two of my cats and what I can tell so far.  

Thanks for responding. Did you get a diagnosis from a vet? Do you know if the kidneys and liver were affected? 

[LawrenceN]

1 hour ago, jak2002003 said:

I think it's very unlikely to be the fish.  After all, its fresh fish and for human consumption. 

 

I think it's more likely you cat ate some poisonous substance, with rat poison or some other toxic chemical.

 

My much loved dog died after eating a dead bird she found in the garden.  One of her bad habits was gulping down whole birds that hit the window sometimes.  I had no time to stop her.  I thought nothing of it as she has eaten lots before.  However 24 hours later she was dying.. and despite getting her to the vets she passes away in the night in a painful way.  

 

I realised it must be from the birds body having poison in it from eating poisoned grain.  There were many dead birds, doves and pigeons, around my home area, and apparently someone scattered poisoned seeds over the field near us to kill off the pest birds.

 

Maybe you cat ate a mouse, rat or bird that had been poisoned, or just found some poison bait around the area? 

 

Hope it gets better soon. 

Sorry for the loss of your dog. They're irreplaceable. Did the vet confirm that kidney failure was the cause of death? 

[LawrenceN]

1 hour ago, soi3eddie said:

Any neighbours upset with your cat? Green colured puke. Just a thought: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/ethylene-glycol-poisoning-in-cats#:~:text=Ethylene glycol has a very,antifreeze can result in fatality.

I addressed that in the original post. 

 

Ethylene glycol is possible if found by accident. I had thought dogs were more attracted to it than cats. She does hide out under the cars a lot, but my cars don't leak any. She doesn't stray far from home. 

 

I haven't read the link yet, but I will soon. Thanks for that. 

[tifino]

1 hour ago, toofarnorth said:

Not sure if they are mackeral but the wife gets platoo from along the way 3 for 10 B and my 2 cats love them , if not available I give them Pet 8 sardine from the local pet food shop , probably safer. I know what it is like to lose a cat , they don't ask for much but great company.

yeah, they only 'say' 7 different things...

 - at the top being the "good mate buddy pal, where's my food?"

 - & "Let Mee-owt"

 

at least they really mean what they say

[tifino]

5 minutes ago, LawrenceN said:

I addressed that in the original post. 

 

Ethylene glycol is possible if found by accident. I had thought dogs were more attracted to it than cats. She does hide out under the cars a lot, but my cars don't leak any. She doesn't stray far from home. 

 

I haven't read the link yet, but I will soon. Thanks for that. 

 - a good reason to try to changeover to the Blue instead of the Green.

Blue has the Added Bittering (taste) Agents

[LawrenceN]

1 hour ago, holy cow cm said:

Green bile represent your cat eating grass. Normal. but the question is where is she eating this grass at? Do you spray for ants? Or is there grass under your roses?

I only use boric acid for ants, non-toxic to mammals. I have seen her eat grass, but nowhere near the roses. The roses are in planters with no grass around them. 

 

I have had heat exhaustion several times. The puke I'm describing is what you get when you've emptied your stomach and still keep puking. No solids. 

[bestie]

20 minutes ago, LawrenceN said:

Thanks for responding. Did you get a diagnosis from a vet? Do you know if the kidneys and liver were affected? 

No sorry no diagnose from the vet. Only what I watched. One I found dead still with a rat inside her mouth and swollen belly. The other with an open rotten belly where you could see still the parts of a rat inside her.  I guess complete failure of all internal organs but too late for a diagnose ???? 

[LawrenceN]

OP here. I forgot to mention: Cat stopped eating the fish a week or two ago. It smelled the same to me. Maybe she sensed something different about recent batches, or had had her fill of it due to the impending change in her body chemistry. Maybe her kidneys were telling her they'd had enough. Does any of that make sense? 

[bestie]

Cats are normally very sensitiv if they can smell something suspicious they don't eat it or drink it. I watched one day a Thai putting anti mosquito substance into one of these flower bowls in front of his house where some cats are drinking sometimes from it. And they still do.  I think it isn't very healthy for the cats. But I can only guess and try to give a direction. 

 

BTW: I only give my cats fresh water from the water machine. I don't give them the tap water. Too much chemicals. 

[toofarnorth]

The smaller of our 2 cats often catches rats from the ricefields behind our house . Just sometimes there is the bit of guts she doesn't like left on the floor . We can't stop her catching rats it is what she does , comes in looking bloated and we know she needs no food from us. The big cat Cola is too big and too lazy to go ratting.

See ..............

[Sheryl]

OP

 

I don't think mackeral meant for human consumption should be a problem

 

With an outdoors cat, easy enough for them to consume something they shouldn't. Maybe a lizard or rodenty that in turn ate something with insecticide; maybe a poisonous plant etc.

 

How old is the cat? As after a certain age kidney disease is quite common and occurs spontaneously

 

The greeen vomit is ismnplky bile coming up, happens when there is deep retching in an empty stomach and that in turn will happen in kidney failure as the toxins accumulate

 

I went through something just like what you describe with an 8 month old kitten recently. Vomiting up bile, wouldn't eat, became dehydrated, labs show renal failure. While 5 days in hospital perked her back up, 2 weeks on her labs still show kidney failure so I am much afraid it will be chronic. We don't know if it is secondary to something else e.g. poisoning or GI issue that caused dehydration and lack of blood flow to the kidneys, or if the renal failure was the primary problem and everything else secondary to it. At her young age if it was primary renal failure would have to be congenital, which does sometime occur.  I am still hoping it will prove to have been acute and resolve but that hope is dwindling now.

 

I have a much older cat (22 years!) who has chronic kidney disease and has had for 5 years now but that's another matter, natural occurrence as cats age (and quite possible for them to have years of quality life after diagnosis if you are willing to do the work of caring for them e.g. special diet, S.C. fluids etc).

[LawrenceN]

"I don't think mackeral meant for human consumption should be a problem"

 

No disrespect intended, in fact I appreciate you as one of the consistently sensible commentators here. I hope you don't mind my asking: What qualifies you to make that statement? Clearly you're a pet owner with significant experience, and I recall several very thoughtful comments on medical issues. Do you have professional training or experience?

 

I brought my cat home yesterday. The vet and I were ready to conclude that a daily uncooked fish was too much. The cat is confined to the laundry room. She hates it, but it's a first step in transition to making her an indoor cat. 

[Sheryl]

On 8/3/2020 at 5:44 PM, LawrenceN said:

OP here. I forgot to mention: Cat stopped eating the fish a week or two ago. It smelled the same to me. Maybe she sensed something different about recent batches, or had had her fill of it due to the impending change in her body chemistry. Maybe her kidneys were telling her they'd had enough. Does any of that make sense? 

 

Very common for cats to stop eating when suffering from kidney failure. They become nauseous. Nothing to do with the specific food.