Cat Chat Feline Forum

I adopted a cat when he was about a month old and now he is 2.5 years and has been 99% indoor except the couple of times he ran out and came back in a day. The last such occurrence was about a year back.
In the last month or so, he has been going to the terrace in the apartment block. He doesn't have any interaction with other animals during this time. He goes for about 10-15 mins a day. He nibbles on some grass during this time - which I gathered from the site is normal and helps avoiding hair balls. But in the last 5 days he has been vomiting immediately after coming back home. Sometimes the grass is part of the puke and at times it is not. And the weather here has recently spiked and reached close to 37-40OC
He is lively as usual except on few occasions. But he is not gaining much weight. Not underweight as in I can see his bones but I can feel them easily. He has lost weight since winter. Is there anything wrong with him? He is neutered and I don't have access to a vet where I am living presently. Please help.

PS: No change in his food - dry food with a pouch of gravy every couple of days. And his appetite has come down in the summer as has been the case previously with him.

Hi and welcome,
I would try and get your cat to a vet to be checked out, it may not be anything to worry about but best to make sure. How far away is your nearest vet? you say you don’t have access to a vet is a bit worrying if you ever need to get to one in an emergency. Your cat is lovely by the way, please let us know how you get on.

Cats often do eat grass to make themselves sick - it might be a hairball brewing, but it might be someting more serious. Is he up to date with worming treatments? Lack of access to a vet is a bit of a worry, I agree.

Hello!
Thanks for the reply. I am working in a remote place and unfortunately don't have access to a proper vet. The vet who is here has knowledge of bigger animals and has been known to mess it up when it comes to the smaller ones. Want to avoid a visit as far as possible.

As I told you my cat is an adopted stray who has been wonderful all through - no house training needed, used litter box from day zero, never woke me up at night, no feeding problems. I guess he is just a resilient nut - but don't want to force the issue. In fact he has been active all along - right now wants to play fetch (he's got his toy for me to throw). Want to avoid a visit to the vet I have here as far as possible. My work will move us to a better place in a few months, where I intend to get a general check up done from somebody with experience handling cats.

Will keep the forum posted, any other advice welcome. Cheers!

Crewella wrote:Cats often do eat grass to make themselves sick - it might be a hairball brewing, but it might be someting more serious. Is he up to date with worming treatments? Lack of access to a vet is a bit of a worry, I agree.

As I told you, he's never been de-wormed. The vet who neutered him took 2 months to even figure out that he is a male. He kept saying that my cat is a female and that he is in heat. Ultimately I had to do a lot of googling and convince him. It was that bad.

Can I de-worm him with some over the counter medication?

My apologies. I think the Panacur granules can be bought without a vet prescription, but they sometimes need to ask a few questions before supply. They work well, and even though the food looks horrible all my cats have eaten them.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Panacur-granul ... s+for+cats

Given the temperatures I'd also make sure your cat is getting enough fluids

reduce the dry food if you can as that will dehydrtate and feed wet food more often - I'd say one pouch morning and night and if need be add a bit of water and then still access to dry food. Are you home quite a bit during the day or out at work; could you feed more often?

And just because I am very nosey... where are you

@Crewella - Thanks, will check if it is available here in India. Also read at a couple of places that Pumpkin seeds aid in digestion and preventing hairballs in cats - Is it true? Shall I feed him powdered dried Pumpkin seeds?

@Meriad - Thanks for the advice. Already started feeding him wet food twice a day. I am home for quite some time, but he is a very irregular eater. His food (dry) is available all the time and he just chooses his time to eat - most often in the middle of play time Adding water is a strict no for the little fellow. Won't touch water + food with a barge pole. And I live in India, in Jammu & Kashmir to be more accurate.

I have stopped letting him out since day before. I think it is best to avoid outings in this heat for the time being.

Amazon India is not stocking Panacur. I found these options
This one seems to be for adult dogs and cats
https://www.petsworld.in/intas-eazypet- ... -tabs.html

This one is for puppies - so I guess would be more ideal for my 2.5yr old
http://www.dogspot.in/bayer-drontal-dew ... ies-20-ml/

Still very concerned about pumping medicines without a "proper" vet's advice.

OK, I've just googled all the active ingredients of the first product and from what I can make out it's perfectly safe for your cat. It'll treat different worms, not just tape worm which is good.

I'm never sure about using a dog product on cats, but the active ingredients in the drontal are OK for cats as well (again from what I've googled) and it's a good make

Anyone else have different views?

The Eazypet does seem to be a decent product, I agree with Meriad. Personally, I'd be tempted to go with that as it is advertised as being safe for cats. Intas do a full range of worming products for various species.

Even though I'm more familiar with Bayer, I'm not keen on giving dog products to cats either, and there is always the fear that the proportions are not suitable or there is a non-active ingredient that is less appropriate for cats. I guess you could try to contact Bayer and ask them if their product is safe for cats, but in your shoes, as I say, I'd go with the first option.

I'm afraid I don't know anything about pumpkin seeds, but am wary of feeding things like that as cats do not have a digestive system that is capable of breaking down anything other than meat. The best remedy for hairballs is grooming, and sometimes an occasional treat of oily fish like sardines might help.

@Crewella and @meriad

Thanks a bunch people! I'll get him the Eazypet and go easy on the dosage. Hope it has an mg/ weight of the cat on its box.

Pumpkin seeds are a no go then. My cat hates being brushed and since he is a short hair, I was brushing him once in two days. Guess I'll have to ramp up the brushing part. And I've stopped letting him out - even though he makes a big deal of it. But as we have all learned over time, it's best to take a call for the pet even though he may not be in total agreement

As of now, I think he's stopped vomiting but then, he has a tendency to go into some nook or cranny to puke.

Thanks once again. Will update the status.

My cat was/is vomiting frequently. As it turned out, the vet is pretty sure she has inflammatory bowel disease. The best treatment for this is regular steroid injections, but since I don't have the money for that, I've had some luck with switching to grain free food. She still vomits, but not as much.