Food allergy

Kingston as a kitten

Kingston now

Poor old Kingston had a rough start to life! Almost from the moment his family brought him home for Christmas he had diarrhoea and vomiting. At first we thought it was the change of diet.
When it continued we tested him for infectious diseases like Tritrichomonas, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Clostridia and Salmonellosis. All tests were negative.
In January we and his family switched him to a low allergy diet and miracle of miracles his stools firmed up and he stopped vomiting! He also started putting on weight and playing more.
Food sensitivities and allergies are not common but when all the common causes of gastroenteritis in kittens are ruled out we have to consider them.
Good to see Kingston growing and happy with his  loving family!

Older head of the house

Eighteen year old Andy Mitchell is a frequent visitor to Hall Vet Surgery. He has a few little troubles that need attention so that he can get on with his home duties as head of the house.
A few years ago his owners noticed that he was getting stiff and having trouble jumping up on the window sill to check the yard. Because he is not a fan of pills he has a medication rubbed on his ears to ease the pain in his joints. Guard duty is a lot easier now.
Since he fled his last home a decade or so ago he has had intermittent bouts of flu. Often this happens during times of stress - as defined by Andy. His carers manage this by bathing his eyes and nose, giving him lots of TLC and with antibiotics when necessary.
A few years ago his carers noticed that he was vomiting more and more and losing a bit of weight. His vet diagnosed food intolerance or inflammatory bowel disease. A special diet for sensitive stomachs keeps the carpet clean.
A mild heart murmur has never worried him, but today we found that his blood pressure is up a bit - and that worried us. He may have to go on medication to bring it down because high blood pressure damages cats' eyes, kidneys and other organs.  
Andy Mitchell is a typical older cat - multiple little problems that when managed well let him live the life he enjoys.

Lily toxicity

Day Lily

All species of lilies are toxic to cats. Indoor cats with little choice in plant munching material are most at risk as they will try any cut flower that comes into the house. 

Any part of the plant – flowers, leaves or stems - is dangerous. Even lily pollen licked off the coat destroys cats’ kidney tubules. 

Lilies proven to poison cats include: Easter Lily, Tiger Lily, Day Lily, Glory Lily, Stargazer Lily, Rubrum Lily, Asian Lily and the Japanese Show Lily

If you see your cat with lily on her coat, in her mouth or in her vomit don’t wait for signs of poisoning. The sooner we get it out of her system and start treatment to protect the kidneys the greater her chance of survival.

Affected cats vomit and are depressed within hours of ingesting lily. Some then seem to recover before starting to show signs of severe kidney failure a day or so later. Others continue vomiting, go off their food and get more and more depressed.

If emptying the stomach and medications to prevent absorption of the toxin are effective, the chance of recovery is excellent.

If your cat absorbs enough toxin to cause damage to her kidneys then her outlook is very poor. It is essential to seek emergency care immediately after ingestion of the lily plant.

Hairballs or asthma?

At first Gus's carer thought he had hair balls. So did the friends she asked. He gagged and convulsed and brought up froth. She gave him some laxative paste.

Everything in the litter tray seemed normal and for a while Gus seemed OK.

When she rushed off to work he was curled up on the lounge in the sun room as usual. 

But the gagging started up again, especially at night. She noticed that he wasn’t eating all his dinner and sometimes stopped he stopped in the middle of the gagging and breathed heavily.

One night he crept on to the end of the bed and wheezed and gasped for breath until she was sure he was choking to death. 

Next morning she rushed him into us. We X-rayed his chest and found a very hazy lung and signs of chronic bronchitis.

We took samples from Gus’s lungs and found he had pneumonia. Gus had developed an airway and lung infection on top of the chronic bronchitis. 

Cats get asthma and bronchitis, just like humans do. For some it is worse when there are lots of pollens blowing about, for others being cooped up inside with the stagnant air and dust mites in winter set the wheezing and coughing off.

His carer remembered that he had always had a bit of a wheeze, especially in spring and early summer. She hadn’t thought much of it.

It is very easy to confuse coughing with vomiting or regurgitation. Usually food or bile will come up at some stage with vomiting. Vomiting cats often lose their appetite or have diarrhoea as well. Coughing cats don’t go off their food unless they develop an infection as well.

Some asthmatic cats have life threatening breathing difficulties if they are not treated adequately. If you notice your cat coughing, gagging, breathing with difficulty, especially with the mouth open and the neck extended, contact your vet.

Check out Fritz the Brave for more information or for reliable support and information if your cat has asthma or bronchitis.


Gus is back to his irascible self after a long course of antibiotics. He's getting used to a puffer and spacer, and quite likes all the attention we give him. 

Hairballs?

Hairballs are overrated as a problem in cats.  A true hairball is hair wrapped in saliva and requires no treatment.  Hairballs almost never cause illness in pet cats. 

On the other hand we should see your cat if she vomits frequently - whatever the vomitus is! If she is turning her nose up at her dinner or hiding then we should see her as soon as possible. Normal cats eat several times a day so even a single day of poor appetite is significant.

If she vomits a lot but doesn’t feel poorly she may still have a problem. Some cats are very sensitive to specific proteins like chicken, beef or lamb. A change to a diet free of the common proteins that cause hypersensitivity or to one that is specially treated to reduce reactions often helps these cats.

Often the only sign of inflammatory bowel disease or cancers of the bowel is frequent vomiting. Eventually affected cats lose weight or stop eating, but this is when the disease is well advanced. If a cat does not respond within a few weeks to a change of diet as mentioned above then we investigate more closely.