Persistent Vomiting

Female longhair, 16 years old. She's young for her age. Likes to be out in the garden, running and climbing. Generally in good health. Purrs when she's picked up or sits on a knee. The problem is, persistent vomiting. 2 or 3 times a week in the house and probably outside also. This has been going on for around 6 months. She has lost weight, but has stabilized at 3kg. She isn't off her food and when she does use the litter tray, her stools look normal. The vomit itself is unusual. Not sloppy or wet. Usually 2 pieces as if someone has taken a mold/cast of her stomach and tract. She had a blood and water test 6 months ago when it started. All it showed was a water infection which was treated. £500, which I can't afford to keep having done. I had her checked over last month to make sure that she wasn't in any kind of distress, which she wasn't. The vet just said try a different diet. I've tried all sorts, but it makes no difference. There's no point in any kind of scan as I wouldn't put her through surgery at her age. Any thoughts please.

Hello and thank you for this interesting question.  As you have rightly noted, normal blood tests are not the same as knowing there is nothing wrong; simply a reflection that certain processes within the body are functioning as expected.   Two things that can cause vomiting in an older cat without affecting the blood tests are pancreatitis (there are blood tests for it, but the ones on routine blood programmes are usually unhelpful - check with the vet) and cancer.  These may merit an ultrasound. There will be others.  Good questions for your vet may include:

• What could be causing the vomiting?
• How easy are these things to rule out?  What treatment is likely to be needed for how long if these turn out to be what's wrong?
• I am working on a budget (,give some idea) going forward.  Should I be spending this money on further investigations, treating the symptoms, or something else,?
• How do you expect the rest of my cats illness to play out?

Hopefully these questions will give you the information you need to make your next decision - please will you let us know how you get on?