seems mild, but...

Question
My male can is 18 mos. old & has been very healthy indoor & outdoor fella until this week.  I was just laid off & really can't afford vet - tho I will somehow if he needs it - hoping you can advise.  "Dash" is normally up & adam at 4 am, waking me to feed him & let him out.  About 4 days ago I noticed he let me sleep thru the nite.  It's been cold, so I thought that was why.  He stayed in most of the day.  Then he threw up once - bright yellow, not much content.  He seemed to know to stop eating, yet still drank water.  No more vomiting - just lethargic, and staying right by me.  After 2 days, he seemed to feel better, ate small amounts of his fav salmon canned food & ventured out a little.  Then tonite he threw up again - a little food it in this time.   He seems almost like there's something he can't get out when he throws up.  Not coughing - just trying hard.  I don't feel any harness in his belly, and he doesn't react to any touch (in fact more affection receptive than usual).  If it's viral & will pass, I'll wait.  After reading some posts, I should also say that he's stayed in for as much as 7 hours at a stretch, so I have to wonder if he's urinating as often as usual - hard to know since he goes outside.  Any insight would be deeply appreciated.  His eyes are clear, no other symptoms.  Thanks.

Answer
Morgan,

Given the time of year the problem could be a big hairball that your cat is having trouble getting through his system. The concern that I have is that you've been seeing changes in your furry friend's behavior over the past four days or so, I would think that he would have coughed up or pooped out a stubborn hairball by now if that was the problem. If organ failure or a bowel obstruction are the problem the cat needs to see the vet and I encourage folks to err on the side of caution when it comes to the health of their pet. It's possible that this kitty has just eaten something that's not agreeing with his system, so long as it's not toxic flushing it out of his system should help him to feel better. If he has a foreign object stuck in his digestive system that could be the reason for his vomiting and lethargy. I'm concerned that this might have been going on for longer than you realize because cats are good at hiding the fact that they're sick until they feel really rotten. Since I know that finances are tough for you right now I would recommend that you do a few things and give them a day or two to see what happens. I think that setting up a litter box with unscented, clumping kitty litter in a private location near the door that this kitty comes and goes by is a good plan. Show your little guy the litter pan and he should use it if he needs to. For the meantime I would say that keeping your little guy indoors would be a good idea, it will allow you to monitor what goes in, comes up and whether or not he gets the pep back into his step. For now I think that it would be a good plan to only put out small amounts of easy to digest foods fairly frequently for now. I think that pureed chicken breast would be good as a bland diet for a day or two. I would say that feeding this little guy every four hours during the day by placing about a tablespoon of body temperature pureed chicken on a plate for him, if your kitty isn't fond of chicken you could try pureed beef or lamb (you can use baby food, cook and puree your own or even puree fresh, raw meat depending on what your cat's diet normally consists of). If a tablespoon of food every four hours is tolerated well you can slowly bump up the amount of food until he's eating his regular amount of food. When your kitty's eating a normal amount of food you can slowly reintroduce his regular food. Sometimes stomach upsets in cats can be caused by the changes many pet food manufacturers make to their formulas. I normally recommend that pet parents consider feeding a high quality holistic pet food made from human grade ingredients. Wellness is one brand that I routinely recommend, the manufacturer does expect you to feed a mix of wet and dry food so it can be a bit pricey. I feed several of the foods made from human grade ingredients including a food called Spot's Stew Sensitive Cat made by Halo. One six pound bag of Spot's Stew costs $25 CAN and it lasts my three resident cats in the neighborhood of a month so in a single cat household it would work out to around 3 months. The higher quality holistic foods have many advantages including a consistent ingredient list. Your cat needs less food to fill his belly and meet his nutritional needs than the lower quality foods. Feeding a higher quality food usually also means that the litter box offerings don't smell nearly as offensive, this is because the cat is able to absorb and use more of the food than he would with lower quality foods which may contain ingredients he can't metabolize. I have the ingredient list for the food that I feed and I can send it your way if you'd like. I also have a fascinating article about the pet food industry and its dirty secrets. For information on nutrition for cats and to dispel some of the more common myths you can check out catinfo.org, that's the site that my vet recommended I check out after my eldest cat became seriously ill after the Menu Foods catastrophe and I was no longer interested in feeding commercially prepared foods for the most part. It's not a bad idea to have this little guy eat a tablespoon or so of unsweetened, plain, low fat yogurt daily at least while he's not feeling well, it has active bacterial cultures normally found in the digestive system of mammals and could help with the nausea by replenishing these friendly bugs. Hairball remedy would be a great place to start once you have a bland diet figured out - you can use Tonic Lax or another commercially available hairball remedy. If your cat doesn't care for malt flavored hairball remedies you can give him plain Vaseline - about a half inch strip from a tube across your finger daily should do it because Vaseline is the base for the majority of the hairball remedies available on the market. If your kitty doesn't seem to be feeling a whole lot better in a day or two you will need to take him to the vet. If I know the general area that you live in I can try to find resources that might be willing to offer assistance with vet care costs.