When To Take Your Pet To The Vet

Our cat Jack has been dealing with some medical issues and it's reminded me that, as pet owners, we know our pets better than anyone else. Jack is 12 years old and is famous for his love of food, high play drive and ability to High 5 for a treat. Our rambunctious senior kitty does not act his age and is constantly keeping us on our toes.
 
Lately, however, we’ve been waking up to puke. Puking has never been an issue with Jack. This raised a bright red flag for me, so I made a vet appointment. Jack had no temperature, gave the entire staff a work out trying to keep him on the table, and left with a shot to treat the nausea. 3 days later, he’s puking again. Another trip to the vet resulted in a cracked nail bed and a tuft of fur ripped out during Jack’s vigorous attempts to escape. The vet did manage to take a blood sample despite Jack’s efforts.
 
Blood work showed a healthy cat. Jack continued to eat and beg for treats, drinking water, playing and generally acting normal. We had changed his food, just in case, and the puking came to a stop. Our vet suggested we give him some time and see if that solved the problem. We were game.

On Friday night we were introduced to THE Puke. This was seriously the most foul smelling, disgusting puke I’ve ever seen. It was open the windows and air out the house bad. So now our vet is on board that there’s something wrong and we’re scheduled for an ultrasound, additional blood work and a urinalysis.
 
While we wait for answers I pet Jack and wonder if he’s feeling okay. His coat is shiny, he’s eating well, and chasing after his treats when tossed around the house. So while he seems healthy, we know that something is wrong and will find out soon how to make him well again. I no longer feel foolish for rushing him to the vet for puking daily or when the test results came back negative. I know my cat better than anyone, even his vet, and when my gut tells me something is wrong, I trust it.
 
If you notice a change in your pet, let your vet know. Your pet won’t complain and often the symptoms won’t be obvious. Changes in eating habits and water intake to activity level and behavior changes can often be signs that something’s not right. Please check out this page: http://www.vetstreet.com to learn more about identifying the signs your cat is unwell.