My cat just vomited and then collapsed!!!

[zoesmom2009]

I was not in the room at the time, but my husband was when our 8 yr. old cat Mr. Tills threw up and then collapsed in the living room floor. Dh said Mr. Tills walked in the room, and got one of his claws caught in the carpet. Dh got up to help him get his claw loose. He got it loose and then started heaving and threw up a thin brown liquid (my best description is that it looks like liquid vitamins). Then he just collapsed in the floor.

Dh panicked and ran to get me. I'm not sure what to do! The only vet that's open is the emergency one and it's nearly $300 just to walk through the door! We don't have that and you have to pay up front. I'm not even sure we can afford a regular vet right now.

At the moment, he seems to be breathing fine. It's not shallow or labored and he blinks when I flick my fingers in front of his eyes. (He's deaf, so sound responsiveness is out.) But he's very lethargic. He's not responding to my touch at all. Though my husband just came in and said he rolled over to his other side on his own, so that seems promising.

I'm really freaking out right now! I don't know what to do. I love this cat so much! I rescued him as a kitten. He's my cuddlebuddy! And our 12 mo dd adores him and he adores her. They've been practically inseparable since she was born.

If anyone has any suggestions or ideas, please let me know. Thank you!

[Tellera]

It sounds pretty serious. Is he getting any better?

No suggestions other than taking to the vet ER. I would suggest calling them, and asking if you can do a payment plan, even though they don't offer that. If not, explain the severity and ask if they have any other ideas. Do you have any no-kill shelters near you you could call and ask for help? Maybe they have benefactors or could pay up front and do a payment plan with you (if you can afford that).

It's really rough. One of our two cats has been prone to illness since we adopted them as kittens. He recently went through some issues that have cost over $1,000. He seems to be ok now, but every few years something happens. When he was a kitten, he had a terrible anaphalactic (sp?) reaction to a vaccine - we have no idea which one, since so many were done at once - and he spent 3 days in the vet hospital and almost didn't make it. That was when I didn't even know you COULD have a reaction to a vaccine so we were wondering WTF was going on with the vomiting and diarrhea. I wonder if his continued issues have been due to GI damage from that vaccine incident.

I hope he recovers fully.

[Mom2M]

How is he doing? I've been thinking about him, it must have been awful to see him collapse.

[Sam*]

I would give him fluids untill you can get him to a reg vet. You can take a dropper and give him some pedialite. I hope it turns out to be nothing serious.

[zoesmom2009]

Update

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for their advice and warm thoughts. Sadly, Mr. Tills passed shortly after my post. He deteriorated very quickly. My dh found a vet who was open on Sundays and we took him. The vet said his organs were failing. We, sadly, chose to end his suffering. He now lies in a honored place under the trees in the backyard.

[Doodlebugsmom]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost my dog in a similar way last summer. She passed before we could get to the emergency vet hospital. The sudden and untimely loss of a pet is so difficult.

[sweetjasmine]

Sorry for your loss, zoesmom!

[Mom2M]

I'm sorry for your loss

[kate42]

I am so sorry.