Does my cat have cancer or allergy

Hi there,

First of all, thanks for the help.
Our 15 year old female indoor only calico started vomiting daily 3 weeks ago. The vomit is always massive hairballs. She is also grooming herself / licking / biting at her fur hundreds - yes hundreds - of times per day. We counted one night - once per every 10 seconds. No weight loss. Same appetite as ever. Active as always. No increase in water intake. We took her to the vet 2 days ago for full check. Vet called yesterday and said the Thyroid was normal, most blood levels normal - except - white blood cell count was high. She said it is remotely possible the cat has parasites, but 50% likely she has intestinal cancer or 50% likely she has a food allergy. They want to try a deworm first and then switch to hypoallergenic food to see what happens. We are scheduled for an ultrasound in 3 weeks. What is the scoop on this? Does she actually have cancer and if so, why no other symptoms. I understand the prognosis is not good if this is true.
Thanks again!

Answer by Kate
Hi
well from a laymans point of view her behavior would suggest some form of anxiety causing her to over groom and so causing the hairballs and the vomiting.

I don't know what vets you took her too but if it was one of the big chains like medivet may i suggest that you take your cat to a smaller independent vet. i say this as from your description i think the diagnosis you received seemed rather vague and i don't know what they
based their suggestions on.

I can't see how they can say that it could be cancer, what are they basing that on? Are there other symptoms, lumps etc. I would have thought that a blood test would have determined if there was any cancer.

I am sorry not to be able to give you an answer to your question but I if I were you i woulod definitely want a second opinion from another vet. if you do take them somewhere else don't tell them about the diagnosis from the first vets.

i do hope it is not as serious as you are thinking.

best wishes Kate

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