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Treatment

Your veterinarian may need to keep your cat in the hospital temporarily if it is severely dehydrated due to chronic vomiting and diarrhea. There, your cat will be given nutrients by intravenous fluids instead of solid food to decrease the injury caused by vomiting.

If your cat is severely underweight as a result of the gastroenteritis, your veterinarian may insert a stomach tube to feed your cat so that the nutrition bypasses the inflamed and sensitive stomach tissues and crosses into the intestines, where it can be turned into energy for the body. Depending on the underlying cause, your veterinarian will also change your cat's diet to something that will not continue to inflame the tissues, and will be easily digested by the body, allowing the body to gain nutritionally.

If the cause of the gastroenteritis is thought to be related to allergy, your veterinarian will switch your cat to an elimination and food trial diet, which will be strictly controlled in home by you. Medicines are also available to treat this disorder, but this will depend on which disease is found to be causing your cat's illness.

Living and Management

Your veterinarian will tell you when to bring your cat back for a follow-up appointment. If the cat is still very ill or if the cat has been prescribed a strong medication, less time will pass between check-ups. As your cat stabilizes, your veterinarian will want to examine your cat less often.

You and your veterinarian must work together to formulate food trials and assess the results on a continual basis until there are no more signs of illness.