Lulu Belle is a 6 year old female, chocolate point Persian. For years she has had problems with vomiting intermittently but in the last 6 months it had got very bad. She was loosing weight, sometimes collapsing when she vomited and generally feeling very sorry for herself.

She was admitted to our VetCare hospital for blood tests and examination.  The blood tests did not show up any abnormalities with her liver or kidneys, so Jody was suspicious she had a problem in her stomach or intestines.  She was referred by us to The Veterinary Specialists Group for an ultrasound exam on her abdomen.  They were able to see areas of thickening of her intestines and stomach and were worried she could have a type of cancer.  They recommended that she have surgery to look at the abnormal areas and take samples to find out what was causing her to be so sick.

She was admitted to our hospital for surgery and placed on intravenous fluids and pain relief.  She was anaesthetised and an operation called an exploratory laparotomy was performed to look at all the structures inside her abdomen.  Steve found that she had several red inflamed swollen areas inside her stomach and intestines and we were all suspicious that it was a type of cancer.  Biopsies were taken of the abnormal tissue and lo and behold 3 days later we got the good news that it wasn’t cancer, but an inflammatory disease called eosinophilic gastroenteritis, which is very rare in cats.

This condition can be treated with medication and special diets and can often be controlled but not cured.  Lulu Belle has started her medication and will be on tablets for about 3 months until we can start trying to wean her off them slowly and see how she does.  At the moment she is staying in our cattery and we happily report that she is eating really well and we have seen no vomiting in the last few weeks.

We hope that she will put on weight and stay a happy Persian for the next 10 years at least! Dr. Jody Burchall.