Vito rushed to the emergency vet

Last night we had to rush Vito (14) to the emergency vet! After he began vomiting repeatedly, we noticed he was also having trouble swallowing and was unable to eat. It escalated quickly so we rushed him to the emergency vet.

At the hospital, they evaluated and stabilized him. Based on his symptoms and biochemestry results, the current working diagnosis is possible pancreatitis, though this has not been definitively confirmed yet. The vet explained that pancreatitis can be especially difficult for senior cats and can cause severe nausea, repeated vomiting, abdominal pain, and refusal or inability to eat which were all the symptoms Vito had.

For now, Vito has been started on:

• Anti-nausea/anti-vomiting medication
• Anti-inflammatory medication
• At home he has to take Gastrocare, 30 minutes before breakfast.

If he improves with treatment, that will strongly support the pancreatitis diagnosis. If he does not respond as expected, they will move forward with additional testing to rule out other underlying causes.

On a brighter note, Vito’s biochemestry panel shows that his kidney values are within the normal range, so that’s a relief!

Vito was rescued as a 6-week-old kitten in Spring 2012. He was one of the very first to join our furry family — long before we ever imagined running a cat sanctuary.

RELATED: Vito’s rescue story

He has been with us through every chapter since, growing alongside our journey and helping shape the heart of what we do.

UPDATE 02.28.2026

We’re relieved to share a positive update on Vito.

The vet believes this has been a single, isolated episode of pancreatitis. Because we acted quickly and rushed him in as soon as symptoms escalated, early intervention significantly improved his chances of a good recovery.

The best news of all — Vito is back to eating. That alone feels like a huge victory after how scary things were just days ago.

Considering Vito’s improvement, and wanting to spare him additional stress, we had a phone consult with the vet. He agreed that given how well Vito is responding, eating again, no continued vomiting, and brighter overall, we can continue monitoring him closely at home for now rather than putting him through further immediate testing.

We are hopeful that this was an acute episode of pancreatitis and that, with careful monitoring, he may never experience another one.