Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia

[Furballsmom]

 

[IronHippo]

Radish is home!!

He has to wear the cone for the next five days and has three different kinds of medicine to take for the next week. He ate about three quarters of the can of Hills the clinic gave us for dinner. I picked up a cranberry powder supplement at Petco and added it in and he didn't seem to notice.

He was very obviously happy to be home; he was kind of quiet up until we got off the elevator and started heading to our place, and then he started fidgeting (we could hear his bell jingling away). His big sister sniffed him all over on arrival but did not attack him or get mad. Once he got over exploring everything with his cone on, he wanted to play with her right away...so we're going to keep them separate until he can take the cone off so he can heal. Poor guy is probably going to be so antsy as he heals. He was also super matted after just those two days, I guess because he had no one to brush him and he couldn't groom himself. We took turns getting most of the knots out of him and he is back to looking only slightly crazy rather than positively deranged.

We have only seen one small bit of pee although he has gone to the litter boxes and squatted four times since he came home. So clearly he feels the urge, but nothing big is coming out. We use Feline Pine, so we should be able to see the sawdust. We've just seen one small pile. He also took the tiniest poop we've ever seen him make--it was even smaller than when he was a kitten. He hasn't been trying to squat outside of the litter boxes yet.

He'll be under constant surveillance between me and my husband at least through the weekend. And I'll be making an appointment for a follow up visit with his usual vet next week.

I leave you with this photo of him--he completely passed out while playing footsie with Marple under the door!

Thanks again for the good vibes! Please continue to send them our way as we wait for Radish to take his first big pee!

 

[Furballsmom]

awwww, Radish sweetie!!!

Thank you so very much for the update and the photos, the one of him zonked out - oh my goodness, what a tuckered out baby!

 

[Jem]

We took turns getting most of the knots out of him and he is back to looking only slightly crazy rather than positively deranged.

LOL! I'm sorry, but this comment made me laugh, I can just picture it! Thanks for the little pick me up!

I'm so glad that he's settling in well at home and that sis was nice to him. It's a really good sign that he wanted to play as well!

Small pees are quite normal, so long as he keeps it up. Just continue to monitor, with time his peeing should start to normalize, but it can take time so don't panic if it doesn't right away. If he still pees, that's good. A tiny poop is also normal, especially if he has not been eating consistently. Just watch for signs of discomfort and try to encourage as much water as you can. If his eating has not been consistent, he may not poop consistently. Cats need to eat to stimulate the bowels to move things along. If after a couple of days he still has not pooped a decent amount, maybe getting some laxatone from your vet will help lubricate and get things pushed thru better. You can also add some water to his wet food for some extra moisture.

You guys are doing great, keep it up!

 

[IronHippo]

LOL! I'm sorry, but this comment made me laugh, I can just picture it! Thanks for the little pick me up!

I'm so glad that he's settling in well at home and that sis was nice to him. It's a really good sign that he wanted to play as well!

Small pees are quite normal, so long as he keeps it up. Just continue to monitor, with time his peeing should start to normalize, but it can take time so don't panic if it doesn't right away. If he still pees, that's good. A tiny poop is also normal, especially if he has not been eating consistently. Just watch for signs of discomfort and try to encourage as much water as you can. If his eating has not been consistent, he may not poop consistently. Cats need to eat to stimulate the bowels to move things along. If after a couple of days he still has not pooped a decent amount, maybe getting some laxatone from your vet will help lubricate and get things pushed thru better. You can also add some water to his wet food for some extra moisture.

You guys are doing great, keep it up!

Thank you! And thank you for your tips. They gave us two cans of the Hills C/D, but it's a chunky texture and he is not a fan--I think he only gulped down as much as he did yesterday because he was so hungry after just being on liquids. This morning he did not want to eat more than a quarter of the can. I tried mixing a little bit of his favorite Sheba beef pate in with the next quarter a couple hours later and added water. He just licked up the water initially (so that's good he drank something) and only ate the rest when I hand fed him. He's always been not a very hungry boy, though, so although I really want him to eat more this is kind of normal for him. I don't think the Hill's C/D is going to work unless there is a different texture. Or I guess I could get a cheap blender. Sigh.

He's scheduled for a vet visit next weekend. At this point, I mainly just want him to heal up and be healthy and back to normal...and for his insurance to pull through, haha. That was a big ouch for us!

 

[Jem]

If you need the "stress" formula for the CD food. Then it only comes in the "stew", both chicken and tuna. But Hill's does have both a chicken and tuna pate, but it is only "CD" and does not have the stress reduction component. My boy ate the chicken pate as well as the stress stew, but he did prefer the pate as well.
Also Royal Canin (SO) and Purina Pro Plan (UR St/Ox) both have veterinary prescription foods for urinary care, I did not use them personally so I don't know what textures their wet comes in but there are other options.