Nervous About Kitten's Prolapse Surgery

[Alinalou]

I have a kitten named Sheena who is 4 months old and completely tailless. When she came to me at 5 weeks old her bottom was so bloody and scabbed that I thought it was where her tail was supposed to be. After I started feeding her better food and she was able to pass stool, the scab fell away and I realized to my horror that the scab was actually her bottom.
So she has a minor rectal prolapse that sticks out maybe half a centimeter maybe less. The vet thinks due to how stubborn it has been that she has maybe had it since birth.

She has been to the vet several times for a whole host of problems but now that she's healthy we are considering surgery to fix the area along with her spay. We have already tried the purse-string suture a couple of times and laser therapy to try and fix the area trying to avoid this surgery. The vet warned me that cutting it away and regrafting the area could put at risk of rupture and death due to how much straining naturally occurs in that area. We are at the last resort though and I'm losing it with anxiety.

The reason this is so hard for me is because I've had a string of losses. Early 2017 my cat of 15 years passed suddenly, I adopted again in august 2017 but that kitten passed away early 2018 due to lymphosarcoma in his lower intestine and colon. I found Sheena when I was cleaning a local rescue and I fell in love and took her home immediately as a foster-to-adopt. I really really do not want to lose her and in my mind scheduling this surgery has already felt like a loss.

Has anyone had any experience with this surgery before? I'd really like to hear some of your stories and any tips on how to help her along would be greatly appreciated. If anyone had experience with tailless cats I'd like to hear that as well.

Here's a few pictures of her

 

[kittyluv387]

Poor girl! Hopefully someone can give you some good tips on this. She is beautiful and looks healthy. You did a great job with her.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

OK, the bottom line is that you MUST have this surgery, regardless of the danger. And we've had any number of members here whose cats have had the surgery with no problems.

There are things that you can do to help mitigate the straining, such as making sure she is on a wet-food diet, adding (with vet approval) stool softeners for the duration of the healing, and encouraging drinking plenty of water to help keep the stools soft and easy to pass. One of the biggest things in water consumption is to place the water bowl as far from the food bowl as is practical. Cats instinctively know that proximity of food to water is dangerous, as the water can become contimanated...and that instinct tells them that even if the water is in a bowl. My cat's water consumption almost doubled when I moved her bowl just six feet away from her food dish!

She's a little doll! Be sure to let us know how she is doing!

 

[Alinalou]

kittyluv387 Thank you so much.

Mamanyt1953 Thank you for the tips!
Oh she's having the surgery next week on the 16th with her spay, it's just the closer it gets the worse I feel. The vet suggested that we start her back on lactulose in preparation so I have started giving her small doses of that. She has 2 servings of wet food a day and 1 serving of dry food in the evening. I asked my vet if she should go back on a wet food diet only and he said not to change her diet as last time she was on wet food only her stool became too paste-like and it was hard for her to pass. She will have a fountain in her recovery room and I'll make sure it's far enough from where I serve her food.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Sounds like you and your vet are on top of this. What time is the surgery? I'll be here with a candle lit for her!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I was looking for another member who has been through this. So far, the only one I have found is @Jmf2osix - but he has not been active since late October. We will see if he responds to this post.

 

[Alinalou]

FeebysOwner Thank you for your effort!

Mamanyt1953 Thank you so much that means a lot to me! Unfortunately I do not know when exactly the surgery will be, I drop her off at 9 am and will be picking her up some time before 3 pm.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Not a problem. I'll "be there" from 9-3!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Another member who has experience in rectal prolapse, but hasn't been active since August 2018 - that is @Cat Person 12. Hopefully, she will receive notification of this post and respond.

 

[Alinalou]

Guys the surgery is tomorrow and I'm terrified. I know she will come out of it OK but I'm so afraid of the after part it's unreal. She has always been so playful and energetic to think that something that seems to bother her so little right now could kill her breaks my heart.
I'll be sure to update everyone on her condition. She's also getting an x-ray tomorrow because I read that it's a good idea for cats without tails to get one when it's time for them to get fixed and I just really hope everything is well in there. We don't really know why her bottom did this and I'm a little afraid something is going to be wrong with her spine. I mean she runs and jumps normally so if there's anything wrong in there at all it's probably minor.

I still can't help but think of my last cat Sinclair, who I fought really hard for until relenting to a exploratory surgery only to find he had tumors all over his colon and lower intestine. You know it's bad when the surgeon calls you and asks if you if you even want to wake him up.

I know rationally that I've just been traumatized and just because I dropped off one kitten for surgery and never got to see him again doesn't mean that it's going to happen every time forever but I can't help feeling scared.

Once she is home tomorrow I'll feel better and more in control but getting there is tough.

Here's a picture of her around the time she first got home after proudly climbing the cat tree (the prolapse is visible in one of these but it's not too shocking) :

 

[FelisCatus]

I’ll be online pretty much all day tomorrow, so if you need someone to talk to I will be here!

 

[Alinalou]

FelisCatus Thank you!! I may take you up on that offer if I can figure out how to message a person correctly. It has been admittedly a long time since I have been a member of a forum.
Thankfully my family has been supportive, we've always been close-knit. Especially my aunt who is taking me to the vet appointments. My family meets every Sunday at my grandparent's house for dinner and last Sunday I was asked about Sheena and just burst into tears at the dinner table while everyone just kind of hopelessly stared. Thankfully I live here (I have been taking care of my grandparents since my grandmother's cancer diagnosis though she is in remission she has mobility problems) so I just went downstairs and hung out with Sheena (and Sebastian and Silas) until I calmed down.

All this to say: my aunt knows I'm a mess and am going to continue to be a mess so she has decided to keep me out from 9 am after we drop her off until I can pick Sheena back up. So you will probably hear from me still but after she's already home. Right now is the really hard part just waiting for 9 am to come and being unable to sleep.

I feel bad dumping all this worry on my family and others but it has helped to type it out like this.

To make up for it here's a picture of her laying on Sebastian and one of her laying on Silas:

 

[FelisCatus]

FelisCatus Thank you!! I may take you up on that offer if I can figure out how to message a person correctly. It has been admittedly a long time since I have been a member of a forum.
Thankfully my family has been supportive, we've always been close-knit. Especially my aunt who is taking me to the vet appointments. My family meets every Sunday at my grandparent's house for dinner and last Sunday I was asked about Sheena and just burst into tears at the dinner table while everyone just kind of hopelessly stared. Thankfully I live here (I have been taking care of my grandparents since my grandmother's cancer diagnosis though she is in remission she has mobility problems) so I just went downstairs and hung out with Sheena (and Sebastian and Silas) until I calmed down.

All this to say: my aunt knows I'm a mess and am going to continue to be a mess so she has decided to keep me out from 9 am after we drop her off until I can pick Sheena back up. So you will probably hear from me still but after she's already home. Right now is the really hard part just waiting for 9 am to come and being unable to sleep.

I feel bad dumping all this worry on my family and others but it has helped to type it out like this.

To make up for it here's a picture of her laying on Sebastian and one of her laying on Silas:
View attachment 270800 View attachment 270802

We can just chat in this thread too, that way if others are online they can pop in as well.

I’m actually only available so much lately because I took the week off from work since my kitty cat has cancer too and her time is nearing the end.

It’s nice that you have a great support system a lot of people aren’t so lucky when dealing with family/coworkers who say “it’s just a cat” (I’ve experienced this myself too) so this forum is great to connect with other cat lovers who know what each of us is going through/feeling.

It’s sweet how close Sebastian and Silas are loving the pics.

 

[Alinalou]

When we found Sinclair's cancer it was already too late, he had gotten sick late December 2017 and I couldn't get him to eat. Then all of January we tried every blood test and prescription food and antibiotics and dewormers and x-rays and ultrasounds. I don't think anyone expected it to be cancer he was only 8 months old when he passed.
I'm sorry you're going through that I know how painful it is to just watch them deteriorate it's a terrible and helpless deep grief. If you'd like to share anything about that I'm here.

I always thought that if the universe has any logic to it, the reason our companion animals pass so far before us is so that we can fit more in our lives because there are so many that need homes. At least that is what comforts me.
I adopted Sebastian after my original cat Shaylee passed. I adopted Sinclair after discovering Sebastian was really social with other cats, then adopted Silas after Sinclair passed. I gave myself (and Sebastian) a little time to grieve of course but I found that the distraction prevented me from becoming an entirely helpless non-moving blob of depression.

Sheena was sort of a surprise because even though I had been wanting another cat I wasn't really looking when I found her.

Here's one of Shaylee and my favorite picture of Sinclair (he's the one on top) and Sebastian:


Shaylee was a feral kitten we captured when I was around 9 years old and I have loved black cats ever since. There's also always a lot of them in shelters around here. Though of course I think they all look totally different but I might be biased. Sheena gets called pumpkin because her orange makes it look like my cats are Halloween themed.

 

[FelisCatus]

Are you taking Sheen in soon? Forgot to ask what timezone you are in. It’s 8:20am here currently (EST). My kitty cats and I are here ready and waiting to talk to you .

One of my cats is black too, but he has green eyes and not orange. He was born Oct 31st so the orange would have suited him more haha. I’ve only been on here for a few weeks and since then have only really focused on asking for help for my sick kitty and providing help as much as I can. I will make an intro post and share my kitties soon .

 

[Alinalou]

I’m in EST too and we’ll be on the way soon I’m trying to keep calm.

I’ll be looking out for your post then! Are you a monster hunter fan?

 

[FelisCatus]

I’m in EST too and we’ll be on the way soon I’m trying to keep calm.

I’ll be looking out for your post then! Are you a monster hunter fan?

Will she require an overnight stay? If so make sure to provide either her favourite blanket or a shirt of yours that has your scent on it for comfort (or both).

Yep, when Generations came out I played exclusively as a Prowler so no one wanted to play with me online hehe.

 

[Alinalou]

Thankfully it is not overnight, I’m pretty sure this clinic isn’t supposed to board animals though she has stayed overnight 2 days in a row during the purse sting event where they tried to adjust it 3 times. I’d be even more of a mess if she had to stay.

The only one I’ve played is World because my brother gifted me his old PS4 when he upgraded. Otherwise I’ve only owned Nintendo consoles and handhelds. I was awful at it but it was fun!

 

[FelisCatus]

Have you talked to your vet yet about post-surgery care or will they do that when it’s done? She will probably be prescribed something for the pain/anti inflammatory like Metacam or something else that makes her seem stoned so if she acts different/looks out of it, it may just be the pain meds.

I also have a PS4 but nowadays I tend to be an exclusive NGamer... can’t wait for Animal Crossing on Switch (also the rumored Skyward Sword port). I need to see Ankha in 1080p . She’s not even in Pocket Camp yet...

 

[FelisCatus]

How did the drop off go? Are you staying at the clinic during the duration of the surgery or going somewhere nearby to grab a breakfast and such?