Post enema kitty not going

wasabipea

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Hi all, it's me again.

On Saturday my 13 yr old boycat had to have an enema because he was constipated. Unbeknownst to me beforehand, the vet didn't even give him so much as a tranquilizer, so he (and I) were quite traumatized from the event. When he got home, he went many times later that day.

However since then, there hasn't been any more poops. It's now Tuesday evening. I have a feeling his rear end might still be irritated and I'm hoping that he's just holding it because he's sore. I just gave him a forkful of pumpkin mixed with a little food and he ate it up so I guess we'll wait and see. He's been on canned only since the event, I think prescription dry food is what caused the blockage.

The vet didn't assess whether there was damage to his colon - he was actually incredibly rude to me, took the cat, enema-ed him and shooed us both out the door. Needless to say, I no longer have a vet.


Anyway, any advice on folks' kitties that have gone thru an enema? Is it common to take a couple of days to get things in working order again? He's never had constipation issues before.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
 

farleyv

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Constipation is such a common and aggrivating thing in senior cats. I have had this over and over since my cats seem to live quite a while! Good he is on canned food. There are things you can do but I have found that not much works. I have tried the flavored lubricants that come in a tube, castor oil. My vet told me the muscles they use to eliminate stool become weaker as they age too. So you kind of have a double wammy here. Please go and find a compassionate vet. He will need attention with this. Is there a cat only practice near you? Vibes for your little one to feel better soon. Keep us posted.
 
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wasabipea

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Thanks farleyv!


There's a cat only practice about 40 minutes from me, I may give them a call if nothing happens. There was (healthy looking) poop in the box last night but I'm not sure which cat presented it, I think it was him because he disappeared for a few minutes. That was an hour or so after he ate the the pumpkin.

I've tried to give him Cat-lax and he hates it, I give it to my girl for hairballs and she licks it right off my finger!

I'm also wondering if maybe the enema that the other vet did wasn't quite complete, since - you know - the poor cat was completley lucid and screaming at the top of his lungs (yes I heard this from the waiting room) and he has very sharp claws. They might not have finished, but I'm not about to call them.

I just hope that thing start working soon again. I'm solidly in the red from vet bills, between the kidney stone cat and her treatments and now this. I can't afford another vet appointment now. *stressed*
 

fiddledee

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What?! No sedation? The vet I'm employed for always sedates/anesthetizes an animal before doing and enema. Heck, I'd want to be knocked out too for one!

Your vet probably did not do a proper colon inspection, nor did he fully cleanse it out. Even if he did do a proper one [which from my experience, he definitely did not] sometimes another is required to get everything out as it moves very slowly through the intestines. Did he do any X-rays to see if perhaps something was clogging the small intestine, or the entrance to the colon?

I would recommend taking your cat to another vet for a second opinion, and tell him/her exactly what happened. Perhaps see if they want to do an X-ray too, if it has not already been done. If you have had an X-ray, request to have it from your previous vet and take it to the new one. Often some vets see things others may have missed.

I would perhaps keep him separated from the other cats and use another litter box so you can tell if he is going, or if it is another cat. Even if he does go, I would be on the safe side and take him to the other vet just in case.

I hope your kitty feels better!
 

nes

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Saturday to tuesday is a little concerning but if they cleaned him out it's not surprising he didn't go again for a little while. Fidd's got the right idea though, it could be a blockage which you want to deal with promptly!!
 
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wasabipea

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No, no sedation/anesthesia or nothing. The vet was totally nasty and sarcastic to me, and obviously cruel to my cat (I've never heard any sounds like that coming out of him before) - I have no idea why either. I've never given him any reason to act this way to me or my pets. No x-rays, no nothing. All he did was feel around his belly and say (verbatim) "well, he may be constipated. We can either do an enema and send him on his way or hospitalize him. What do you want to do?" I asked the vet what he recommended and he suggested the enema, since I'd be bringing the cat straight home I knew he wouldn't be anesthetized, but figured at least sedated. It was one of his last appointments on a Saturday, guess the vet wanted to go home. Jerk!

I'm so hot over that whole visit.


I'm going to look over the litter boxes again when I get home from work and see what's up. If there's not copious amounts of poop, I'll seperate them and call the place down the road, wicked expensive.

I'll keep everyone posted, thanks again for your replies, support and advice!
 

denali

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It is not unusual for a cat to not produce a stool for 4 days sometimes 5 days after an enema. Depends on how cleaned out they were. I have a cat that has had her anal glands repeatedly excreted and repeat enemas. And she sometimes does not pass a stool up to 4 days. I am not sure that each time she has been exctreted or had an enema if she has been sedated. I know she has screamed like crazy at times when being excreted. So, I would assume she was not sedated.

What do you feed your cat? Vets seem to push high fibre diets for constipated kitties. But in reality this can make the constipation worse in the cat. I have learned this from experience and also have heard this from many forum members on the Feline Megacolon group (which deals only with feline constipation and megacolon)http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline_Megacolon/

What seems to work better is a low fibre grain free canned food. I feed only canned foods with 1 to 1.5% MAX fibre content to my constipated/megacolon cat. The hairball remedies such as laxatone are okay for very occasional use as they have a high content of petroleum in it. If you are going to use a hairball remedy use Vetbasis. It has no petroleum in it. A great stool softner for cats is called Miralax (called PEG 3350 in Canada). This has been a life saviour for many cats with severe constipation - including my cat. Give your cat alot of water to keep him hydrated. I add water to my cats canned food at each of my cats feeding throughout the day. If the constipation persists your vet should take an xray to see if the colon is enlarged. When the colon is enlarged the muscles stop working to push out the stool. This is megacolon and usually a proper motility drug combined with Cisapride can help the cat pass a regular stool.

You will have to become more aware of your cats bathroom habits. Hoepfully this willo be a one time episode for him but if it is not it will be better for you to nip it in the bud before it gets too bad.

Good luck!
 

sharky

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Please call and explain the situation to a new vet... my few dealings with enemas and cats yielded stools within an hour ...
 
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wasabipea

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I am going to call a new vet today and bring him in probably later today for a complete exam. He's sequestered off in the downstairs bathroom today with his own box so I'll get a better idea what's going on. I believe he passed a little bit yesterday, but it was small and hard - looked to have some blood in it too. The girlcat, who is not having problems in that department, I think ate some of his pumpkin laced food and subsequently got the runs.

She let me know she was feeling better with Big Purrs at 4:15 this morning.


They're eating a high quality canned food mixed about 50/50 with Royal Canin Urinary SO canned, because the girlcat is battling a kidney stone. What got him constipated in the first place was the RC SO dry, I believe. All these problems started when I changed their diets because of conflicting crystal issues.

I'll just call a new vet, I've been trying to make due with substandard care and figure this out on my own and not doing a very good job of it. Calling now...
 
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wasabipea

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It appears that we have poop!
The vet and the tech were both very nice and I thought thorough, even though he didn't seem to think that there was blockage and didn't think an x-ray was in order.
He prescribed some Lactulose which seems to have done the trick!

Yay! Thanks everyone for your advice and support
 

denali

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Oh, I am so relieved to hear he pooped!!! You must be so relieved.


Lactulose is a stool softner that many vets recommend. I hope this is a one time occurance for your kitty but if not and lactulose stops working (which in many cases I have heard it stopped working - this also happened with my kitty) please know there is hope. Miralax is a tasteless/odourless powder (stool softner) you can add into your cats wet food. Most times the cat does not even know it is in there. As opposed to lactulose which is sweet and sticky and have to syringe into the cat. Lactulose takes water from the entire body to soften the cats stool. Whereas Miralax takes water from the colon only to soften the stool. Miralax works wonders and is less stressful on the cat.

Please keep us updated on his progress!
 
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wasabipea

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Thank you!

Good to know about the Miralax, I assume that's prescription too?

On an amusing sidenote: I got the 'scrip filled at the pharmacy that I use for my prescriptions, they have an account for me there. The pharmacist was acting all Tuff last night requesting a "full and complete" address for the cat. Oh yes, because he has a different address than me.
 

denali

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are you in the US? because it is called Miralax but in Canada it is called PEG 3350. Both in the US & Canada you can buy it over the counter at a pharmacy. I have also heard that you can buy it off the shelf in the medication aisle at walmart. Much cheaper than buying from the vets office. I posted a group in one of my other posts regarding a feline megacolon group for you to look at. There is alot of info regarding lactulose and Miralax in the files of this group. You could probably print off the info on Miralax for your vet to read over with you. You may want to get the go ahead first from your vet. Just so you both are on the same page.


Keep us posted on the progress!
 
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