Vet Did Not Finish Enema

[AmandaL1417]

My poor kitty (10 months, 9 lbs., Domestic Shorthair) had been having troubles pooping for about a week before we were finally able to take her to the vet yesterday. Only small amounts of liquid stool had came out. She was straining while pooping, but some always came out. She was drinking and eating, but not as much as usual. We gave her some pumpkin, some digestive upsets drops from the pet store, as well as vaseline on Saturaday-Monday, it seemed to be helping the poat-straining vomiting, but not with the stool. So yesterday at 3 I brought her in to this vet (never had been, this is my first pet). The doctor felt her stomach and could feel a large stool. He said we needed to give her an enema. As far as I know they didn't give her any liquids. They only gave her a little anesthesia/sleepy stuff. After about 2 hours we came back. He said the stool was very dry and he was only able to get about 1/3 of a 5 inch long stool. He was able to form it smaller and break it into smaller pieces. They gave us laxatone and sent us on our way. They also said not to give her any food. They also didnt even bother to clean her legs off, the poor baby had poop all over her. She has been drinking and peeing well, and had passed about a grape sized amount over the course of many smaller dry pieces. She is still straining a lot when she goes and most of the time doesn't have any luck. I am very concerned about the care my kitty was given and I'm very worried about her. I feel like they wouldn't have sent her home if he didnt think it would resolve, but I don't know. No tests we done. They also didnt give us any stool softener or anything so I'm concerned about that. Shouldn't they have kept her until the entire stool was out? Please give me some insight because this is my first kitty, I've only had her 2 months. I want to help her as much as I can.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[AmandaL1417]

CONTINUED: Also I am worried about giving her no food... any tips on that? She has gone over 24 hours already. I called today and they said to call tomorrow if more doesn't come out. I showed concern about the straining but they didn't say anything about it.

 

[catlover73]

Is there any way you can get a 2nd opinion from a totally different vet? I am not a vet but I find that they did not address the straining issue very odd. I also do not like the fact the the pain issue from not being able to poop was not addressed. I am really not sure about being told not to feed her anything.

If you are questioning the care given by a vet the best course of action in my opinion is to find a different vet to get a 2nd opinion. I almost lost one of my cats to a partial pee blockage caused by a UTI due to a vet not explaining things correctly. Thankfully my cats former foster mommy I am close friends with demanded I take him to her vet for a 2nd opinion because she did not feel comfortable with the vet we saw. She went with us to the appointment because she was also worried about her former foster. My friend was so sure the first vet missed something that she paid for the 2nd opinion. Her vet hospitalized my cat at an ER vet immediately. Blockages are not something to mess around with. If your vet's action make you uncomfortable in any way please find another vet.

 

[AmandaL1417]

Thanks for your reply! I called my mom's vet at 4:30 PM today and they said the vet would call back, but he never did. Hopefully I will hear from him in the morning. Since it will be Friday I am concerned about getting her in for an appt anywhere. I can't afford taking her to an emergency care place.

 

[catlover73]

Thanks for your reply! I called my mom's vet at 4:30 PM today and they said the vet would call back, but he never did. Hopefully I will hear from him in the morning. Since it will be Friday I am concerned about getting her in for an appt anywhere. I can't afford taking her to an emergency care place.

I would try calling again in the morning. I understand how expensive ER vets are. Sonny's foster mommy and daddy took over the ER bill because I do not have that type of money either. My friend's vet was confident his medical issues could be fixed so my friends covered the 3 day ER ICU stay. I simply do not have access to $4,000.00 personally.

 

[laura mae]

It seems a vet should at least offer a stool softener to make it a bit easier to pass. The vet may have thought that such a thing wouldn't have helped the dry stool. Breaking it up does make it easier to pass.

Digging out dry stool can be very painful and the vet may have been concerned about damaging the cat's colon.

Laxatone is basically Vaseline- which isn't absorbed by the cat, but does help move things through the digestive tract easier. Keep that up. I actually just use Vaseline mixed with a bit of butter for flavor. it usually eventually works. My constipation prone cat also receives Miralax dissolved in water in his food on a routine basis. During bouts when he is straining, I give it to him in a syringe to make sure he gets it.

You can also ask your vet about using a glycerine suppository.

 

[silkenpaw]

Pain control in a constipated cat is tricky. Most non-steroidal anti-inflammatories are toxic to cats and narcotics make constipation worse.

laura mae makes a good point when she says manual disimpaction is painful and can be dangerous. The best bet is trying to get the stool to pass by itself.

What concerns me is not feeding the cat. Cats can get a fatty liver syndrome if fasted for a long time. The liver damage can be irreversible. We are usually told not to allow a cat to fast over 48 hours. So if you don’t don’t hear from your vet by then, I would definitely feed your cat.

 

[AmandaL1417]

Thank you for all your help! I ended up taking her in to the clinic away 1am - she was so miserable. Turns out this reason this happened is before we rescued her, her pelvis must have been broken because it partially collapsed and healed that way. She was never going to get it out herself. They gave her fluids and medicine, as well as an enema and about 5 inches of stool came out after an hour. She still has some left to go. I need to take her back there at 6pm to check on her progress.

 

[AmandaL1417]

I'll need to check her litter daily and give her wet food only, but after this last bit passes she should be okay!!

 

[catlover73]

I am glad you decided to take her in right away. At least now you know what actually caused this issue and it was nothing you had any control over. Hopefully once all the backed up poop is out and she is on wet food things will get better. Now that you know about the issue with the pelvis it will be easier for you to manage the issue before it gets this bad. Hope your baby feels better soon.

 

[laura mae]

This had happened to Booberry. He was a stray cat. He came around fairly regularly but was so friendly we thought he had a home. But he didn't. He was gone for a couple of weeks and then pulled himself up the stairs to our deck. We took him to the vet, they scanned him for a chip (none) and then sedated him to do an x-ray--shattered pelvis.

We consulted with a surgeon because one option was to do the very risky surgery, or let him heal on his own in cage rest for 8 weeks. He struggles with constipation as a result (and would have with the surgery too). They worried it was nerve damage, but most likely a slightly smaller passage way. I have to watch him like a hawk.

For him wet food alone is not enough. He is on Cisapride and regularly gets Miralax. We had a near disaster when a well-loved food had psyllium fiber in it (NW Naturals freeze dried raw) and he was super constipated. He had been having round stools that were very dry.

Spent 5 days in the specialist hospital on a high concentration drip which was basically clinical level Miralax. It took so long for him to start going on his own. But even this specialist was trying this before manually removing the stool.

It was super expensive. I thought he wasn't going to make it. NThat vet specialist recommended Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Fiber Response that has two different types of fiber in it that keeps gut bacteria balanced. It doesn't bulk up his stool. But it makes him very chubby so he doesn't get very much of it and I think the ingredients for nutrition aren't good so he gets it just about 1/8th of a cup every other day.

My back ups for straining with no result include plain Vaseline that I mix with a tiny bit of butter for flavor. He loves butter and accepts the whole clump as if it is butter. A couple of doses of this ( About 1/4 teaspoon) usually helps him poop.

The daily Miralax dose is higher than what people typically give and based on my vet's recommendation. I dissolve it in a small bit of warm water and then mix it in with his canned food which is now Weruva and Lotus Just Juicy Pork. These two brands came closest to the deliciousness that was the freeze dried raw foods that he loves but can't have (bone content terrible for constipation too).

My regular vet was just sure he had developed megacolon, but the vet surgeon said no, just a slightly smaller passageway from the fracture.

Anyway, you might want to talk to your vet about these types of maintenance options.

 

[misterwhiskers]

I’m new to this myself. My cat also just had an enema done due to constipation. Did the vet discuss megacolon? My vet recommended Miralax after his enema. I’ve also given him a little mineral oil, but every cat is different. My vet recommended a food with lots of fiber to help push things out.

 

[AmandaL1417]

I’m new to this myself. My cat also just had an enema done due to constipation. Did the vet discuss megacolon? My vet recommended Miralax after his enema. I’ve also given him a little mineral oil, but every cat is different. My vet recommended a food with lots of fiber to help push things out.

They did discuss megacolon, but i was told that it couldn't be determined until after the blockage was removed. Since my kitty has a collapsed pelvis, your kitty's experience will be much different if that isn't the cause. I feel for you and best of luck to you and your baby!!

 

[AmandaL1417]

This had happened to Booberry. He was a stray cat. He came around fairly regularly but was so friendly we thought he had a home. But he didn't. He was gone for a couple of weeks and then pulled himself up the stairs to our deck. We took him to the vet, they scanned him for a chip (none) and then sedated him to do an x-ray--shattered pelvis.

We consulted with a surgeon because one option was to do the very risky surgery, or let him heal on his own in cage rest for 8 weeks. He struggles with constipation as a result (and would have with the surgery too). They worried it was nerve damage, but most likely a slightly smaller passage way. I have to watch him like a hawk.

For him wet food alone is not enough. He is on Cisapride and regularly gets Miralax. We had a near disaster when a well-loved food had psyllium fiber in it (NW Naturals freeze dried raw) and he was super constipated. He had been having round stools that were very dry.

Spent 5 days in the specialist hospital on a high concentration drip which was basically clinical level Miralax. It took so long for him to start going on his own. But even this specialist was trying this before manually removing the stool.

It was super expensive. I thought he wasn't going to make it. NThat vet specialist recommended Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Fiber Response that has two different types of fiber in it that keeps gut bacteria balanced. It doesn't bulk up his stool. But it makes him very chubby so he doesn't get very much of it and I think the ingredients for nutrition aren't good so he gets it just about 1/8th of a cup every other day.

My back ups for straining with no result include plain Vaseline that I mix with a tiny bit of butter for flavor. He loves butter and accepts the whole clump as if it is butter. A couple of doses of this ( About 1/4 teaspoon) usually helps him poop.

The daily Miralax dose is higher than what people typically give and based on my vet's recommendation. I dissolve it in a small bit of warm water and then mix it in with his canned food which is now Weruva and Lotus Just Juicy Pork. These two brands came closest to the deliciousness that was the freeze dried raw foods that he loves but can't have (bone content terrible for constipation too).

My regular vet was just sure he had developed megacolon, but the vet surgeon said no, just a slightly smaller passageway from the fracture.

Anyway, you might want to talk to your vet about these types of maintenance options.

Thanks so much for the information! They recommended i/d digestive wet food. Do you have experience with this brand?? Our kitty had no interest in wet food initially, so she only had dry food until this issue arouse. She seemed to like fancy feast, hopefully she will open up to this food as well.

 

[AmandaL1417]

My kitty is back at the vet getting more fluids and on more medicine as there is still stool. I will know more in the morning, they kept her over night. Thanks again for all of your help everyone!

 

[misterwhiskers]

How is she doing today?

 

[AmandaL1417]

Back logged in after a long time. In case anyone has the same issues with a narrow pelvis cat: I give my cat .5mL of cisapride and 2mL of lactulose. It has varied in times per day, I did 3x a day for a long time. Ended up weaning it down to 1x. I HIGHLY recommend getting very strongly flavored cisapride. You can mix it in with wet food as a treat. You can give her just about 1/4 a small can with the lactulose. She does fine when she isn't stressed. If I go on a trip I have to board her. She gets too stressed if I leave, even if a friend stays with her. I recommend boarding your cat with a vet. My baby has unfortunately had many trips to the vet trying to figure that part out. She eats royal Canon gastrointestinal fiber response believe and it works wonders. Good luck with your babies!