Katie in for tests today. Vibes needed, please.

I wrote about Katie in a thread called "air under cat's skin". That turned into
'Katie can't keep any food down'. It's been 8 days since she stopped eating and began regurgitating/vomiting. I've been syringe feeding her and giving her sub-q fluids since then. The last 2 days she's shown an interest in food, but within 1-2 hours it comes back up again--regurgitated, not vomited (I think). She hasn't had a bowel movement that I know of since Saturday (she had watery stools for 3 days last week, now nothing).

I took her to the vet last Thursday; blood work and xrays came back normal.
I'm takiing her back in this morning for a fecal exam and barium xrays, and anything I can think of to solve this problem. The vet mentioned a virus or the possibility of IBD, but she's only 1 1/2 y/o so that doesn't really seem likely.

Her demeanor and activity level are back to normal, after feeling pretty puny over the weekend. She's up and about, giving me head butts, circling her food dish, she even chased one of the boys a little this morning.

I've read about megaesophagus, but she seems a little too old for that to be popping up, and this came on so suddenly I doubt that's the problem.

I don't know of anything she could have gotten into, but then again, she's a cat, so who knows? I've been wracking my brain and can't come up with anything.

She could use some vibes. Hopefully, the tests will find a cause for what's going on with her.

Wow, how scary and frustrating. I do hope you at least find out what the reason is for all of this and of course that she's feeling better soon. Sounds like you are doing everything you can. Paws crossed here!

Sending lots of vibes for your sweet Katie.

Did the x-rays show food throughout her bowel? I wonder if she could have swallowed something that's not showing up on the x-ray (any toys missing?) that is blocking her up.

I feel your pain, I've been trying to get my sick little rascal to eat too. =(

I hope that Katie gets better quickly--with you taking such good care of her I'm sure she'll come around soon enough!

Originally Posted by tsarinanikol

I feel your pain, I've been trying to get my sick little rascal to eat too. =(

Click to expand...

Me three--it's so frustrating when they won't eat at all. Then mine spends the rest of the time hiding from me for fear that I'll syringe her some more food. Ugh.

Katie is spending the night at the vet's. We went to pick her up late this afternoon, and were told "the dr. needs to talk to you." OMG. It was the end of the day and they were super busy and by the time 20 minutes had gone by I was in tears. Turned out they couldn't do the barium xrays today because the machine had broken down! They tried to do a fecal exam, and there was nothing to examine. The vet said we could keep her hooked up to receive sub-q fluids all night and they would do the xrays tomorrow, or bring her home for the night, and make sure she didn't try to eat anything as it seems her stomach just isn't ready to accept food yet. We opted to leave her; taking food away from all of them would have been a real hassle, and the car ride stresses her something fierce.
The dr. is still leaning toward IBD as the problem. Hopefully, we'll know more tomorrow.
Please keep the healing vibes coming.

Has the vet checked her liver? I just had a cat vomit what looked like black tar and turns out its her liver.

Has the vet checked her liver?

Click to expand...

I've asked the vet about Katie's liver being damaged due to the fact that she's not eating. She doesn't think there's a problem there (yet), and is monitoring it as best she can under the circumstances. We lost a 7 y/o kitty to an "idiopathic liver disease" just last year, so I'm very concerned about Katie's.
I talked to the vet this morning; she called to let me know that Katie spent a quiet night and they've started the barium xrays.
I can't decide which would be worse--the xrays finding a blockage or Katie being diagnosed with IBD. Obviously, a blockage could be removed; IBD would be forever, I imagine. I have a feeling this is going to be a long day. *sigh*

I have two cats with air under their skin. The reason is due to severe injury (abuse) before they arrived here. After reading your posts, my suggestion is find a feline specialist, not just a vet to take a look at her.

have two cats with air under their skin. The reason is due to severe injury (abuse) before they arrived here

Click to expand...

This concerns me, as I still don't have a clue as to how Katie could have developed air under her skin (just on her left side). I'd never noticed it until the vet pointed it out, and the "rice krispie" sound has been gone for several days now.

The little lady is home now, and I'm still pretty clueless as to what's going on with her. The vet showed me the barium xrays; there the barium was, traveling thru her digestive system until it stopped cold in her colon. Six hours after being administered, it still hadn't found it's way out. The vet pointed out what they assume was a hard mass of feces, too far in to get a swab the other day. They assure me the barium will work it's way out; whether it takes the poop with it is another story. If not, it's looks as if an enema is in order. If that doesn't work, they're urging an endoscopy.
Katie received an injection of reglan, and came home with tablets of both prednisone and reglan. They told me to let her eat whatever she wanted for now, not to syrine-feed unless absolutely necessary. When we got home she actually nibbled some dry food and actually ate some moist food, which she normally doesn't care for. She hasn't thrown up yet, and it's been almost 2 hours. They're still going on the assumption that the stomach upset is from IBD.

We weren't 6 blocks from the vet's office when I knew that Katie needed to poop. Of course, that was still 3 miles from home, but you can't tell a cat to hang on until you get home. She was almost manic in her carrier, and I'm pretty sure that the two little hard-as-a-rock lumps she passed hurt when she expellled them. Hopefully, she's on her way to getting it all out of her system (I keep telling her that she will NOT like an enema). I've put everyone in the house on notice--"if you see Katie eat, drink, or poop I want to know immediatley!" And I'll be watching her like a hawk.

Spot used to poop in his carrier on the way to the vet. At first he would get distressed, but I learned to put down absorbant mats (like puppy potty pads) because he's often urinate too. Keep telling Katie that it's better out than in--I'll be sending her some good poopy vibes!

I don't think I've ever been so happy to see a cat poop!
This afternoon, at 12:45 CST, Katie finally pooped! And I'm not worried about anything being left in there, if you know what I mean.
She's nibbled on some dry and moist food today, and hasn't thrown up once!Yea!
Of course, I'm still at a loss as to what caused all this drama in the first place. I'm wondering if maybe she did have a virus and felt so puny that it brought on all these other problems.
Hopefully, we're over the hurdle now and she'll get back to normal in a few days.

Spot used to poop in his carrier on the way to the vet. At first he would get distressed, but I learned to put down absorbant mats (like puppy potty pads) because he's often urinate too

Click to expand...

That is a great idea. I have a towel inside their carriers, but I've always got those absorbant pads on hand. Why didn't I think of that?

Yay for Katie!!! The pads were great--when we got to the vet, we just wrapped them up and threw them away. I had to wash the carrier a lot less often that way. You can still put a towel underneath to make a cushion for her, but that way there is less laundry.