#2 squirts

I did a search on 'squirt' and perhaps I'm not using the right verbiage so the search hasn't been fruitful.

Earlier this evening I noticed my girl Josie in the litterbox and instead of the usual, she squirted out a small amount of dark and light brown poop. Very tiny amount. I was concerned of course but not panicked and administered some petroleum jelly as my first thought was there may be some hairball blockage. The squirts are what have made it around the blockage? Plus, she also coughed up some foam a little bit later. Which I've seen before as a precursor to hairballs or stomach upset. The upset usually happens when she's eaten some red meat. She's never been able to handle beef, venison, lamb, etc. But I've not feed them her anything different, just her favorite Wellness Chicken and Innova dry.

She's continued to squirt every hour or two. The squirts have very little brown now and are mostly clear and sticky. Which leads me to think she's now excreting the jelly.

Does this make it less likely the issue is a hairball? I wonder if she's eaten something that may be causing her digestive issues. There was solid waste earlier in the day but I couldn't tell if it was hers or her sister's. She's not hiding, making any noise in pain but is a little subdued. When it came to her night meal, I gave her just a bit of canned because I didn't want to give her a full meal if she was blocked. She ate the snack portion but didn't demand anymore.

Just asking now as it's almost 2AM. I will monitor and consider a vet visit if this continues. My vet office isn't open on Sundays but there is a Banfield down the street. I do not like them but if the situation warrants vet attention, she will go.

What you need to look up is diarrhea.
It is not caused by hairballs whatsoever, it is some sort of upset in her stomach/intestines. I would take her to a vet as soon as you can.

Give her water with a tiny bit of milk in it, just enough to turn it white, to keep her hydrated.

You should definitely take her to the vet! Something very similar happened with my cat a few months ago when I first got her. I learned then from the vet that letting diarrhea go untreated can lead to serious dehydration and even death very quickly in cats (especially kittens, although you didn't mention her age). Mine needed medicine, sub-q fluids and prescription food! Take your baby to the vet asap!

In the meantime, you can also mix UNFLAVORED (just the plain clear stuff) pedialyte with her water so she doesn't lose too many electrolytes.

Josie is 2 3/4 years old. She is still having the squirts and also heaving. Her sister started to heave a bit herself. I will go out and buy the pedialyte.

The reason why I didn't look up diarrhea is because the squirts are a very tiny amount. A teaspoon or so. She's not had explosive diarrhea or anything like that.

I wonder if they got a bad can of Wellness. Maybe something's wrong with the water? I haven't ruled out hairballs because they've had a lot of problems with them this spring/summer. And stupidly, I went more than a week without giving them treatment (jelly). I also haven't vacuumed in awhile and they could be ingesting the buildup in the carpet. The other cat is heaving a bit but doesn't have the squirts. It's why I think hairballs could still be the culprit.

Dislike the nearby Banfield, but Josie is not doing well so we're off. From the symptoms, she's blocked from either hairball, constipation or something else. But there's something she can't pass.

For Josie and let us know how the appt. went

Sigh.

Maybe due to the pedialyte and the hubbub of a large vet office, Josie looked pretty good at Banfield. The vet actually said she was the picture of health and not a cat in distress. The vet squeezed Josie a few times and didn't think she had any signs of a bloated or impacted abdomen. She took Josie back for the finger test and her colon up until the vet's finger did not have any waste and was smooth, if a little mucousy. For $700, she would do x-rays and bloodwork but her advice was to take Josie home and monitor her for another day. She gave me some sulcrafate and something to firm up the liquid poop.

I was a little relieved Josie did so well. Unfortunately I think that was adrenaline and she's quite lowkey again. She's still vomiting -- up came her pedialyte and her meds. So I'm going to call our regular vet first thing in the morning.

Perhaps it's not an obstruction after all. Maybe she ingested something that's upsetting her stomach. It's worrying that she can't even hold down liquids at this point. I did see chasing a bug last night. Perhaps she ate it? Could be food but her sister eats the same exact thing and she seems to be okay. If it's an obstruction, a really stubborn hairball, it's definitely high up as her food and water are coming back up without signs of digestion.

Ugh, yeah I've heard horrible things about Banfield, though I've never been myself. If she's not keeping her medicine down, a home remedy for loose stools that I've tried with success is just unflavored pureed pumpkin (you can buy it canned at the store, but don't accidentally get the pumpkin pie filling with all the sugar, etc.). You can just give a couple tablespoons a day.

Hope you can get her into the regular vet asap!!

I've used pumpkin to help with constipation, didn't occur to me to use it for loose stools. Duh. It's a bit hard to find during the non-holiday season though. I've used sweet potato as a substitute.

Josie is auditioning for a soap opera. She looks back to herself this morning. Before going to bed late, I gave her just a smidgen of food. I didn't find any of it on the carpet this morning! So I gave her a bit of breakfast. Looked good until I was ready to leave for work and I found just tiny bit of throw-up on the carpet. It was a mucousy yellow, no food in it. Sigh, so I'm staying home this morning to monitor her. I gave her more food and I'm waiting to see if it stays down. No more diarrhea from her but it could be from not having any food in her system for so long.

Banfield, either is working on their customer service or I have a note in my file. I severed our relationship two years ago and told them exactly why. So far this morning, I've had the vet call to check up on Josie and now another call from office. Not sure if it's enough to entice me back but kudos to them for effort.

Big thanks to everyone here for their concern also!

Sounds like she's on the right track. Just keep an eye on her and check her stool after she eats. Keeping her hydrated right now is the best thing and it looks like you've got it under control. Hope all goes well.

Josie did well yesterday. She had a small breakfast and her regular dinner. No vomiting, no diarrhea. She also ate breakfast today (regular portion). I'm at work now so I'm not sure if she's kept that down.

My one big worry is that she has not had a regular bowel movement since Friday or Saturday (there was a deposit on each day and I don't know if which belonged to her or her sister). She had the squirts Saturday evening to Sunday. I'm hoping it's just that her digestive system is exhausted and it will take her a couple of days to get back on schedule.

The worst is that if it was a blockage issue and that it has traveled down to the colon area. I may leave early from work, go home and check on her. May give me enough time to take her to the vet before they close. Or give her this evening and if nothing, then it's the vet tomorrow.

I've given her sweet potato in her wet food since yesterday and also added fish oil to today's breakfast.

I don't know who will be more relieved when Josie finally has a regular movement.

Success! I was thisclose to taking her to the vet but he told me to give Josie another evening. I came home from work, looked around to make sure there wasn't vomit anywhere and checked the box and there was the best deposit ever!

Sure I didn't see her in action but I'm positive it was Josie as her sister had gone yesterday and her schedule is 36-48 hours. It was unlikely she would go again today, especially during the day.

I got down to business and opened up some of the rolls and boy there was so much fur. And there was some very gooey foul smelling ones too. Exactly as my vet told me to expect.

So happy!

Weird thing...why is it the more I brush, the more hairballs my cats seem to have? Am I encouraging them to lick more?

Woo Hoo! Good to hear the news