Stressed to the max. Going out of town on Saturday and Katie is acting funny

Well it's been awhile since being on here, but things have been going pretty well til Sunday. Katie has been completely normal aside from a little itchy and extra grooming due to summer allergies. Anyways, Saturday she was her normal happy self. Sunday morning she tried to throw up a hairball. A small glob of just groomed hair came up with some white foam. She tried twice more and no hairball. She acted punky the rest of the day. She did eat a few treats and some canned tuna(which I only reserve for appetite stimulants) but not much of her regular food. I gave her a quarter Pepcid and her miralax as she can get constipated. She did have a stool early Monday morning. I have been giving her laxatone too because of the hairball. She still wasn't interested in food yesterday so I took her in. Everything was normal on exam and they couldn't palate anything major and her tummy was soft. We opted to give a cerenia injection for nausea. She seemed to act better yesterday and ate some of her normal diet and seemed slightly happier. Today we are back to not wanting to eat breakfast and she only touched a few treats. I am taking her back for bloods and an X-ray to make sure we aren't missing anything. I'm pretty sure it is a stubborn hairball as she will act this way til producing a hairball which doesn't take long. I'm freaking more than usual I guess because I am going out of town for ten days starting Saturday. Unfortunately I can't cancel the plan tickets or vacation rental at this point. She isn't in dire straits and I'm probably overreacting but still very worried. My parents were going to watch her but if she isn't normal, I can board her at the vet where they can keep a closer eye on her. I just don't know what to do. With the combination of my dogs arthritis issues, the fact that I have to train new pet sitters to take care of my birds and now Katie, I fear that I'm not even going to be able to enjoy this long awaited vacation. This will probably be the last one for a long time though as my dog is getting on in years and I worry about leaving him too. I am just one big stress ball right now. At least I do have the option albeit expensive option to board her to make sure she gets her meds and proper monitoring.

Aw, poor Katie...and what a worse time for this to happen! I can totally sense your stress.

It could be a hairball, but a stubborn hairball can be mistaken for many things, so I would definitely follow through with some blood work at the least. I recently mistook a stubborn hairball; it turned out to be pancreatitis and my Sebastian was hospitalized. If there is anything alarming on her labs, you may be more at ease if she remains under the care of the vet until you return. If her labs look okay, you could tell your parents what to watch out for and leave the vet's number in case Katie needs to go in. It's so hard having multiple vets and being able to get away without worrying.

I hope she'll be okay. Do keep us posted.

Well it looks like she was getting backed up. They took a couple X-rays, and there was a massive amount of poo and gas. No wonders she was uncomfortable, poor baby! I had them go ahead and give her an enema. While she was there she passed some poop and hair. We did bloods and that should come back tomorrow. I'm pretty sure now that this is constipation since she has a history of it. Funny that her belly wasn't tense and bloated like it normally gets when she gets backed up? I took her home and she started to eat and drink. She even ate a little of her dinner. Not her normal amount, but I wasn't expecting her to eat anything because of the stress of being at the vet. Right now she is relaxing sleeping on her side. She isn't doing the meatloaf pose as much anymore or licking her lips. She just looks much more comfortable. Hopefully that's the worst of it. I may still board her, though just to make sure she is monitored properly. We'll see on Friday. Hopefully she will perk up some more and get back to her old self.

Aw...poor baby! Glad to hear it's probably just constipation and gas. Let us know how the blood work comes out, anyway.

Yeh, unless your parents can give Katie the Miralax while you're away, she may get backed up again. My Boo has chronic constipation, as well, and needs the Miralax every day or else he'll get severely backed up.

Well it looks like the bloodwork is perfect. No abnormalities at all. She still hasn't pooped again since the time she did at the vet. I gave her miralax last night and this morning. One thing that I was thinking was that the last time I bought miralax, I actually got clearlax, which was on sale, but supposed to be the same thing. I'm thinking it isn't because that is about the time she started having issues. I am having my husband pick up some regular miralax while out running errands. If it is that I'm going to be angry. All in the name of saving 2 dollars and Now I have to spend 300 plus the discomfort of my kitty.

That's great news about the blood work!

LOL. Hmm....yeh, it is very possible that another brand or generic store brand is not as effective. I've only ever given Boo the Miralax brand, but I do give him a generic store brand of Benefiber.

Glad she is doing better.  As far as Miralax vs Clearlax, once DH gets home with the Miralax, check the ingredients and see if they're exactly the same.  If they are, then that probably isn't the cause.  How much do you normally give her?  I used to give my Sven 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon twice a day, dissolved in about 1/4 teaspoon of water, then mixed into just a small amount of "gravy" from his canned food to make sure he ate it.  THEN I would give him the rest of his food

As far as your vacation, I would do as suggested above and just make sure your folks have your Vet's number, and let the Vet know that you'll be away, but if there is an issue, your folks may bring Katie in.  Then tell your folks exactly what to look for and that should do it.

I know it's a struggle when you go on vacation with a sick cat.    We went on a cruise a couple of years ago, leaving our kidney cat, Sven, at home.  We had our  neighbor come in 3 times a day to feed all the "kids", then we had a Vet Tech come in every other day to give Sven his sub-q fluids and just check up on him.  I swear, he did better for her then he did for us   When we got back, everyone was just fine, and we were gone for over two weeks!

Thanks guys! Well it seems that clearlax and miralax are supposed to be the same, but I was reading some human reviews and they said that it didn't work as well for them and actually gave them gas cramps which seems to be what she is getting. I've upped her dosage to 1/4 teaspoon bid. It used to be 1/4 teaspoon once a day or every other day. If I gave it the amount I've been doing she would get diarrhea. I've given two doses of her clearlax and nothing. She is still eating somewhat but still kinda off. The vet said she might need another enema. At this point, I think I am going to board her as my parents live about an hour away from me so wouldn't be able to take her to my vet. They get so nervous with my critters, that it is probably best she be at the vet. She will be stressed either way going to my parents or the vet. Hoping she will do better with the miralax in the next day.

Unfortunately, in my experience, the cat's system gets accustomed to the Miralax when used daily and will need increasing amounts over the long term. Boo started out at 1/8 tsp once a day, then 1/4 tsp once a day. Now he's up to 1/4 tsp twice a day, plus Benefiber. I tried to "take a break" from the Miralax for a week to break the tolerance, but he got constipated so bad, even with alternatives (slippery elm bark, probiotics, etc.).

I'm glad you were able to make a decision about what to do with Katie while you're away, and feel comfortable about it, too.
 

Well I did give the name brand miralax last night and sometime during the night she had some watery diarrhea. It doesn't surprise me because she had a higher dose of miralax plus the earlier clearlax. Anyways, she seemed more herself first thing this morning and ate her left over dry kibble from last night. Maybe an eighth of a cup. When I got around to actually feeding everyone breakfast, which is canned and a tiny amount of kibble, she wasn't interested. She did eat treats though, and when I shook the treat bag she came running. I'm wondering if she has gas cramps from the miralax and her intestines not being quite back to normal. While I was tending to my other pets, she was laying meatloaf style, which isn't unusual for her, but I was thinking her tummy may be a little uncomfortable. I did palpate her tummy and it is soft and squishy and she didn't protest in pain or anything. I called my vet and told them that she had the diarrhea but her appetite isn't quite back up to normal. They did say she passed quite a bit of hair and stool on the last enema, and they offered to do another one or possibly an ultrasound. I personally think the ultrasound might be jumping the gun, and I don't want to stress her with another enema just yet considering she did technically poop. Maybe I'm just worrying extra because I'm going out of town. Right now she is laying next to me in a comfortable position snoozing and purring when I pet her. I just submitted her claim on the bloods and X-rays she did have so waiting to get that money back and will pursue further diagnostics if necessary. I am a little tight on cash and don't really want to jump the gun on a 400 dollar ultrasound if it isn't absolutely needed. I was thinking of maybe having them do another X-ray to see if the fecal matter that was there the other day is now gone after her blowout from the enema and today. I feel like a bad pet owner for leaving her and going on vacation, but I do think this will blow over like always, I'm just more stressed because I'm leaving her. She will be at the vets when I'm gone and will be monitored and given all her medications . They will also administer another enema if necessary.