my cat, chalupa just had surgery to remove ruptured part of intestine

What could cause a rupture of the intestine? Chalupa is 11 years old and she is otherwise in very good health but it seems her body has been trying to compensate for this bad part of the intestine for a while and doctor says it was a more complicated procedure because of how her body responded to the problem. They are waiting to find out what might have been wrong with the bad part and suspect lymphoma possibly. Has anyone else had this happen or anything similar? I have never had a serious problem with my cat before, I have had her for ten years. She does have a history of constipation that she has somehow managed on her own. How can I help this cat get through this? Is there any hope for Chalupa? Does she just have a future of pain and suffering?

I'm so very sorry to hear this about Chalupa.     Please know that my thoughts are with her and you, and I do hope that she makes a full recovery. 

I suppose some kind of blockage could cause a rupture, such as something that she may have swallowed or a backup of hair and/or bowels. I do not have any experience in this, so I'm just not sure. I hope the vet can give you some answers. I once had a cat that had six inches of his intestines removed, and he made it through surgery just fine.

Sending many vibes your way!          

Many prayers going your way for your sweet Chalupa and for you. I hope you get some answers and that your baby will be fine.

Thank you very much for your reply, it is very positive news to me. I am so relieved you and your cat have gotten through this before. Again, many many thanks.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers, this cat is my whole life, we have been through a lot together.

Sorry to hear about your girl and the surgery, but glad she got the medical attention she needed.  LOVE her name!!

My cat recently had surgery 20 days ago to repair damage from a rupture in her intestine that had been undetected possibly for a long time. Before surgery she repeatedly got very sick and was misdiagnosed with pancreatitis and IBD until an ultrasound revealed the real problem. She stayed in the hospital for 4 days after surgery and had to be syringe fed. The doctor thought her appetite should return to normal as soon as she went home. Her appetite never came back though she would nibble a little of the science diet I/D she was sent home with. She was also sent home with Baytril and Clavamox antibiotics. I had to force feed her a little  every day. On her third day home she vomited several times and vomiting continued on fourth day and this was happening along with diarrhea.  Fourth night I returned to vet to get her fluids and Cerenia injection. The doctor said the vomiting was probably due to the Clavamox and to discontinue using, but we had just finished the bottle anyway. She has not had too much vomiting since except a few times I might have triggered a little when force feeding. I was desperate to get her to eat so I started offering a variety of foods and sometimes she would only nibble dry food and I think that caused her sometimes to have difficult bowel movements which made her feel worse. She started looking pretty miserable with her inner eyelid showing, eyes looked sunken and no increase in appetite after more than a week. Third week I started using Mirtazepine I had in the house from when she was sick. Her appetite has gotten much better and she is willing to eat anything, however she still continues to look miserable and I can't help but think that she might possibly be in pain. Should she have been on pain meds this whole time following surgery because she was not. Her incision healed very nicely-by the way. How can I tell if my cat is in pain?

Also my cat is 11 years old and previous owner had her completely declawed (which concerns me about arthritis pain).

Thank you for reading this if you made it to the end I do not enjoy writing at all...

I forgot to add that the rupture was due to trauma or foreign object, it was not cancer.

one more question, would giving my cat probiotics be a good idea? I have been giving my cat Wysong PDG powder.

Generally signs of pain in cats is no appetite, hunching over, being withdrawn, crying, aggressive behavior, acting uncomfortable.  It does sound like your cat is in pain.  The vet didn't send your cat home on pain meds like tramadol or buprenex?  I would definitely talk to them about pain.  Yes I think that probiotics are a good idea.

Thank you so much for your reply. On the day of the surgery my cat did receive (from the bill): Buprenex SR 3mg/ml Injection. I don't know how long this lasts, I'm guessing maybe a week or two. So thank you I really wanted a second opinion.  I was not sure what would be causing pain or discomfort at this point or if I should even bother bringing her back in or calling the vet again since she is eating again now (though in a very involuntary zombie like drug controlled way). It did seem to me like this vet is not big on pain management for cats. This is the fourth vet I went to trying to ultimately figure out my cats problem, and she did fix it so I hope she can also help out now again.  Your feedback really helps!

I just spoke with the doctor and she said she does not want to prescribe pain medication, but instead would like to try prednisolone  1.5 ml once daily, this is for inflammation. My doctor suspects my cat has IBD and the pathologist missed this. So tomorrow night I will be trying this, I hope this steroid does not trigger a cold, because it seems like last time she got one dose she came down with a horrible cold, but then again she was misdiagnosed at the time.

Buprenex is a short acting pain medication usually lasts only about 4-6 hours.  I am glad they are going to give her something though.   Steroids can definitely cause issues, but sometimes they are the lesser evil for helping the cat get better.

Thank you yes I hope this helps her get better and I really hope she does not have to take steroid for very long. I don't really think I understand IBD and how it is treated, seems very vague. Thank you so much for your thoughts about this I really appreciate it.

My cat was on prednisolone for just a couple of days and I spoke with my veterinarian and we decided to stop it because my cat has been doing so well. Has anyone else just stopped without any problems? Doctor says she will be fine to just stop without weaning her off because we have not been giving it to her very long. I just really don't want her to get sick again.

After such a short time there wouldn't be a reaction to just stopping it.  It's only with long term use that she would be weaned off.  I don't think a couple of days was long enough for it to have any effect.

Thank you so much for your reply, now I feel a little better, by the way she was on 1.5 ml once a day for two days, don't know if the dose makes a difference. Thank you again. I would feel bad not to listen to my veterinarian anyway since she saved my cats life!

Just curious...is this the same cat that his intestines operated on?

Yes this is the same cat with that had a surgery to remove ruptured part of intestine. She is doing very well right now and I hope she stays that way.

Oh, such great news. I remember your first post prior to her surgery and you were SO worried. I'm so glad to hear she's doing well!!!