Intestinal blockage

Our 9 year old female cat, Bunnymarie, is at the vets right now. She started throwing up and had loose bowels the other morning. I took her to the vet and had her checked. After checking her temperature( a adventure in it's own) they decided to keep her overnight. that evening they called and said they sedated her and gave her a enema. There was a lot of impaction. But there is a 4" blockage they can't seem to dislodge. Yesterday they gave her laxatives hoping to move it through. He is reluctant to operate because of the trauma involved. We have taken our cats to him for many years and I wonder if this the correct procedure to follow. Oh yes, Bun is a fairly long haired cat and both my wife and I believe the blockage is a hairball. I guess we are looking fro sme reinforcment that the right procedures are being done. Thanks for ANY help.

Hi there,

I moved you to our Health Forum as our members here have gone through situations and can hopefully add their input. Here is mine-

Did he do an x-ray or ultra sound to determine what type of blockage they are dealing with? If the cat is eating, drinking and otherwise okay, a wait and see in a vet's office is a perfectly logical approach. Under their supervision, if something bad happens, they will know about it right away. If the laxatives fail to work, you might want to ask your vet to do an x-ray or ultra sound to see if they can find anything foreign in the body then go from there.

I really have nothing helpful to offer, but I will be keeping your little Bunnymarie in my thoughts. Hope they can get that blockage taken care of!

Oh poor baby!! I am not sure why though the vet would be giving an enema and laxatives as she is not constipated having had loose bowel movements. If it is a forign object which it sounds like then neither of these will help and may even cause more damage and tearing of the intestines if it is a hard or sharp object. I would be more concerned about the trauma an enema would cause than surgery. I would actually say surgery is the only option here and done in a good veterinary clinic this shouldnt be any problem at all but it needs to be done as soon as possible.

Oh the poor little thing...Sounds like your vet is doing the right thing in keepting Bunnymarie (great name) under close observation. Good luck - and let us know how Bunnymarie is doing.

I write this with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart. We lost Bunnymarie this afternoon. The doctor said on Saturday there was no progress with the treatments so he scheduled surgery. Surgery was done Sat. afternoon and he called to say it was a hairball that wouldn't move. She came through surgery ok but his concern was infection. He call Sunday to say that she seemed to be ok. But when he returned from a meeting, Bun had died. Although we saved her from being put to sleep 5 years ago by the previous owners, we just didn't get to spend enough time with her. God speed BunnyMarie, we love you and miss you terribly.

OMG how awfull to lose your BunnyMarie that way . I am so sorry of your loss , may she RIP ((((HUGS))))

OMG, I cant believe it. I am so so very sorry for your loss. Poor Bunnymarie that is just the saddest outcome, I am so sorry. I am very sure she knew just how much she was loved by you. You did what you could to help her and I bet she knew that too.

With tears in my heart, I move this now to Crossing the Bridge. I am so very sorry that Bunny couldn't be saved.

Oh my gosh--I am so, so sad for you and your little BunnyMarie... I had a similar experience with my little Spike when he was 4 weeks old. He got a bowel obstruction of wood chips and grain hulls, as he was an abandoned kitten, and was foraging around and eating whatever he could get into his little mouth. I can only imagine how sad you are, and I have lost other pets to other reasons--so my heart is with you. NOBODY is ever, ever ready to lose a dear pet, no matter HOW long they have them... I wish you peace, as your dear little kitty is in a good place now and is waiting to see you again some day... I just KNOW this...