I have a 5mth male who is normally ridiculously active and happy. 3 nights ago he vomited and within it was two small foam balls. These are from holiday decorations - the red holly berry type, they look more like cranberries especially in size. He acted fine after that. The following night he threw up a third foam ball and again seemed fine afterwards. All day yesterday and today he's been very lethargic, literally stays in one place and will not play unless it's to eat or drink. He will eat but much more slowly and is drinking. Has not had a bm in 4 days. I gave him some olive oil with dinner last night. His fur is also oily looking and not his normal shine. I am unsure if he has another ball stuck somewhere inside or if he is constipated. Not sure what next steps I should try.
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Help! Foam ball swallowed - unsure what to do
- Thread starter map82485
- Start Date
In my opinion, you should take him to the vet right away...
At this point I really think your cat needs to see a vet or at the very least you need to contact a vet. If it were my cat, I would be bringing him to an emergency vet, especially with no BM. He could be blocked, which is an emergency situation. Please at least get in contact with a vet. Good luck!!!
He needs a vet ASAP, the lethargy should be a concern.
He needs to go to the vet now. He could have a blockage especially where he isn't having a BM.
Please take your cat to the vet. This sounds like a potentially life-threatening emergency to me.
Please update us and let us know how it goes.
Please update us and let us know how it goes.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #9
Thank you all for confirming what my gut was telling me. A few people thought I was over reacting, turns out he has at least 7 of the balls logged in his colon. It's also blocking the bladder and had I not gone tonight it could have been far worse. They are keeping him overnight for fluids and enemas as they believe he will be able to pass them since they have already made it so far through. Duncan should be fine tomorrow, thankfully no anticipated surgery required. I will update when this is over. Thanks again!
THANK YOU for taking him to the vet.
I am very glad to hear that the vet thinks he will be okay.
I am very glad to hear that the vet thinks he will be okay.
I'm so glad you took Duncan to the vet! Please let know how he does over the next couple of days. I'm sure you'll be on "poop watch" looking for those little red foam balls!
I am SO glad you were able to get him to the vet. Please keep us posted on his progress.
Thank goodness you got Duncan to the vet!!! I hope that they are able to help him. :cross: Holiday decorations wreck havoc on so many kitties over the season and most seem to want to "eat" the decorations. There are many decorations that I just don't put out anymore because of my kitties. Please keep us posted on your Duncan. We care!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #14
A very sad update: the vet called around 2:30am, Duncan couldn't stabilize his breathing so they took an xray and found fluid in and around his lungs and heart. I authorized an echocardiogram for this morning and he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of heart muscles as well as pleural effusion and is in congestive heart failure. He was born with this disease. IF they can get him out of this acute failure, his prognosis is less than a year and on meds 3 times a day. Trying to work through what to do next. Thanks for all your thoughts.
I'm sorry you are dealing with this.
My mother's cat also went into congestive heart failure and was given less than a year, but lived a year and a half and she had a happy year and a half. The keys were making sure she got her meds and getting her to the vet if there were changes in behavior, not eating, etc. good luck to you and Duncan.
Oh no! I am so very sorry for this. I lost kitty to Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy a few weeks after I adopted him, he literally showed no signs, he just collapsed. With meds they can lead a pretty normal life.
I am very sorry to hear this news. HCM is very sad and one of my cats Felix, died of it 2 years ago. When we got the diagnosis i burst into tears. He never had any symptoms. The fluid in and around the lungs is from congestive heart failure, a symptom of this disease. Your vet is going to get this under control most likely with diuretics like lasix, which will cause him to pee a lot and drain his lungs. In addition to meds to help his heart, he will probably stay on Lasix for life. I want to go over a few important points.
- Unfortunately, Lasix can put a cat into kidney failure (this happened twice to Felix). So you will need to pay very close attention to kidney values and appetite. If his appetite crashes, its probably a kidney value emergency. And the usual treatment for kidney failure is Sub Q fluids, but you can't give sub Q fluids to a cat with HCM and CHF (Congestive heart failure) because the fluids go straight to the lungs putting the cat back into CHF. An effective emergency treatment for HCM cats in kidney failure is to insert a main line into their neck or chest and administer the fluids directly into the blood stream. This is a big deal, and requires temporary hospitalization, but it works.
- The trick so to speak with many cats with this illness is to keep them in balance between kidney failure and heart failure. Your cat may in time bounce back and forth between these two problems.
- You can tell when your cat is going into CHF by timing his breath rate while at rest or asleep. A cat who is getting fluid in his lungs will have a faster breath rate. Speak to your vet about this, and get a stop watch or a watch with a second hand etc, and start timing him daily. 20/min or less is great. Around 40/min and its an impending emergency. The best time to time him is when he is asleep. Your vet can give you specifics, when to be concerned, how to adjust his lasix, when to give an emergency injection(see below) and when to bring him in for an emergency.
- Assuming you get Lasix in pills, ask your vet for a couple of emergency doses of Lasix in syringes that can be given sub Q (under his skin, super easy, takes one second and he won't even feel it). Have your vet teach you how do give an injection by sub Q (he could show you with saline solution and you could even try it there at the office, the amount is very very small, a few 10th's of a cc, like a few drops. Then if he has a heart failure crisis, you can inject him before you rush to the vet.
- You need to be prepared to be make numerous visits to the vet over the course of his remaining life. You may need an 24/hr hospital if one is near you. If you have a good relationship with your vet, now is the time to ask for his or her private cell number, and my vet was happy to oblige, and this will be helpful to you if you have to make a call after hours.
- Lastly, this can be a very expensive illness. Fortunately we had insurance that covered most of it. If you have good insurance, now is when its going to start paying you back.
The good news is that you may be able to control this for some time, and get some quality time with him. Also, when he's not in CHF he will probably feel just fine. You, in consultation with your Vet will know when the time has come to let him go.
I know what this is like and it is devastating news. I'm so sorry. If you want to PM me feel free.
Stephen
- Unfortunately, Lasix can put a cat into kidney failure (this happened twice to Felix). So you will need to pay very close attention to kidney values and appetite. If his appetite crashes, its probably a kidney value emergency. And the usual treatment for kidney failure is Sub Q fluids, but you can't give sub Q fluids to a cat with HCM and CHF (Congestive heart failure) because the fluids go straight to the lungs putting the cat back into CHF. An effective emergency treatment for HCM cats in kidney failure is to insert a main line into their neck or chest and administer the fluids directly into the blood stream. This is a big deal, and requires temporary hospitalization, but it works.
- The trick so to speak with many cats with this illness is to keep them in balance between kidney failure and heart failure. Your cat may in time bounce back and forth between these two problems.
- You can tell when your cat is going into CHF by timing his breath rate while at rest or asleep. A cat who is getting fluid in his lungs will have a faster breath rate. Speak to your vet about this, and get a stop watch or a watch with a second hand etc, and start timing him daily. 20/min or less is great. Around 40/min and its an impending emergency. The best time to time him is when he is asleep. Your vet can give you specifics, when to be concerned, how to adjust his lasix, when to give an emergency injection(see below) and when to bring him in for an emergency.
- Assuming you get Lasix in pills, ask your vet for a couple of emergency doses of Lasix in syringes that can be given sub Q (under his skin, super easy, takes one second and he won't even feel it). Have your vet teach you how do give an injection by sub Q (he could show you with saline solution and you could even try it there at the office, the amount is very very small, a few 10th's of a cc, like a few drops. Then if he has a heart failure crisis, you can inject him before you rush to the vet.
- You need to be prepared to be make numerous visits to the vet over the course of his remaining life. You may need an 24/hr hospital if one is near you. If you have a good relationship with your vet, now is the time to ask for his or her private cell number, and my vet was happy to oblige, and this will be helpful to you if you have to make a call after hours.
- Lastly, this can be a very expensive illness. Fortunately we had insurance that covered most of it. If you have good insurance, now is when its going to start paying you back.
The good news is that you may be able to control this for some time, and get some quality time with him. Also, when he's not in CHF he will probably feel just fine. You, in consultation with your Vet will know when the time has come to let him go.
I know what this is like and it is devastating news. I'm so sorry. If you want to PM me feel free.
Stephen
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Oh wow. I guess you might not have known if he hadn't swallowed those foam balls. Please do keep us updated!
So very sorry to hear about this new diagnosis on top of the foam ball issue. It is a treatable disease. Whatever you decide, we are here for you and hope for all the best for Duncan. Loads of vibes coming your way, hun. DUNCAN
It is a treatable disease. Whatever you decide, we are here for you and hope for all the best for Duncan. Loads of vibes coming your way, hun. DUNCAN
I'm so sorry about the HCM diagnosis. Many thoughts and vibes for Duncan....
