Cat with possible obstruction questions

I saw my cat eat a piece of wood Friday or Saturday night.

Sunday night to Monday morning he vomited like 8 times.

Then Monday night he was straining, like lying on his side and lifting one leg up in the air. He also stood in the litter box for like 10 minutes but did not poop.

I took him to the vet and they x rayed to see if there is a blockage. They saw something suspicious but were not sure so they are keeping him overnight and putting a dye liquid through him that shows up on xrays and will show if his digestive tract is blocked anywhere.

The cost for the xrays and dye and consult and overnight stay is $500.

Anyways, I feel bad leaving him there alone overnight and I am worried that they will take me for a ride. Does anyone have any input? or help?
 

Has anyone had a consult to determine if a cat has an intestinal blockage?

She did a consult, an x-ray and an overnight with second x-ray with barium dye.

This ran me $600.

Has anyone had similar services or do you know of a place I can compare vet costs online?

Vet costs really vary a lot by area.  I have only known of one cat here that had surgery to remove a foreign object and this was probably 6 years ago.  The total cost was $2000.  From what I have seen here I live in an area with higher than average vet costs.  I have even seen vet bills here from New York City that are lower than the costs here.  I have seen some bills from other areas of the country that made me really resentful of the high bills here.  They are so low that I didn't think any vets any where in the country had such low charges.

I just read about a credit card for vets on here and then applied. I was approved for more than I thought and my score is pretty low right now.

I won't name it because people might think I am a spammer but it was very helpful to me and I wanted others to know about it.

Vet costs really vary a lot by area.  I have only known of one cat here that had surgery to remove a foreign object and this was probably 6 years ago.  The total cost was $2000.  From what I have seen here I live in an area with higher than average vet costs.  I have even seen vet bills here from New York City that are lower than the costs here.  I have seen some bills from other areas of the country that made me really resentful of the high bills here.  They are so low that I didn't think any vets any where in the country had such low charges.

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Yeah I guess this may be about right. Thank you.

I'm not sure why they would not do an ultrasound. An ultrasound might cost $400-500 depending on the area. With surgery to remove the obstruction, it could cost $2k plus. That sounds about right.

Good luck! Poor baby.

A piece of wood? You know they will have to go in to remove it. I can't imagine the damage happening along the digestion track if it is on the move. Vomiting and straining...poor kitty.

$2000 is about right for surgery.

It turned out to be an obstruction in his urethra. The wood passed. I assumed it was the wood and not the bladder because he was vomiting but I guess urinary blockage toxicity causes vomiting.

It is common for a kitty to vomit a lot when they are blocked.  

I hope your baby's feeling better!