Really concerned about Joopy. Not much help from the vet so far!

Hi everyone.
I'm hoping someone may have some insight on this issue. It all started last Friday night when my female spayed and indoor cat Joopy threw up her food in the middle of the night. Initially I wasn't super concerned but the next morning she threw up again and later that day she threw up another meal. I called the vet and they advised to bring her in. It was rather costly as it was an emergency visit but I would do anything for Joopy. When I brought her in she was examined and xrayed. The vet came to the conclusion that there was no apparent foreign object obstruction but she had many hard poops binding her up. A bad but of constipation. They gave her a couple shots and provided me with lacutose (laxative) to give to her twice a day with instructions to feed her a wet food diet. The vet said he didn't expect her to throw up any more than maybe once after this regimen. Well, we got her home and she puked once after some food in the evening, in the middle of the night and a big one in the morning after some water. I went to work and my fiancee kept an eye on her. At this point she was starting to refuse food and her energy was dipping. My fiancee called the vet and they said bring her in! When he brought her in they got another vet to have a look at her and again all she felt were that there were hard poops but no foreign object obstruction. They debated on bringing her right into surgery but at the end of it they decided to keep her overnight and into the next day for monitoring. She was given an IV, fed a very small amount and I was told she did have one really small hard poop overnight. The good news was she hadn't vomited the small amount of food she had. They kept her right until close the next day then she was ok'd to come home with us and we were given high fiber food and instructed to continue with the lacutose. I feel like yesterday her energy was slightly up. She did eat but in very small amounts. We believe she did have a runny poop but I can't be 100 percent sure as it may have been our other cat. This morning she did go to the litter but when I checked it there was nothing visible inside. We're continuing with the lacutose (which Joop hates with a passion) but today her food intake has definitely decreased. She had two treats, lucked a bit wet food, put a small amount of chicken in her mouth (her usual favourite) and spat it out! It's like she gets a bit excited for the food but can't eat it. I'm feeling for her so much... she is so low energy. Should I give it another day? Does she just need recoop time after being sick? The positive part is she has not vomited of which she was doing constantly. I love Joopy so much and I just want her to get better. She's 5 years old and in good health otherwise.

Oh dear, I'm so sorry! :rub:

I don't really understand why the vet or hospital didn't give her an enema. Surgery? When they see no object and have no reason to suspect foreign object ingestion? Yet they can see and feel hard stool... odd. And when she continued vomiting, why they didn't give her a shot of cerenia (the standard anti-emetic used in cats) to stop the cycle of vomiting? Just all very odd!

I've been through a constipation problem like this with Spooky several times.

The constipation can result in vomiting when they strain to have a bowel movement. The constipation can make them feel ill, uncomfortable, lethargic and nauseous.

The acting hungry and being eager to eat is classic nausea. Again, cerenia treats this nausea, usually very well.

Ask the vet if you can use miralax instead of lactulose. It performs the same function, but is much easier to get into the cat as it is basically tasteless.

If she is now passing watery stool but never passed the hard, dry stool (I read one piece?) she may now be obstipated. The only solution now if that is the case is an enema. Unfortunately it would require yet another x-ray to verify. BUT if you know she passed all of the constipated (hard, dry) stool pieces, it is possible the lactulose has created runny stool.

If her appetite is still off and her energy still not normal, I would think her constipation may not yet be resolved.

Adding the high fiber diet on top of obstipation, if that's what she now has, will compound the problem. My "sick cat" food of choice is poached chicken breast and plain bone broth. This might not be a bad idea until you know she isn't obstipated or constipated, and chat with or see a vet on Thursday.

One of my cats had this problem, and an enema solved it, along with lactolose. My vet said this cat was prone to constipation and might require the lactolose for the rest of his life.

Thanks for your responses! Last night before bed she did go to the litter and had a very watery stool. Good news I suppose. Afterwards her energy went up quite a bit and she did eat a little. This AM she's a bit more active and wants to eat again but is still a bit picky over food. Keeping an eye on her today. Hoping she continues to improve. If not it's back to tye vet! I will ask about the enema for sure. She did have an injection to spread the nausea

Stop not spread! Whoops!

Joopy is still low energy and has hardly eaten. I'm now waiting on a call back from the vet. I really hope they can figure out what's wrong with her. I'll be bringing up the fact that perhaps she should have an enema. Sigh! I feel like I'm getting no where with helping her and spending so much money. Obviously I'll keep spending if I have too, I just hope the vet knows what he's doing. Oh my. Poor Joopy.

Can you go to a different vet practice for a second opinion? IMO she should have been given an enema your very first visit. That was how our vet handled it.

As I said, she likely needs another x-ray to see what's going on in there. Runny poo can mean the hard dry stool is still inside her, but the lactulose is pulling water into her intestines which can ooze around the stool blockage. That's called obstipated.

M megaroni , how's Joopy? :rub: