Intestinal Obstructions, How common?

Hi,

So i'm currently going through my second intestinal obstruction with my 2nd cat (previous blockage was with sister cat, and was hairball, 1 year separating incidents).  I'm awaiting ultrasound currently, but it's likely this one ate something since there was tape from a cardboard box in one of the vomit piles she left for us.  Right now, they couldn't be sure of what they were seeing in Xrays, but her abdomen is very sore and she's dehydrated.

So my question, what are the odds that sisters under the age of 2 could both have intestinal blockages 1 year apart from each other?  Could this be a genetic thing, where normal cats would pass the issues?  Could it be an indoor cat thing (since all my experience has been with outdoor cats, 5 cats, all with 0 issues)?  There doesn't seem to be any articles relating to frequency of occurances based on breeds or lifestyles, so I'm wondering.  I would think it could be environmental (like they're getting into something in my house) but since one was a hairball, i don't really have a lot of control over that in my house besides all the preventative measures I've already taken below.

Details on sister cats: 

Females

1 year and 9 months

Sisters from same litter

hairball blockage - short haired cat

new blockage - long haired cat

feeding canned hairball food - purina pro plan

feeding dry hairball food -  natures variety

feed frequent hairball treats

treat with hairball gel during shedding season once/week and once/month outside of shedding season

do best to keep them mentally and physically stimulated with lots of play, toys, some training

have a running water fountain that i clean and refill frequently to ensure they are drinking enough water (which they do, they love that thing)

I'm at a loss of what else i can do for them besides get insurance.  they're both becoming very expensive for being young cats.

Any advice/information/ideas would be appreciated.
Sara

It does happen but it isn't all that common.  Do  you free feed the dry food?  There is some evidence that can contribute to hairballs.  The hair is the last thing to leave the  stomach.  With free feeding the stomach never completely empties so the hair builds up  in the stomach.

Some people have had good luck with various digestive issues using an herb called slippery elm.  It coats the intestinal tract.  The only think with slippery elm if a kitty is on medication there should be two hours between the slippery elm and medication.  The  coating can affect absorption of medication.  Some people use egg yolk lecithin.  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/258103/best-brand-of-egg-yolk-lecithin

Frequent brushing and using a tool like the Furminator can also help.

Yes i free feed dry food.  As of right now, we don't know if this one is a hairball blockage.  How is the slippery elm given?  One of my cats refuses to eat if i put anything in their food, i have to shove the hairball treatment down her throat as it is.  Would having some sort of green grass/foliage for them to eat help at all?  They like to chew on boxes like they chew on grass outside.  Thanks.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/271692/slippery-elm-bark-i-have-some-what-dosage

It comes in a powder and you make a syrup out of it.  It can be mixed in food but some cats are too smart for that.  The syrup is a little thick so you can trick them by putting it on their paws and then they lick it off.

Many people do keep a container of grass going inside for their kitties.  You can get kits at the pet store to grow grass for kitties.

She ate an ear plug.  The industrial kind that have the cord attached and you stuff them in your ears and they expand.  I didn't even know we had them in our house, since we use them at work only.  I just still can't comprehend how both of my cats needed this surgery almost exactly a year apart from each other, for totally unrelated reasons.

Sara Hanson said:

 
She ate an ear plug.  The industrial kind that have the cord attached and you stuff them in your ears and they expand.  I didn't even know we had them in our house, since we use them at work only.  I just still can't comprehend how both of my cats needed this surgery almost exactly a year apart from each other, for totally unrelated reasons.

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Ah, but such tends to come in shoals.  Compare with the usual throwing up a coin.  Its seldom it once this side, next time the other.   The series tends to be verry uneven.

counted on 1000 throws, its becoming even, about 500 each.   Not not in short series of 10.

Another tip for less exotic  obstructions, is liquid paraffine.    the difficulty is of course to find liquid paraffine of food quality, but its a very potent remedy.  Vets use it.

I once found such in a shop for leather care - horse equipment, together with leather soap.   I found the company made equivalent liquid paraffine for vets use.

I mailed them asking about the difference, they answered  there are no essential differences.    Its fully possible to use this leather liquid paraffine for animals.

Its fully possible other companies producing leather care liquid paraffine are too useful for cats and other animals.   Ask the producing company!

Would feeding canned pumpkin help?

So, since January (start of shedding season) i have been administering hairball meds3-4x a week, then in the last month every day, and brushing both cats daily with a furminator.  The other cat recovered from her surgery well in about 7 days.  A week later, the other cat couldn't keep water down.  That was Saturday.  We've been taking her to the vets and administering fluids and cerenia in hopes whatever it is will pass, however it hasn't.  She's currently at the ER awaiting an ultrasound.

I'm at my wits end.  What is going on?  How can we be spending $10000 on 2 cats in under 1 year who are not even 2 years old?  When is it ok to say enough is enough?  I can't imagine anything more we could have done would have prevented this besides shaving her (i'm assuming another hairball obstruction, same as last year at exactly this time).

She doesn't have strong enough symptoms to indicate complete obstruction right now.  She doesn't have any/much pain, can be prevented from vomiting with cerenia, and has eaten and drank since Saturday.  the Xrays show one side of her abdomen is protruding more than the other, and her intestines are bunched up on one side.  To me, it seems she may have inflammatory bowel syndrome, and when a lot of hair passes, it inflames and prevents movement.  The cerenia seemed to help move things through a little.  But whatever is in there, it's moving slow, if at all.

My IBD cat would do this.  He started with flares when he was only 18 months old.  Six years and several vets later I finally got a diagnoses.  He never had surgery.  He was bad enough to be hospitalized twice and multiple x-rays showed an unchanging gas pattern and the bunching.  He was real close to surgery once when he came out of it.  There is a possible genetic connection with IBD so since they are from the same litter it could well be IBD.  My cat never had the hallmark diarrhea, his digestive system would simply shut down.  He wouldn't eat, vomiting stomach acid, and nothing out of the other end either.  Since he was only 18 months old with his first flare the assumption was ingestion of a foreign object.  

How did he get through his flare ups? I really can't afford/don't want to do surgery again, and am trying to grasp at anything to give me hope she can recover with surgery.  How do you maintain him now?

I understand completely how you feel.  I actually joined here when I was going through this with Patches.  I too was considering euthanasia because I just could not do it anymore financially.  I would spend a lot of money with a flare only to have him sick again with a few months.  There just did not seem to be a resolution from every vet that I tried until I took him to the clinic that I still take my kitties to.

Patches is on a steroid called Prednisolone now and has been for a little over 6 years.  When he was in a flare it was just supportive care which can get real expensive.  The most expensive flare that he had cost me $1000 because of all the x-rays that were done while he was hospitalized.  That time the vet took a chance and gave him an enema which got him started in the right direction so he would come out of it.  An enema shouldn't be given if there is an obstruction but nothing was ever seen in the multitude of x-rays so she took a chance and gave him an enema.  She said a lot of  hair did come out when she gave him an enema.  Sometimes he would come out of it on his own at home.  I would definitely bring up the possibility to the vet.  I think vets often don't think of IBD because the symptoms are atypical and IBD usually develops in middle aged cats rather than in young cats.  

It was a hairball again.  I mentioned IBD, but the doctor didn't think it was that since it was behaving more like an obstruction, and it was.  He seemed to think that IBD didn't cause obstructions to occur, and the intestines would be inflamed from the obstruction anyway, so a biopsy would show the inflammation cells anyway.  Looks like i'll be shaving both my cats in December every year.

Looking at pet insurance... would this be considered a pre-existing condition?  I feel like no one else has experienced consistent hairball blockages...

Sara Hanson said:

 
Looking at pet insurance... would this be considered a pre-existing condition?  I feel like no one else has experienced consistent hairball blockages...

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I think it may be a preexisting condition.. They will probably say it is PICA.. and not cover anything related to ingestion of foreign bodies. or any complications from this surgery.. or if they do cover it for a short period of time, they will eventually call it PICA or IBD... 

If you can.. try putting the money aside in a savings account.. it would be well worth it..

PICA for ingesting hair?  I may not be able to insure the cat that ate the ear plug, but maybe the one with the hairballs?

Sara Hanson said:

 
PICA for ingesting hair?  I may not be able to insure the cat that ate the ear plug, but maybe the one with the hairballs?

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I am just kind of saying that because of my situation.. they were so far fetched in dismissing a claim as a pre-existing one. It seems they are ok, as long as there are not too many claims dealing to a particular issue.. playing devil's advocate. I would hate you to waste money on them.. 

I was a bit lucky.. the insurance company paid out more than I paid in premiums; before "they' decided this was from a pre-existing condition.. 

Sara Hanson said:

Looking at pet insurance... would this be considered a pre-existing condition?  I feel like no one else has experienced consistent hairball blockages...

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I agree that the pet insurance would consider it a preexisting condition since both cats already have a history of hairball blockages. One loophole that i can think of... I have Embrace pet insurance for my two cats and when i signed up, they only needed 1 year worth of medical history before they gave me a "Medical History Review" to let me know if they considered ny cats to have a preexisting condition. If you waited a full 12 months after the last episode of each cat before you purchased the insurance, they may not be diagnosed with it as a Preexisting condition that way.