Constipated Cat, enemas not working..help!

Hello!

I have an 11yo male short hair, indoor only, current with vaccinations.

Thursday, we noticed that he was really lethargic, not eating, not his normal self. Thursday being Thanksgiving, our vet (and every other vet in town) was closed. Friday, he was no better but did eat a bit of food. We began to think it was constipation because he was growling at his butt and biting at it, and we didn't see any feces in his litter box when we cleaned it Thursday afternoon.

Since vets were closed, we did some reading online and mixed pumpkin with his food as well as mineral oil (none of which he ate), but we were able to get him to take about 1 1/2 tsp of mineral oil by mouth.

Took him to a vet this morning (not our normal vet) who did an x-ray and showed a large amount of stool pretty much from his butt up to his ribcage.

She gave him some fluids since he wasn't drinking, and said she'd give him a glycerine/DOSS/mineral oil enema, and that we could give him the other half a few hours later. Well, the syringe for the enema was about 10 cc's, and what we got was about 3cc's--not even half!

At any rate, the enemas have done nothing. He's passed some watery stool, but nothing of any size that we'd expect after seeing his x'rays. He's miserable, covered in poop, not eating, etc.

The vet is closed on Sunday, and she suggested that if the enema didn't work, to bring him in on Monday (if they had an opening!) and they'd sedate him and give him a warm-water enema---well, he's in alot of pain now. She gave him no pain meds, no nothing.

I have tried to give him another 10cc's of mineral oil per rectum, but I can't get the syringe tip in any further than a few milimeters.

Can I give him a glycerine suppository? Anything? Is there anything I can do until Monday? I live in a rural area and there are no emergency or 24 hour vets here, certainly not on Sundays......

Thanks so much
heather & sebastian the kitty

No do not give him anything without a vet's okay. This is a serious problem and although I too live in a rural area, I have to drive 1 hour and 45 minutes to the nearest 24 hr emergency vet, I have done this in an emergency. Your other alternative is to call your regular vet and ask him to open for you now, and just pay the high price that he will charge for him to do this. But this poor kitty has to be miserable with no return after an enema, and those are hard on them to begin with. Did the vet see anything at all that was obstructing this cat?

My vet is closed til monday and only gives a phone number to the on-again-off-again "Emergency Vet" that isn't open on weekends or past 8pm on non-holiday week-nights.

The vet did an x-ray and she showed us the x-ray and the film was taken of him from his shoulders to his butt, and you could see the fecal matter start at his butt-end and go up towards his ribcage. She said it looked broken up as opposed to one solid mass.

She said if this was a 'normal' day, she'd have kept him there all day long, sedated him and done a warm-water enema. But because it was Saturday, and because they're only open until 11am, she did the 1/2 enema at the office and sent us home with the supposed other 1/2 (more like 1/3).

He's completely listless. At least before the enemas he was able to be around us, but he's covered in poop and his butt is too tender to even begin to try to bathe him. He's just sitting in the kitchen. Not even giving water poops anymore.

I left a message on the vet's answering machine, but she even said today that there wasn't really anything that we could do until Monday. I wish I was close enough for even a 2-hour drive, but between snow, mountains, and miles and miles of nothing, the closest town I could go to is about 4 hours away and it's just as rural as we are and I don't think they have a 24-hour vet either



Living in the country does have its drawbacks, I suppose.

Thanks for your advice--I felt hetchy about asking because I knew that this was something that the vet would have told me to do if she thought it should be done. I am most upset that it cost us nearly $200 today to be told he was constipated AND we got charged $25 for 10cc's of an enema AND she really didn't give us any contingency if the enema didn't work out besides "come back on Monday"...ugh. I wish I could get him something for pain or something because he's very uncomfortable (and has been since Thursday).

At least once Monday comes, I can call his regular vet who I have alot more confidence in than the mystery woman I saw today....

thanks

heddi & sebastian

I am so sorry for his discomfort. I wonder if you can set his rump into warm water, and take a cloth that has some warmed olive oil or mineral oil and just stimulate him a bit? Nothing rough, just a gentle massage, the oil won't chafe him, and perhaps the warm water will help to get things going?

Thanks alot. I'll try that out just now. I appreciate all your help

The water is going to sting, hopefully the oil will soothe the stinging and allow this cat to let loose of all the stool backed up inside him

How's your baby doing? Poor little guy. I think the olive or mineral oil Hissy suggested is a great idea -- you might even apply it every hour or so to keep air from getting to the raw areas and making them hurt worse.

I wonder if it might also help to dab a little water on his mouth...sometimes if you stimulate the saliva glands, it will help "wake up" the rest of the digestive system.

Please give your kitty a kiss from me... I'll keep him in my thoughts...

How is your cat doing?

Oh my! Poor kitty! He must be in such pain...it just makes me feel panicy...I can`t even imagine how you must feel.
Has anything helped him yet?
Has he been able to go any more at all?.....Bless his little pooper! We all need to be able to do that!
I`m praying for him.
Linda

How is your baby??? Where able to get him to the Vet?

I have to say reading this makes me feel luck to live in a city where I know that I could get a hold of a vet 24/7 - 365. How's the kitty? I hope he's doing better!!! for you & for him

Yes -- as much as I'd love to live in a picturesque little town with a slower pace, there's a lot to be said for having quick access to just about anything you might need. There's a veterinary ER a couple of miles away from me, and I keep its number in my cell phone just in case.

There's also a good hospital about three miles away, and if there wasn't, I'm afraid we probably would have lost my father when he went into acute congestive heart failure a couple of years ago. So I try not to complain too much about the Big Bad City. :-)

Heather, where are you? Please tell us Sebastian is okay...

Heather
My cat has the same issue. Ruby my calico had an enima but still no bowel movement. There's a huge bowel in her colon that is very hard.

Carolpetunia,

Heather is looking for support with her cats constipation. The lecture on how fortunate you are to live in the city or sharing your fathers health issues is not constructive. This forum is here to share solutions. Reading your post does not help Heather or her cat.
A little sensitivity.