Cat suffering from intestinal obstruction

[Dheeksha]

My male cat who is 2 1/2 years old is not eating and drinking since yesterday. It's been 32 hours he didn't eat or drink anything. He's having diarrhea for 4 days.. from yesterday he is straining to poop but couldn't. I gave him glucose water but he is vomiting even that. I took him to the hospital. The vet took an x ray and said there are no foreign objects and the abdomen is not distended too. He said may be it was an indigestion.. gave him IV fluids and some anti vomiting shots. The vet asked when did I dewormed him the last time. It was 2 years ago. I suspect it is a blockage due to parasites. When he was having diarrhea I bought dewormer to give him. But now what should I do? What is the treatment for bowel obstruction due to parasites. Will it help If I deworm him now?

I called the vet again now. He said it can be a obstruction due to parasites and now dewormers don't work because he is vomiting. Told me to bring the cat tomorrow in the morning.

Right now he is hiding but not very weak.
What is the treatment in this condition?
In how many hours he should undergo surgery?

 

[di and bob]

I will pray for you both.......he needs something done, so I pray tomorrow tehy can find out what is wrong....maybe they can give him an enema? Get some Deletable Lickabels in the stew flavors for afterward, very easy on the stomach, mostly liquid, and what I give my cats when they won't eat. I'm so sorry......

 

[Norachan]

Hello Dheeksha,

Yes, parasites can cause an intestinal blockage, but a bad worm infestation can cause diarrhea and vomiting too. If your cat is vomiting even water it could be that he has a blockage.

What is the treatment in this condition?
In how many hours he should undergo surgery?

Surgery is not always necessary. The vet can give an anti-parasitic medicine via injection, but it depends on how bad the infestation is and also on the type of parasites.

Gastrointestinal Parasites of Cats Brochure

 

[Dheeksha]

Hello Dheeksha,

Yes, parasites can cause an intestinal blockage, but a bad worm infestation can cause diarrhea and vomiting too. If your cat is vomiting even water it could be that he has a blockage.



Surgery is not always necessary. The vet can give an anti-parasitic medicine via injection, but it depends on how bad the infestation is and also on the type of parasites.

Gastrointestinal Parasites of Cats Brochure

In how many hours the blockage should be cleared?

 

[Norachan]

Do you mean how long will it take to clear?

If the vet decides to do an endoscopy or do surgery it will be cleared quite quickly, but your cat will probably need to stay at the vets for a few days while he recovers. He's going to need IV fluids to help him rehydrate and your vet may put in a feeding tube if he thinks the cat won't be able to eat at first.

If the vet decided to give the cat a worming injection it will take a while for him to pass all of the parasites.

He's probably going to need to stay at the vets while he recovers.

How is he now, is he able to drink at all? I guess there are no 24 hour emergency vets near you, are there?

 

[Dheeksha]

Do you mean how long will it take to clear?

If the vet decides to do an endoscopy or do surgery it will be cleared quite quickly, but your cat will probably need to stay at the vets for a few days while he recovers. He's going to need IV fluids to help him rehydrate and your vet may put in a feeding tube if he thinks the cat won't be able to eat at first.

If the vet decided to give the cat a worming injection it will take a while for him to pass all of the parasites.

He's probably going to need to stay at the vets while he recovers.

How is he now, is he able to drink at all? I guess there are no 24 hour emergency vets near you, are there?

I mean in how many hours he should be treated after having an obstruction?

Yesterday morning at around 6am he ate a wet food pouch by tearing it by himself. By the time I seen it he already ate it. After a while I gave him his regular food. From then onwards he started throwing up the food. In the Evening at 6 pm he didn't come to eat and after sometime I have seen him straining to poop. All night he was sitting in the same position to defecate. He is not showing any interest in food. I gave him glucose water through syringe 1 ml at a time. But he vomited it.

At first I thought the food pouch he teared it by himself was the reason.. I thought the plastic wrap might have caused the obstruction. I took him to the hospital in the morning today. Vet has done an x ray and said he can't see any foreign objects in his stomach and his abdomen is also not distended. The vet gave him IV fluids.. He asked me when did I last deworm him. Then I suspected it might be a parasitic obstruction because he's having diarrhea for nearly a week now and I know he has parasites. I thought of deworming him when his diarrhea gets controlled a little bit.

Tomorrow I will do something to make sure his obstruction gets cleared. Now what I need to know is it's been nearly 34 - 36 hours now he started showing the symptoms. Now it's 5:45 pm in my country. The hospital opens tomorrow at 9am. I have to wait until then. Is it dangerous to stay this long with an intestinal obstruction?
Meanwhile I am searching for other vets too.

 

[Dheeksha]

Yesterday morning at around 6am he ate a wet food pouch by tearing it by himself. By the time I seen it he already ate it. After a while I gave him his regular food. From then onwards he started throwing up the food. In the Evening at 6 pm he didn't come to eat and after sometime I have seen him straining to poop. All night he was sitting in the same position to defecate. He is not showing any interest in food. I gave him glucose water through syringe 1 ml at a time. But he vomited it.

At first I thought the food pouch he teared it by himself was the reason.. I thought the plastic wrap might have caused the obstruction. I took him to the hospital in the morning today. Vet has done an x ray and said he can't see any foreign objects in his stomach and his abdomen is also not distended. The vet gave him IV fluids.. He asked me when did I last deworm him. Then I suspected it might be a parasitic obstruction because he's having diarrhea for nearly a week now and I know he has parasites. I thought of deworming him when his diarrhea gets controlled a little bit.

Tomorrow I will do something to make sure his obstruction gets cleared. Now what I need to know is it's been nearly 36 hours now he started showing the symptoms. Now it's 7:40 pm in my country. The hospital opens tomorrow at 9am. I have to wait until then. Is it dangerous to stay this long with an intestinal obstruction?
In how many hours he has to be treated after having an obstruction?

He's very tired after trying to defecate so many times but not that weak. He's sleeping next to me and responding while I'm petting him.

 

[Sarthur2]

So he is constipated now but also has diarrhea from worms? This does not make sense. He needs to be dewormed. That is likely causing his diarrhea. Do not wait to get him dewormed.

But at the moment he cannot defecate and the reason is unclear. Buy glycerin suppositories at a pharmacy, and shave a cat-sized piece off with a point. Insert this in his anus and wait for him to get the urge to go.

If he does not poop, you have an appointment tomorrow, at which time the vet will likely give your cat an enema. It is possible that a week of diarrhea has dehydrated him to the point his poop is very dry in his colon.

Please let us know how things go at the vet.

 

[Dheeksha]

So he is constipated now but also has diarrhea from worms? This does not make sense. He needs to be dewormed. That is likely causing his diarrhea. Do not wait to get him dewormed.

But at the moment he cannot defecate and the reason is unclear. Buy glycerin suppositories at a pharmacy, and shave a cat-sized piece off with a point. Insert this in his anus and wait for him to get the urge to go.

If he does not poop, you have an appointment tomorrow, at which time the vet will likely give your cat an enema. It is possible that a week of diarrhea has dehydrated him to the point his poop is very dry in his colon.

Please let us know how things go at the vet.

He had diarrhea but since yesterday he couldn't defecate. He's straining to poop. I don't know what caused the obstruction. May be the food cover or the parasites.

If that plastic wrap was causing the obstruction.. can enema get that out?

It will be over 48 hours to get him treated.. His intestines won't get injured, right?

 

[fionasmom]

If there is an obstruction, it is sometimes possible for loose, watery fecal matter to pass around it. This is not the same as a bowel movement and only indicates that the obstruction is still there.

Sometimes plastic wrap will pass out through the system, but it is not a guarantee. Surgery is sometimes necessary in these cases but only the vet can tell you that for certain.

Have you been to the vet already?

 

[Dheeksha]

If there is an obstruction, it is sometimes possible for loose, watery fecal matter to pass around it. This is not the same as a bowel movement and only indicates that the obstruction is still there.

Sometimes plastic wrap will pass out through the system, but it is not a guarantee. Surgery is sometimes necessary in these cases but only the vet can tell you that for certain.

Have you been to the vet already?

Yes, the vet took an x ray and said he couldn't see any obstruction. May be the wrap was not visible in the x ray.
Now it's complete obstruction except for a drop he couldn't pass stool. And he's throwing up white foam.
If there's an obstruction in the intestines they couldn't even urinate?

 

[fionasmom]

Yes. a large amount of stool or other obstruction in the bowel can cause the bladder not to empty, or not to empty well. However, we don't know for sure what is causing all these symptoms; they are serious and he needs to get to a vet.

 

[silent meowlook]

Is he urinating?

 

[stephanietx]

I would get him to the vet ASAP. He may need to stay overnight, or find an emergency vet.

 

[Sarthur2]

Are you sure he swallowed part of the packaging? If so, he may need surgery. I agree this is likely turning into an emergency situation.

 

[Norachan]

If you have to wait until 9 am then I guess that's what you need to do.

Intestinal obstructions are considered life threatening if a cat has swallowed something like string or yarn. The string can attach itself to part of the gut and as the digestive system moves it through the cats body the string will rip and tear the gut as it moves. A blockage caused by parasites will not tear the gut in the same way, but it will be dangerous if left untreated over days because the cat will suffer from the effects of dehydration and lack of nutrition.

What type of worming medicine do you use? Can you get something like Profender, which is a liquid applied to the back of the cat's neck?

Profender® Dewormer for Cats

Is his regular food the wet food pouches or dry food?

 

[Dheeksha]

Is he urinating?

Yes I have seen him urinating

 

[Dheeksha]

Yes. a large amount of stool or other obstruction in the bowel can cause the bladder not to empty, or not to empty well. However, we don't know for sure what is causing all these symptoms; they are serious and he needs to get to a vet.

I took him to the vet today. He gave barium sulphate to the cat. Vet said it will help to show in the x ray if there are any obstructions in the intestines. But this test will take upto 12 hours. He gave him IV fluids again today. While administrating IV fluids I have seen urinating normally. He has only bowel obstruction. I don't know what to do. These people are taking so much time to treat the obstruction. I am very scared. By tomorrow morning it will be 3 days ingesting that plastic wrap. I expressed my fear to the vet several times. He told me not to worry.. he was given IV fluids.. the barium sulphate will show where the obstruction is.. if surgery is necessary he will do it tomorrow.

 

[Dheeksha]

Are you sure he swallowed part of the packaging? If so, he may need surgery. I agree this is likely turning into an emergency situation.

That food cover was shredded into small pieces. After eating it he started throwing up. Now it is very evident he is having a bowel obstruction. What else can be the reason? If it was parasites can they suddenly cause a complete obstruction?
He's already having diarrhea and on top of that this obstruction.. these vets are taking so much time to treat him. I don't know what to do.

 

[Sarthur2]

I am so sorry. Are you seeing the vet today? I hope they can do something quickly to help him. You may need to be insistent that they do. Please keep us updated. I hope for the very best!