Hello, I was hoping to receive some tips and/or personal experience related to my 3.5-year-old calico, Hi-Kitty.
First, a breakdown of events:
On Thursday, 11/17, Hi went to the vet to get declawed. I picked her up on Friday, 11/18, and, other than being a little sore and lethargic, she seemed pretty normal. She was eating and drinking okay and napping the day away. Same thing on Saturday, 11/19, though by this time I was becoming concerned because she had not used the litter box (with shredded paper) at all since I picked her up.
Thankfully, on Sunday, 11/20, around 3 AM, Hi finally urinated. On Monday, 11/21, however, Hi had no appetite. I came home from work to find that her breakfast had been touched only minimally and that she had vomited at least twice during the day. Her vomit is yellow and thin and the first vomit had some hair in it, but the rest have been void of any food or other materials. Hi vomited three more times that night and would drink only minimally. She was urinating fine (no straining or pain), but had still not defecated at all. Hi had no interest in dinner later that night, so first thing this morning (Tuesday, 11/22) I called the vet and took her in.
The vet felt her stomach and said she was probably constipated (causing her to resist eating and vomit), so they would give her an enema and see what happened. Three hours after administration, Hi had still not had a bowel movement so the vet decided to do an x-ray. The x-ray showed that her large intestine was very full of excrement, but no obvious obstructions. Another enema was administered and, about an hour later, Hi defecated a little (about three 3-inch-long cylindrical pieces). The vet said she should be okay and allowed me to take her home around 2:30 PM. He also gave me the all-clear to revert to her normal litter early, just in case the constipation was brought on by an unwillingness to use the paper.
It is now 11:30 PM and Hi has not defecated since I brought her home. She has not eaten or drank anything and urinated only once. I had thought that the enema would get things moving and keep them moving, so I'm concerned that she has only had one (small-ish) bowel movement all day and that was over 9 hours ago.
Her bottom also stinks a little, and I'm hoping that's due to the enema lubricating her insides and moving the excrement along. But for how long do enemas typically work?
The long and short of my concern: Is this normal? Is this what is to be expected from the administration of an enema, that it will take a little longer for her insides to correct themselves? It looked like so much excrement in the x-ray and I'm fearful it may become toxic. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, my vet will be closed from Thursday to Monday, so while I plan on calling and asking them about contingency measures tomorrow, I'm still very worried about my kitten. She doesn't seem to be in any distress, but I've read in countless places that cats are tough and will purr and cuddle and be affectionate right until their very last moments...
If you require further info/clarification, below is the list of procedures completed by my vet:
Subcutaneous Fluids (1 administration)
Enema - Fleet (1 administration)
Enema - DDS, 12 ml (1 administration)
Please, any ideas or reassurance would be greatly appreciated. I've been worried sick about her all day and have barely had a moment where I'm not tearful.
First, a breakdown of events:
On Thursday, 11/17, Hi went to the vet to get declawed. I picked her up on Friday, 11/18, and, other than being a little sore and lethargic, she seemed pretty normal. She was eating and drinking okay and napping the day away. Same thing on Saturday, 11/19, though by this time I was becoming concerned because she had not used the litter box (with shredded paper) at all since I picked her up.
Thankfully, on Sunday, 11/20, around 3 AM, Hi finally urinated. On Monday, 11/21, however, Hi had no appetite. I came home from work to find that her breakfast had been touched only minimally and that she had vomited at least twice during the day. Her vomit is yellow and thin and the first vomit had some hair in it, but the rest have been void of any food or other materials. Hi vomited three more times that night and would drink only minimally. She was urinating fine (no straining or pain), but had still not defecated at all. Hi had no interest in dinner later that night, so first thing this morning (Tuesday, 11/22) I called the vet and took her in.
The vet felt her stomach and said she was probably constipated (causing her to resist eating and vomit), so they would give her an enema and see what happened. Three hours after administration, Hi had still not had a bowel movement so the vet decided to do an x-ray. The x-ray showed that her large intestine was very full of excrement, but no obvious obstructions. Another enema was administered and, about an hour later, Hi defecated a little (about three 3-inch-long cylindrical pieces). The vet said she should be okay and allowed me to take her home around 2:30 PM. He also gave me the all-clear to revert to her normal litter early, just in case the constipation was brought on by an unwillingness to use the paper.
It is now 11:30 PM and Hi has not defecated since I brought her home. She has not eaten or drank anything and urinated only once. I had thought that the enema would get things moving and keep them moving, so I'm concerned that she has only had one (small-ish) bowel movement all day and that was over 9 hours ago.
Her bottom also stinks a little, and I'm hoping that's due to the enema lubricating her insides and moving the excrement along. But for how long do enemas typically work?
The long and short of my concern: Is this normal? Is this what is to be expected from the administration of an enema, that it will take a little longer for her insides to correct themselves? It looked like so much excrement in the x-ray and I'm fearful it may become toxic. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, my vet will be closed from Thursday to Monday, so while I plan on calling and asking them about contingency measures tomorrow, I'm still very worried about my kitten. She doesn't seem to be in any distress, but I've read in countless places that cats are tough and will purr and cuddle and be affectionate right until their very last moments...
If you require further info/clarification, below is the list of procedures completed by my vet:
Subcutaneous Fluids (1 administration)
Enema - Fleet (1 administration)
Enema - DDS, 12 ml (1 administration)
Please, any ideas or reassurance would be greatly appreciated. I've been worried sick about her all day and have barely had a moment where I'm not tearful.
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