Help!! 1 Year Old Kitten Vomited, All Kinds of Tests, Abdominal Surgery, Still not eating/drinking and no answers. An

Karebear0210

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Hi! And thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide me. Our cat Cinnamon turned 1 last month (lives with her sister Honey from same litter) and has been pretty healthy up until this point. On August 1st I noticed throw up in my bathtub and figured out it was her. Later on that day she threw up again so we took her to Urgent Care that night. Urgent care took xrays, gave a nausea shot of Cerenia, and SQ Fluids. We brought her back home and she still wasn't really eating or drinking. The next evening we took her back to urgent care and they did bloodwork, more fluids, another Cerenia shot, and appplied Mirtazapine which is an appetite stimulant. She still only took a few bites of food and I don't think she was drinking. This whole time we were trying to get her in with our regular vet, but one vet was out of town so they were to booked to see her. So Thursday morning we drove her to Oklahoma to a clinic that takes walk ins. They decided to do a barium study to look for a possible foreign object that the xray may have missed. The barium was slow passing through the stomach and was moving into the intestines but at a slower rate than it should have. The next morning the barium had moved, but they decided to do an exploratory surgery and they found nothing. They said she had minimal stool in her intestines, but they could feel that it was soft. There was not obstruction or foreign object. They said she looked great on the inside and the only thing they noted was her lymph nodes were slightly pink. We brought her back home and she is eating just a few tiny bites and i got her to lick some Temptations Puree off of my hand so it is something but she is still not herself at all. Did anyone go through this and what was the cause/diagnosis? The vet that did the surgery told us to bring her back Monday morning if she wasn't eating/drinking. Any advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. And wow! Wonder why they didn't do an ultrasound before heading to surgery...but they didn't, so I guess no point in asking, unless it would be for curiosity's sake. At this point, your cat has been through quite a bit, and it is kind of understandable that she doesn't much feel like eating. Is she on pain meds? If not, she may just feel enough discomfort to not really want to eat much. And, if she is on pain meds, that can also impede the desire to eat for a while. I would give her some time to recuperate, while you try some of the food suggestions in the article link above.

Would you be able to get your vet involved in any follow up that may be needed? Maybe they would have some ideas on how to proceed to check for some sort of motility issue. I honestly don't know if a food intolerance or allergy could cause that or not, but there are meds that can be given to help in this area if need be.
 
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Karebear0210

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Hi. And wow! Wonder why they didn't do an ultrasound before heading to surgery...but they didn't, so I guess no point in asking, unless it would be for curiosity's sake. At this point, your cat has been through quite a bit, and it is kind of understandable that she doesn't much feel like eating. Is she on pain meds? If not, she may just feel enough discomfort to not really want to eat much. And, if she is on pain meds, that can also impede the desire to eat for a while. I would give her some time to recuperate, while you try some of the food suggestions in the article link above.

Would you be able to get your vet involved in any follow up that may be needed?
Thank you both for the advice. I got our large dog crate out and put her in there with her bed/litter box/water/food to better monitor her. She did spend several nights at the last vet and they did say she was hiding in the back of the cage the whole time so i know it stressed her out. She just got in the litter box in her crate and peed. She then sat in front of her bowl and drank water for about 20 seconds! I called our vet after i posted this and talked to her. She said it is very unusual for them to find nothing so far with all the tests they have ran. Usually in this scenario they find a foreign body, remove it, and the cat goes back to normal in a few days. She did mention that some cats have motility issues/endocrine issues and that some need feeding tubes. I have Gastroparesis myself and a feeding tube so I can see that may have been why the barium didnt move through like normal but i haven't seen her be nauseous or throw up until this past week. Hopefully, she will continue eating and drinking. The vet that did the surgery did give us some Reglan as well as the appetite stimulant. We have not tried the Reglan yet, but they didn't give us any pain medication.
 

IndyJones

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Hi. And wow! Wonder why they didn't do an ultrasound before heading to surgery...but they didn't, so I guess no point in asking, unless it would be for curiosity's sake. At this point, your cat has been through quite a bit, and it is kind of understandable that she doesn't much feel like eating. Is she on pain meds? If not, she may just feel enough discomfort to not really want to eat much. And, if she is on pain meds, that can also impede the desire to eat for a while. I would give her some time to recuperate, while you try some of the food suggestions in the article link above.

Would you be able to get your vet involved in any follow up that may be needed? Maybe they would have some ideas on how to proceed to check for some sort of motility issue. I honestly don't know if a food intolerance or allergy could cause that or not, but there are meds that can be given to help in this area if need be.
I think the reason they didn't do the ultrasound was the barium not working correctly at least thats my understanding. It can be done without it but not much shows up.
 
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Karebear0210

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I think the reason they didn't do the ultrasound was the barium not working correctly at least thats my understanding. It can be done without it but not much shows up.
Yes i think you are right. They took us back and showed us all the barium still in her stomach. It was passing a trickle into her small intestine but was nowhere near where it should have been. In most pets that equals a foreign object but that wasn't the case for her. I think that is why my regular vet suspects possible slow GI motility.
 

IndyJones

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Yes i think you are right. They took us back and showed us all the barium still in her stomach. It was passing a trickle into her small intestine but was nowhere near where it should have been. In most pets that equals a foreign object but that wasn't the case for her. I think that is why my regular vet suspects possible slow GI motility.
Yup sounds about right. The barium works a bit like the contrast dye they use for CAT scans. Except it makes the digestive tract glow rather than the whole body. It also does not taste very good so i'm not sure how much they got into her. Many animals end up spitting at least some of it out or downright refusing it. It is chalky and bitter.
 
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Karebear0210

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Yup sounds about right. The barium works a bit like the contrast dye they use for CAT scans. Except it makes the digestive tract glow rather than the whole body. It also does not taste very good so i'm not sure how much they got into her. Many animals end up spitting at least some of it out or downright refusing it. It is chalky and bitter.
Yes it is nasty! They gave her Reglan before giving her the dye. You know that could play a factor into her not wanting to eat/drink much still. I didn't even think about the dye. I stayed up all night the beginning of the week watching her and when she was at the vet i stayed up most of the night worrying about her so I'm running on fumes. I know Reglan is a drug they give people with dismotility, but i don't know if it works the same way in animals. It is just really weird because here i am with a feeding tube the past 4 years for Gastroparesis and Small Bowel dismotility and they mentioned that she might have it and I was shocked. Hopefully, it is not the case for her. It isn't out of the realm of possibilities that she got into something. She is a very sweet but curious cat!
 

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My cat Maggie had a flare up from her ibd that lasted a few days. She stopped eating and going diaheria. I started giving her Elura appetite stimulant last night. She is acting her usual self and appetite has increased and very playful. It is a flavored liquid put in food only available by your vet.
 
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