- Joined
- Jun 14, 2022
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I took my cat to the clinic a week ago after he stopped eating. They took x rays which showed he was super backed up. They trued an enema and manual extraction, got a little but he still wasn’t doing well. Sent him home with lactulose.
The next day I took him to the ER. They said one enema would not be enough, he would need multiple enemas and colonoscopy prep through an ng tube. I was expecting 2 days or so from the invoice. It ended up being 4 days of enemas before they agreed to manual deobstipation under anesthesia.
They removed two pieces of hard stool but were not able to clear the blockage that was further back in the colon. We figured it was best to send him home becausehe was quite stressed after all this and not eating. Still giving him lactulose, and miralax and cisapride to try to get the remaining stool moving.
He has been home for two days now, purring and eating, but still straining and no stool passage. I’m so worried. It’s not that money is an issue, but we are now $4000 in and it feels like it was all for nothing. I’ve read about subtotal colectomy and I’m trying to understand why this wasn’t tried in the first place. I was told the enemas would be less invasive and cheaper but here we are after 7 days of them. I’m also a bit skeptical of how effective this could’ve been given the severity of his condition, and that both vets I have been to had less than a year of experience..
Has anyone had a cat with this procedure? Is there anything we can try before it gets to that point? Is it risky? How much would this cost? I can’t keep throwing money at a problem I can’t solve, but it’s also killing me to think about losing him so young. Please help.
The next day I took him to the ER. They said one enema would not be enough, he would need multiple enemas and colonoscopy prep through an ng tube. I was expecting 2 days or so from the invoice. It ended up being 4 days of enemas before they agreed to manual deobstipation under anesthesia.
They removed two pieces of hard stool but were not able to clear the blockage that was further back in the colon. We figured it was best to send him home becausehe was quite stressed after all this and not eating. Still giving him lactulose, and miralax and cisapride to try to get the remaining stool moving.
He has been home for two days now, purring and eating, but still straining and no stool passage. I’m so worried. It’s not that money is an issue, but we are now $4000 in and it feels like it was all for nothing. I’ve read about subtotal colectomy and I’m trying to understand why this wasn’t tried in the first place. I was told the enemas would be less invasive and cheaper but here we are after 7 days of them. I’m also a bit skeptical of how effective this could’ve been given the severity of his condition, and that both vets I have been to had less than a year of experience..
Has anyone had a cat with this procedure? Is there anything we can try before it gets to that point? Is it risky? How much would this cost? I can’t keep throwing money at a problem I can’t solve, but it’s also killing me to think about losing him so young. Please help.
I have looked into megacolon which almost leaves me more confused. It seems colon removal is not a matter of “if” but “when,” since kitties eventually stop responding to the meds. I’m trying to figure out why the surgery isn’t done right away, it seems like it’s just kicking the can down the road. But I’m not a vet, so I could totally be wrong.
