My cat had colectomy surgery for Megacolon... looking for others

[mypoorbaby]

Hi,

I've been reading these posts and hoping to get some insight.  My boy, Willie, just had the subtotal colectomy surgery on Thursday afternoon.  He's home now, but I'm a wreck.  I'm so worried about him, might be overreacting, but I can't seem to help myself.  I'm concerned about his food intake and bowel movements.  He seems to be doing well, he's moving around okay and doing things he shouldn't like jumping on furniture - I'm trying to stop him the best I can.  He is affectionate and purring.  I'm just worried.  I'm not sure what I should be expecting.  He had a messy bowel movement Saturday morning, but hasn't done a whole lot since that.  He drank really well yesterday as well, but I haven't seen him drink a lot today.  He ate some dry food Friday evening.  He ate about 1/3 can of wet food yesterday and today he maybe has had 1/4-1/3 can. I keep trying to offer food every couple hours.  I feel like I might be getting on his nerves.  I guess I just need to know what I should expect from him.  He looks so thin to me.  I've already called the vet for a check up in the morning, but figured I would see if anyone had any thoughts.  Thank you!!!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

 
Hi,

I've been reading these posts and hoping to get some insight.  My boy, Willie, just had the subtotal colectomy surgery on Thursday afternoon.  He's home now, but I'm a wreck.  I'm so worried about him, might be overreacting, but I can't seem to help myself.  I'm concerned about his food intake and bowel movements.  He seems to be doing well, he's moving around okay and doing things he shouldn't like jumping on furniture - I'm trying to stop him the best I can.  He is affectionate and purring.  I'm just worried.  I'm not sure what I should be expecting.  He had a messy bowel movement Saturday morning, but hasn't done a whole lot since that.  He drank really well yesterday as well, but I haven't seen him drink a lot today.  He ate some dry food Friday evening.  He ate about 1/3 can of wet food yesterday and today he maybe has had 1/4-1/3 can. I keep trying to offer food every couple hours.  I feel like I might be getting on his nerves.  I guess I just need to know what I should expect from him.  He looks so thin to me.  I've already called the vet for a check up in the morning, but figured I would see if anyone had any thoughts.  Thank you!!!

Didn't your Vet tell you what to expect?  Did he eat anymore after your post yesterday?  How about another bowel movement.  Has he had any more?  Is he on pain meds right now?  Have you been back to see the Vet yet (you said you would be going today)

It's natural to worry, and YES, you may be getting on his (your furbaby's) nerves

.  Try to relax and let time heal him, unless the Vet tells you there is something to worry about.  Of course, make sure he is eating and doing all the things he needs to be doing, but don't get crazy about "hovering".   I find sometimes when one of mine isn't eating well, if I just put the food down and ignore him, he'll eat.  If I beg him to eat, he'll ignore it forever

 

[mypoorbaby]

She told me a little I'm sure - there was just so much going on when I picked him up.  Lots of info to go over.  He didn't eat too much more yesterday.  He's been going [potty, but it's pretty loose.  We are lightening up his lactulose.  He was on fentanyl patch and another oral pain med.  I talked to the vet this morning and she was okay with what he was eating.  I took off the patch today, vet thought that may help some.  Also, she gave me some high calorie food, ,which he seems to like pretty well.  He ate about 1/4 can when I got home with it.  I've tried to be better today except for the fact that I had to pick at that damn patch for forever.  Willie was so patient with me.  Less hovering definitely.  He's eating more, so that is helping to relax me a bit.  It's funny, I'm not like this with my kids or any of my other pets, but Willie is my best baby, I seem to worry about him more. With the food, I have to hover a bit, or one of his 5 brothers/sisters will help him eat it.  I think he's eating when he's hungry, I was just trying to have him eat too often.  

Thanks for posting - I appreciate it.  I think I'm off the cliff now....

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I know what you mean about having to keep the other away from the slow eater's food.  Got that going on here too.  I just ban the others from the room on occasion, or if nothing else, I don't leave the room,just kind of "hang back" reading or laying on the floor playing with the others to keep them occupied.  Sometimes that backfires though, because the one who NEEDS to eat decides he wants to play too

Glad you're off the cliff now.  Not a good place to be.  Yes, once they're eating, then the worry becomes less.  And I think the diarrhea on the beginning is pretty normal.  At least he's going! 

 

[robin wickes]

My cat is 4 1/2 and has megacolon, he has been to the vet 2x this week, started him on meds and Rx food. My vet wouldn't even discuss surgery. I think I may switch to the Royal Canin fiber response. He was on it before. I tried grain free but I think that made him worse. I am SO confused. The thought of him living years on medicine at his age breaks my heart

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

 
My cat is 4 1/2 and has megacolon, he has been to the vet 2x this week, started him on meds and Rx food. My vet wouldn't even discuss surgery. I think I may switch to the Royal Canin fiber response. He was on it before. I tried grain free but I think that made him worse. I am SO confused. The thought of him living years on medicine at his age breaks my heart

It could be your Vet doesn't want to discuss surgery YET, until all other avenue are tried.  Surgery can be very tough.  Many cats do well....many do NOT.  It's the luck of the draw. 

If you are not completely in sync with your Vet, then by all means, get another one.  You need to trust your Vet completely, especially when your furbaby has something like this.  You need to be able to pick up the phone can call and trust that you will be called back.  That sort of thing.  And most importantly, if you want to discuss surgery, your Vet should tell you WHY they don't think it's a good idea EVER, or right now...you need to understand exactly what they are thinking and WHY.

 

[mypoorbaby]

We waited over a year before deciding on surgery. The meds were working early on. And that wasn't too bad, he didn't mind taking them. It was worse when we added the subcutaneous fluids which involved sticking him with a needle every other day. When that didn't seem to work either, the surgery was the next option. It was rough. He is still getting back to normal, but things are moving in the right direction. I would definitely talk it through with your vet. You don't want to rush into it, plus you need to be prepared for the possible outcomes. Best of luck to you.

 

[mandarin1]

Hi! I'm new to this site and my name is Karey.

I'm looking for other cat owners who have/had a cat that has had Feline Megacolon and undergone the colectomy surgery to have almost all of the colon removed. It's rough having a cat that has gone through this and I'm looking to share opinions/experience/advice with another owner. Hoping we can help each other out since it seems to involve a lot of trial and error, especially on helping the diarrhea issue.


A bit of background - My cat, Izzy, is about 8 years old now... we adopted her from the shelter as a very young kitten. All was well (well, except for cord chewing) until about age 4 or so when she kept getting constipated all the time. She went through many enemas and eventually was diagnosed with Feline Megacolon. We see a special cat only vet in Orlando and the wonderful doctor there did a subtotal colectomy surgery on her, removing part of the diseased colon. Izzy recovered from the surgery and went on for about another 4 years or so and started getting constipated... AGAIN. I brought her to the local vet and they prescribed some lactulose, etc for her and sent her home. She kept having problems and the medication wasn't helping, so I then took her back to the cat vet in Orlando. They x-rayed her and yep, she was constipated. They did an enema and she returned for a few more over the next couple weeks... they finally decided that the remainder of her colon was diseased and the Feline Megacolon came back! My husband and I made the decision to have the colectomy surgery since they got a new doctor that was familiar w/them and did several w/good success and minimal diarrhea after. Izzy seemed perfectly healthy otherwise, aside from the pooping issue, so we though it'd be best to have surgery and give her a chance at a good life.


Izzy had the coletomy surgery a few months back and was very sickly and wouldn't eat or anything for them. I visited her in the hospital and she seemed pretty miserable. I tried everything to get her to eat, they tried multiple apetite stimulants... all to no avail. They saw her look like she was going to strain on the table and that concerned the dr... she took and x-ray and called me that evening telling me that Izzy was leaking inside and they had to do emergency surgery right away to fix it. That was very scary... several hours later, after 11pm that night, one of the dr's called and said she was finished (2 dr's worked on her and a 3rd did the anesthesia). It's been a long and slow recovery for Izzy and she would not eat for quite awhile. As you an imagine, she became underweight. She finally nibbled w/the help of an apetite stimulant and eventually was able to come home. I've had to force feed for several weeks since she barely ate enough to sustain herself, let alone put on any weight. Let me tell you, that was a fun time. lol Plus, there's been the diarrhea... oh, the diarrhea. It's been so watery and she's had a sore butt... and her stomach was so gurgly sounding... she has many moments where she has to get up and run to her box. There have been several accidents and it takes a lot of patience and understanding.


As of today, I'm happy to say that Izzy is now eating on her own, even with out the use of apetite stimulants!

I'm so happy that in the morning she's actually waiting for me to give her a can of food. It's great to see! She's been using her box really well and hasn't been having much for accidents... the stool is still pretty much diarrhea which seems to fluctuate from really watery to a thin pancake batter type consistency. I really wish I could get this to thicken up and I think it'd help a lot. We give her slippery elm bark to try to help w/the diarrhea... think it helps a little. I also read that giving some Whisker Lickens (soft treats) before a meal helps absorb some water... it's weird, but kind of seems to help... I think. I've also found that sticking w/chicken based canned food and dry food helps... the beef one was a BIG mistake... too rich.


Sorry for the long post. Just looking for someone that can relate and share info and experiences with. Would really like to find a way to improve the diarrhea and some new tips/tricks to try. Thanks!!

Karey

 

[mandarin1]

I have been a cat mother for roughly 35 years, have had as many as 8 cats with me at one time (I have 4 now- I've lost 5 cats over the years due to old age - each baby was 18 - 20 years old when he/she left me and I considered each loss a Tradgedy. The reason I am posting today is because in all my years as a cat mom I have never heard of Mega Colon or being Ostipated. After a 3 day move to Florida via car where the weather is highly humid not comparison to New York, my 5 year old Calico (adopted as a kitten in the back of a truck with her sister in a supermarket Parking lot) appeared approximately six weeks after our arrival to have the most horrid stench. Yes, my baby was a stinky kitty!! First thought that came to my mind was perhaps her glands are blocked - I had a female some 30 yrs ago that had that issue. I took my kitty to the vet the next day to see what was happening ... A very expensive X-ray and bloodtest confirmed his (the vet's) suspicions. This cat is so constipated... She is "Obstipated". He hospitalized her for several days with fluids, antibiotics, meds, enema's, etc etc etc. Of course nothing kills my Callie's appetite ... She was still eating like a champ. And then after a pitiful bowel movement- he sent her home. I felt he should have manually gone in there and taken what was left given that she was still completely full - was not
Really going on her own and it was traumatic for her to be stuffed in the box to be brought back to the vet. But they close on the weekends and he insisted I bring her home and monitor her on metimucil even though I explained three of us and 5 other cars besides Callie were living in one large room for the time being and she will be sharing dishes and litter boxes whether he likes it or not (don't you love mothers in-law? I'm staying with mine). My any event we took her
Home - she did not have the benefit of my full attention as shortly after my Jasmine (17)
And then my Tiffany (19) left me for bigger and better things. I suppose that three day trip was just too much on them after all. By August I was watching poor Callie straining at the litter box. I started telling my husband, my son, I do not think this cat has had a bowel movement since April. They looked at me since I was crazy and told me I'm out of my mind if I go spend another $1500 on her. Don't forget, I had just spent approximately $5000 between Callie and the other two that I had to euthanize. But as the next week wore on and Callie began to smell and leave itty bitty little hard presents for me, I knew.
I marched into the vet's office on a Tues morning because they were closed Labor Day and I had explained what was going on - thT Callie had not had a proper bowel movement in five months. The vet was at lunch for the next two hours and I waited. In the meantime the nurse comes in with a $5000 estimate which included 5-7 days hospitalization, medication, 45- FORTY FIVE enema's, and on and on and on. I told her and I
Told the doctor when he returned. I am ready to leave her with you tonight as she looks extremely hydrated to me. It was five pm already. However this cat needs surgery. I had called a surgeon on the way there. Here is the number of a highly reccomended surgeon, please take another X-ray for comparison And blood tests to make sure she is healthy and fax/scan them over to the surgeon. Should he decide she can be treated medically I will bring her back. And o got into cab, left Callie there on IV antibiotics and fluids and promised to be back at 8am to pick her up as the surgeon was nice enough to squeeze her in.
When I got to the surgeon the next morning with the cat he said to me " you made the right decision. This cat would have died and soon. As long as there is no complications of peritonitis and/or no underlying medical condition to treat she will be fine.
And they were wonderful. He called immediately after surgery. He told me in twenty years of performing over 150 colectomy's, he had seen 1 inch stretched out colon at the worst. Callie was stretched out three inches. It was so bad that her Colin was covered on the underside with ulcers - my poor baby!!! Thus in order to get all the ulcers out he had to go in under the pelvis - something else he does not usually do either. By the time he was done he had removed 90% of her colon. He sent the ulcers in for biopsy - they came back normal- she's had her staples removed for a few days now- we r passed the the danger of Peritonitis or any other horrid complication. Now I only have to deal with my mother-in law who swears I'm trying to kill her with the dropping of diarrhea all over the floor. I look at it this way.... Be pragmatic. She's alive. Eventually it will stop and I will pay to shampoo her ugly 20 year old carpet. What's more important?

 

[futurelawyer200]

Royal Canin Gastro Fiber Response has all but CURED my megacolon girl Olive! Its a recent formula they started offering when they redesigned their formulas this year. You'll need a prescription to buy it from Petsmart or vet supply or online but, my GOD......it is like a miracle. $40 for 7lb bag lasts a good while. Now she no longer needs Miralax sprinkled in her food every other day, no enemas or straining in the last 3 months. It's unbelievable. She feels great, plays hard, loves the food, fur is soft and healthy, weight is not too fat or too skinny. LOVE IT.

 

[ocs mommy]

Before hvaing the surgery., please try MiraLax for awhile. I researched megacolon after my OC was diagosed almost three years ago. Vet at the emergency clinic recommended lactulose and if that didn't work, surgery. I was able to get not even one dose of lactulose down my boy's throat. I researched and found MiraLax has been quite successful in some instances. I called the vet and she had not heard of giving MiraLax to cats, but had a her Vet student research the issue. She called back to say OC could be given 1/4 tsp MiraLax in wet meals twice a day. I give him more now that he has gained weight, but it has really saved him. Good luck!

 

[ocs mommy]

Before having the surgery, please try MiraLax for awhile. I researched megacolon after my OC was diagosed almost three years ago. Vet at the emergency clinic recommended lactulose and if that didn't work, surgery. I was able to get not even one dose of lactulose down my boy's throat. I researched and found MiraLax has been quite successful in some instances. I called the vet and she had not heard of giving MiraLax to cats, but had a her Vet student research the issue. She called back to say OC could be given 1/4 tsp MiraLax in wet meals twice a day. I give him more now that he has gained weight, but it has really saved him. Good luck!

 

[ruthm]

 
Before having the surgery, please try MiraLax for awhile. I researched megacolon after my OC was diagosed almost three years ago. Vet at the emergency clinic recommended lactulose and if that didn't work, surgery. I was able to get not even one dose of lactulose down my boy's throat. I researched and found MiraLax has been quite successful in some instances. I called the vet and she had not heard of giving MiraLax to cats, but had a her Vet student research the issue. She called back to say OC could be given 1/4 tsp MiraLax in wet meals twice a day. I give him more now that he has gained weight, but it has really saved him. Good luck!

I'm so glad to hear Miralax is working for your OC!  I wonder why more  vets and especially ER vets who tend to see these cases aren't recommending Miralax rather than lactulose? My kitty's IM said that Lactulose will stop working altogether in most cases, and as you have noted, it is much easier to administer than Lactulose. Thanks for your update and hope your OC never needs the surgery.

 

[rosencrantz]

My cat Coleridge had a colectomy about 9 months ago. It has been a rocky road and he still has loose bowels most of the time. However, he is better off now than before the surgery. He had had megacolon for years, kept going with Lactulose, prescription Hills WD food, and the occasional enema or total clean out. When those treatments failed to keep his bowel going, we went with the colectomy. He had this done at a no frills, outpatient clinic that sent him home the evening after surgery. He pulled through without IVs or medical supervision. Most of the time he just crouched, looking very uncomfortable. It was hard getting him to eat for a few weeks. The appetite stimulant really helped him turn a corner. For quite a while we had him quarantined to a room carpeted with newspaper and towels because of the constant drippy diarrhea. Every morning I came in and re-carpeted the floor with fresh paper or beach towels. I held the bowl for him to eat for 2 weeks since his "cone" would catch the lip of the bowl and flip it.

Now, several months later, he has a good appetite most of the time, and begs for more food than his intestines can handle. That is my hypothesis anyway since if I feed him all he begs for, he ends up having bouts of vomiting and diarrhea and generally feels miserable. From reading online, especially about issues in human colectomy, I've determined that a high-fiber is suitable for colon problems, but once the colon is gone, a low-fiber diet is recommended, so I'm thinking now that maybe he needs a low-fiber or grain free diet. I would like to hear from anyone else who has had trouble coming up with a successful post-colectomy diet.  I was considering making his food but the recipes online are very complicated. 

Good luck and God speed to all of those who are trying to help their wonderful cats through these intestinal troubles!

 

[davidinstlouis]

Hi. My wife and I have a Tabby cat we adopted about 5 years ago. He just followed me home one day. Someone dropped him off in our sub-division in Saint Charles, MO. After about 18 months we noticed he was having great difficulty pooping. We took him to our vet, they game him an enema and he returned home in good shape. Several weeks later the same problem. I took him back to the vet and the lady in charge there said she had a cat with the same problem. She took her cat to a specialist and advised me that with advanced Megacolon there were only two options. Have him put to sleep or have surgery to have his colon removed. I took him to the same specialist, we tried several different options but nothing worked. The vet told me the same thing. Either have his colon removed via surgery or have him put to sleep. There was only one option for us. We had his colon removed. This sounds terrible but Tony returned home 2 days after surgery and two days later he was chasing our other cat around the house. That was 31 months ago and Tony is still with us.

.

He still has pooping issues so this is what we do after much trial and error. Tony weighed 19 pounds prior to surgery and now weighs 12-13 pounds which is a good weight for him. He gets a can of Friskies (turkey with gravy) everyday. We give it to him about a third of a can at a time. We sprinkle a very small amount of Miralax into the Friskies each time. We mix it in the food so he does not see it. He also eats Royal Canin Adult 27 out of a small bowl whenever he wants it. This is his diet. In addition, Tony has to wear a diaper because he never used a litter box. We change the diaper 3 to 4 times a day. We use Boys Training Pants size 2T-3T. We tried Lactulose but he hated it and it did not work.

Now the hard part (not for my wife and I though). At times Tony still gets clogged up and has difficulty pooping. The trick is to keep his stools soft using the Miralax and check to make sure he has plenty of water available. The Miralax makes him retain water in his small intestines (which has taken over for his colon) and keeps his stools soft. Perhaps twice a week we can tell that he is constipated by feeling his stomach area, realizing his small intestines is full. We have a 60cc syringe the surgeon gave us with a 16" tube to go into his anus. My wife lubricates it, slides it into his anus 6 to 8 inches or so and we give him a warm water enema. We then " very gently" press down on his stomach and the stools come gushing out. Sometimes we do not even have to do that. We simply put him out on our enclosed deck after the enema (weather permitting), go out an hour or two later and he passes the stools on his own. My wife and I often wonder if we could have done this prior to the surgery to remove his colon but there is no way to find out at this time.

One may think that this is cruel and painful but Tony hardly notices it. We just pet his head and neck during the procedure and he just purrs away and he is just fine. He appears to not have any discomfort from what we can tell and we can do the procedure in less than 10 minutes. It takes a while to become accustomed to the procedure but if we can do it anyone can. I think one has to really love their cat to go through this but we cannot imagine not having Tony (we call him Tony Baloney) around. It was difficult at first to get used to the procedure but now it is no problem. We have been told by the surgeon and our local vet that Tony is one lucky cat to have a mommy and daddy like us.

This is what we do to Tony to keep him with us. While this is fine for us we are not saying anyone should do the same. We just wanted to give you an idea what we have to do to save out beloved cat and we have no regrets. Megacolon is just terrible but for Tony it has proved to "not be terminal".

Tony is approximately 10 years old and he is my baby. He sits on my lap everyday, loves watching television with me and sleeps between my legs every night. My wife and I just adore him and we are hopeful he will be with us for many more years.

 

[davidinstlouis]

Hi. My wife and I have a Tabby cat we adopted about 5 years ago. He just followed me home one day. Someone dropped him off in our sub-division in Saint Charles, MO. After about 18 months we noticed he was having great difficulty pooping. We took him to our vet, they game him an enema and he returned home in good shape. Several weeks later the same problem. I took him back to the vet and the lady in charge there said she had a cat with the same problem. She took her cat to a specialist and advised me that with advanced Megacolon there were only two options. Have him put to sleep or have surgery to have his colon removed. I took him to the same specialist, we tried several different options but nothing worked. The vet told me the same thing. Either have his colon removed via surgery or have him put to sleep. There was only one option for us. We had his colon removed. This sounds terrible but Tony returned home 2 days after surgery and two days later he was chasing our other cat around the house. That was 31 months ago and Tony is still with us.

.

He still has pooping issues so this is what we do after much trial and error. Tony weighed 19 pounds prior to surgery and now weighs 12-13 pounds which is a good weight for him. He gets a can of Friskies (turkey with gravy) everyday. We give it to him about a third of a can at a time. We sprinkle a very small amount of Miralax into the Friskies each time. We mix it in the food so he does not see it. He also eats Royal Canin Adult 27 out of a small bowl whenever he wants it. This is his diet. In addition, Tony has to wear a diaper because he never used a litter box. We change the diaper 3 to 4 times a day. We use Boys Training Pants size 2T-3T. We tried Lactulose but he hated it and it did not work.

Now the hard part (not for my wife and I though). At times Tony still gets clogged up and has difficulty pooping. The trick is to keep his stools soft using the Miralax and check to make sure he has plenty of water available. The Miralax makes him retain water in his small intestines (which has taken over for his colon) and keeps his stools soft. Perhaps twice a week we can tell that he is constipated by feeling his stomach area, realizing his small intestines is full. We have a 60cc syringe the surgeon gave us with a 16" tube to go into his anus. My wife lubricates it, slides it into his anus 6 to 8 inches or so and we give him a warm water enema. We then " very gently" press down on his stomach and the stools come gushing out. Sometimes we do not even have to do that. We simply put him out on our enclosed deck after the enema (weather permitting), go out an hour or two later and he passes the stools on his own. My wife and I often wonder if we could have done this prior to the surgery to remove his colon but there is no way to find out at this time.

One may think that this is cruel and painful but Tony hardly notices it. We just pet his head and neck during the procedure and he just purrs away and he is just fine. He appears to not have any discomfort from what we can tell and we can do the procedure in less than 10 minutes. It takes a while to become accustomed to the procedure but if we can do it anyone can. I think one has to really love their cat to go through this but we cannot imagine not having Tony (we call him Tony Baloney) around. It was difficult at first to get used to the procedure but now it is no problem. We have been told by the surgeon and our local vet that Tony is one lucky cat to have a mommy and daddy like us.

This is what we do to Tony to keep him with us. While this is fine for us we are not saying anyone should do the same. We just wanted to give you an idea what we have to do to save out beloved cat and we have no regrets. Megacolon is just terrible but for Tony it has proved to "not be terminal".

Tony is approximately 10 years old and he is my baby. He sits on my lap everyday, loves watching television with me and sleeps between my legs every night. My wife and I just adore him and we are hopeful he will be with us for many more years.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

 
.

He still has pooping issues so this is what we do after much trial and error. Tony weighed 19 pounds prior to surgery and now weighs 12-13 pounds which is a good weight for him. He gets a can of Friskies (turkey with gravy) everyday. We give it to him about a third of a can at a time. We sprinkle a very small amount of Miralax into the Friskies each time. We mix it in the food so he does not see it. He also eats Royal Canin Adult 27 out of a small bowl whenever he wants it. This is his diet.

Both of my kidney cats ended up with chronic constipation, so we used Miralax also.  It worked great.  What I did was dissolve it in a little water, THEN mixed it into their wet food.  Since it doesn't gel up, that worked great and they never knew it was there.  PLUS the added water was a benefit.  Have you experimented with the amount you give Tony?  I found that the amount given can great effect their regularity.  Even a tiny amount can make the different between them getting constipated or not.  So we experimented and gave between 1/8th teaspoon and 1/4 teaspoon TWICE a day.  I mainly fed pate, and added quite a bit of water, sometimes up to a couple of tablespoons, so that the entire bowl of food was like a gravy.  This way I ensured myself they were getting plenty of water.  (and I didn't feed any kibble at all, since it is drying)

. We have been told by the surgeon and our local vet that Tony is one lucky cat to have a mommy and daddy like us.

I would say he is definitely a VERY LUCKY CAT

  Not too many people would do what you and your wife do....well, maybe people here on TCS would, but people here tend to understand the love cat people have for their furkids

This is what we do to Tony to keep him with us. While this is fine for us we are not saying anyone should do the same. We just wanted to give you an idea what we have to do to save out beloved cat and we have no regrets.

I used to wake up and feed my Callie TWICE in the middle of the night because she needed it.  So, for a long while there I was sleep deprived, but I never resented it. Now that she's gone (she died Feb. 21st) I feel almost guilty sleeping thru the night.  What I wouldn't give to have her waking me up again

 

Megacolon is just terrible but for Tony it has proved to "not be terminal".

Megacolon IS terrible, as so many other health issues are

. 

Tony is approximately 10 years old and he is my baby. He sits on my lap everyday, loves watching television with me and sleeps between my legs every night. My wife and I just adore him and we are hopeful he will be with us for many more years.

I think with all the great care he's getting, he should have a long, long life!  

See my comments above in red. 

 

[kimberly ryder]

My Snickers is 12 and has just had his colon removed 8/12/16 I am as new to this as you are but they are now keeping him under watch for infectons and I hope to get him home soon. I have been up at night worried about him but with his constapation a little diarrah will be a relief.

 

[darkhorse321]

I havent read all the responaes but my boy Bandit hqs megacolon. Diagnised at 2 he is going on 17. I chose kot to do the surgery as he was managable with ciscipride and PEG. He had his bad days when his wet food was changed but Peg really helped him.

I had no idea so many kitties had megacolon!! I will share more in the morning [emoji]128522[/emoji]

 

[kimberly ryder]

Thank you Snickers is doing well he may come home from his operation on Monday!