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
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!
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