My cat hates me

[Jasie]

My cat is dying. She's refusing to eat. She suffers from chronic constipation. She's only 6 lb now & she's 9 years old. I've spent almost $4,000 within the last 7 months to try to get her well & I'm one step away from the curb, but nothing, nothing works.

For a time there Gracie convinced me that our relationship would never be the same if I continued to force lactulose down her throat twice a day, so I stopped. I came up with another idea, Colace 50mg soft gels, one a day. She takes that a whole lot better than lactulose in a syringe. Three days later & she was eating like a horse for the first time in a long time, nothing was being eliminated in the litter box, nothing at all. That was to her & my detriment. So after nearly dying 2 days ago, being as backed up as she was & not able to defecate, she's now back on lactulose after an overnight stay at the vets on subcutaneous fluids & an enema & we have no relationship at all.

I was planning to put her to sleep 3 days ago, but these ignorant voices from three different vets saying, "no she's not ready to die, let's try this, try that." I had tried all of it, but their ideas are different, right? So adding $700 more debt from the past 3 days on my CareCredit account, I have a cat who just wants to hide & starve herself to death, same ole, same ole. I should have put her down 3 days ago. Mother does know best, it's just that my emotions have been so screwed up for almost 8 months, that I was looking for just some hope, somewhere & boy, did I get raped!!! I knew better, shame on me!!!

The suggestion by the first vet 3 days ago was that I surrender her, rather than put her to sleep, to people who would be willing to invest whatever it took to get her well. She was my baby!!! Surrender her in the hands of strangers, are you kidding me??? Seriously? Not even a consideration, which I regret now. Then the second vet on the same day suggested I bring her in the following day which would have been yesterday, cuz they were closing & didn't have time to really help her except give her a fast enema which they didn't think would work & it didn't, but they wanted her in today to put her on subcutaneous fluids all day until they could give her an effective enema when the backup in her was softened enough to come out. She was in such bad shape, she looked like she was going to die. She was in so much discomfort that I was dying with her. I wanted her to get relief then, not today, the day before, but they had to go, they had their lives to go to. I got in there too late, shame on me!!!

So then I went to a third vet. Big mistake. He did exactly what the second vet wanted to do except he kept her overnight on subcutaneous fluids to soften the excrement in her that was too hard to come out. Had me pick her up at 4:45 in the afternoon said he had gotten most of it out. What kind of vet doesn't clean up your pet after doing work on it & hands it over to you? Someone who doesn't have a high standard of excellence in my book!!! I didn't notice until I took her out of her carrier & the entire back of her butt area around the back of her legs & the back of her tail, all down her legs was completely brown & she's an orange cat. The fur all around her rear end, brown. She was filthy. The first thing of course that I did was wash her rear end. That was fun. She had just gone through hell, almost died & now I'm dunking her in a bucket full of soapy water washing her back end.

A few hours after that I gave her half of an appetite stimulant cuz she hadn't eaten in 4 days!!! That's pretty dangerous in most cats & with it I gave her a syringe of lactulose. Well that was it. I might as well have killed her myself. Lesson learned. Trust your gut instincts. You know your pet more than anyone else does. When you think their time is over, it is over. Our emotions can really mess us up when people start sticking their noses into our business that doesn't really concern them. They don't know what we've gone through, what we've done, how much money we've put into our pets to get them well & when nothing has worked & we go to put them to sleep everybody thinks they need another chance. But nobody's opening up their own wallets!!!

What I did learn was that when your cat gets to the point where you need to medicate it regularly, don't bother, just let it die peacefully. Somewhere where they euthanize for a reasonable rate without raping you during the most painful & emotional time of your life. Cuz the relationship Gracie & I have it's not worth a can of beans now. I love her but I will never regain her trust as long as I have to shove lactulose down her throat twice a day. I do have a place to bring her where they put pets to sleep for $50 right around the corner, which is where I'm going to be taking her. Although I am considering surrendering her, but I'm so scared to do that cuz I don't think she can improve. I don't think she will get well. She'll hate anyone who medicates her. She will never accept that from anyone, she's not that kind of cat.

So I hope I learned my lesson. I love animals more than anything on this planet & I've been dying every single night she's been hurting & I can't take it anymore. I've spent $700 in the last 2 days for nothing, just to put her through more pain & suffering. So that's my story Morning Glory.

 

[solomonar]

Do you have some tests? Like blood tests, echography?
Could you go to a specialized feline vet?
Medication for constipation is not universal. I am not questioning the vet's decisions, but you may need to make sure the cat has no intestinal physical blockage or any other condition that can't be solved by laxatives.
What do you mean by constipation? My cat poos once in two days and that is normal for him (checked with the vet).

 

[di and bob]

I'm so sorry for you, you have gone through so much and are at the end of your rope.....it really feels hopeless right now. we need to know what medications you have tried that have NOT worked. Does the lactulose work? Rather than trying to force it down her can you get something strong-smelling she likes and put it in that, like tuna juice? I really think she needs something every day to keep her going. The only thing that worked for my cat was Miralax, 1/2 tsp twice a day, and once he was cleaned out, once a day. I mixed it in heavy cream (almost nonexistent lactose which many cats are intolerant to), beaten egg yolk, and now since I discovered it and no cat has turned it down so far, a partial pack of Hartz Delectable Lickables in the STEW flavors. This can be found in the treat section at Walmart, Dollar General, and I also order it online at Target and sometimes Amazon. Like I said it was the ONLY thing that worked. You are supposed to start with 1/4 tsp and increase it, but with your cat's history, I would start with 1/2 tsp. don't go above that until you see how it works, you don't want to deal with diarrhea either.
I know how frustrating this can be to bring you to this point. If some people here give you a few more ideas, try some, and if they don't work, you will know you did EVERYTHING you could.......I am so sorry.......

 

[Kflowers]

your cat doesn't hate you, she's just sick. You have done your best and are still trying to do your best for your cat. she knows this. Your vets have betrayed your trust in them. They aren't listening to you. The one who wanted you to sign her over in particular isn't listening to you.

You might try your humane society and ask them if they can suggest a vet for a sick cat. There is no need to go into the details.

 

[John Perram]

Have you tried baby food yet? I'm feeding rerun turkey and chicken baby food with a vitamin supplement.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Have any of the vets considered other laxatives? Miralax is used by many members on this site with success. Some do have to use it in addition to lactulose, but not all. Lactulose does not have to be forced by syringe into a cat, there are other ways to administer meds. I use the following with Feeby. These can also be used with Miralax as well.
1.) 'juice' from canned tuna and chicken, and then give him a piece of the meat as a treat afterward
2.) baby food meats (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut)
3.) lickable treats, such as Applaws, Wholehearted, Tiki Cat Stix, Inaba Churu, Vitakraft - just to name a few
4.) Tiki Cat Mousse (which is complete meal, not a treat)
You can mix just a bit of any one of these with the meds just so you know she has eaten it all. These same foods can also be used to help jump-start her eating again.

If the vet did an enema on your cat, she might have leaked poop in her carrier on the way home - that happens a lot following enemas. So, it is possible your cat was clean when she was placed in the carrier to come home with you. I am not defending this vet, as I understand the frustration you feel about what has been going on. But, just wanted to let you know that the vet very well may have handed over a clean cat to you that had an accident in her carrier afterward.

 

[John Perram]

Rerun was also irritated at me and the wife. We were supposed to stuff a pill down her throat two times a day. Once she figured out pill pockets that came to an end. You must balance quality of life for your pet versus your unrelenting love. I had to switch rerun to herbals for her condition, and they seem to calm her down. And she started eating again normally and added a little weight.