Alright, this is a long story, as it has been going on for 2 months now. I know everyone is going to advise me to bring her to the vet, which I intend on doing. There's not a whole lot I can do with her right now since I'm at work, so I'm just hoping that someone might be able to give me some insight.
My cat Bailey has always had a tendency to puke. I've had her for almost 3 years, and she's done it pretty much regularly while still being in good health. She gets regular check-ups and everything. Anyway, 2 months ago (almost exactly), she puked in the laundry room on a Wednesday, and it looked different than it normally does. Usually, it's either a hairball or just regurgitated food, but this time it was all mushy looking. I didn't think anything of it, since it was just that one time. The next day, I got home and she wouldn't even look at me. I found several spots of a foamy, saliva-like substance around the house. I noticed it didn't look like she'd eaten (she has been eating the same dry food only for a year and has never had any problems with it). I tried to eat her some wet food, but she refused. That's what I called the emergency vet (I swear, this cat ONLY gets sick when her vet is closed). While on the phone with the vet, Bailey kept squatting on the floor as though she was going to poop. I lifted her tail and noticed that her anus was considerably swollen.
I brought her to the emergency vet, and they discovered that she was mildly dehydrated and constipated. She stayed overnight, they gave her 2 enemas and tested her for every sickness under the sun, and sent me home with a bottle of lactulose (I was supposed to give her 2ml twice a day). This was on Friday.
After about 5 days, she still hadn't pooped once and would ONLY eat wet food. I brought her to her usual vet that Friday (1 week after her emergency vet visit). She was constipated again, so he gave her another enema and also said that she may have a perineal hernia, but that if she did, it was borderline. He advised me to start giving her 3ml of lactulose twice per day and continue feeding her wet food if it was all she would eat. I did this for about 3 weeks, and then I didn't give her the lactulose for about 3 days. Her anus started to swell again, so I started giving her the lactulose again brought her back to the vet and had her checked out. He said he still couldn't quite tell if she had a hernia, but to just keep giving her the lactulose for now. At that point, we decided that I was only going to give her 3ml per day, since it's such a battle giving that to her, and it's difficult for me to have time to fight with her every morning.
I continued to do that, and she eventually started eating dry food again. For the past 4 weeks, she has been eating only wet food, and I haven't given her the lactulose in a couple of weeks. She has been pooping regularly and seemed to be doing fine without it. I've been checking to make sure her anus isn't swollen, and it hasn't.
However, my roommate informed me that Bailey pooper in the livingroom this past Monday. This is COMPLETELY unlike her and I am as positive as I can be that it's not behavioral. On Tuesday, she wasn't acting like herself, so I decided to start giving her the lactulose again (I have been giving it to her nightly for the past 3 days). On Wednesday, she pooped in my bed. Lovely. Last night, she puked all over the floor (which would've been the bed if I hadn't moved her in time). Today, my roommate called to inform me that she puked in the kitcken and pooped in the bathroom and that she's hunched down really low and crawling on the floor.
Alright, does anyone have any ideas as to what is wrong with her? It seems as though she's not constipated if she's able to poop all over the house. I guess it's possible that she might be, since her poop has been pretty solid poop, but I don't get why she's not pooping in her litterbox like she has for the past 3 years that I've had her. I just don't know what to do with her. I don't like bringing her to anyone but her regular veterinarian, because he knows her situation better than anyone else. Of course, she has to get sick on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, so I'll probably end up having to bring her to the emergency vet anyway.
I just don't understand how she could be doing perfectly fine and then all of a sudden start puking and pooping all over the place out of nowhere. I pay very close attention to her, and I've done everything that I was supposed to do. I'm getting frustrated, because I live in someone else's house, and now I'm going to have to keep my cat locked up in my 11x13 room all the time, because I can't let her roam free if she's going to be doing this.
Has anyone had any similar experiences or advice? I'm sorry to sound so aggravated in my e-mail, but I'm just so frustrated, and it's even more frustrated to hear that she's all messed up at home when I'm at work and can't do anything about it.
If anyone has any advice or information to share, I would GREATLY appreciate it.
Thanks!
Jen
My cat Bailey has always had a tendency to puke. I've had her for almost 3 years, and she's done it pretty much regularly while still being in good health. She gets regular check-ups and everything. Anyway, 2 months ago (almost exactly), she puked in the laundry room on a Wednesday, and it looked different than it normally does. Usually, it's either a hairball or just regurgitated food, but this time it was all mushy looking. I didn't think anything of it, since it was just that one time. The next day, I got home and she wouldn't even look at me. I found several spots of a foamy, saliva-like substance around the house. I noticed it didn't look like she'd eaten (she has been eating the same dry food only for a year and has never had any problems with it). I tried to eat her some wet food, but she refused. That's what I called the emergency vet (I swear, this cat ONLY gets sick when her vet is closed). While on the phone with the vet, Bailey kept squatting on the floor as though she was going to poop. I lifted her tail and noticed that her anus was considerably swollen.
I brought her to the emergency vet, and they discovered that she was mildly dehydrated and constipated. She stayed overnight, they gave her 2 enemas and tested her for every sickness under the sun, and sent me home with a bottle of lactulose (I was supposed to give her 2ml twice a day). This was on Friday.
After about 5 days, she still hadn't pooped once and would ONLY eat wet food. I brought her to her usual vet that Friday (1 week after her emergency vet visit). She was constipated again, so he gave her another enema and also said that she may have a perineal hernia, but that if she did, it was borderline. He advised me to start giving her 3ml of lactulose twice per day and continue feeding her wet food if it was all she would eat. I did this for about 3 weeks, and then I didn't give her the lactulose for about 3 days. Her anus started to swell again, so I started giving her the lactulose again brought her back to the vet and had her checked out. He said he still couldn't quite tell if she had a hernia, but to just keep giving her the lactulose for now. At that point, we decided that I was only going to give her 3ml per day, since it's such a battle giving that to her, and it's difficult for me to have time to fight with her every morning.
I continued to do that, and she eventually started eating dry food again. For the past 4 weeks, she has been eating only wet food, and I haven't given her the lactulose in a couple of weeks. She has been pooping regularly and seemed to be doing fine without it. I've been checking to make sure her anus isn't swollen, and it hasn't.
However, my roommate informed me that Bailey pooper in the livingroom this past Monday. This is COMPLETELY unlike her and I am as positive as I can be that it's not behavioral. On Tuesday, she wasn't acting like herself, so I decided to start giving her the lactulose again (I have been giving it to her nightly for the past 3 days). On Wednesday, she pooped in my bed. Lovely. Last night, she puked all over the floor (which would've been the bed if I hadn't moved her in time). Today, my roommate called to inform me that she puked in the kitcken and pooped in the bathroom and that she's hunched down really low and crawling on the floor.
Alright, does anyone have any ideas as to what is wrong with her? It seems as though she's not constipated if she's able to poop all over the house. I guess it's possible that she might be, since her poop has been pretty solid poop, but I don't get why she's not pooping in her litterbox like she has for the past 3 years that I've had her. I just don't know what to do with her. I don't like bringing her to anyone but her regular veterinarian, because he knows her situation better than anyone else. Of course, she has to get sick on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, so I'll probably end up having to bring her to the emergency vet anyway.
I just don't understand how she could be doing perfectly fine and then all of a sudden start puking and pooping all over the place out of nowhere. I pay very close attention to her, and I've done everything that I was supposed to do. I'm getting frustrated, because I live in someone else's house, and now I'm going to have to keep my cat locked up in my 11x13 room all the time, because I can't let her roam free if she's going to be doing this.
Has anyone had any similar experiences or advice? I'm sorry to sound so aggravated in my e-mail, but I'm just so frustrated, and it's even more frustrated to hear that she's all messed up at home when I'm at work and can't do anything about it.
If anyone has any advice or information to share, I would GREATLY appreciate it.
Thanks!
Jen