Cat Barf, si man

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

Bump, miao man.

Feline emesis generally means the problem is hair today, gone tomorrow, don't have a cow, man!

[TBoneTX 45,264]

I regret to report that we had to have my little purrball (after 10 years, 2 months, 3 weeks together) euthanized on May 9.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

I am so sorry.

[luckytxn 2,264]

I regret to report that we had to have my little purrball (after 10 years, 2 months, 3 weeks together) euthanized on May 9.

There is no bad place to have a hair ball in heaven. God bless.

[TBoneTX 45,264]

There is no bad place to have a hair ball in heaven. God bless.

Gracias, si man.

I am so sorry.

Gracias, si ma'am.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Oh no, I am so sorry (F)

[TBoneTX 45,264]

Gracias, si K.

Got a new little lap-barnacle on Saturday eve. To keep on topic: He hasn't barfed yet, no man.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Gracias, si K.

Got a new little lap-barnacle on Saturday eve. To keep on topic: He hasn't barfed yet, no man.

Congratulations on your new member of the family. Give him time - I am sure he will live up to expectations .

[TBoneTX 45,264]

Congratulations on your new member of the family. Give him time - I am sure he will live up to expectations .

He hacked his first hairball today, si man. I cleaned it up, gee man.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Be glad when your cat hacks up a furball. I have just gone through the experience of what happens when the hairball doesn't get coughed up but tries to get out from the other end. On Monday, Lion threw up his breakfast but was able to eat and keep everything down the rest of the day (which was good because I had another cat at the vets on Monday). On Tuesday, he threw up his breakfast - and then just kept throwing up even though there wasn't anything coming up. It was like he was trying to hack up a hairball unsuccessfully. Mid afternoon I take him to the vets. She agrees that it is probably a big hairball that he is trying to bring up - but it may have already entered the intestinal tract. She gave me medication to help lubricate his bowels and bring water to the intestines to try and prevent the hairball from blocking the intestines. He ate that evening and then two hours later threw it all up again and started on another round of vomiting.

Next morning he wanted to eat and did. He kept it down for 3 hours and then it came back up, partially digested. I called the vet to find out when we could determine he was blocked and might need surgery to remove it. The vet gave me a food that could be liquified to see if he could keep that down. He drank 1 /3 of the portion and kept it down. 5 hours later he ate another 3rd of a portion and kept it down. By 2 am, though, he was completely apathetic, depressed, lethargic and anorexic. He just lay there, wouldn't move, wouldn't eat, wouldn't do anything. He was unchanged yesterday morning so another trip to the vet. She takes xrays and his colon is completely and utterly filled. She gives him an enema. Nothing happened. She gave him another and got half the contents out but the other half at the back didn't move. We waited a few hours during which time she xrayed him again to see if it was moving. Finally it moved. The stool was mixed with fur which had been swallowed but not hacked back up as furballs.

He is back home recuperating with anti-nausea medication, an appetite stimulator, a motility drug to move the bowels better, and an antibiotic as his blood work showed what could be initial signs of infection. I now have a really high fiber diet and supplement for him to help keep that hair moving through his system so it doesn't pile up anymore. He is eating, drinking and using the litter box, but he is still somewhat traumatize by the whole experience.

So, get out the toniclax, laxanip,laxatone - whatever you use for hairballs and make sure you give it to your cats religiously. And be glad when you see the hairball - you know that it came up and wasn't caught and blocking the intestinal tract. It could have been worse for me - it could have been a huge hairball that required surgery to remove. Sure wish he had brought it up as a hairball, though, rather than having it go through the intestines.

[TBoneTX 45,264]

I have just gone through the experience of what happens when the hairball doesn't get coughed up

Hairy... er, holy mackerel -- and what were the vet bills?

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Bad enough although not as bad as I expected.

We're not out of the woods yet. Lion threw up again twice last night and still has not had a bowel movement since the enemas. He seems to be in pain around his butt and hips ( he does have arthritis) so the vet put him on a painkiller today and he is also getting diaper rash ointment. Hopefully those will resolve the situation. The painkiller used has the potential for dangerous side effects but there are few options or painkillers for cats and the side effects appear to happen at higher dosages so hopefully he will be fine. At least he is eating well and drinking. His brother, of course, now views him as some sort of dangerous alien because he smells weird and keeps hissing at him. Lion is just walking around like he usually does and as he walks near Bear or by him, Bear catches a whiff and hisses. He isn't feeling well enough yet to respond in kind, so that is one silver lining. Meanwhile, I'm combing both of them with the same brush so that they each have each other's scent on them and hopefully, the re-acclimatization won't be long.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Ok, I think we are now out of the woods - and since the issue concerned is not a hairball, I won't derail this thread with details .

[TBoneTX 45,264]

I won't derail this thread with details

If the cat was barfing, continuing with the details is germane, see man.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

If the cat was barfing, continuing with the details is germane, see man.

Exactly - therefore, there are no further details because the cat isn't barfing any more, thank goodness!

Edited May 21, 2012 by Kathryn41