Cat hasn't had a BM in a WEEK?

[greycat24]

Hey guys..this is my first post here. This is an emergency at this point since I really need him to go today, and I will be bringing him to the vet if it doesn't go today, but here's the story..It's been a week so the details in the beginning are escaping me a little, but I'll try to explain for the most part.

One week ago today (Sunday morning), I woke up to cat vomit on my floor that looked like whole dry cat food (he eats wet food in the morning and at night and dry food throughout the day freefed). He usually doesn't vomit, but he has a few times throughout his life (he's 3 years old) due to a hairball or eating too fast or something, so I didn't think much of it. Throughout the morning, he was acting like himself, running around, attacking ankles, begging for food, etc. A little later in the day, he threw up dry food that looked whole dry food again. He threw up again sometime that day. Throughout all of this, he was still acting 100% like himself other than the vomiting. He also had a bowel movement that day, which I saw when I cleaned his litterbox. He also threw up wet food in the middle of the night, so he hadn't kept anything down all day. The next day (Monday), he was still acting like himself, so I kept fed him thinking he probably just had a bug or something. He threw that up as well, but still acted ok. He then threw up bile. After that, he started acting funny, very slow and didn't want to eat anything, but I tried to feed him some chicken later that night which he wouldn't eat (he doesn't like chicken anyway, but I know that's the mild diet you're supposed to feed if they're nauseous). I then tried some tuna, which he took a lick of. He then threw up bile again. Throughout all of this, he would vomit about 2-4 hours after eating. Throughout that day, he had 2 VERY small bowel movements (the size of a half dollar), one being soft and the other one more liquid.

He then threw up bile and was acting very sluggish and looked dehydrated on Tuesday morning around 9am, so I brought him to the vet around 2pm. This was the first time I had been to this vet since my pets have never been sick and our last one retired since our last annuals, but I took him to the vet who took over the practice. Long story short, she was EXTREMELY unprofessional, didn't explain my options (just had the vet tech bring in a list with prices adding up to $700 with no explanations), and treated my cat very harshly when she knew he has been sick. They didn't even weigh him on arrival, when he was dehydrated and at that point had lost almost a pound of water (I had been weighing him at home). After getting no explanations from the vet on any of the treatments and having her just leave after talking to us for less than 10 minutes, I opted to just give him an antibiotic injection and anti-nausea for the time being, knowing that I needed to find another vet. I honestly didn't feel comfortable having her do any other procedures. When we got home, he just went downstairs and slept, which is what he usually does when he gets shots. The next morning (Wednesday), he started acting a little more like himself again. I also started syringe feeding him water, water with electrolytes, and water with plain chicken baby food. Later in the day, he started eating a little bit and keeping it down. Thursday, he was even more active and ate more food. Still not near what he usually does, and I wasn't giving him dry food anymore, only wet food so he would stay hydrated (I was also still syringing him water). The next day (Friday), still no vomiting, but no BM either. He started to act more sluggish again, so I decided to take him to another vet that someone recommended. She was great, did a thorough exam, in which everything came back normal. She didn't feel any sign of abdominal distention or a palpable blockage. We ended up having him get a complete blood count first, which came back saying that his WBC count was high which could mean either infection or inflammation, but everything else was okay. He then got an x-ray, which showed no sign of an obvious blockage, but she said there could still be one that wasn't visible. He then got fluids and she gave me an appetite stimulant to bring home. She told me that if he starts to vomit again or gets worse, to go back or go to an emergency vet for an ultrasound. Since then, he has been eating a lot and keeping it down fine. He has started to get a lot more active, and acting more like himself, but not completely yet. But STILL no bowel movements.

So long story short, he was throwing up from Sunday morning-Tuesday morning (about 7 or 8 times), and had his last normal BM on Sunday with 2 very small ones on Monday. He has been acting increasingly better, and has not vomited at all, but has still not had a bm despite eating a very small amount from Wednesday-Friday (maybe one 5 oz can total or less?), and eating about 2 more cans since Friday night. He's still acting better than he was, so I'm really not sure how long I should give him to have BM before taking him back to the vet. Normally I would be extreeemely concerned, but before starting to eat a little bit after his first vet appointment, he had nothing in his stomach or intestines at all. So basically he has a days worth of food in his stomach right now that he's accumulated over 4 days (He's a 13 pound cat, about 1 pound overweight). The vet wasn't concerned at all that he had not had a BM on Friday, because he had hardly eaten, but since he has eaten a good amount. $700 later, I know that his WBC count was high (which could be partially from stress), his temperature was high 104.6 (which could also be from stress), and he may or may not have a blockage. I'm just looking for a little guidance here, as the next step would be a very expensive ultrasound, and he hasn't been throwing up or acting any worse, just hasn't had a BM yet. Obviously I'll do whatever it takes, but he seems to be improving in every other way. Does anyone have any advice on natural ways that I could help him go to the bathroom that wouldn't make things increasingly worse if he DOES have a blockage?

Thank you! if anyone read all of this, you are a saint lol

[critters]

I don't suppose he's pooping somewhere else?

It sounds like he's been getting good medical care, and he was just seen 2 days ago. I think that if he wasn't acting "funny" or otherwise sick I'd wait until Monday to take him somewhere, then I'd all but insist that he get an enema (don't use human enemas), expressing, or something. Very strange...

[greycat24]

Thanks for the suggestion! I was thinking about an enema for him, do you know where I could get one? Also, would that definitely be okay to do if he has a blockage? I really don't want to make anything worse. And he has pooped somewhere other than his litterbox once in his life, and normally I would consider it, but I have been literally stalking this cat whereever he goes lol

[critters]

Dog and cat enemas are made with different stuff than human ones, and I don't know where you can get them without a script. A lot would depend on the definition of "blockage;" after all, petrified poop is a blockage, but it's different than, say, twisted intestine.

Yes, I understand the stalking.

[greycat24]

He pooped! I know that doesn't mean 100% that it's not a partial obstruction of some kind, but I'm hopeful.

[critters]

That's DEFINITELY a good start! What was it like? Hard? Soft? Runny?