Laura and Harley (GA)
Very Active Member
'Morning everyone, Please forgive the somewhat disjointed post but I've had very little sleep these last 36 hours. I-) 
I ended up taking Harley to the ER vet last night/this morning. We were climbing into bed for the night when I started to pet him the whole length of his body and he growled at me when I got to his hindquarters. Seeing nothing overtly wrong, I picked up his tail to take a closer look and saw that his anus was distended. Trying to touch it nearly resulted in me losing an arm. I thought about it and realized that he hadn't had a BM in over 3 days. ohmygod_smile He'd been very lethargic the last two days, sleeping in my laundry basket (which is his general purpose catch-all hiding place for when strangers come into the house, he's sick, he's mad at me for something, his BG is dropping too low, etc.). His appetite had not decreased by much which was surprising. He had vomited clear mucus 4 days ago but it wasn't repeated so I'm not sure if that was in any way related to the constipation. Once I realized my boy was hurting, I was worried about complications and made my first trip to an ER vet, at night, no less.
The people were very nice and professional. The vet examined him and took an x-ray which showed that his large intestine was completely full but not obstructed or distended. No appearance of megacolon. There was a little gas in his stomach, but she said all his other organs looked fine including his heart. So they gave him 150 ml SubQ fluids, a shot of bupe for pain, and waited for the fluids to absorb and the bupe to take effect before doing an enema. The vet told me that sometimes they have to do a follow up enema and more x-rays to see if it passed, but he cooperated and produced three or four inch long feces on the first try. The vet said she thought he'd be OK from there and I could take him home. She recommended adding pumpkin in his diet for fiber, or Metamucil, and gave me a bottle of Lactulose with instructions to give 1 ml every 8-10 hours as needed. So, home we went - just in time to be 1/2 our late for his 4 a.m. shot. :mrgreen: After all the fun at the vet his AMPS was only 176.
After taking care of his shot, setting out his breakfast, cleaning his litter box (so I could see if he used it) Harley and I fell into bed. He was still loopy on bupe - I love that stuff!
Now later in the day, I notice the difference between yesterday and today. No more hiding, he's showing interest in food, playing with catnip and his favorite toy, and is being a little more "talkative." I notice he's carrying his tail at less than half staff though. He's normally a perfect 90 degree vertical tail boy. I called to ask the ER vet about that and she said he's most likely still feeling sore and wait a day or two to see if it resolves itself.
Keeping paws and tails crossed that he's over the hump an will improve with pumpkin and lactulose.
Wishing health, purrs, and happy surfing to everyone today. :mrgreen:
I ended up taking Harley to the ER vet last night/this morning. We were climbing into bed for the night when I started to pet him the whole length of his body and he growled at me when I got to his hindquarters. Seeing nothing overtly wrong, I picked up his tail to take a closer look and saw that his anus was distended. Trying to touch it nearly resulted in me losing an arm. I thought about it and realized that he hadn't had a BM in over 3 days. ohmygod_smile He'd been very lethargic the last two days, sleeping in my laundry basket (which is his general purpose catch-all hiding place for when strangers come into the house, he's sick, he's mad at me for something, his BG is dropping too low, etc.). His appetite had not decreased by much which was surprising. He had vomited clear mucus 4 days ago but it wasn't repeated so I'm not sure if that was in any way related to the constipation. Once I realized my boy was hurting, I was worried about complications and made my first trip to an ER vet, at night, no less.
The people were very nice and professional. The vet examined him and took an x-ray which showed that his large intestine was completely full but not obstructed or distended. No appearance of megacolon. There was a little gas in his stomach, but she said all his other organs looked fine including his heart. So they gave him 150 ml SubQ fluids, a shot of bupe for pain, and waited for the fluids to absorb and the bupe to take effect before doing an enema. The vet told me that sometimes they have to do a follow up enema and more x-rays to see if it passed, but he cooperated and produced three or four inch long feces on the first try. The vet said she thought he'd be OK from there and I could take him home. She recommended adding pumpkin in his diet for fiber, or Metamucil, and gave me a bottle of Lactulose with instructions to give 1 ml every 8-10 hours as needed. So, home we went - just in time to be 1/2 our late for his 4 a.m. shot. :mrgreen: After all the fun at the vet his AMPS was only 176.
After taking care of his shot, setting out his breakfast, cleaning his litter box (so I could see if he used it) Harley and I fell into bed. He was still loopy on bupe - I love that stuff!
Now later in the day, I notice the difference between yesterday and today. No more hiding, he's showing interest in food, playing with catnip and his favorite toy, and is being a little more "talkative." I notice he's carrying his tail at less than half staff though. He's normally a perfect 90 degree vertical tail boy. I called to ask the ER vet about that and she said he's most likely still feeling sore and wait a day or two to see if it resolves itself.
Keeping paws and tails crossed that he's over the hump an will improve with pumpkin and lactulose.
Wishing health, purrs, and happy surfing to everyone today. :mrgreen:
I just checked the board this morning, we have been out of the loop with Tom’s parents visiting from out of state. We’re sending you all the best, and I hope the vet was able to help you out today.
