Scare with Smokey

[cats4ever]

I'm sorry that Smokey had a setback. It is always an emotional roller coaster having a pet hospitalized, not knowing for sure what's going on.
Sending best wishes to you, Smokey and his housemates.

[Chatanuga]

Called the vet's office this morning. Smokey's still not eating. When they showed me the X-rays yesterday, I asked about the stool that is still in his colon, even though he was given an enema on Sunday at MedVet. The vet said that normally when they give a cat an enema, they don't evacuate the stool (preferring to let it move on its own) since it can cause a cat to get dehydrated. Since that is the only thing that they can find wrong, they're going ahead with another enema and will be evacuating some of the stool to try to get things flowing again.

Kevin

[Chatanuga]

Got a call from the vet a few minutes ago. They've evacuated the stool, and things are moving again. I gave the okay for them to do an ultrasound to make sure nothing else is wrong (everything is still coming back negative). If the ultrasound comes back negative, they're going to give him some fluids to help stimulate his appetite and let me bring him home. They said it is quite possible that he's not eating for them because of his nerves (he hates going to the vet's office).

Kevin

[phesina]

Sending love and good wishes to Smokey and you...

[cats4ever]

It is quite possible that he's not eating because he's in the hospital.
I hope that his appetite will pick up as soon as he gets home.

[Chatanuga]

So, I got Smokey home this afternoon. On the way to the vet's office, I stopped and got a couple brands of canned food for him as well as some extra cans of tuna for him (and me ). He's been quite alert since getting home. He has had a couple bouts of loose stool in the litterbox, but after having an enema, that would be expected. He hasn't eaten anything yet, but I'm about to go down and fix him some of the canned food to see if he takes an interest in it before starting on my dinner.

Kevin

[Chatanuga]

So, as of 1:45 AM, Smokey has yet to touch any food, at least that I know of.

I've offered him tuna, canned food, canned pumpkin, and treats. The feeder in the kitchen and the bowl in the upstairs hallway have his and Casey's usual Purina Cat Chow. If he's touched the regular food, it hasn't been anything noticeable. I haven't noticed him drinking any water, but he may have done that when I haven't been around since in addition to their big water bowl in the kitchen I've also put out a second bowl in the upstairs hallway across from the food.

He has had at least three loose bowel movements, indicating that the stool that was backed up in him is getting flushed out from that second enema. And I would have thought that his appetite would have returned by now.

Two other observations I've made are that for a while after returning home, he was drooling off and on. One of the possible side effects of one of the medications that I read was drooling. Also, I've seen him drool when I give him his monthly doses of Revolution between the ears, which he doesn't like. Between the drooling and the fact that he's been sleeping quite a bit since getting home, I'm almost wonder if he was stressed out/worn out from the overnight stay at the vet's office and has been simply too tired to want to eat. They did say that he kept himself all bunched up at the back of his cage that he was in, even when they put a blanket over the front to try to give him some privacy.

After checking on him a few minutes ago, he seemed like he just wanted to sleep and wasn't in distress or anything. I'm hoping things change for the better by morning.

Kevin

[cats4ever]

Drooling and inappetence could also be a sign of nausea. Is Smokey already on an anti-nausea medication?