I am new to blogging for the most part, at least about a cat and medical issues. I just had to say that any donations that are given, are most greatly appreciated. But I absolutely understand if anyone does not donate, as times are these days, I of course wouldn't be upset. While it would be a great help, I couldn't stand the thought of someone donating to me unless they had able means to donate.
It isn't really relevant to Boo's situation, but I just wanted to say that, because I feel so very awkward having a donation button and a fundraiser on the front page. This is just new to me. Thank you all for your time and your concern, that means more to me than anything else. <3
Boo has an appt at 2pm at Walkertown Vet with the young doc that gave him the "rectal exam" (surprise rectal exam, for both of us LOL, and then a surprise flick of poo on my forehead, boy was that a fun vet visit) and hopefully we will be able to find out if he is constipated or blocked by a simple belly feel. I am hoping for no X-rays but if it is necessary we will do it.
He is acting very well today, as normal as ever. I came home, he jumped in the open window for a bit, then drank a nice amount of water, then had his fluids (went super great) and then had a little dry food. He's resting in the closet in Mom's room for now, and I was informed he was sleeping on my desk earlier this morning. He did have another bout of runny poo last night sometime while I was away, but upon getting hope and pulling out the latex gloves, I saw it was a little firmer than the last one (they seem to be getting just a tad firmer every time) and they are not sliding down the paper or anything. I know that's disgusting, but I just have to know exactly what his poop is doing. There was NO BLOOD in it, so that is great. I saw a bit of blood when the runs FIRST started, but he has had small bouts of a little bit of fresh blood in his poop since I got him. I had never thought much about it, because it was only once in a poop and once in several months. The vet told me it was probably just him straining, and if I saw it happen in two consecutive poops that he needed to be checked. Never 2 back to back poops with blood. Never a great amount. And there has been none since when the runs first started.
But we certainly need vibes for Boo that he has no intestinal blockage, and if he does it can be handled with an enema or something... so that we can continue the supplements and get him back to using regular clay litter sometime in the next few weeks. I will update later after his vet appt to let everyone know what happened. Thank you all <3
I went into Mom's room and laid on the bed there to watch TV, and keep an eye on Boo since he was sitting on a rocking chair. He actually came over to me and got some petting on bed, then jumped over me and laid down in his usual spot next to me. Then he purred, he slept, and then he slept so hard he was having dreams and twitching and his breathing got funny so I petted him and woke him up :T I don't like it when he breathes funny while he's sleeping. Anyway. As soon as I got to work I got a phone call that he had some more runny poo, but it is not watery. I will be calling and taking him into the vet first thing in the morning. Pray no blockages!!!
I am very afraid Boo has a blockage. I was reading about "incontinence overflow" on Tanya's CRF site and we will be phoning the vet in the morning. He has been eating and drinking and acting 99% normal, aside from his getting frustrated with my newspaper and puppy pads and pooing in the corner of the room on the carpet in his litter pan room. Fixed that with some more sheets of plastic everywhere so if he does go, it will be easier to get up.
He is doing the running-from-one-place-to-another most of the day and he is sleeping very comfortably in the closet now. I am praying it is not a blockage. He refuses to get on the bed with me, but was up on my desk earlier laying beside my monitor. *sigh* I hope we can get past this so I can start trying to get his supp's again! I know his anaemia is pretty bad and I really want to try and help that!
This morning, Boo was acting GREAT! His eyes were clear and his third eyelids weren't showing, he was bounding about the house, he was eating lots, he was meowing when spoken to, purring, sitting in windows, drinking water. Then boom. I heard him scratching in the pans. I went down to see he had peed, which was a relief, in one of the pans with only puppy pads (I have four, 2 have only puppy pads, 2 have puppy pads with newspaper sheets on top).
10 minutes later he had some catnip, then went back to the pan. I followed to hear gas and see diarrhea. It is not watery, but still runny. No blood, no foreign objects. Afterwards I let him rest, we did his fluids and I gave him just a few drops or so extra to cover his diarrhea, and he's eaten again. Things seem to be okay, but if his runs have not stopped or changed by tomorrow I am to call the vet back and they will want to see him. I wanted to avoid another exam for him, stress and all... but we will see, cross our fingers and pray.
Chickster (my 1-2 year old kitten) has taken to peeing on the rugs. She also hates the puppy pads, so I have placed one pan high up where boo can't get to it and put litter in it, showed her where it was and she peed there. Hopefully no more pee pee (Hers stinks, Boo's is so diluted you can't smell it at all) on the rugs or anywhere else. She also hasn't pooped, but I gave her some miralax and she may have been holding it in because of the puppy pads. We'll see on that too. These cats can be so finicky, I am not used to very very finicky cats! They hate hate hate change!
*sigh* Will try to update later. As things stand, everyone is feeling happy, acting happy, and doing ok.
Well, I came home this morning from work to find Boo had completely had it with his puppy pads. He had pooped twice outside of the pans, and both times were runny. He had vomited also, but it was a quarter size amount with very little stomach bile and a small hairball in the middle. Amidst everything else I had forgotten that I've seen him grooming quite a bit, chest, legs, back, instead of his usual face-only grooming. I think this is a good thing.
I have started him on the iron supplements, and phoned the vet this morning about his runny poop. I told her I wasn't sure it if was from him attempting to eat the clay and pine pellets, or from this supplement, but since it's continued to last night I am suspecting, as well as the vet, that is the supplement. They told me that it's not unusual for it to be a slight shock to their digestive system as it has a lot of vitamins and minerals in it, and going without them for so long can cause this. If he has not stopped the runny poop in 2 days I am to call them back and he will have to be seen.
His appetite is as great as ever. He dug into his Hi-Tor neo well, he drank a nice amount of water and his fluids went great as ever. Apparently a few moments ago he just had another runny poop spell, just a small amount with a bit of solid stool in it, so I am hoping this is passing. We have decided to hold off on the supplement for today to let his body calm down. When I resume I will do it very slowly, a few drops from the small bulb-syringe provided with the supplements.
Boo is resting on the bed after my grooming his poo spots with a baby wipe and snipping some poo away, there wasn't much altogether, but he didn't want to dirty the bed. He is so very well mannered, the poor baby. I hate his having to go through this, after everything else.
I changed 2 of the pans from puppy pads, which Boo obviously is disgusted by, and replaced them with full sheets of newspaper. He used this a short awhile ago without incident. These newspaper sheets are not shredded and hopefully he will not try to eat these as well.
Thanks to an amazing user on TheCatSite forums, I gave up the search for "digestable" and "Non-toxic" litters for Boo and went and got puppy pee pads. I had never thought of this! Will be updating on how it goes, hoping it will go smoothly.
He was intent on eating something out of the pans, and if it wasn't clay it was the pine pellets which he immediately puked up. He had a bit of the runs but I wiped his tooshie and now he is enjoying cat nip and sitting in the window wishing to go outside. I am headed to take him out right this instant. He needs some sort of present for all of what he is going through!!
Well, it's March 25, 2010. I finally went and got Boo some NutriVet B-Complex Plus Iron Liquid supplements for his anaemia. I am kicking myself for not doing it earlier, and letting him get to the point of trying to eat cat litter. I am also really realizing the hard way that his vet is not very proactive with his case. This is why I have the two resources online (Tanya's CRF Site and TheCatSite.com forums, thanks you guys, you'll never know how much!!) to show me what I need to be doing. I also have a "new" vet who has yet to see Boo in the flesh, but is nice enough to consult with me on his health issues.
His sub-q fluids went so very well today. He didn't peep or jump at the needle. I got him right behind the shoulderblades (where it has always usually worked every time) and I'm trying to recall why I stopped doing that. Perhaps because one day the needle wouldn't go in, but yesterday was horrible. I ended up having to stick him 4 times before I could get the needle to go in. The first 2 didn't even poke him, and he only mewed, but the 3rd one got through the skin and he growled like a mad rottweiler (He has an absolutely unbelievable growl), he jerked, the needle came out and I had to try one more time. The 4th time was the charm, and we got it done. I was going to try the 20G Terumo's today, but decided against it since he knows exactly the time it takes for the 18G and starts getting restless the last few seconds of his fluids all without me telling him a single thing.
Boo is not liking the pine pellets I bought, though I'm thrilled they work so well. At about 20 dollars for a 20 lb bag, though, I'm not sure if it will be more costly this way. I am hoping the NutriVed (from VEDCO) will help his anaemia. I had explained all of what he was doing to the vet, and he readily offered this supplement today. So, let us hope it starts working!
Eye discharge has lessened a great deal, though the smell is still a little strong. Have been wiping his eyes and getting the crusties out. I have an ointment if his conjunctivitis pops up again.
His appetite is great, and I am even feeling a bit of pooching on the sides of his belly (not fluids), so I am hoping he has gained a few ounces. I have yet to buy a baby scale for lack of funds at the moment, but he has not lost any weight. His poopers and pee'ers are great. No miralax needed, though the Pepcid has been attempted (last night) and he has figured out how to hold them in his mouth as long as he needs to, and when I let go he spits it out, half dissolved. I will be trying to crush, mix with water and squirt into his mouth by syringe, now knowing that I need to give him about 5 CC's of water behind that to wash the nasty bitter taste out of his mouth.
His attitude is not as upbeat as usual, he is laying in Mom's bed and refusing to lay in mine, though he wanted me in there this morning (he loves it when we're all together). He is sleeping comfortably now. More updates later:) Thanks for reading!
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