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Nothing says “Merry Christmas” to your cat like an enema at the ER
By Phyllis DeGioia
December 28, 2009
On Christmas morning, when most folks were opening Santa’s gifts, I was cleaning up vomit next to Dickens’ litter box. I watched my pig-cat eat only half his meal. Dickens is so food-driven he will drag food out of the garbage disposal.
Because Christmas is one of the four days of the year that my clinic is not available for emergencies, I called one of the local veterinary emergency rooms. I was worried because Dickens has a history of struvite crystals in his urine, which can become a fatal emergency. I figured I’d run in, they’d feel his belly and tell me I’m neurotic, and then I’d drive out to my sister’s with my worries under control.
Because it was one of two or three places in the city that is open on Christmas day, the ER was really busy. Who knew we’d be there for three hours?
An x-ray showed the problem was his stool: lots of it, and hard. (Is it too much of a pun to say “oh shit”?) Given that he is on stool softener twice a day for chronic constipation I didn’t think his stool could be that bad. According to Dr. Wendy Brooks, one of the vets I work with as editor of Veterinary Partner, the difference between constipation and obstipation is when constipation is “a more permanent and continuous problem. Here, patients are unable to effectively or completely empty the colon on their own (70% of affected cats are male, 30% female).”
Oh dear.
The enema pushed out a two-inch long “clay-like” piece of stool. My physician friend did the math, because former English majors like me can’t do it, and said it was the equivalent of a 160-lb person having a 40-inch clay-like piece stuck. Yeah, I’d vomit too. (Dickens would probably say “and you thought you had a shitty holiday.”)
Santa brought Dickens a great feeling of relief. No glittery cat ball can match an enema for sheer grandiosity or expense. “Hey, what did you get for Christmas? Yeah, catnip toys are cool but guess what I got?”
All of this is to say how grateful I am that there are veterinary ERs available on days like these, and so is Dickens. The ER called to check on him, and they were pleased to know we’d gone in to my regular vet the next day for blood work. I can’t imagine how sick Dickens would have been if we’d had no choice but to wait until the next day.
Folks like Dr. Tony rock. So I’m taking a moment to say thanks to the folks in the trenches, like the ones at the Veterinary Emergency Service in Middleton, Wis, who give up their holidays so our pets can be treated. Many, many thanks and happy new year to all the ER vets!
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How do you do it, Phyllis? You have a wonderful gift for telling a horrific tale with such poignant humor. Just the title made me spew coffee all over my keyboard. And then it got even better. Glad it all came out well in the end. Handsome boy!
Comment by Nadine L — December 28, 2009 @ 2:52 pm
Ouch, Nadine: “glad all came out well in the end!”
Phyllis, please keep us updated re the blood work and/or what your regular vets find.
Comment by Susan — December 28, 2009 @ 3:46 pm
Very glad Dickens got an all clear, so to speak, and I hope nothing untoward shows up in blood work or subsequent examinations. What a happy holiday, eh? My feeling at times like that (I’ve spent many an hour in the emergency vet clinic, too) is that having to be there is really no problem if it will just please, please not be anything too serious.
Here’s hoping the new year goes better than a two-inch claylike … well, you know what I mean.
Comment by Glenye Oakford — December 28, 2009 @ 4:01 pm
Dickens,
Just because Christie wanted ER stories there’s no reason to go get your own.
Hope you all are doing better.
Comment by Schnauzer — December 28, 2009 @ 4:16 pm
Talk to your vet about pumpkin — Lindsey has had much the same problem (I had to keep disposable latex gloves around the house to dig him out whenever he threw up). Now that Lindsey gets pumpkin in his food at every meal, he’s doing a lot better.
Also have his anal spincter muscles checked out — supposedly, it’s common in dogs for these muscles to “wear out” and the dog can’t pass his stool, but it does happen to male cats. Lindsey had to have surgery to fix these muscles and while it wasn’t cheap, it and the pumpkin completely cleared up his problem. No more drugs and no more “dig outs” with Mom (which I really appreciate). If the muscles do wear out, he’s at risk for megacolon. The surgeon told me that Lindsey was on his way toward megacolon and wasn’t so sure the surgery would fix everything, but we were very lucky — he’s been great since the surgery and was able to go off all drugs (but still on pumpkin) 6 months later.
Comment by Dorene — December 28, 2009 @ 4:30 pm
My poor dog (lab mix) recently had to have two enemas to get everything unclogged. Wonder what the math would be on that!?
Glad Dickens is better!
Comment by Sherron — December 28, 2009 @ 4:39 pm
It usually happens on holidays! Glad Dickens is feeling better. One of my long haired catgirls recently had to have a lot of poo removed under anesthesia and then enemas to clean everything out really well. She’s on lactulose in the morning and haven’t had a problem since. She refuses anything but kibble, and believe me, I have tried. Pumpkin? NO WAY!
Comment by catmom5 — December 28, 2009 @ 5:06 pm
” Just the title made me spew coffee all over my keyboard.:
glad to help, Nadine!
Pumpkin didn’t help Dickens a while back. He’s been on Miralax twice a day for a while, so this isn’t looking pretty.
The problem might be as simple as the commercial pre-mixed raw food I give him - it might have too much ground bone in it for him. The hilarious part of that is that the person who suggested it to me to *fix* his constipation and hard stool is a feline diplomat (boarded veterinary specialist). We’ll see. Of course the holidays have fouled up the usual timing of the blood work. Keeping my paws crossed!
Comment by Phyllis DeGioia — December 28, 2009 @ 5:28 pm
Glad the ER was able to save the day, Phyllis. The irony of Dickens being in the ER on Christmas was not lost on me. God bless us everyone!
…and I am sure that Dickens is glad to be rid of his own little Tiny Turdy Tim!
Comment by Dr. Tony Johnson — December 28, 2009 @ 6:50 pm
After years of adventures with a wild, crazy dog who had an entire Minnesota smorgasbord of health problems we came up with “Zorro’s Law” which states that the possibility that your pet will need emergency veterinary care increases exponentially by factors related to the amount the cost of treatment exceeds your budget and the relative inconvenience of the visit.
So, if its a holiday, there’s bad weather, you desperately need to be somewhere else and cash is short - feel blessed if the fates bless you and Zorro’s Law doesn’t apply!
Comment by Janeen — December 28, 2009 @ 7:22 pm
You got a visit from Mister Hanky!
Comment by H. Houlahan — December 28, 2009 @ 7:41 pm
Zorro’s law is right! For the first time in my life, I wasn’t with my family on Christmas. The weather was bad (freezing rain) making it dangerous to drive an hour back and forth - I needed to either spend the night out there or not go, so I stayed home alone in my jammies, spilling tears. Wah!
Comment by Phyllis DeGioia — December 29, 2009 @ 6:52 am
I, too ,wish only the best to vets who man the ers. We can take the best care of our pets and problems still occur requiring immediate attention.
In my case,Zorro’s Law, did not apply to Pager and Pal. But New Year’s is just a few days away?
Constipation hasn’t been the problem for these two dogs. The opposite has been. Now if they would not be so willing to eat anything they put their noses too!
Here is to Dickens! Consider All Three of You to be hugged today.
Comment by Victoria Hoover — December 29, 2009 @ 10:29 am