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Old May 31st, 2011, 11:23 AM
StevenL StevenL is offline
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Lethargic Cat, with Some Vomiting

Last weekend, my 1 year old cat George ate a piece of a rubber mat that we place his litter box on. He threw it up, and I could see bits of undigested rubber in the vomit. I had assumed that he had got it all up and would be OK (this was Friday night). On Saturday, he was very very lethargic and withdrawn, and would not eat his food. I was concerned because he is generally very sociable, and was spending time in strange areas where he does not normally go.

On Sunday, this continued, and we decided to take him to the vet. I was very disappointed with this pet hospital, as they seemed only concerned with making the final bill as large as possible. We agreed to an xray, which, according to the vet, "may or may not show a piece of the mat in his colon". They then recommended keeping him there overnight on fluids so they could monitor him, which costs about 3 years salary. I took George home with me and was no further ahead.

Monday comes around and he's finally feeling better, eating some food and tuna water as we try to feed it to him every couple of hours. For the rest of the week, he is fine, acting and eating normally.

Now fast forward to this weekend, and he is acting strangely and won't eat. He is not as lethargic as the weekend before, but he threw up on Sunday, and again last night. It is just pure liquid, with no chunks in it. He had not eaten anything strange this time.

Now I realize that the title of the forum says "If your pet is vomiting, vet time!", but based on my recent experience (and vet bill!) I'm reluctant to bring him back. When we first got him back in September, we took him in for a checkup, and he had a digestive issue that was remedied by medication. 2 months ago at the recommendation of the forum we switched our two cats (brothers) over to Wellness. This has gone exceptionally well, but recent events are definitely causing concern, especially in light of the fact that this has occurred two weekends in a row.

Do you have any advice for me before I rush off to the vet again?
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Old May 31st, 2011, 11:46 AM
StevenL StevenL is offline
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I should also add that he did eat his breakfast this morning.
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Old May 31st, 2011, 06:32 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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If he's not eating, he needs to see the vet, StevenL. It's possible there's still something floating around in there. One of our dogs ate a quarter sized piece of rubber toy and he didn't throw it up for weeks! Thankfully it was just large enough to not be able to enter the intestine and cause a blockage.

If you don't have confidence in the vet you went to last time, is there another clinic you can go to or another vet to see?
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Old June 1st, 2011, 09:29 PM
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Blockage came to my mind as well. It you value your fur friend, take him to the vet or another one if you're unhappy with the other one. There's something going on, and lelthargy, vomiting and not eating or eating very little is not a good sign. Hope he's o.k. and do give us an update.
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Old June 8th, 2011, 10:27 AM
StevenL StevenL is offline
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So I took George in, and he's lost some weight and is extremely dehydrated. He was on fluids overnight last night. Blockage is the most likely scenario. He is in surgery as I type this. There's no damage to his kidneys or liver thankfully. I hate waiting by the phone for a call from the vet, but this is a relatively common procedure, right? Just hoping he will be OK.

We initially took him to the emergency pet hospital, which is quite expensive for overnight care. They said he might pass what's inside him. Rather than leave him there, we took him back with us in the hopes he would do just that. He initially got better, as he was eating and drinking. Then several days later he got worse yet again. This is when we decided to bring him in for the treatment. I just hope I haven't left it too long, I feel terrible about it. Aside from this he's been treated perfectly, eats Wellness twice a day, and has his brother for company. We have no kids, so for now, they are it Sorry for ranting/reposting what I already said, just wanted to get that off my chest even if no one reads it.
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Old June 8th, 2011, 10:59 AM
StevenL StevenL is offline
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Update: George had successful surgery, and they removed a chunk of rubber from his intestine! So relieved, I will be definitely keeping a better eye on things he could potentially chew his way into, that's for sure. And also getting pet insurance. Thanks for listening to me rant on
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Old June 8th, 2011, 12:02 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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Whew! Glad to hear they were able to locate it and remove it! Now for a quick recovery!
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Old June 8th, 2011, 12:35 PM
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StevenL,I just read all your posts and I am happy George got through the surgery with no complications
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Old June 9th, 2011, 02:42 PM
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Very happy to hear George is all OK now. His symptoms sounded identical to my son's Lab. She had an intestinal blockage too, and had swallowed a stuffed toy. She's fine now, but they had to go through the house and removed any toys they thought she would swallow. It cost them close to $3000 in the U.S. Ouch!
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Old June 21st, 2011, 04:54 PM
thecalks thecalks is offline
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how much did it cost?

Hey StevenL:

I hate to ask this, but how much did the surgery to remove George's blockage cost, all in?

Our kitty ate a portion of a spongy kid floor (like the spongy floor pieces under a piece of workout equipment). He's thrown up several times in the last few days (food at first, with the suspected pieces of sponge in them, and now yellowish/greenish bile). He is acting very lethargic.

I just want to have an idea of what this may cost us...

Thanks for any help you can provide.
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Old July 11th, 2011, 03:23 PM
StevenL StevenL is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thecalks View Post
Hey StevenL:

I hate to ask this, but how much did the surgery to remove George's blockage cost, all in?

Our kitty ate a portion of a spongy kid floor (like the spongy floor pieces under a piece of workout equipment). He's thrown up several times in the last few days (food at first, with the suspected pieces of sponge in them, and now yellowish/greenish bile). He is acting very lethargic.

I just want to have an idea of what this may cost us...

Thanks for any help you can provide.
The surgery cost $2000 to perform. We are very happy with the results, and he has been in perfect health ever since.

The nice thing about it is that it is a one time thing, and they can almost certainly save him. Sure, if he had cancer, and it was hard to say if he would recover, I'd be wary. But they simply remove the foreign object, and he is fine. If you can remotely afford it, save your little critter
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