I spent the better part of the weekend in the kitchen, stirring up concoctions to try to tempt Ernie. I was not very successful. We decided to try adding Metamucil to her food, but she didn't care for that. You have to be careful giving Metamucil to a kitty. If she doesn't drink enough she can get dehydrated, and if it doesn't work in a couple days it can make the problem worse. I started with a half doses in a couple different kinds of food and she said, "No, thank you!" to each one, it so we moved on.
The vet recommended adding canned pumpkin to Ernie's food, but she wouldn't eat that, either. So I tried mixing in a little cream cheese - her favorite - and she ate a bit of it, but not enough to make a difference. Kitty gourmet attempt number three was a take on a recipe I make for the kids - butternut squash mac & cheese. I got the recipe from Rachael Ray's website. The kids love it and Ernie begs for table scraps, so I decided to try a modified version of the sauce. No noodles. I used coconut oil instead of butter, a generous pour of low sodium chicken broth, a touch of half & half, some pureed squash, and a few shreds of cheese to hide the squash taste. She loves it, but it hasn't worked. This is the one I had high hopes for. She's had three servings of it, and we'll let her finish the batch, so maybe it will kick in eventually, but when she's had it before the results in by the end of the day.
Walker and I are not in agreement over what to do next. I had a deadline of today, if she wasn't having more luck going potty she was going back to the vet. Walker thinks we should just let her be, as she gets totally stressed out at the vet and they already told us there's nothing different they can try. She seems fine, when you watch her. She's active and vocal, she eats well, she pees. But, you know, she has to be uncomfortable. I can't stand knowing that and not doing anything to try to help her.
Sounds like you are doing everything you can. Poor Ernie. I know if children get impacted and it will not budge, the doctors have to manually remove it. Do not know if vets do the same thing for animals. I hope the situation remedies itself. You might want to look up the benefits of adding a little mineral oil to the food. It has been years but I remember having to do something like that. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the tip, I'll definitely check it out and give it a try. The vet can remove the impaction but they have to sedate her, which they are concerned about at her age, and there is nothing to prevent her from getting impacted again. She has a narrow spot in her colon, could be caused by age or injury.
ReplyDeletePoor Ernie, it does sound like the surgery is called for, can they stretch that section of bowel or take it out?
ReplyDeleteI hope the mineral helps and I belive it will.
ReplyDeletePoor Ernie.
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