Californiablonde
Well-Known Member
Our sweet, loveable Mandy isn't doing too well right now. She has had several health problems in the last two weeks. First I brought her in to the vet for routine vaccinations, and she was examined and they found her to have a pretty bad skin infection due to fleas. I thought the fleas had gone away for the winter, but apparently I was wrong. The front office assistant pointed out several fleas crawling on her while we were there. I hadn't noticed them on my own. What was supposed to be a $33 visit for vaccinations ended up being a $133 for medications and blood tests.
Shortly after the skin infection diagnosis, Mandy began meowing relentlessly day and night. Turns out she was in heat. She is ten months old, and I didn't think a cat was mature enough to have a heat cycle until at least one year. I was wrong again. She was driving the whole family nuts. None of us could sleep. Several people in my cat group on Facebook warned me that getting her fixed in the middle of a heat cycle was risky and most vets won't do it until the cycle is over. I waited about ten days and her incessant meowing seemed to have stopped.
I went ahead and scheduled her for what I thought would be a $50 spay. When I got to the vet's office, they informed me that she was seriously dehydrated, most likely due to the skin infection, and she would need IV fluids in order for the vet to do the surgery. Normally IV fluids are optional, but the vet insisted it would be mandatory for Mandy. The fluids cost me an extra $35. They also discovered that she was still in the middle of her heat cycle. I thought for sure she was over it but turns out not so much. The vet charged even more money due to her being in heat. I thought I would be spending $50 for a spay, and ended up walking out of there paying $195. Yikes!
The surgery seemed to have gone well. She was a lot more tired than usual but I assumed that was typical due to the after effects of the surgery. It's going on ten days now since she got spayed, and she still has very little appetite. Even when I give her the wet food, which is her abosolute favorite, she eats maybe two bites and walks away. What's more worriesome is she is straining to poop and nothing comes out. She stops in the middle of the floor, squats, and strains for several minutes at a time frequently throughout the day.
I called the vet, and they advised I feed her pumpkin with her food, which is a natural laxative. I mixed it in with the food and she refuses to eat it. Still no bowel movement. I hate to say this, but another trip to the vet is necessary. I am taking her on Thursday. It's more money I don't have to spend, but I have to do it for her sake. Hopefully the constipation is easily fixable. My Mandy is the sweetest kitty I've ever owned, and we would all be devastated if anything happened to her. If you could all send positive vibes our way for a good outcome, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Shortly after the skin infection diagnosis, Mandy began meowing relentlessly day and night. Turns out she was in heat. She is ten months old, and I didn't think a cat was mature enough to have a heat cycle until at least one year. I was wrong again. She was driving the whole family nuts. None of us could sleep. Several people in my cat group on Facebook warned me that getting her fixed in the middle of a heat cycle was risky and most vets won't do it until the cycle is over. I waited about ten days and her incessant meowing seemed to have stopped.
I went ahead and scheduled her for what I thought would be a $50 spay. When I got to the vet's office, they informed me that she was seriously dehydrated, most likely due to the skin infection, and she would need IV fluids in order for the vet to do the surgery. Normally IV fluids are optional, but the vet insisted it would be mandatory for Mandy. The fluids cost me an extra $35. They also discovered that she was still in the middle of her heat cycle. I thought for sure she was over it but turns out not so much. The vet charged even more money due to her being in heat. I thought I would be spending $50 for a spay, and ended up walking out of there paying $195. Yikes!
The surgery seemed to have gone well. She was a lot more tired than usual but I assumed that was typical due to the after effects of the surgery. It's going on ten days now since she got spayed, and she still has very little appetite. Even when I give her the wet food, which is her abosolute favorite, she eats maybe two bites and walks away. What's more worriesome is she is straining to poop and nothing comes out. She stops in the middle of the floor, squats, and strains for several minutes at a time frequently throughout the day.
I called the vet, and they advised I feed her pumpkin with her food, which is a natural laxative. I mixed it in with the food and she refuses to eat it. Still no bowel movement. I hate to say this, but another trip to the vet is necessary. I am taking her on Thursday. It's more money I don't have to spend, but I have to do it for her sake. Hopefully the constipation is easily fixable. My Mandy is the sweetest kitty I've ever owned, and we would all be devastated if anything happened to her. If you could all send positive vibes our way for a good outcome, I'd greatly appreciate it.
GoingNorth is right, so I cant add much but my very first cat ( not a Manx) when I was a child would get constantly constipated and was really ill, they ended up doing exploratory surgery finding he had a rare disease that made him to easily get and stay constipated, so a strict wet cat food diet of fancy feast twice a day with a tsp.. I think a tsp of mineral oil in it to keep him " regular". Overall, he did really well after that. 
