Romeo, the 10 year old chubby cheeked Domestic Short Hair cat has had a history of his faeces being abnormal, occasionally accompanied by mucous. Within the last few weeks however, this situation worsened, and his owners noticed his stool was often accompanied by blood. To add to their concern, Romeo started defecating outside his litterbox, which was highly unusual behaviour for him. Worried about his well-being and knowing that with his history of urinary blockages they couldn’t leave anything to chance, they took him in to the team at Berwick.
Upon his arrival, Romeo greeted the girls with lots of head butts and smooches, which provided some relief indicating that his condition might not be an emergency. Dr. Michael examined Romeo’s abdomen however and felt something was certainly amiss and that Romeo was putting on a brave face. There was a strong possibility that he was suffering from severe constipation, which would have been an incredibly uncomfortable condition for all those weeks. It is important to note that cats especially, are incredibly savvy at masking their symptoms and when they appear outwardly unwell, it is likely that they are already extremely sick.
To get to the bottom of the issue, Dr. Michael decided to take radiographs and blood tests to check Romeo’s overall health. The X-rays revealed a severe faecal impaction along the length of his colon, raising concerns about a condition known as megacolon. Dr. Michael explained to Romeo’s owners that megacolon is a condition where the colon becomes dilated and loses its ability to contract and expel faeces properly. This leads to chronic constipation and, in severe cases, faecal impaction.
Although other potential disease processes couldn’t be ruled out, it was suspected that Romeo was very likely to be dehydrated to some extent. With such a severe case of constipation, some fluids under the skin were likely not going to be at all sufficient. Therefore, the focus was on ensuring Romeo received the necessary care and hydration over the weekend and was transferred to the emergency hospital for further treatment, including an enema to help relieve some of the impacted faeces in his colon.
After his hospital stay, Romeo returned to the clinic for a follow-up visit. More radiographs were performed to assess the effectiveness of the treatment and ongoing medications. Though there was still some faecal matter in his colon which was expected, it was not causing the same impaction and discomfort as before, thanks to the intervention and care he had received.
Dr. Michael prescribed the continuation of Lactulose, a laxative, to help prevent any future occurrences. Romeo’s owners have been diligent in administering his medications and ensuring he receives plenty of water to stay hydrated, making sure everything passes as it should! Needless to say, they are so very grateful they acted when they did for their big brave love-bug, and we are so pleased to report that Romeo is doing very well at home and feeling a lot more comfortable in his belly!