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Question

can you give a female cat pedilite to help her go to the bathroom?

Submitted: 18 days and 6 hours ago.
Category: Cat
Value: $13
Status: CLOSED
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Optional Information

Pet's Sex: Female
Pet's Age: 11

Already Tried:
nothing yet, i just noticed. yesterday she would cry when she moved sometimes. she does eat and drink, but i don't remember seeing her use the litter box.

Posted by GenB 18 days and 6 hours ago.

Info Request

Is she having trouble with urine or stool (or both)?

What food(s) does she eat?



18 days and 6 hours ago.

Reply

I'm going to assume both since I haven't seen her use the box during the daytime.

 

She eats Meow Mix and has since birth. She won't eat soft food at all.

I can't really afford to go to the vet so I'm looking for some other alternative.

Posted by GenB 18 days and 6 hours ago.

Answer

Hello and thanks for researching this very important question!

There are some things to try at home, but if you do not find clumps of urine in her box (or anywhere else in the house!) today, she may be having a medical emergency (such as a small bit of bladder crystal blocking her urinary tract). Cats that do not produce any urine at all need to have their kidneys evaluated.
Emergency Financial Aid help here.

Canned cat food does help keep the digestive organs moving better with cats, but you can try offering some plain milk...milk often gives "normally" moving cats diarrhea, and can "unclog" one that is constipated.

Pedialyte is fine to offer and can help correct dehydration...mix 25% with her water and change daily.

Canned pumpkin (NOT pie filling--just plain pumkin in a can) can also help get some fiber into the bowel.

If her colon has backed up with very dry stool over the past week or several weeks, she may not be able to get things going again on her own...and again, will need some emergency attention to get cleaned out and back into balance. Older cats can develop a syndrome that results in the colon stretching out of shape...medicines and dietary adjustments are used to support these pets.
Read about Feline Constipation Syndrome here.

If you need additional support at this time, please "Reply", otherwise I thank you in advance for your "Accept", and hope she's feeling better soon.


18 days and 5 hours ago.

Reply

Thank you. I'm going to watch her for the next day or so to see if she changes. I will try the pedialyte in her water. If it doesn't clear up I'll probably take her to the vet. Do you happen to know how much I'm looking at for this procedure? And understand you can't give me exacts, but ballpark would be helpful.

Accepted Answer

Costs vary SO much from place-to-place nowadays, that I would not hazard a specific guess...certainly call some offices in your area to get basic information.

The vet's receptionist should be able to give you an estimate for:

1) An exam (the vet can feel her bladder and bowel by hand, and evaluate her hydration, heart condition and general state of health),

2) An xray (in case the vet feels something abnormal inside her body),

3) An enema (in case her colon is normal-sized, but full of hard stool),

4) An anesthetic or sedative and manual stool extraction (if her colon is over-stretched and needs to be cleaned out by hand),

5) Basic blood screens (in case she is not making any urine, or feels very dehydrated).


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Expert: GenB
Pos. Feedback: 100.0 %
Accepts: 
Answered: 11/4/2009

Retired Veterinary Technician

Kitten, Adult, Geriatric Cat Care Specialist/ B.A. Neurophysiology & Animal Behavior/ Plain English!

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