Hello again ~

I'll try to get some pics up if I can soon! He's been resting a lot today... The onesie fits fine/not too tight & yes, it's newborn size. 

The pee incident the other day was him peeing near the box but not in it, but since then, he's gotten a little worse with where he's going - peeing in the bed or where he's been sleeping a couple of times (easy to clean up because I put a pee pad underneath - one that doesn't have the "attractor" stuff, hoping it wouldn't encourage peeing on the pads, since many other pee pads seemed to have this!), which made cleaning him up with some baby wipes & changing his onesie necessary, but happy pee indeed! ^_^ Though still no poop! I called to let the vet know that he had still not pooped yet and they said to call back tomorrow if it was the same.

I did very carefully take him out and put him in his normal litter pan, to see if he would go, and he just sat/laid down in it 🙁  I also tried putting him in the pan in the cage to no avail... Really hoping he poops soon! They were supposed to check his anal glands at surgery time because he'd been taking very small poops up until that point & regular vet suggested he needed anal glands expressed... but they forgot. Maybe I already mentioned that anyway... So Thursday night he was home from surgery, and I don't think he pooped from his 3 meals on Wednesday either, so now it's Sunday night and still no poop!?!?

He drank a little water yesterday but nothing today and hasn't been eating much food today too, which was frustrating and saddening... I got him to eat a little spoonful of baby food (turkey with butternut squash) in the morning and about 1/4 (a little less) regular-size can of food total through the eve - split among a few different flavors. I decided to give him mirtazapine to try to stimulate his appetite, and that may still be kicking in, but was not great since it stresses him out to take pills (also why I haven't syringe fed yet), but I got it in there successfully with some butter on it. He was interested in food a little... When I brought different ones to him, he would lick them but not really eat/get any in his mouth for awhile - showing great excitement/eagerness hearing his brother get dry food so I even offered that and he perked up, but then just pushed the pieces around on the plate! He even hopped to the kitchen when I put down the no-skid rug and let him come out if he wanted while I got his food ready/on the plate, but then just sat down/laid on the rug when I put the plate on the raised up thing for him. He's eaten more when I actually hold the plate to him while he's in his bed.

Another concern is his breathing has been kind of shallow and quick at times... deep lung breaths I can hear...  Which of course made it even harder for me to want to give him the mirtazapine pill/stress him and also lift him/take him to the pan, thinking it would make his breathing worse. The breathing, combined with the not pooping and only eating 1/4 can of food today & being less active until he hopped out of the cage, made me wonder if I should call emergency, but basically my housemate got into an argument with me about it and doesn't think it would be worth going in. (We share a car).

Prayers & good vibes welcome! Gotta go give him Gabba now...

Love & Gratitude ~
Crystal & the boys 

Hi all, thank you again for the helpful responses, encouraging words & support! I did end up going to the emergency and got out around 4am... Spirit is stable at home now and resting. More below! <3

Purrkins said

The not pooping is normal from the meds, is Spirit still on pain meds? What is he still on? Just Gaba?

Yes he's on Buprenex & Gaba, no more CBD as he hasn't touched it since the amputation except a tiny bit Friday. He also was on Onsior Fri & Sat, and they gave him a shot of it I believe on Thurs for the surgery. 

Purrkins went 7 days without pooping. I gave him 1/16th tsp Miralax on the 6th day and 1/8 tsp on the 7th day. We got BM day 8. You can do that sooner if you wish to and I don’t know how you will feel about the Miralax, I use it because it goes undetected.  If Spirit is not eating, I would add a little water with the Miralax and syringe it to him. I give this to Purrkins brother Saxtons 2X daily to keep him regular. I give him 1/2 tsp 2 x a day, what I gave Purrkins was tiny amounts.

I ended up bringing him to the emergency vet because he had really heavy breathing again & then gagging, sticking his tongue way out - just randomly - and continued to breathe very heavy/shallow for a long time, almost hyperventilating sounding. 🙁 He hadn't had anything for a couple of hours and I was on the phone with my aunt who used to be a vet tech & she basically insisted I go, so when my housemate heard that (or maybe because now he knew someone else was aware of it), he relentlessly took us. It could have been related to Spirit's lung mass, OR because he was extremely constipated (they took an x-ray and showed me, it was pretty backed up). Potentially he'd had no poop since Wed... but Purrkins went a LONG TIME TOO it sounds like! :O Wow! Wish I had read that sooner/before going to the emergency vet! (Although without the x-ray I wouldn't have been sure how backed up he was/if it was effecting his breathing too - still not sure exactly). They put him on oxygen & an IV, which probably helped with his breathing, and after the abdominal & chest x-ray, the vet gave him an enema and then waited awhile and only 2 tiny poops came out... so they gave him another smaller dose enema and 2-3x that first amount came out - hard poops. There's still more to go and they said if he still doesn't go by tomorrow afternoon maybe take him back in either to them or where he had the limb amputated. They suggested the Miralax too, so while we waited for enema to work, we ran out & got some. I haven't been able to get him to eat anything since coming home, but they said he ate well there and so I gave him his overdue Gabba which I had foregone in bringing him in to emergency care. He was purring and happy to leave the vet, but at home he was uninterested in food, like I said, and had some more (not as intense) heavy breathing. I let him be out & about since I put down no-skid rugs, but he only hopped a little way and then laid down on one. Kiko was so good (I was watching them the whole time), and went over and kissed his head a few times... Awwww <3 I'm up (no sleep till Brooklyn!) and may try more food options again in a little while w/the Miralax, but he might be tapped out from whatever they fed him there. They said his being backed up could very well have been effecting his appetite too. I had given him a mirtazapine to stimulate appetite ~3 hours prior to the incident. Of course the vet and tech fell in love with him too btw, said he was so good and sweet. ^_^ The vet even had a 3-legged cat! Hers was a tripawd from age 6 months though, back leg. Pretty cool synch though! I told her how helpful this site/group has been - she didn't say, but maybe she already knows! 😉

I agree with Sally, pumpkin is great IF you can get it in him. I have never had luck with our cats and pumpkin. I have tried. But it is worth a try. I also agree do not hesitate to call the Vet with any concerns especially on the breathing that is what they are there for! Please do not hesitate to phone them. I also agree the food intake will not be normal and have you tried raising the food bowl? Hand feeding him? It is not easy for them to bend over, raising the food bowl in any way or just holding it may help. Pet Spirit when you go to feed him see if that helps. Sometimes gently stroking them down the back can help.

Indeed, I had read about pumpkin &more fiber too - thank you Sally & Holly! He has a few different foods with pumpkin but if it's diced/cubed he leaves it! And one of the baby foods had pumpkin but again, no interest. Some of the successful feeding has been my crawling in to the cage and holding the dish up for him to eat out of, and I did have a riser in the cage for food & water but he only was eating from that willingly the first day or so home. Other meals have had to be put down in front of him while he's laying or held up to him if he's in his bed, as I described. I def pet him and tell him how good he is/talk in soothing tones to try to encourage him too, you know what's up! 😉 

I am sorry you & your housemate had to get into an argument over this. That is the last thing you need, If you are concerned call the vet and if the housemate doesn’t agree can they go elsewhere while Spirit recovers?  No added stress is needed in recovery NONE. If that is the only vehicle then call someone else. If it is shared get it and go if needed. Call the vet and if they think he needs to be seen then tell your housemate WE are going!

Aye, not much I can do about this really... "it's complicated." We used to date, and I was so supportive when his dog was dying - whom Spirit loved btw - and she passed exactly 3 years ago, so I get it, not a great time for this... but I didn't cause any of it - Spirit's condition/disease or what's happened tonight with him, but he makes me feel like it's some great inconvenience to his life that this is all happening and says things like "you need to warn me if this is going to happen" (As if I could predict such a thing!) and "now I have to get all my stuff out of the car," he tells me that the vets aren't going to do anything for him, I'm exaggerating, etc. Very frustrating, and my feelings have to be completely put to the side because everything becomes about him/his life and how we're burdening him. Sadly, the only other person I could call to help was in a major surgery recently herself, and unable to come. The rest of my fam and friends live out of state, and I did mention getting an Uber instead of using the car, but my housemate got all "Is that what you want? Let's just go." on me when I mentioned it. We ended up in the room at the vet's where his dog had passed away... and he was surprisingly cool with staying there, despite our telling of what had happened there & the tech offering us a different room. I get it, bad timing, but it's no one's fault and I wish he would prioritize Spirit's happiness and health more, and be able to show some compassion in this type of situation, as was shown to him... especially when he calls Spirit his son and tells everyone he meets about his cancer and journey. I just feel like when it comes down to it, he's not invested in doing what needs to be done, and blames me for things as if I would ever wish this to happen to my beloved little guy! So yeah... drama, but not much I can do about it atm and I'm really just trying to hold it together.

I hope it is not needed but if your instinct is telling you something is wrong then follow that instinct! Did Spirit ever pee?
I will check back tomorrow and see how you made out.

Indeed, in my last update, I mentioned his peeing - at first near the pan in the cage on the first night/morning home and then he was just peeing closer to where he was laying, until he just peed where he laid. 🙁 Bummer to clean up, but glad it didn't make it to his incision, and I had the pee pads down 😉

Hang in there and do not hesitate to call, housemate can post here, I would be happy to help in that manner;) Just saying! GRRR
Hugs,
Holly & Purrkins❤️  

Thanks Holly! I really appreciate the support! But in the words of Rosemary Clooney to the General in White Christmas, "this is a private war." 😛 Or, that's the best as I can recall the line right now! 

It was nice to talk to my aunt on the phone, she totally gets it - huge animal lover! I had to quickly get off the phone with her when Whitey started gagging, so she called back after a few minutes and checked to see if he was ok, and I told her we were going in to the emergency.

He's back in the big cage right now, resting, no poops yet that I see/smell! 😀 I'm going to try to get some rest (I think I got in 12 hours in the past 4 days!) and am not yet ready to leave him out and about unsupervised. 

Hope you all had a more chill/relaxing weekend with your furbabies! You guys rock! 
Blessed to be a part of this site/forum/group!