My pet is impacted. What to do for constipation at home tonight?

Question

Based on previous and recent vet visit, Samson is impacted. It's 8:53 pm on Sunday. Is this something I could dare do at home? Will he be okay til tomorrow? What should I do? Help! Pet's info: Cat | Maine Coon | Male | neutered | 6 years and 10 months old | 20 lbs

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA · Accepted Answer

Poor Samson! I'm sorry to hear that he's having this problem. By impacted, I'm assuming you mean that he's severely constipated and isn't able to poop - if you mean that he can't urinate, please post again because this is a very different situation! If he's severely constipated, odds are that he will need to have a manual enema under anesthesia at the vet's office. I would NOT recommend trying to do this at home, as it would be very painful and uncomfortable for him, and you could also accidentally cause damage to his colon. If he is vomiting, painful, or seems very distressed, then I would recommend taking him to an emergency clinic tonight to be seen. If he's acting fairly normal other than having difficulty having a bowel movement (eating and drinking, no vomiting, etc.) then you could opt to monitor him tonight and take him to your regular veterinarian first thing in the morning. If he's willing to eat and drink, you can try offering some canned pumpkin, regular canned cat food, or even low-sodium chicken or beef broth - these are all good ways of increasing the moisture in his GI tract, which can help with constipation. Since he's had this problem twice now in a short period of time, I would recommend talking to your veterinarian about starting him on medication to help prevent additional episodes in the future, such as lactulose or Miralax, once his current impaction has been relieved.

My pet is impacted. What to do for constipation at home tonight?

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