Cat ate plastic and has been unable to go to the bathroom

[ChunkNTiger]

Here's the background, my male cat ate plastic Wednesday night. The kind of plastic wrapped around a package of water bottles. Thursday AM he vomited 1X. Had the plastic in it. We thought all was fine. By the end of Friday he had vomited 3X, only the food he had been eating.
Throughout this entire time his appetite and consumption of water was normal. He seemed a little less energetic to me, and seemed sad. He was overly affectionate to everyone, and was letting people pet him he normally does not.
By this point, I begin to think if I have been seeing him urinating and having bowel movements. I cannot remember him using the litter box.
So I made an appt for Sat AM. He went to the vet. He lost no weight, she felt no hardness in his stomach or blockage based on physical exam. She gave him fluids and an anti- nausea med. Decides the "wait and see" approach.
Over the weekend, I catch him urinating but no BM's. I make another appt for Monday PM. This time, she physically exams him, and still feels no blockage. He has gained 2lbs since Saturday. We do an x-ray. His bladder looks tiny, and she sees nothing to indicate he has a blockage. His intestines look great, and all she can see in his stomach is food waste.
So she gives me two meds. One a pain med. The other a med to control uretha spasms, telling me that due to the stress of the vomiting, she thinks he may be off. This is supposed to settle things down and make him go to the bathroom. I've been adamant about stating he has peed, but no BM's.
Now we are at Tuesday PM and I have only seen him urinate. I decided to isolate him to one room and see if he is going at all. We have another cat, and they share a little box. I also bought some pumpkin, mixed it with a little water and squirted it in his mouth. He won't eat it.

So my question is am I missing something or should he have been prescribed something to help with the BM not urine? Is there anything else I can do for him? Should I stop the medications? He does not seem to strain or cry. I do not see the point in wrestling with the little guy to take meds if they are not even going to help the situation. If no changes by end of tomorrow, I'm calling the vet, but I just wanted to get some other opinions before I go back for a third time. I do not know how else to express to them what the issue is with him. I don't think they're listening?

[CML2014]

Hi Chunk,

Why do you think there is more plastic than what he originally vomited??

Seems to me he expelled all of the plastic the first time and the resulting vomit was from an irritated stomach aggravated by food.....what say you?

If the vet has taken x-rays, palpated his stomach, and can feel no blockage there may be no plastic left. He is not having a BM since his intake of food has been limited and vomiting makes him lose water which is needed for BM.

Give him a few more days, and I would try 1/8 tsp of Miralax mixed in wet food once or twice a day until he eliminates. but........keep us posted and check in with your vet, as I am just a mere mortal with NO medical background.

Good Luck,
CML

[AnnieBrooke]

They might be able to do a barium x-ray just to see what is in there.

[opus88]

Well....first of all I am not a Vet, but like you I see no purpose for the meds he was given!!

Are you absolutely sure he has not passed stool? If the X-rays show no blockage, and the stomach is not distended than he must have, somewhere

When he vomited up plastic do you believe every bit of the amount swallowed was expelled?

It's good you have isolated him. Careful squirting anything directly into his mouth this can cause him to inhale into the lungs and aspirate, hope this is PURE pumpkin and not the pie filling type, also pumpkin is fibre, fibre can tend to bulk up the stool and worsen constipation...perhaps the Vet should have given him Lactulose which is a stool softener ???

Are you feeding canned food and not dry? Canned food with the added moisture content will be a huge help. Try some milk too, most cats like milk but are lactose intolerant and this too will soften the stool.

I'm not sure what else to say, just if he's eating and drinking, does not appear to be uncomfortable and X-rays show no blockage...than I would just make the diet changes, keep him isolated and see, there wouldn't be much else a Vet could do other than an enema

Good luck, please keep us informed to the outcome....fingers crossed for a big poo!!!