Simon has megacolon
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CricketSong




Post Simon has megacolon
My Simon (6 months old), who is high-white, was just diagnosed with late-onset megacolon. He's had 3 enemas at the vet so far, and I was just taught how to do them at home. The pharmacy should call tomorrow to get my info to send me the Cisapride. He's already been separated from his brother & sister (the boys are neutered), and is on the mc diet. I am praying that we can stabilize him- if so, the two other ratties can spend all day cuddling with him in his cage, and go back to their own for lab blocks at night. He gets lots of playtime with them now, but I need to monitor the poop situation without any other poop in there. Not that Simon's pooping on his own anyway.

Rat Goddess, I just read your thread about Tatinka. Your Tatinka & Kreaver are SO cute and sound so sweet. Hang in there. Feel free to PM me anytime. I suspected the possibility of megacolon about a month ago, and did my research then, but the full-blown disease is hard-hitting, isn't it?

Best wishes, and send them our way, too. ((((((((((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Love,
Paula

_________________
~Paula~
Ratties: Frisco, Simon & Minna
Mousies: Polly & Pocket
LittleWillow
MODERATOR & RP Supporter



Post RE: Simon has megacolon
Oh Paula - I'm so very sorry.... We've had such bad luck - you're the third person to have a diagnosis of megacolon in the last few days or so. Sad

Good Vibes and Crossed Fingers and gentle tummy rubs for Simon - hopefully the diet changes, cisapride and everything else will help to keep him comfortable, and many many Hug for you - I can only imagine how hard this must be for you, and I know that having a special needs ratty in the house can be hard emotionally sometimes. I don't know much (other than theory) about megacolon, but if you need to chat about looking after a special needs ratty, just shout.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~
~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~
amazing_rat




Post RE: Simon has megacolon
Oh my, this makes me nervous. I have Simon's brothers, Little Bit and Gil. I am so nervous now, but the ratties seem fine for now. Both the boys are silently praying for their brother's survival. Crossed Fingers Crossed Fingers Crossed Fingers Crossed Fingers

_________________
ratgoddess




Post RE: Simon has megacolon
Cricketsong,
I am so sad to hear that your Simon has megacolon. As you have read my threads you know I know exactly how you feel. It is such a horrible disease and I don't know about you but it made me feel so helpless. Debbie can give you alot of good advice on MC as she has more experience than me. She has helped me alot. Perhaps the diet changes and Cisapride will make a big difference for Simon. I know it has for Tatinka. I haven't had to resort to enemas as I believe her problem is mostly right near the opening of her anus.
Is the only way he can go is with an enema? How can you tell if he needs to go or do you just have to help him at set intervals?
I am keeping my fingers crossed tightly for Simon. At least at this point you know what is causing his problems and can do what you can to help. The way I feel about Tatinka is that since it is a genetic disease there is really nothing I can do to cure it. I can only try to alleviate any symptoms she has, provide her with the proper diet and medicine and give her as much love and spoiling as I can. Try to stay calm and just know you are doing the best you can for him.
You are welcome to pm me or email me anytime. Hugs to you. Hang it there.

_________________
Rat Goddess and the Bruxysnugs
Mama Lucy Beledi Bellatrixy Tatinka Kreaver

View my rat cam here
LittleWillow
MODERATOR & RP Supporter



Post RE: Simon has megacolon
Try not to panic too much - it's really not very common for congential aganglionic megacolon (the type associated with high white markings) to appear as late as this, from what I know - your boys are almost certainly fine. Hug But at least you know to keep an eye on them. Do you knowh ow many other littermates there were?

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~
~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~
Debbie
MODERATOR & RP Supporter



Post
Oh no, I'm so sorry. I sure hope you won't have to give him enema's often...I don't think I could have brought myself to do that to poor Willie...but we were lucky like Ratgoddess's Tatinka, in that Cisapride and helping the poo out worked for us. Willie could process his food ok, but just lacked the muscles there at the end (much like Tatinka) to get it out himself. But I could easily feel it there and would just help guide it out.

Cisapride REALLY helps.

I also hope you won't need to keep him isolated and that you are able to find a diet that works for him and the others can eat as well.

Please feel free to also PM me as I can provide you with the food info that worked for Willie.

Hang in there and best wishes to dear Simon.

_________________
Debbie and the gang of spoiled furries
amazing_rat




Post Re: RE: Simon has megacolon
LittleWillow wrote:
. Do you knowh ow many other littermates there were?


Besides Little Bit, Gil, Simon, and Frisco, there were 9. Hopefully if Shanna finds this she'll tell the other adopters. :)

_________________
MerlinsMagic
RP Supporter



Post
6 months? Shouldnt they be free and clear of MC? I have heard of late onset before but it is fairly uncommon isnt it? Shaz

_________________
LittleWillow
MODERATOR & RP Supporter



Post RE: Re: RE: Simon has megacolon
It's probably worth contacting her if you can, and if Paula hasn't already - just, as you say, so she can warn the other adopters. Hopefully, by this stage, it's unlikely that any more of the litter will show up with problems - but it's always better to let them know to watch out for it.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~
~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~
LittleWillow
MODERATOR & RP Supporter



Post RE: Re: RE: Simon has megacolon
Aye Shaz - it's very uncommon for it to occur as late as that, but it's not the first time I've heard of it happening.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~
~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~
CricketSong




Post
Thank you all very much for your kind words of support. It is very helpful to have company.

Shaz, it's not common, from what I understand.

And I've been in touch with Shanna- she knows. Don't worry, amazing_rat- Frisco is so far completely FINE. Maybe Simon will be the only one. These ratties were from an accidental litter- Trinity wasn't meant to be bred- but her pedigree showed no MC problems in the line.

I am VERY VERY nervous about doing an enema myself. But if I need them, the vet's office is there to help. I am hoping the Cisapride will get him to the point that manipulation will help without enemas. But I will do my best. At this time, he literally cannot move his bowels AT ALL on his own. He gets obstructed fast, even on the mc diet, and he has loads of poop deep in the colon.

I love him SO much- he is the lickiest, sweetest rat ever. I discovered recently that I'm not good with skittish rescue rats...but I am going to try my best with this guy, who has been my little boy since he was a babe.

I really appreciate knowing you're here- thanks again. It's a good support system.

Love,
Paula

_________________
~Paula~
Ratties: Frisco, Simon & Minna
Mousies: Polly & Pocket
serendipityrodentry




Post
Yes, I am aware of Simon's problems - Paula and I do keep close contact, so I have known from the start. But, since I have no actual experience with MC, Paula has been checking the forums for any information that can make her boy more comfortable.

Simon and Frisco, as well as Sara's Gildaro and Little Bit, are from an accidental litter here with my one and only High White girl, Trinity. Before we moved, I was fostering a small Fawn Berk Dumbo male, who escaped through the bars of his cage and got to her just before he was adopted. Trinity actually delivered her litter in my car during our 14 hr drive from GA to DE. There were 13 born, and all 13 survived.

Trinity is pedigreed, and I did ask her breeder about the other rats in her pedigree and was told that not one of them had any MC related problems - but even then, Trinity was never meant to be bred. She was only meant to be a pet....but accidents happen, and she did end up pregnant.

Once the litter made it to 4 weeks old, and everyone was fully weaned and there were no signs of MC in them, they went up for adoption. When I put them up for adoption, I did let the potential adopters know that this was an accidental litter from a High White. I also sent them information on MC and told then that while Trinity is not affected, and to the best of my knowledge none of her known relatives were, there was still a possibility for MC to show up. That did turn off a few of them, but others were okay with that.

When Paula first told me that Simon was having problems, I did send out an email to the adopters of this litter to see if they had any problems. All of them emailed me back to state that they were not having any problems with their rats from this litter. So, the other adopters do know about the situation.

Sara, you didn't recieve the first email about the MC possibility, since you adopted your boys when they were 3 months old - so I really didn't think it would be a problem for you. I did send you an email about Simon about 3 weeks ago, but I don't remember if I got a reply or not. I am sorry if you were unaware, as I was sure I did hear back from you. Confused

Simon is affected by late onset MC, which is pretty rare. As far as I know, he is the only one in the litter affected. I believe it started a little over a month ago, so Sara, if you haven't noticed any problems, you're boys should be just fine.

If anyone here has any information on management of MC, please go ahead and post it, PM or email Paula about it. I am trying to help any way I can, but I am very limited when it comes to MC. So, I am hoping we can find a solution here that will help Simon feel more like himself again. Crossed Fingers

_________________
Shanna
~ Serendipity Rodentry ~
CricketSong




Post
Hi Shanna!

This morning, when I felt Simon and massaged him a bit, he didn't seem to have any poo waiting to come out. He has been acting completely fine aside from not being able to go on his own- and the liquidy diet is probably helping with that. He pees a TON. He is happy, playing, licking me. He is no longer puffed up, and he does not seem to be chewing on any of the clothes I am using as bedding, so he's not in pain as far as I can tell!

I let Frisco & Minna into his cage after playtime. They helped him eat his baby cereal with soft pears & peaches, and drink some Ensure & soy milk. And they can all cuddle together all day. I will remove any "other rattie" poop this evening and make sure the cage is clean, so I can tell if Simon manages to go at all.

The pharmacy should call today about the Cisapride. Best case scenario, it will help his gut contract enough that he can go on his own, or with just a bit of massage/poop pinching.

And Simon wants everyone to know that he is just TOO SEXY FOR LAB BLOCKS. I'm just making up the MC thing to cover for him. *feeling like cracking jokes is a good thing*

Crossed Fingers

_________________
~Paula~
Ratties: Frisco, Simon & Minna
Mousies: Polly & Pocket
Debbie
MODERATOR & RP Supporter



Post
I might be a bit nervous about giving him Ensure. I believe it's dairy based and could cause him problems. Shrug

I did give Willie soymilk, but steared clear of dairy. He ate solid foods too, but we were very careful not to feed him hard-to-digest things like broccoli, corn and insoluable fiber. For Willie, soluable fiber helped. We regularly gave him canned kidney and pinto beans. Wille remained in the same cage with his buddies, but we always watched the lables on the cereals and grains used in the variation of Suebee's mix we made.

Babyfood was always something he received regularly too.

The Cisapride was what probably saved Willie's life. It's not a laxative (which can actually be bad for MC ratties), but moreso, helped with fecal mobility. It helped get that poo down there to where I was able to help it out for him.

Hang in there Simon!

_________________
Debbie and the gang of spoiled furries
CricketSong




Post
I'll check the Ensure label- should have done that before! I need to pick up some powdered soy infant formula to mix with the baby cereal. He is eating the Stage 2 baby food dinners as well, and gets soy milk.

At this point I am not doing any solids- I had actually tried the beans a couple of weeks ago because I read an old thread of yours! But even the beans, other grains, etc. seemed to cause problems. So we're sticking with the stuff above plus fresh watery fruits and occasional steamed, very soft low-fiber veggies.

Olive oil helped him for about a week or so, but stopped working. A bit of crushed Senokot does not seem to help; nor does mineral oil. Hope the Cisapride can get his colon contracting enough to push stuff through for him.

Thank you for the Ensure comment- it's amazing what you might overlook sometimes in your attempts to think of everything!

_________________
~Paula~
Ratties: Frisco, Simon & Minna
Mousies: Polly & Pocket
LittleWillow
MODERATOR & RP Supporter



Post
I know in the UK you can get dairy free meal replacement products like Ensure, so even if Ensure has dairy in, then there should be a suitable alternative if you ask the pharmacist for some advice. It does appear, from the Ensure website, that the products contain both milk and soy, so if you want to avoid dairy, then Ensure probably isn't a good choice. Why was milk a bad idea, if you don't mind me asking Debbie? If it's the lactose intolerance risk, many of the meal replacement products are low lactose or lactose free, even if they contain milk proteins. If it's something about milk proteins themselves though, then that's not going to work.

Shanna - I remember that the litter was an oops litter, and I hope you don't think that I was suggesting that you're at fault in any way, or that you wouldn't care or consider it etc. Hug I can only imagine that it's got to be hard on you as well as Paula, even though this wasn't planned or expected - to have genetic aganglionic megacolon start so late in life is - as you and Paula both said - very rare this late in life. I have heard of a couple of other cases of it happening this late in high white rats, but because they're born with the problem, rather than developing it after a certain amount of time, it's usually apparent within weeks of weaning. I certainly wouldn't blame anyone for expecting them to be safe once they've gone past a couple of months of age.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~
~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~
CricketSong




Post
I agree, Andy. I said that to Shanna, too. She is very conscientious and has admirably high standards. I was completely aware of this remote possibility before I adopted my boys, did my research, and I'm glad I suspected MC in time to start making changes to help Simon.

My Ensure bottle says it's lactose-free. I'll have to check into the milk proteins thing. Any opinions appreciated. I think I received the advice to give Ensure on another site- will check.

The stupid pharmacy didn't call today. I called the vet twice, and they called the pharmacy AGAIN and said I'd be hearing from them soon.

However...Simon is having a great day! I felt this morning and later- no poop to get out yet. And his brother & sister have been with him all day cuddling. It was so cute- after they all went into his cage together, Simon came back to the doorway and licked my hand as if to say thanks for the company. And then he popcorned around for a bit before going to sleep. Feelin' groovy.

_________________
~Paula~
Ratties: Frisco, Simon & Minna
Mousies: Polly & Pocket
LittleWillow
MODERATOR & RP Supporter



Post
I would suspect that the lactose is probably the biggest issue - because it would increase bloating and wind - though it would also act as a natural lubricant (osmotic) laxative by drawing water into the gut if he's intolerant. It might be there's a reason to avoid milk proteins but I don't really know of one off the top of my head - the digestion is all done by the time it reaches the colon (where the problem is) and it's mainly water absorption and some bacterial activity that produces some vitamins. But hopefully Debbie can clarify it it's the lactose or the proteins that is the problem. :)

Glad to hear that he's feeling ok today - I know in humans, at least, after an enema, it can take a couple of days more than usual for a normal rhythmn to be resumed - simply because the entire colon tends to be washed out. I hope his good health lasts. I wonder if, perhaps, you could use something like glycerine? In severe constipation in humans, it's not uncommon to use glycerine suppositories to soften and lubricate impacted or dry faeces in the rectum when the patient is having difficulty passing it. It tends to work pretty well at softening things up and stimulating bowel contractions - while, if he's got no nerves in that last part of his bowel and rectum, he won't get the muscular contractions, it might at least make it more comfortable for you to ease it out if you could perhaps insert a sliver of glycerine suppository or liquid glycerine or some other lubricant, just a few minutes before you set to work on him? Of course, if he has no gut mobility at all, then that's probably less of a problem because the faeces isn't "there" waiting to be moved out. But it might, at least, help if you can get him to the point where he just needs some help evacuating.

Cisapride works by strengthening and stimulating bowel contractions - so hopefully, if most of his colon has the right nerves, this will ease some of the constipation and move the feces along so you can help him pass it - but if the nerves aren't in the gut wall, then I'm not sure that it would work on that part of the gut. Hopefully time will tell (and be positive!).

Just remember I haven't dealt with MC myself though - I'm just approaching this from a human side of dealing with chronic and severe constipation issues... but if you can give him an enema, I figure you can use the same kind of method to introduce some lubrication just into the rectum rather than deeper into the colon.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~
~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~
CricketSong




Post
I am so discouraged at this moment. Sad

How can he go from feeling as if he has no poop at his rectum opening to having a HUGE one there????? A huge HARD one???? I tried lubricating his anal opening with a bit of olive oil. And I tried DAMN hard to help him get it out. I pinched and massaged and pushed. But it's too big. He squeaked a bit at first, but I would catch him again and persist, and then when I tried the hardest, he squealed horribly in pain- and still it won't come out.

I feel like I have to emphasize here that I tried my heart out. This isn't me just saying I tried. I REALLY TRIED. I feel pretty stinking awful right now.

I haven't tried an enema here yet- he had the last one yesterday at 4:30ish at the vet. Obviously he needs one, but I absolutely cannot bring myself to cram the tube in there. I tried getting the stockinet on him for restraint- no luck. I know I am just inexperienced, but this is so painful emotionally and I am so scared to hurt him. And the poop is so large and hard that I am so afraid I'll tear him somehow.

He is active, seems happy, wanted to be ON me and lick me and forget about the whole thing. If only, sweet Simon.

I will call the vet first thing in the a.m. If I need to go in for the fourth time, I will go in. I don't know what I'll do if the Cisapride & other stuff doesn't help enough in combination, to both move the poops along AND soften his poops so I CAN manipulate them out.

Damn. Sad Sad

_________________
~Paula~
Ratties: Frisco, Simon & Minna
Mousies: Polly & Pocket
LittleWillow
MODERATOR & RP Supporter



Post
OK I haven't had the experience with MC you have, and I don't know if any of this will help, but I do understand your fear ok? It's perfectly understandable, but I think you'll manage fine ok? This is the first time you've had to do this at home, but you'll cope. The fact that the poop is getting to his rectum is hopefully a great sign - he has enough motility in his colon that it gets there eventually even if it takes time and it's very dried out. If it can get there, without backing up and distending his colon (which is where the cisapride and you helping him comes in) then he will manage ok.

This is a hard thing to do - I can understand that. Sometimes humans need similar help - sometimes, they also need a nurse or someone to actually manually help pass the poop when they're very impacted. And it is possible that you might cause a little bleeding (the lining of the rectum has a lot of blood vessels and bleeds very easily) but if you are gentle, you should avoid a fissure (a split in the anus) - especially when you start on the cisapride.

Try to calm yourself down a bit if you can - if you're stressed and anxious, he's going to pick up on that too. You can try warming him a little - a warm bath often helps in humans to relax them. Or anything else that chills him out - scritches, etc.

Try massaging the perenium - the area between his anus and penis - and over his bottom - if he'll let you; that might help to soften things up a little, especially if you can get some oil onto the poop itself. Then, really, it's just a time thing.... I know it sounds gross, but bottoms can stretch to surprising sizes. The main thing is to take it sloooooooooooowly. If you need to do the enema, then I have every confidence in your ability to do it - and even if you can't manage it this time, I know you'll manage it the next time, or the one after that.

You can do this, hun. I promise you can do it. Hug

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~
~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~
RougeTheRat




Post
Sorry to hear about Simon. I hope everything goes well for you. What a scary scary disease....Sad


Also
Sorry to sound completely oblivious (hey I only just found out what mega colon was like a week ago O_O) but one of the symptoms is poo backed up?

Can you tell the difference between a backed up mega colon rat and a rat that is just holding some poo in on his own?

..and this is late onset mega colon...what are the other symptoms?

I'm just a bit curious because I have a boy who always has 4 or so hardish turds backed up in his bottom that I will usually help out. They just seem to pile on up in there

_________________
<3 to my Fats and my Meeces
LittleWillow
MODERATOR & RP Supporter



Post
We had a couple of recent posts that had lots of info on differentiating between the two (constipation and the odd huge poo vs megacolon) - if you hit search up the top and just enter megacolon, it should return a few useful threads, particularly recently.

Megacolon is basically where the gut, for whatever reason, cannot move poop through properly. It might be mild, so that the poo just takes way too long to move through, and so becomes very dry and hard in the process, but medications and diet can help. In severe cases, there is severe abdominal bloating, huge poos, constipation, perhaps intermittent diarrhoea (as poop liquifies and leaks out, or poop stained mucus does, from behind impacted poop).

The severity of the symptoms often depends on the cause - megacolon can occur randomly, for no known reason. It can occur in (usually older) rats due to injury to the spine or abdomen or nerves, or perhaps a stroke. But it's most often seen linked to the high white markings in the US. The only difference between early onset megacolon and late onset megacolon is this case is that more usually it develops in the first few weeks after weaning (so usually by 8 weeks or so) but in some cases, the milder cases, it's delayed until several months of age. It's the same cause (the high white markings meaning there are nerves missing in the gut) but for whatever reasons, the disease has been mild enough that symptoms haven't appeared until the rat is a bit older. So they're the same, symptoms wise, as the early onset MC symptoms - but often the disease is less severe, so the bloating may be absent or less severe at first, or come on more slowly.

Rats generally don't "hold in" poop voluntarily - or at least not for long periods of time. I don't know if rats will do what some children do - if they have found it painful to poop because of constipation, they may hold on because of fear of the pain, which just makes the poop get harder and you get a vicious cycle.

How long have you been helping it out - and how precisely are you helping it out? If he is unable to poop at all on his own (i.e. you always have to help him go) then I would say that isn't normal at all - whether that's down to megacolon or some other problem like constipation or not, I can't say but it's certainly not normal to have to help him poop regularly. If you don't help him, will he pass it on his own?

It's also rather normal for rats to store several poop pellets in the rectum at once - they always seem to produce at least 3 raisins at a time. Megacolon poop is huge - like they've all smooshed together into one huge poop log - or so Debbie (our resident MC expert tells me).

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~
~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~
RougeTheRat




Post
His poo isnt smooshed together. Its just really hard..but normal pellet size :/

I usually help him out atleast once a day. I rub around where I can feel the poop to sort of ease it out. If there are too many in there though I usually have to pinch them out one by one.

Im pretty sure he can do it on his own or atleast some.. I just dont know if he is having trouble or what... I just checked him. He had a few stored in there that I had to pop out but he also had some dried on his toosh like he might have had diareah ..which is odd since his poop is so hard.

He is nearing a year old (or somewhere around that Im not entirely sure) so mega colon doesnt seem plausable...?

_________________
<3 to my Fats and my Meeces
CricketSong




Post
I was actually very calm when I tried to help Simon. I was proud of that part, at least. I waited to freak out until I got here.

Thank you for the advice and the confidence in me- but I don't feel confident right now. If I had another person to hold him, it would help. But I don't. My husband still doesn't even feel comfortable having them ON him, let alone holding one of them down.

If I had the absolute thinnest needle in the universe, and some instant poop dissolver, this would feel more possible. And did I mention that he is the world's squirmiest rat? I will have to try the stockinet again.

I am not ready to give up. But I would like to scream, really loud.

Rouge- sometimes, when the anus is distending from trying to push out a hard poop, some soft poop can squeeze out around it. That's probably what's happening when you see what appears to be diarrhea.

_________________
~Paula~
Ratties: Frisco, Simon & Minna
Mousies: Polly & Pocket
LittleWillow
MODERATOR & RP Supporter



Post
Rouge - aye, like Paula says. Either that or excess mucus or liquifying poop can leak out past as well. It might be worth increasing the fibre in his diet and making sure he's drinking plenty of fluids and perhaps offer him high fluid foods as well. You shouldn't have to help him out like that (at least not regularly) and if he really is having persistant problems it's worth getting him checked. While typical megacolon of the type associated with high white markings is unlikely in his case, there are other causes of slowing of the gut and other types of megacolon. It may well be that there's no real problem, or he simply could do with some more fibre and fluids in his diet.

Paula - I really hope that didn't come across patronising or anything - I know if it had been me, I'm not sure that I wouldn't be getting stressed.... I know I did trying to trim Charlie's teeth in the last few months of his life - every time we had to do it, I was terrified he'd end up having a heart attack or seizure or stroke because he hated it so much, and he kept trying to shove his paws or tongue between the snips..... Shocked He wriggled so much that half the time even between us he'd wriggle so much we couldn't do the job. Then I'd ger frustrated and upset, and that seemed to make him worse as well. I will keep everything crossed that your hubby can get to a point where he feels comfortable enough to help you manage him. But I do have confidence in you, even if you don't right now. And feel free to shout and scream here (or go and bury your face into a pillow and scream into that.....

I wish that I was closer to you (like same country or continent would help!) - if I was closer, I'd be over in a shot to help you sort him out. I really think it might be an idea to ask about the glycerine thing.... It works well to soften human poop, even during impaction. I'll take a look and see if I can find anything that is worth talking to the vet about, it you want.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~
~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~