Mookie also had an obstruction a few years back. He was a healthy
9-months old, and one Friday got ahold of a rubber baby nipple I had
tied onto a string for a (supervised) play toy, stashed it in the cage,
and ate some of it overnight. Next night he started barfing. It being
Saturday night, and me with no car and the only emergency vet clinic
miles away, we spent a very bad Sunday, with him gagging and sleeping all
day. Monday moring I took him in, and he got X-rayed, bariumed, all that.
I couldn't afford the surgery for him, so the vet suggested maybe it
would pass, but it looked pretty bad, but after 3 days in the clinic
with no result I took him home. He still wasn't eating, not even
Ferretone. Completely listless, all he would do is lie on the couch and
sleep restlessly.
 
There was mushy Iams, Nutripet (I think it's the same as Nutrical in
Canada), ferretone-laced baby food, everything I'd tried all over the place
in little dishes.  Then one evening (I think it was the next Friday) I went
to a baseball game (the Blue Jays were good back then...) and when I got
home, all the food dishes were empty, and there was one great big turd in
the litter box, and Mookie was bombing around the house, dooking and running
into walls.  He hasn't stopped eating since, and last vet visit he hit the
scales at 2.1 kg (just under 5 lb.)
 
Stan Terrie & Jen, Mookie, Psycho, Cecil & Cocoa in Toronto
[Posted in FML issue 1243]