Cats-tipated.

[bluesilverkdg]

*****WARNING*****
This post concerns cat poo.
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Might not want to read if you're eating. Or don't care about cat poo.
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General has been walking around the house meowing all day, pitifully. He would scratch at the carpet, like a bull getting ready to charge. And he just seemed miserable and angry. I think I now know why. He kept going to the litterbox, then jumping out, getting in, jumping out. Finally he squatted on the rug that I keep under the box, which I would normally discourage, but didn't today, because I wanted to see what was going on with him. So I watched. He strained and strained and just looked really annoyed for what seemed like forever. When he got up, I went over to examine. One teeny little spot of poo about the size of a pea, if that. So I'm thinking he's constipated.

I did some reading online, and I've heard recommendations from cod liver oil (which cats supposedly like the taste of), to Vaseline on their paw to flax seed, to cooked boiled chicken (not sure what this would do?) If I use cod liver oil, where do I get it? I don't think I've ever noticed it in a store, although it's not like I've been looking for it.

Have any of you had a constipated kitty, and if so, what did you do about it? He seems so utterly miserable, and I want to help him. I'm wondering if things will just "break free" on their own, or do I need to help him out? Poor baby.

Comments

[femmefrets.livejournal.com]

I always give my kitties mineral oil. Easy to find at any drug or discount store, and most of them seem to like it. If they won't lap it on their own out of a spoon or bowl, just combine it with a little food, or do the 'dip the paw' trick, and I would think it would work as well as cod liver oil.

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

I'll give that a try. He just seems so uncomfortable, I really want to do something for him.


So do you give them the mineral oil on a regular basis, or just when they need it?

[femmefrets.livejournal.com]

I try to remember to do it on a regular basis (keep the hairballs at bay), but even then it's not very often these days, since I've gone back to giving them at least one wet meal a day.

In reading the responses below, I was reminded of my cat Sissy who had a LOT of "hard poops" (she actually had something awful called "megacolon", which is exactly what you think it is). Sometimes it would help to actually rub a little of the oil on her booty as a lubricant to help her pass it without as much pain. It's fun being a cat mom, isn't it? ;)

And actually, if you're in a pinch and don't want to leave him, a little if you've got some veggie or olive oil in your kitchen, they won't hurt him either.

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

I have been very fortunate to never have any real problems like this before (and not even that much with hairballs, aside from my long-hair, Oreo.) But I may give them a little of the oil on occasion, just to make sure things keep running smoothly, so to speak.

Poor Sissy! Once she was diagnosed, and you treated her with the oil, did that seem to do the trick? Oh, and I know all about the joys of being a catmom. Oreo is sooo bad to go snorkling in my plants and she gets dirt stuck up her nostrils. I have to pick it out of her nose every few days. And General is notorious for not cleaning his bottom after using the litterbox, so I have to take a tissue and pick dried poo off his butt. Yeah..rubbing oil on him will be a cakewalk after all that. ;-)

He really seemed to enjoy the mineral oil. Wow, cats are so weird. I can't imagine drinking that stuff if someone paid me to do it.

[femmefrets.livejournal.com]

So glad he took it well! But ewwww on the dried poo. Luckily mine just can't get enough of their own butts. Ewww on another level. ;)

With Sissy, we managed for about a year with the mineral oil, an occasional prescription stool softener when needed, and a special diet (I believe it was the Hill's w/d dry and wet combined, but predominantly the wet). Unfortunately we caught it when it was quite far along, and she was older/not a good candidate for surgical treatment (she was one of those cats that was sickly from kittenhood). So we just agreed with the vet to be as patient and attentive as we possibly could, and make her life as comfy as possible. The megacolon itself actually got very manageable, but the side effect was that it took a toll on her kidneys. :( But, we had a great 13 years with her, which was far longer than we thought we'd have.

And on a completely different note (because I didn't intend to get depressing about cat butts!), I LOVE YOUR ICON! Very fitting! :))

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

OMG, I so totally thought about you this morning. When I first got Trouble from the shelter, he had the most horrible earmites. His little ears were just black and crusty. The vet pretty much got it all cleaned out, but every now and then I'll notice a little black gook in his ears. This morning, he had this big patch of yuck, so I dug it out and told him he had "nasty ears." Then I realized he had eyesnot, so cleaned that out, too and said he had "nasty eyes." I said "what's wrong with you??", then realized I should probably never have human children, because I'd ask them something like that and totally give them a complex for life.

I love that icon, too. It's the story of my life.

[solfox.livejournal.com]

You can probably get cod liver oil on a vitamin/mineral aisle, at a pharmacy (Walgreen's, CVS, etc), or a vitamin store. Keep an eye on him, because if he doesn't pass anything, you may need to call the vet to determine if you should bring him in to help him express his bowels.

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

Oh boy..I hope not. I'll be here all day, so I'll keep a watch on him. Hopefully the oil will do the trick. I've never known him to be constipated before, so hopefully this is just a fluke.

[theldara.livejournal.com]

That's what I was going to say too. If he's not passed anything by morning, you'd want to go and have him checked for impaction (might've eaten a pony tail holder, plant, etc).

I've got some catlax if you need, but Walgreens will have the cod liver oil or mineral oil. Cod liver oil is the main ingredient in catlax anyway.

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

I just ran to the Walgreens right down the street so I wouldn't be gone for very long. They had mineral oil as liquid, but the only cod liver oil they had were supplements, in a gelcap. He seemed to really enjoy the mineral oil and he took a good bit of it, so hopefully it's gotten into his tummy. I don't *think* he ate anything unusual. That's not his style, and I've yet to know him to eat anything out of the way. He likes carrying things like my jewelry in his mouth (he especially loves watches and such), but I don't think he could actually swallow any of the stuff he likes.

I thought of the Catlax, but hopefully this will do the trick. He's resting now, so I think that's a good sign.

[solfox.livejournal.com]

You can always use a needle or pin to pierce the gelcap and squeeze the oil out. Hope the General starts feeling better, soon.

[annietopia.livejournal.com]

I was going to say that your local drug store should have cod liver oil, but I see that others have already said that.

Poor General. The problem with poo in general (and I only say this because of the kids) is that the longer it is in there the more dried it can become. I know, gross. But it just becomes harder and harder (literally) to push it out. I would give General some time to see if the cod liver or other stuff works...but do a vet visit if it goes on too long. Poor kitty!

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

They had cod liver oil geltabs, but I was afraid he wouldn't take those. He HATES pills of any kind. So I got some mineral oil in a bottle. He really seems to like it, which is strange, as it evidently has no taste or smell.

And I know firsthand how that stuff works. When I was a kid, I used to get so impacted my mom would have to take me to the doctor. It was horrible. So hopefully Gen will be on the mend soon, after having his oil. I'll watch him closely today and tomorrow and see how he does. If he's not gone by tomorrow, I'll take him on Monday.

[10dimensions.livejournal.com]

If he's prone to eating things he finds around the house you may want to go ahead and take him in because he could have an obstruction of some sort. Usually if they're obstructed attempts to go will be accompanied by cries of pain, so maybe not, but do keep a close eye on him.

Of course, our cats would just as soon eat a thing as look at it, so I will say up front that I am very paranoid about intestinal surgery being in my future. ;)

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

Fortuntely General (and all my cats, even the new kitten, Trouble) are really good about not eating random things. Misty will occasionally nibble on a plant, and Oreo does like hair (yeah, gross), but as for just eating stuff lying around, they don't do it. In fact, General will not even eat cat food that's in the floor. So I don't think he has any sort of obstruction. He wasn't crying in pain, he just looked annoyed and very determined. :-) When he's not trying to use the litterbox, he's meowing kind of angrily, like he's aggravated. And really, who could blame him. I don't know anyone who likes being backed up.

I'm trying the mineral oil. He actually lapped it up pretty readily, and I put a bit on his paw, too. So hopefully that will work. I'm keeping a close eye on him today, for sure.

Your poor kitties! What kinds of things do they eat??

[10dimensions.livejournal.com]

Of course you will keep a good eye on him and I totally did not mean that to sound as though I thought you wouldn't! I realized rereading it that I sounded like a busy-body asshole. ;)

Our cats will try to eat just about anything they should not. Pixel particularly LOVES plastic. If she finds a plastic bag she will first get inside of it, and then chew on it. Just a little while ago she came into the bathroom while I was about to get it in the shower, and discovered a half-empty 24 pack of tp. She squeezed into the hole in the plastic wrap and got inside of it, and then sat there on top of the rolls of tp and chewed the plastic wrap.

Tachi on the other hand love elastic hair bands, and those are particularly dangerous. After seeing pics one time of some cat who had to be knocked out so they could go down into his stomach and remove nearly three dozen elastic hair bands I have become convinced that will be my fate. And he has an incredible knack for finding them if we accidentally leave one out. I've watched him jump up on the bathroom counter and methodically search it for hair ties. I figure he's got a good half dozen in there already. ;)

Oddly enough, they're not that interested in eating people food. Just random things they find on the floor that aren't actually edible. I saw Batou nomming something the other day so I got up to see what it was, but he saw me coming and grabbed it up in his mouth and ran away with it, so I had to chase him down and forcibly remove it from his mouth. It was a few-inches-long section of guitar string. *headdesk* *makes note to kill guitarist next time he doesn't clean up his string-changing mess*

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

No no no...you didn't sound like a busy-body asshole at all! I know how much you love cats (most of my friends do), and I think we're all concerned whenever anyone's baby gets sick. So no worries there.

Oreo used to have a fascination with long things like string, tinsel, etc., but that was mostly when she was a kitten. She does still like hair (especially gnawing it off my head or getting it out of the bathtub drain), but she yacks up enough furballs, that I think she pretty much gets any out that she happens to eat. And thankfully, the older she's getting the less she seems interested in it. Oh, she likes paper, too. *eyeroll*

Mine do like people food, and I'm ok with them having a lick of a plate when I've finished something tasty (like fish or whatever), but that's about as far as it goes.

I had never heard that about elastic hair bands (which are plentiful around my house.) All the cats like to play with them, because they bounce when batted, but I've yet to see one of them trying to put them in their mouths. But apparently that's a common thing, because my friend Jenn mentioned it below. Who knew?!

General is sleeping now, which he'd not done this morning. I did not see him go poo, but I smelled a particularly disgusting one (that was outside of the box, which he is notorious for), so I think he may have gone while I wasn't looking. It was...soft. So, I think he may be out of the woods.

Good luck with your brood! Sounds like they must have stomachs made of steel. I can't believe Batou tried to eat a guitar string. That's just nuts! I really hope you don't wind up in the operating room with them, but from the sounds of it, they could make a Discovery special about what might be found in their tummies! ;-)

[10dimensions.livejournal.com]

[LOL comment reply delay!]

I just wanted to add that the stuff you really have to watch out for is stringy bits that don't break down... stuff like tinsel and dental floss [and synthetic thread/yarn I think] will actually slice up a cat's intestines because it doesn't break down and it doesn't stretch as they try to pass it... it just slices through. :(

I hope General is feeling much improved by now. I'm glad you figured out what the cause was. ;)

[ghost-light.livejournal.com]

We had to take poor Mao to the v-e-t when that happened to him. They gave him an enema that had him puking foamy stuff.

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

Oh my! How did the enema cause puking, I wonder? That's so sad!

[theldara.livejournal.com]

Oh yea, also some gooshy food or ice cube water bowl might help too... keep him well hydrated, to help things along.

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

They had their regular gooshy this morning, but he didn't seem very interested in eating (which is odd, because it was Weruva, their favorite.) He has been drinking normally, which he always does. He's out like a light, asleep now, which is hopefully a good sign. He'd just been stalking and pacing the whole morning, since I'd gotten up. It reminded me of the way he acted when Sabrina died, like he was just refusing to sleep, and instead wanted to march all around the house angrily.

Will keep everyone posted. :-)

[aceofkittens.livejournal.com]

MiraLax will do the trick. That is what I have to give to Chip.

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

Like human laxative MiraLax? How does he take it?

[aceofkittens.livejournal.com]

Yup, regular MiraLax. I mix about 1/2 tsp into his food.

[headbanger118.livejournal.com]

No, my kitties are most definitely not constipated. Tootsie rolls abound. Have you thought of mineral oil?

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

Mine never had been before. I did try the mineral oil, and it helped.