Oh boy! This is a good one. I have personal experience with this shitty situation so I can give you a little extra insight that you may or may not want to hear about.
Kitty Constipation
If your cat hasn’t pooped in a week chances are he/she is constipated. Constipation is actually a pretty common problem in cats. I’ve definitely treated more constipated cats compared to dogs throughout my career as a vet.
Now, even though constipation seems like a pretty straight forward problem there’s actually a lot to take into consideration. First, there are different ‘levels’ of constipation and depending on what ‘level’ your cat falls into the treatment plans will be different.
In the easiest sense of the word, constipation is the lack of or inability to have consistent bowel movements. Obstipation is constipation on another level. It is the result of frequent constipation episodes that progresses to severe back up and is usually accompanied by some loss of normal function to the large intestine. The worst case scenario is when kitties present with megacolon.
Megacolon kitties have extreme dilatation of the colon. In simple terms, the colon has been stretched to the point it no longer returns to a normal state. Just reading that makes me cringe!
Signs and Symptoms of Constipation In Your Cat
You would think the signs and symptoms of constipation are pretty straight forward. Right? Well, cats are special. They aren’t always so forthcoming with important information. They actually suck at it. And that is why by the time I do see them things have usually been happening for some time.
So what are you supposed to watch out for?
The telltale sign is going to be a litter box that lacks poop scoop!
But what if you are not that observant?
Well, unfortunately this might make things worse because now you will start noticing your cat is straining in the litter box, they may not want to eat, they may start vomiting, or they might seem a little off and a little quieter than normal.
Making the Diagnosis
In order to confirm that your kitty is constipated your vet will start with a physical exam. In some cases, I have been able to palpate a colon full of very large and very hard fecal material. The funny thing is though that most cats that come in constipated are larger cats, and by larger I mean chonky! This makes it very hard to feel anything on abdominal palpation. I can still sense if there is discomfort in the abdomen but either way X-rays would be the next recommended step.
These are Mr. Moe’s X-rays from when he had his recent run in with constipation.
Left photo: Yellow arrows are pointing to poop in the colon. Red marks are just for fun and pointing to fat aka the infamous paunch.
Right photo: Yellow marks are poop in the colon. Red arrow is the area of the descending colon. Blue arrow is the area of the transverse colon.
The thing to also note in these X-rays is that the feces is quite formed and dense in appearance (indicating hard stool). You start to see a ‘fecal ball’ appearance to the stool in the colon.
He was definitely on the mild side of constipation and I was able to manage him with diet and oral medications. His symptoms were not very obvious. He was just a little off initially and seemed to be sleeping more, but then after a few days he was vomiting repeatedly and was eating way less. Red flags every where for me. I clued in when I was scooping his litter box that there wasn’t really any poop in there.
The funny thing is, I’m usually more worried about his urination and assessing the size of his pees and if he is peeing more because…
Diabetes and kidney disease paranoia.
What do I need to do to make my cat poop?
Treatment for constipation will vary depending on how bad it is.
For cats like Mr. Moe you might be able to manage them without any major procedures to evacuate the colon (ie. enemas). Yup. You heard that right! We do enemas on your pets! Pet enemas with evacuation of the colon are done sedated so at least that is better than being awake, but I’m sure they are a bit sore afterwards.
Mr. Moe’s treatment plan included a change to a higher fiber diet (Royal Canine Gastrointestinal Fibre Response), a stool softener (Lactulose), and a motility agent to help his gut move (Cisapride). I also added more canned food to his daily meals.
He started to pass small pieces of stool within 2 days but then finally had a massive poop within the week. The excitement was real in our house! Poop party anyone?
Some kitties are not that lucky though and need additional intervention including rehydration, enemas, and manual evacuation in addition to a diet change and oral medications.
These cats are presenting with obstipation and sometimes even megacolon. Many times we are not able to pinpoint the exact cause of megacolon and more often than not it is considered an idiopathic condition (unknown cause). There continues to be on going research into the cause.
Immediate intervention to alleviate the stool retention and back up followed by long-term treatments to support the function of the colon are the goals.
Some kitties are so severely affected that surgical intervention is the mainstay of therapy; however, this comes with its risks and less-than-optimal results.
The following are some of the more common problems that will predispose kitties to constipation:
- Obesity!!!
- Endocrine disorders (Diabetes, Hyperthyroidism)
- Dehydration from underlying causes
- Arthritis
- Painful pelvic diseases
- Neuromuscular dysfunction
- Masses leading to obstruction
- Some medications
If we are able to pinpoint the primary cause we can aim to treat and manage it and as a result prevent constipation.
Things like encouraging more water intake or offering canned food to help keep your kitties hydrated can also help as a preventative measures.