# no poop but noyt straining either for 3 1/2 days...



## maggie23 (Mar 10, 2012)

i'm waiting for a call back from our vet to see if we need to have her administer an enema or something, but anyone else ever experience this and what was the diagnosis/outcome?

our kitty has had chronic constipation problems due to megacolon it appears, but it is only the area at the very end of the colon at the rectum that is distended. she is 14 and we just adopted her 3-4 weeks ago. we screwed up by changing her diet a bit int he beginning and the schedule when she eats and i'm sure the new environment probably affected her as well. we've gone back to exactly the same diet and schedule now and the dosages of miralax (1 t every other morning) and lactulose (1 ml every other morning WITH the miralax), but we're still waiting for things to get back to normal. she's had constipation, diarrhea, and gas on and off for the past few weeks. we've taken her to the vet once after she threw up as well as the emergency vet to have feces manually removed after she started straining in the litterbox. each time it was after she hadn't pooped for 2-3 days. this time around we are going on 3 1/2 days with no poop, but she has not thrown up and she is not straining in the box. she still has a healthy appetitie, pees regularly, plays, and sleeps (she SEEMS comfortable), and her anus is not swollen up like when there was feces in it before stuck there. she get 1 whole can (6 oz) of tikicat salmon - 1/2 in morning, 1/2 in evening.

where is all the solid waste going??? why isn't she trying to poop? any ideas while i'm waiting for the vet to call?


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## Paisley77 (Jul 27, 2012)

I'm sorry to hear that your kitty is sick. Is there an update? I sure hope someone out here can give you some advice.


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## maggie23 (Mar 10, 2012)

thanks for the kind words, paisley. 

not much of an update unfortunately. she's now gone 4 full days without a poop, but NOW her rectum is definitely full as it is sticking out. she still has not been running to the litterbox trying to get it out yet, tho. we will probably take her in to the vet today to have the feces extracted again and we'll start from scratch again. sticking to her previous diet and medications so hopefully she eventually starts pooping normally again. the shelter says she was actually pooping everyday on the prior regimen. keeping our fingers crossed. it's like sitting on pins and needles every few days. and we're still trying to get her introduced to our first kitty! what a stressful situation for her. :dis


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## Arianwen (Jun 3, 2012)

If it wasn't for the distended rectum, I'd be asking if you have a dog. Some years ago, Wally, the cat belonging to friends of mine, was injured and had to have an eye removed. He was recovering very well but hadn't apparently gone to the toilet. The vet was on the verge of giving an enema when they realised that April (their Spaniel) was eating the cat's poo. I realise that this isn't an uncommon problem (although revolting) but it nearly had serious repercussions for poor Wally.


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## minikin44 (Aug 25, 2012)

I really have no advice, but I hope your poor kitty's bowels are regulated soon. Have you tried giving her probiotics?


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## maggie23 (Mar 10, 2012)

i've only given her probiotics once since we got her almost 4 weeks ago and that was just cuz she had a little diarrhea one day. why? are probiotics supposed to help with constipation issues as well? 

p.s. she still hasn't pooped and we're on our 5th day, but she still is acting normal in every other way. no straining in the litterbox. we can see the bulge in her rectum, however, telling us there IS something there that wants out! that's the area that has always become distended when she was constipated in the past. we noticed this at the shelter as well, but she apparently was always able to get rid of it herself without a trip to the vet - at least for the last 4 months or so. i saw in a very old thread from 2004 here that someone else had a cat that didn't poop for just over a week and then finally got it out on its own without a trip to the vet. their cat was also acting normal in every other way. we're watching her like a hawk, of course. ready to rush to the vet or emergency if needed.


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## LadyMiseryAli (Jan 22, 2012)

Have you tried giving her a tbsp of pumpkin? Chinchilla was having some issues going number 2 and we've been giving her one tbsp of pumpkin for the past couple of days and she's starting to get some relief.


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## minikin44 (Aug 25, 2012)

Probiotics are good for digestion/bowel issues in general. Like LadyMiseryAli said, pumpkin is supposed to be good for both diarrhea and constipation (though I personally only have experience using it for diarrhea).


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

Celia has gone 3 1/2 days without pooping in the past, and 2+ days is not uncommon. When she hasn't pooped in over 36 hours, she assumes her I-think-I'm-going-to-need-to-poop-soon position, just kind of crouched down, but she'll only actually try the litterbox once or twice. But I can tell she's uncomfortable because she doesn't have much appetite.

Has your kitty managed to poop yet?


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## maggie23 (Mar 10, 2012)

well, this morning (6th day since last poop), when i got up to feed her breakfast, half a ball of poop was sticking out of her butt. i don't even want to think about how long she'd been suffering like that. she was fine when my husband came to bed @2am and then i got up to feed her at 6 am. 

i pulled it out in a few chunks, but she definitely still had more in there behind it. it was probably a ball @1 1/2 inches in diameter all together. we gave her a few hours to see if she would try to push the rest out herself, then threw in the towel at last and brought her to the vet. we also decided to finally go because this was the 1st morning she didn't finish her whole breakfast with her usual gusto. she's at the vet right now and may end up staying over night so they can do an enema, maybe 2 if necessary.

i'm so scared of continuing to experiment with her diet and medication regimen, but i think i'm going to have to. even if we HAD done everything exactly the same as the shelter for the past 4 months, i don't know if she would have stayed regular, what with the different environment and everything. we're seriously considering the surgery again that the emergency vet actually mentioned last week. sort of a partial removal of just that part of the colon that keeps getting distended or perhaps insertion of some kind of mesh that will supposedly prevent the poop from collecting in the wrong spots and encourage it to go OUT the hole! the vet has also suggested switching to a "low residue" food. I will read more about that, but it sounds like a great idea in theory - as long as it's still "healthy", grain-free, etc... anyone have any recommendations on "low residue" food?

we did try the pumpkin in the beginning (we were trying to wean her off of the lactulose and miralax), but she wouldn't eat her food with it in there. she didn't seem to have a problem with the probiotics when i did it once. we think her actual digestion is good, though. everything goes through her system fine. it's just that little pouch at her rectum at the very end that seems to be causing the problem. still sitting on pins and needles...


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## Penguin_Dreams (Sep 28, 2012)

I was going to suggest pumpkin but I see you've tried that. I've been trying to get my two to be more regular and I've found that they're not interested in eating food that has pumpkin in it. BUT, the boy will happily lick pumpkin off my finger all day long. The girl will eat a little bit off the floor if she thinks I've spilled something and she's getting away with licking it up.

Maybe if you make it seem like she's getting people food, or offer it as a "special treat", she'll be more willing to try it. Can't guarantee it'll work for your cat's condition though, but it could be worth a shot. I'd be scared about experimenting with her diet as well, but have you considered a raw food diet? Or as a supplement? I am by no means an expert, or even a novice, but it's done wonders for my girl kitty. Though granted, she doesn't have the same kind of health concerns yours does. (Also, apologies if I've said any of this before. I have a horrible memory.)


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## maggie23 (Mar 10, 2012)

thanks so much for all the support and advice as we continue to keep our fingers crossed here!

we brought her home from the vet today as she did have to stay overnight for the enema to work. :sad: poor baby peed in the carrier again so she had to get another warm bath when we got home. she is such a sweet, gentle girl, though, and put up with it again. we got royal canin wet and dry food from the vet to try. it is supposedly a more low residue food that will cut down on the amount of feces it produces at least. and i'm thinking we don't even try the pumpkin thing anymore because i think that would actually add bulk to her feces. and actually, all the vets so far have said her feces are a good consistency, so it appears fiber is not necessarily the problem. 

anyway, we were so happy to actually see a normal looking poop (a log, not a ball) from her today, and hope yet again that it isn't just a fluke. (she had a great poop after the 1st visit to the vet as well, but it didn't last very long.)

the vet today (we've seen all 3 now at the clinic since they rotate shifts) suggested we schedule a visit every 3 days just in case she does need to have some feces manually removed again. they said they will show us how it's done next time so that perhaps we can do it ourselves at home in the future. yikes! as horrible as this would be for her, i would prefer to do it myself if it means we can avoid the stressful visit to the vet again.

on another note, we've been realizing how dang lucky we were when we adopted our first cat. she's a tiny girl (9 lbs compared to our 2nd who is 17 lbs!) who doesn't eat much and is (KNOCK ON WOOD!) very healthy. thank goodness for small miracles.


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## Penguin_Dreams (Sep 28, 2012)

Give your sweet girl scratch on the head from me.

She's in my thoughts, and I hope that as unpleasant as it some things may seem, that it ends up being less stressful and more helpful for her. For you as well. Best wishes to you and yours!


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## minikin44 (Aug 25, 2012)

I'm sorry your baby is still having problems, and I don't have any more advice, but my babies and I are sending prayers and crossed paws your way for a speedy recovery!


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## kty78 (Mar 18, 2012)

I would think any of the grain free, low carb foods would be low residue...


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## maggie23 (Mar 10, 2012)

Thanks again to all! :worship

we've had 3 days in a row of gorgeous poop! nice long tubes - not huge bombs - so no straining. switching her to some high calorie dry food and a small amount of low residue wet food has done wonders in just a few days. she could stand to lose a couple lbs, too, so the lesser amount is good. but don't worry, we're helping her lose weight slowly -nothing drastic. 

so in case anyone else out there is dealing with a perineal anal hernia, the low residue and calorie packed dry food seems to be working. i'm so happy! this is the most relaxed i've been in a MONTH! phew!


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## minikin44 (Aug 25, 2012)

You never realize how much poo can affect your life and stress level until you have a pet with a problem haha


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

Great to hear! What kind of low residue food are you feeding? Celia is sooooo fussy, but I'd like to try and see if she'll eat it.


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## maggie23 (Mar 10, 2012)

dang. i knew it. i jinxed myself and spoke too soon. tomorrow will be day 3 of no poop again, so we've got an appointment with the vet in the morning. as we speak (7:30pm) she just tried to poop and nothing came out, so it's starting again. they said they would show us how to "milk" the poop out of her basically, but i'm planning on asking them about home enemas as well since the vet trips are pretty traumatic for her and we end up having to wash just about everything AND give her a bath each time.

spirite, the low residue food the vet WANTED to give us was something called I/D, i think. and i believe it's just something you  have to get from the vet. unfortunately, it's all chicken based apparently and the place we adopted her from said they thought she had a chicken allergy. SO, the vet gave us the royal canin stuff instead (also only available at the vet i think) - venison as well as the duck and rabbit flavors. they told us each 5.9 oz can has @180 cals. the royal canin dry food has 45 calories per 1/8 cup. i know all the charts out there recommend a LOT of calories per lb of cat, but it always seems WAY too high for our cats. if i gave the recommended amount, they'd gain weight so fast! our little senior 9 lb kitty eats only @100 cals/day and she's very happy and healthy and maintains her weight. for the bigger one with the constipation problem, she WAS eating tiki cat salmon that has just 150 cals per 6 oz. can per day and she was maintaining 17 lbs. since we want to get her weight down a little, we're thinking a little under 150 cals/day would be good for her. 

sorry so verbose. basically, anything seems to be better (more low residue/more calories per oz.) than the tiki cat, so we're still experimenting unfortunately to see what mix of wet and dry works for her. maybe 1/8 cup dry and almost half a 5.5 oz can wet per day?


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