Cat Constipated???

Hi.

I suspect one of our kittens is constipated. He is about 10 months old. He's been acting strange over the last 24 hours and all symptoms point to constipation. I suspect it is from a hairball. Is there any foods I can give him that will help his bowel movements, well move?

If he doesn't show signs of improvement today, we are taking him to the vet tomorrow. They are going to charge us $45 just to walk in and then $85, & $95 for 2 seperate blood tests. Does this seem right? We've only taken our kittens in for check-ups and their boosters and I want to be sure we are not getting ripped off.

Thanks for the advice in advance!

Are you sure he's straining to poop, rather than straining to pee?

He's a little young for urinary problems, but it's not out of the question. Straining to urinate is often mistaken for constipation. Urinary problems in a male are an emergency. Prompt examination and treatment are important.

Blood tests would not be the 1st thing my vet would do in either case. For a constipation complaint, the 1st thing would be to palpate the abdomen, feeling for hard stool. The second thing would be xrays to look for an obstruction.

In the case of a urinary problem, the 1st thing would be to palpate the belly to see if the bladder is distended. And the 2nd thing would be a urinalysis.

Some vets like to do blood work first thing, regardless...but it's not necessary every time IMO. Those charges seem reasonable for your area of the country, though.

Some recommend canned plain pumpkin (not pie filling) for constipation. If it's so bad that he's acting strange, then I think he needs something more than just pumpkin.

There are hairball remedies such as Laxatone, or Vetbasis that work as a laxative...may be worth a try but again, if it's affecting his behavior I would say he needs a vet.

It's not that he can't pee, he did late last night. He didn't poop yesterday and he hasn't used the litter box at all today.