Post-Surgery Pooping

Leo had PU surgery on Thursday. He was able to come home from the vet Friday, and I've had him confined since then (and will until he goes back to get his sutures out in 2 weeks), so I'm carefully monitoring his litter box usage.

His appetite hasn't been too great since he's come home. I think this is partially because he just had surgery, and partially because I'm mixing his Nutro dry and Wellness wet with Hill's c/d (even though I have some reservations). He is eating a little when I sit with him and hold the bowl or hand feed him. While he certainly isn't eating as much as normal, I think he's eating enough right now, assuming his appetite will increase as he feels better.

The post-op instructions I got mentioned that they might not need to poop for 2 days after the surgery. Today is day 3, and Leo still hasn't. Do you think there's any reason to be concerned at this point? When should I be concerned about it?

Thanks!

Still nothing from Leo, and sadly, nothing from anyone here yet either! Darn, I was hoping a vet tech or someone with PU surgery experience would be able to tell me something. I'll keep checking back for replies....

Okay, I'm stupid. What is PU?

I'd probably call the vet.
If you put your ear to his abdomen, do you hear any thing moving around?
The surgery, pain meds, not eating can all contribute to slowing down the motility of the intestines. If you don't hear abny sounds, I'd be more concerned.
How is he doing on drinking?

Are they thinking he wouldn't poop because of being put out for surgery? Or is he on pain meds?

I think a call to the vet is in order, especially if he has eaten enough to poop. I think it takes like 18 hours for things to go "all the way" through a cat. So if he has eaten, something should have come out.

he very well could be constipated, in which case they may just have you give him some laxatone or other hairball medicine.

I hope he recovers quickly.

PU is perineal urethrostomy. It's a surgery done for male cats who chronically have urethral blockages and can't urinate. It basically eliminates the narrow urethra in the penis and creates a larger "girl" type opening for them to expel urine. The larger opening is much less likely to block.

I know he was "fasted" prior to the surgery, and yes, he is on pain meds.

Since I hadn't gotten a response here, I called my vet. Apparently it can take 4-5 days before they need to poop. If they still haven't by day 5, it's cause for concern.

How is Leo's recovery going? I just saw this thread and I'm sorry I didn't reply sooner. I know what it's like to worry about their recovery. Is he free from the bathroom yet?

Dev

Originally Posted by Devlyn

How is Leo's recovery going? I just saw this thread and I'm sorry I didn't reply sooner. I know what it's like to worry about their recovery. Is he free from the bathroom yet?

Dev

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First, don't worry about not replying sooner. It's not like you didn't have more important things to deal with!

Recovery is going well. He got his sutures out on Thursday, and did well. The surgery site looks really good, albeit still quite bald! His tabby stripes are starting to show again, though.

Yes, he was freed from the bathroom yesterday. He was very excited to be able to follow me around. Lilly took the "having to share again" thing better than I thought she would (she would prefer to be an "only" I think).

No issues until this morning, when he thought my bag of new clothes that I had set out to take to the dry cleaners would make a good place to pee. Argh!!! It was clearly *not* a straining issue - he was able to pee a lot. So, I switched out the regular litter in the box back to the Yesterday's News he had been using post-surgery. Now I'm playing the watch-and-wait game to see if he uses it. I put him it in, but of course, he didn't need to go since he had just emptied his bladder on my (dry clean only) clothes. After all we've been through with the medical issues in the past 6 weeks, the last thing we need is to start having behavior potty issues!

My cat olive was spade 2 days ago. This is third day still no poop should I worry

My cat Dash had pu surgery sept six After any kind of trauma he normally is constipated this was no exception I told the surgeon that he normally has problems so we started him on a stool softener right away well he had to have an enema about a week later and vets hate to give Enemas in general however my local vet is a saint and he has manually been removing the poop from his colon for Dash we’re doing the stool softeners twice a day and using MiraLAX on his food this week it will be two weeks since he’s produced poop on his own the vet says that the pain of a surgery and the discomfort of having to poop is what’s holding him back he had to have his bladder emptied manually with a slippery Sam three days in a row but today he had 2pee pees my husband and I were ecstatic and we have been begging him for a poop! We used Periactin to entice his appetite he is a voracious eater I have two other cats that ate the CD food/royal Canin SL and the dry –dashcould never had tthe dry again so it will be dicey keeping him away from the dry I am not shy about contacting the vet for any strange things that my cats do or do not do I suggest everybody out there be the same way it’s better to be thought of as the crazy cat or dog person that loves her animal be safe not sorry! When in doubt call the vet