Signs of constipation?

Hi everyone,

I realise this may make me sound like a bit of an over-paranoid cat mum, but it's been on my mind for a day or two and thought the best thing to do would be to ask here!

Little Oscar has just recovered from colitis, he was on antibiotics, promax probiotic for a few days, and on a chicken and rice diet. (which we ended up switching to just chicken)

Now, he came off his medication a few days ago, and we have started the process of gradually mixing normal food into their chicken to get them back off the chicken diet.

I am a little concerned that the kittens are pooping a lot less than they used to. Now i'm not sure if this is because the meat is more digestable so there's less to come out, or whether it's bunging them up a bit? I haven't been able to pin point a time where I've actually seen Oscar poop in the last few days, there seems to be 1 (sometimes 2) in the tray a day, but we can never tell which Kitten did it, and a few of those times I've seen Smudge nearby after it's happened.

So, Oscar doesn't seem to be in any pain at all, he is eating very well, and is very playful as always, so I was wondering if there are any tell tale signs to whether he may have a bit of constipation or not? And if he might do, what could we try to ease it a bit? He doesn't look bloated as far as I can tell, and is peeing normally. I really just want to make sure there are other signs we can look out for to know whether he needs a vet visit or not, as I don't want to take him just on the off chance as he's been so much recently, so I don't think it'd be fair on him.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I would not worry about him being constipated.

But if it were me and I wanted to be sure, I would watch him like a hawk until he poops and then look carefull at it.

The best times to be there when he poops are after he wakes up and/or in a play session, since kittens (just like people) usually do a bathroom stop at some point after they wake up and get moving and really active.

If you are watching him poop and he is not straining or crying then he is not constipated.

My cat suffers from chronic constipation, so I know a lot about this issue. I would definitely keep an eye on your cat when he goes to the litter. I know it's difficult to be at home at all times but just check when you're around. The most alarming behavior is straining. If you see your cat hovering around the pan or simply straining without anything coming out, then I would check it out with a vet. The worst thing to do is to ignore constipation over a long period because the stool will become harder and stretch the colon. The cat may then need an enema.

Maybe the constipation is a temporary side effect of the medication.

Good luck!

P.S. I know how difficult it is to figure out which cat is pooping since both cats share the same pan (even though we have multiple pans). However, I eventually figured out the differences and odors. Fortunately, Buster and Holly's poops are very different from one another!

Thanks for the advice guys.

Last night we *finally* saw Oscar poop! And it was quite a lot, so I think he may not have been in a while.

It was fairly normal as well, we're used to his poop being multicoloured and runny from his colitis. It was slightly grey at one end though, which I read somehere that it goes a bit grey when they've been overfed? Although I can't remember where I read that!

I just thought I'd give a quick general Oscar update here..

He is now putting on plenty of weight, is getting to be the same size as Smudge, and is very regular in the toilet department.

We've been moving them back to their normal wet food for the past 4-5 days and they're finally on their normal food again, so I'm really pleased!