baby sitting cat that's not pooping

Last summer a cat gave birth to 3 kittens in my friend's shed. At about 6 weeks my friend and I grabbed the babies, tamed them up and found homes. My friend TNR'd the mom cat. The mom cat disappeared for about 2 months but eventually she came back and my friend started feeding her every morning.

This week my friend had to leave for 2 weeks. I told my friend that if she could catch the cat, I'd babysit her in my bathroom.

So, mom cat has been here for 2 days. She sure isn't a feral, poor thing. She actually acts like she feels safer when I am in the room and begs to be pet. Anyway, on to the problem...she has pee'd twice in the litter box but she hasn't yet pooped. While I've been in there with her she's consumed about 1.5 little cans of wet food, with extra water added, kibble and she has lapped up water in the bowl. She purrs, grooms, rolls over for a tummy scratch...When she's not courting me she stays in the cat carrier. I see no evidence of her wandering around.

Should I be concerned?

Is it possible she went a while without food before being caught? If so, her body could be absorbing pretty much all of the food, and you'll see stool once she's filled up

Is it possible she's pooped somewhere else in the bathroom? Stress will cause them to hold it as will being without consistent food. If she lets you pet her tummy, gently massaging it will help move things along.

finally, she pooped

Yay poop!!!!!!

What a relief! Is she still doing well? How long will you have her?

Actually her bathroom habits and her eating habits are not normal. She only poops every 2.5 days and sometimes doesn't pee in a 12 hour period, and she'll eat ravenously during one of her a.m. or p.m. feeding and then eat nothing for the next 24 hours. She otherwise seems o.k.

She's living in the bathroom. I open the door in the a.m. to let heat in but she doesn't ever leave her carrying case/cave when the door is open. I have 4 other cats who will peek in on her but there is minimum contact.

Her caretaker will be back in a week so I guess she'll go back to living outside then. I think that she is missing her old life. At least she was inside for our big storms.

Bless you (and your friend) for taking care of her and her kittens!


Robin

Are you sure she wants to go back outside? Maybe she's hiding in her cave because it feels safe, where nobody can haul her back out.

It's normal for ferals/semi-ferals/strays that have been living outrside to hole up initially. In fact, it's normal for them to often do nothing but sleep for days.

Well, that's what she's doing. Sleeping.

What's sweet is when I come into the room she stretches her front paws out to me and rolls over on her back to show her belly.

You guys are hereby ordered not to talk me into keeping this cat.

Originally Posted by Ellsworth

You guys are hereby ordered not to talk me into keeping this cat.

Click to expand...

Oh, I wouldn't try to do that!

Even though she is really happy with you (obviously), and you really like her (obviously), and it is a cold cruel world out there for cats with all kinds of dangers (cars, dogs, poisons, sickos, etc.), and she won't live long.

But I would never try to talk anyone into keeping a cat who needs them.


(Please forgive me.)

Well, maybe I'll keep her until the rainy season ends but my tame cat (I also have 3 ferals) has told me, in no uncertain terms, that the new cat has got to go.

I'm sorry. That was terrible of me. I just can't help myself.

The ones with seniority never want new ones to move in. That's how they are.

But, 99%* of the time, they get over it.



Robin

*There is no actual basis for this "statistic." I'm just making point.