12 year old Constipation Problems

Hello everyone,

My 12 year old cat recently went through a pretty traumatic experience. Last Saturday, I took her to the vet because she had been straining a lot to the point of bleeding. She would poop but it was sometimes really just dry little nuggets and very rarely a large poop. The vet ran bloodwork on her and did an X-ray. She decided an enema was the best plan of action as kitty showed lots of poo in the X-ray. I left her there for an hour at the vet so she could poo and recover from the enema. When I got back, the vet told me she had made quite a bit of poops and that they gave her subcutaneous fluids to prevent dehydration. She told me to put her on a diet of half canned and half dry with a mixture of 1/8 tsp miralax in every meal. I took her home and she was still in and out of the box quite a bit as I expected. I had to go to the mechanic so I left her at home. I got back like 4-5 hours later and she had thrown up several times but just clear fluid and then she was pooping bloody mucus. The vet was closed by this point so I googled around to see if this was normal. Apparently it can happen after an enema so I kept a close eye on her. The next day she was still doing the same. She would try and eat but throw it up in a few minutes and then run to the box with just bloody goop coming out. I was really freaking out so I called the ER vet. They told me that it didn't sound quite yet like an emergency so just feed her with a syringe and mostly make sure she was getting water and to take her to the vet the next morning. I was able to take her in next morning and the vet immediately took it as an emergency. The blood test results came back showing there was a minimal possibility she had renal failure so the vet extracted urine from her and ran a test while they gave her fluids again with anti nausea meds. Luckily the urine sample showed no signs of kidney failure so she just told me to keep her on a bland diet and to follow up the next day. I bought baby foods per the vet and my cat was gobbling that food up like crazy. She was so hungry! Poor girl! She kept pooing quite a bit every day for 2 days after with some blood. It was pretty watery poop. No, throwing up though thankfully. Slowly her poops started looking more normal and they looked green which from experience I know this means her food is just going through her really fast. I have been feeding her now according to my vets instructions half canned half dry with 1/8 tsp miralax. The last poo I saw in the box was Wednesday morning. It is now Saturday morning. She isn't eating all her food but most of it but she is drinking more water I note. Her butt also has scabs on it which I assume is from the recent butt trauma. Should I be concerned or does this sound normal after everything that has happened?

Another thing I should bring up is that after coming back home from the vet Monday morning, I had to go to work. She left me many surprises on my bed when I came home and it was watery poo. Every day until Wednesday, she used my bed as a litter box. I decided to stop this by putting a shower curtain on my bed with boxes on top. She didn't go on the bed of course but that one time in the box on Wednesday when her poop was more solid, less green, and little to no bloody mucous. Is this lack of poo a behavioral reaction or is it a medical issue? I'm just thinking to myself she has shown signs in the past of constipation when things change or because she is nervous. And after all the tests that were done on her last week, I can't imagine that they didn't catch something. Please advise!

One of my cats had dry poos and I was given a recommendation of pumpkin. It works for both constipation and diahrrea. You just mix some in the wet food. Also, see if there is an issue with the bladder. If there is sometimes the cats stop drinking enough water so they don't urinate as much.

Constipation is most often linked to diet. It is good that she is producing more normal stool after the ordeal. The goal is to have her eliminate normal stool on regular basis. For that, canned food diet is vastly better than dry kibble diet. Do look for high-quality canned foods that contain high-quality protein and very little carb. (More expensive is not always high-quality either, FYI.) catinfo.org was very helpful for me. Many memebrs have posted threads regarding canned food here, so do look into them.

The recent events (ill health, enema, Miralax and diet change) can be making her drink more water. Extra water is a good thing for cats, and it is specially important right now, since all the loose stools and vomiting can be very dehydrating. For the long run, you might want to invest in pet water fountain; moving water entices cats to drink more water.Just keep an eye on her out-take to make sure she is not passing unusually large amounts of urine. (Some increase in the amount of urine from switching to canned food is normal.)

She most likely went to lie down on your bed after coming home completely exhausted ("it's been a rough week!") and she fell fast asleep; she later woke up to the call of the nature, but because of her irritated system (and waking up weak and dazed), couldn't get to the box in time. She may have thrown up at the same time also. (Have you ever had a bout of stomach issue that made you go from both ends at the same time? Not fun at all.) Be patient with her; she didn't mean it. She probably hated to poo in the place she likes to sleep.

You can provide an alternative sleeping spot elsewhere with your old shirt or cover your bed with an old blanket before you leave. She may need an extra box while she recovers, depending on the size of your place.

For now, I think you should keep adding Miralax in her food. Keep an eye on her stool and adjust the dose if it gets too loose. Miralax is not habit forming; it works by drawing water to the intestines.

In TLC department, your warm hand resting on her stomach as you both relax acts like a hot water bottle and is very comforting when she is having issue like this.

Thanks for the responses.

DragulescuGirl said:

One of my cats had dry poos and I was given a recommendation of pumpkin. It works for both constipation and diahrrea. You just mix some in the wet food. Also, see if there is an issue with the bladder. If there is sometimes the cats stop drinking enough water so they don't urinate as much.

Click to expand...

I have given her canned pumpkin most recently and she does eat it. Usually when she eats it makes her go very soon after. She had some today but no action in the litter box just yet :/. She is drinking more water though as I said before and she is urinating normally I feel considering the amount of water she is drinking plus the canned food's moisture.

Chloespriestess said:

Constipation is most often linked to diet. It is good that she is producing more normal stool after the ordeal. The goal is to have her eliminate normal stool on regular basis. For that, canned food diet is vastly better than dry kibble diet. Do look for high-quality canned foods that contain high-quality protein and very little carb. (More expensive is not always high-quality either, FYI.) catinfo.org was very helpful for me. Many memebrs have posted threads regarding canned food here, so do look into them.

The recent events (ill health, enema, Miralax and diet change) can be making her drink more water. Extra water is a good thing for cats, and it is specially important right now, since all the loose stools and vomiting can be very dehydrating. For the long run, you might want to invest in pet water fountain; moving water entices cats to drink more water.Just keep an eye on her out-take to make sure she is not passing unusually large amounts of urine. (Some increase in the amount of urine from switching to canned food is normal.)

She most likely went to lie down on your bed after coming home completely exhausted ("it's been a rough week!") and she fell fast asleep; she later woke up to the call of the nature, but because of her irritated system (and waking up weak and dazed), couldn't get to the box in time. She may have thrown up at the same time also. (Have you ever had a bout of stomach issue that made you go from both ends at the same time? Not fun at all.) Be patient with her; she didn't mean it. She probably hated to poo in the place she likes to sleep.

You can provide an alternative sleeping spot elsewhere with your old shirt or cover your bed with an old blanket before you leave. She may need an extra box while she recovers, depending on the size of your place.

For now, I think you should keep adding Miralax in her food. Keep an eye on her stool and adjust the dose if it gets too loose. Miralax is not habit forming; it works by drawing water to the intestines.

In TLC department, your warm hand resting on her stomach as you both relax acts like a hot water bottle and is very comforting when she is having issue like this.

Click to expand...

The canned food I am giving her is Blue Buffalo Wilderness brand. I had been feeding her the Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain Free kibble as I noted this was best for her. Oddly enough as a younger cat, she often times had issues with diarrhea and it was b/c of a food allergy. So that's why I put her on this grain free Blue Buffalo brand. Before I had her on Wellness but I noted she wasn't as into it after eating for a few years. She loves Blue Buffalo though it seems like. I also have a drinking fountain for her though I don't use it all of the time. She enjoys the fountain very much.

I'm still waiting for a bowel movement. I am just surprised that she hasn't had one since Wednesday especially considering the Miralax, the canned food, the pumpkin and the increased amounts of water. Is it just that she is healing from everything? I read online of someone's cat taking 4-5 days after an enema to produce a normal BM. Sounds like a long time without going poo to me... In my case, as a human, I would be freaking out after 2 days.

3 days w/o BM seems a little too long. I have a feeling, with Miralax and all, she should probably pass a very long one soon (hopefully). If she still has no movement by tomorrow, you might want to call the vet. Upping Miralax dose is another option. Pumpkin bulks up the stool because of its fiber content, so maybe give her a little less pumpkin as the time w/o BM gets longer?

Many baby food contains corn starch, so I don't really recommend it to kitties with constipation. If she is OK with her regular food, you might want to skip baby food.

I'm not a fan of dry kibbles, grain free or otherwise. In my experience, I have seen many cats do OK on all kibbles and/or part kibbles diet until they reach certain age, usually around 10-15, and they start to have issues. My own cat became regular only after I completely cut kibbles out of her diet.

You know what I think I might know what's going on. She has really enjoyed the baby food and will mainly only eat that. I have slowly moved from baby food to adding canned food to putting a little bit o dry food on top of both. She will mainly only eat the baby food. She meows at me a lot like she's hungry so maybe it's just bc she's only eating the baby food that she hasn't had a proper BM these past few days. She's not eating enough perhaps? I'm going to take away the baby food now and only do the mix the vet told me to do. Lets see if that brings any results in the box.

Good news! Kitty had a large bowel movement this morning! I have never been so excited to see poop!

Any of us who've ever had constipated kitties know exactly where you're coming from    Congratulations