Cat constipation due to anxiety?

My 13yo female spayed cat has just recently(about 8 days) started pooping small pellet sized random poops outside of the litter box. She does not pick a random spot and when she does, it seems involuntary. This is extremely outside of character because in the 13 yrs I have had her, she has never done this. I took her to the vet but he didn't do much of anything other than listen to what I had to say and stated it "may" be constipation due to stress from our recent move (my husband is in the military) and as a result, he prescribed Kitty (my cat's name), laxatives for 3 days and valium for a week. I am just not so sure this is it? Has anyone had this issue with their cat and if so, how long before you saw results? My cat has always been a very playful, social, loving otherwise healthy cat and this is freaking me out. Here are some recent "changes" that happened to which the vet said "may" be the culprits. Please bear in mind that just a month ago, she was perfectly fine in every aspect.

- 4 weeks ago, we relocated from Nevada to California

- first 10 days, she was placed in a kennel (a first for her in 13yrs)

- 2 weeks ago, we moved in to our 2 story home (a first for her bc we have never lived in a 2 story home)

- 6 days into our new home and these pooping issues started

I also wanted to add that overall, her personality is still "happy" and she is still loving and purry, she just walks like a drunk cat due to the valium, and in the 2 days that I started the treatments, she still only hangs out in her litter box, but still poops small bits OUTSIDE of the litter box..She still eats and drinks water like normal as well and does not cry or meow out of place..I would appreciate any feedback on this..Thanks to everyone in advance..

Certainly she could be stressed with the move, being kenneled, etc.  Do you know what she was being fed while in the kennel?  Was it what she normally eats?  I'm just wondering if she normally eats canned food and while kenneled she was fed dry?  This could certainly constipate a cat, but I'm only guessing at that particular circumstance.  In my experience, when a cat is stressed, they don't necessarily become constipated, but they do sometimes go outside the litterbox. 

When you say pellet sized, are you talking about marble sized?  When I think of pellet sized, I'm thinking teeny, tiny, much smaller than a marble.  Now marble sized would definitely indicate to me constipation, but have you witnessed her straining?  Usually when this happens you will actually see them straining, and sometimes they will even throw up froth from straining really hard. 

I'm kind of surprised he wanted her to take valium if he suspects constipation, since he prescribed a laxative.  Did he say he could feel hard stool built up inside her?   Anyway, if she really is constipated, I would think the laxative would work pretty quickly...within a day or two.

But if she was already playing and acting happy, not sure what the Valium is going to do for her.  Was she acting scared or anything? 

I agree with mrsgreenjeans. I would suspect dry food and dehydration to contribute to constipation. Stress could certainly be a factor but I woukd try something like Feliway pheromone diffuser before Valium.

Thank you both for the replies! Well, her poops are more marble sized and the "biggest" ones are about an inch big, which is very far from the normal size poopies she does ..At the kennel, I instructed them to feed her the dry food I have fed her for years, Nutro Max Cat Adult Formula, although the man in charge of her said he "occasionally" gave her wet food. The vet said that "if" she was anxious or stressed because of the move, that is why the valium would help? I just didn't like his diagnosis and prognosis all too much and his choice of words to explain what was happening to her .."She may be", "probably is", "we will see what these meds do".. He said he did not feel backed up feces BUT, while at the vet, the cat started doing that weird straining, contractions body movements and THAT'S when he said, "hmm, your theory about her being constipated may be true after all", to which I was like O_O , because I went to HIM and paid HIM for HIS theory..But now y'all see why I am freaked out..This morning, she won't even eat her wet food with mashed valium in it, only her favorite healthy snacks, Greenies :\ ..My husband and I are just worried and not sure what to do anymore..

Well, if she doesn't normally eat wet food, then that may be why she isn't eating it this morning.  Also, if the valium is in it, she may be able to taste it

So, she normally only eats kibble?  And she isn't prone to constipation?  Does she drink plenty of water?  When I say plenty, I mean a LOT?  Cats who eat kibble are more prone to constipation than cats on canned food, simply because  kibble is dehydrating, and cats normally do not drink enough water.  

At this point in time, I wouldn't be concerned if she doesn't get the Valium, if she doesn't really seem stressed out over the move.  I would simply try to give her the Laxatone (is that what he gave you?) for a couple of days and see if she is able to pass a regular stool.  If so, then I would seriously think about trying to switch her over to an all wet diet and even add water to her food once that is done to try to prevent further episodes, as older cats are also more prone to constipation issues.

Here is a good article on transitioning cats over to wet food.  I used it for my free fed kibble addicts, and it worked   http://www.catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

Keep us posted as to what happens.  I'll bet this whole episode stems from everything associated with the move. 

Thank you so much for the info..I will try to do the wet food transition..She loves her Max Cat food though and her Greenies, feeggettabboutttit lol..She is a big water drinker as well..I am going to stop giving her the valium..She was still loopy this morning from last nights dose, and I gave her another this morning (she is supposed to take 2 a day for a week), and it is already night time and she is still VERY drowsy..I don't want to risk that, as she is a 13yo cat and the whole "valium can cause liver failure in cats" thing, has me worried too..I will keep you posted to see what happens, but as of today, 3 days into her laxatives, no luck..I see her going into her litter box pushing and pushing for minutes at a time like a champ, and not ONE little speckle of poop is coming out..

What laxative is she on, and how much?

I would ask the vet to run a senior panel blood work and check her kidney values.   With all the stress she's been under, something could be amiss there which would contribute to the constipation and small poops.
 

Her laxative is a small, red gel cap and the bottle says "DSS"..Not sure what that means..It was prescribed 1, 2x daily, the thing is, after 2 days, she just was not allowing me to give them to her and they were popping in her mouth and she would foam for 30 minutes, SO, I began giving her one "psyllium" fiber (the metamucil "generic" brand)..Basically one a day and I cut the powdery stuff from in side and pour it in her mouth, AND, I am also giving her a little bit of low fat milk..Even with this, she is still not pooping even though she visits her litter box and does her pushing ritual. She is not even peeing anymore so we are extremely worried. I am taking her to the vet tomorrow for an update and additional testing, but first and foremost, an enema bc she has not pooped in well over 4 days. I hope to God it is not her kidneys

The milk is not really good for her, so drop that.  Is she eating?
 

She is nibbling one or two kibbles of her food at a time and is rejecting her wet food altogether and touched her water just once today..She is not anti-social anymore at least (after taking her off her valium), and she doesn't hang out in her litter box anymore UNLESS she is having some of those moments of "pushing" for more than a few minutes..I did notice three hard marble sized poops in her box today, but still, no urine..All I know is the vet better have some straight forward news tomorrow because she can't be feeling good with so much constipation and bloat at this point..Gosh this is so frustrating..She gave me 13 years of easy street and now I don't know what to do with myself ..

Have no idea what those pills were that you were given for the constipation, but I know what works, although if she gets an enema , then that should take care of any build up inside her.  IMHO, the best thing for constipation is pumpkin, IF she will eat it, mixed into her wet food, and lots of water.  'Course, she has to eat her wet food in order to get it.  Next best thing is Miralax, or the generic of it.  It works differently than most things of that nature, and was the only thing that worked for my chronically constipated cat.  He was on it twice a day, every day for the last couple of years of his life. It was the only thing that kept him regular.  But he wouldn't eat pumpkin, wouldn't eat any canned food until about 3 months before he died, had kidney disease for the last 3 years of his life, etc.  So he was a mess .  And he used to strain so hard that he would throw up froth, and for years we'd find little "presents" all around the house for those times when he had success in eliminating one or two little marbles.  Poor guy.   Miralax was the best thing that ever happened to all of us .  In his case he got 1/8 teas. dissolved in about 1/4 teas water twice a day.  The good thing about it (besides the fact that it works so well) is that it is odorless, tasteless, and doesn't gel up like most laxatives. 

Let us know what the Vet says

Well..Here is an update..

I took her to a different Vet yesterday and they did and ultrasound, X-ray and IV to restore her fluids aaaannnd not one, but TWO enemas..The xray revealed that she does not have any sign of arthritis, "normal" sized kidneys, BUT a severe case of constipation..basically, she is so backed up that had I waited any longer, she could have developed "mega colon"..After the 2 enemas, the vet did state that although they got a good amount of waste, it was not enough to get her back to normal..SO, she put her on liquid laxatives and I have to give her IV at home starting today, which I am nervous about because I have to poke her with a needle :S ..Vet also said, IF by Wednesday (tomorrow), she has not passed at least ONE good normal sized bowel movement, I need to take her back for a "manual" enema which is basically instead of using the flushing method, it's going to be human fingers up her booty and she has to be put under anesthesia..So far today, she has passed one inch sized poop, though not "hard" looking, but still not good enough :C .. She is not drinking water and barely has touched her wet food..UGH! I just want her to poop in peace already :'(

Poor girl! So glad you took her to a different vet and they were more proactive, though.  Good for you!  The IV fluids will affect her eating and give her a "full" feeling.  Keep offering her wet food, maybe warm it up a bit to enhance the aroma and entice her to eat.  I don't remember, does she normally eat wet food?  Have you considered going to an all wet food diet or mostly wet food diet to prevent this (hopefully) again? 
 

OK, when you do the fluids, don't think of it as hurting her, which it really doesn't, think of it as helping her .  You're really just needing to put the needing under her skin, right.  Into her scruff area?  (between her shoulders...all that loose skin?) 

Also, NOW is she on Lactulose as the laxative?  It's kind of a sticky liquid?  It usually works pretty well.  I still can't even imagine what those pills were that the first Vet gave you .

Yes, I agree with Stephanie...this you need to try to convert your old girl to all wet if you can to try to prevent this from happening again because as old age creeps up, constipation is a common ailment.

for a good sized poop before tomorrow.  We don't want to have to have her manually cleaned out

Glad you took her to another vet, the first vet sounded like an idiot! I found Lactulose to work really well when my cat had a hairball blockage. If she refuses to eat you may want to consider syringe feeding her- it sounds a lot worse than it is and since it sounds like she has not eaten much for days you really do not want to risk fatty liver on top of the constipation. Here is a great thread on how to do it (http://www.thecatsite.com/t/227858/syringe-feeding-lucky-video-if-your-cat-is-not-eating). The syringe feeding may be a good way to get more wet food into her as well. 

I have successfully almost fully transitioned my very picky dry food addict to all wet. What I found really helpful was toppers and sprinkling some kibble on top of the wet. If she likes greenies you can mix them with the wet food to get her to eat. I would also try freeze dried meat treats because they are much healthier as Greenies actually have grains in them and there have been lots of reports of problems with this brand. I used to give greenies as well to my pets until I read about them causing health problems (http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/greenies.html) and (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/14/dangerous.dogtreat/). Actually if you read the consumer affairs reviews and the CNN piece one of the major problems with this brand is the reports of intestinal blockages and constipation. One of the reviews on the consumer affairs site said their cat was constipated and her constipation was cured after stopping the greenies- so that is something to consider. Forti flora is also a good option to put on wet food because it had animal digest in it which makes dry food so addictive. 

The DSS was probably Colace, dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate or docusate sodium. It is an OTC laxative. It should've created a bowel movement overnight.

I would ditch the dry food. Also, if she is already blocked up you should not feed psyllium, as this bulks up the stool and makes the problem worse, as there will be more stool volume to pass. For long-term, there are also two camps regarding fiber. Old school is high fiber, newer theories say low fiber because cats don't handle fiber well. My kitty became constipated earlier this year and did not do well on pumpkin. Unfortunately, which way to go is just trial and error - you try either high or low fiber, and if you wind up getting another enema, you try the other way. I belong to the Yahoo! feline megacolon and constipation group, and most of them go low fiber. If you are given lactulose, ask about Miralax. It does the same thing, but most people think Miralax gets better results and is easier to administer.

Thank y'all so much for all the pointers! At this point, I am willing to try anything..I will do the transition to wet food for sure..She has nibbled on her wet food twice today, which is progress actually..The liquid laxative is a dark green sticky liquid and I give her that every 12 hours..Her next dose is in 2..Good thing, she has been coming out of her litter box and wanting to be around us, but never fails to abruptly run to her litter box to try to poop, and push and push and nothing still..I bathed her today though because she was very filthy at this point from leaky booty to sticky face bc of the laxative..And good news! My husband and I managed to do the IV with no problems..So whew on that! I am most certainly hoping for a bowel movement by tomorrow bc the thought of her being under anesthesia with fingers in her butt, are not appealing :C ..Thanks again to everyone for your support and advice, and I will keep y'all posted..

"Sticky" probably means lactulose. It takes 2-3 days to work, as does Miralax. Seriously, ask about the Miralax. It is OTC and cheap. It is a newer med, though, so not all vets are on board yet.

I will definitely bring up the Miralax..Today will mark 48hours and still not bowel movement, only marble poops and a whole lot of pushing..If by tonight, not normal poop, tomorrow she goes in for another enema :|