My cat only goes (pees and poos) once every 3 days after giving birth!

Hi,

I recently rescued a mummy-to-be and she gave birth to 4 beautiful kittens on the 2nd July. Once died after a week and the other 3 are going on strong . However I noticed the the mum isn't going to do her business every day, because I change her litter box every day and for the past 2 days she hasn't gone. And this weird behaviour happened shortly after giving birth. At times she'd scratch and fuss around in the box, then head out of it with nothing inside. She's eating and drinking normally and she feeds and groom her babies like normal, should I be worried??

Help.

Hhhhrrrrmmmm interesting. It's very common for a Queen to not want to use the box for a few days after giving birth as she doesn't want to leave her kittens. But, being that they are three weeks she should be well past that phase and doing her business as normal. 

I suppose the first big questions are:

- Are you certain she is still eating and drinking normally? Really, given that she is nursing, she should be eating a fair deal more. Are there any other animals that could be sneaking bites of her food? 

- Have you throughly checked to make sure she isn't going somewhere outside the box? A dark, hidden corner may be just too tempting so be sure you look!

- Has she had any bouts of diarrhea or constipation? One of my first thoughts is that she is constipated, but that wouldn't account for her lack of urinating. You could try adding a little bit of plain canned pumpkin (not the baking kind) to her diet. It's good for both diarrhea and constipation. 

- How are her hydration levels? If you pull up the skin on the back of her neck (the scruff) it should snap right back into place. If it is slow to go down or "tents" then she is not getting enough fluids. 

- Finally what are you feeding her? In addition to having dry kitten kibble at all times you should be timed feeding her wet food throughout the day (as much as she wants to eat). Having more food may increase output. 

If none of this seems to fit the bill then I think the situation warrants at least a phone call to your vet to see if she needs to be seen (I would probably err on the side of caution and do this anyway). I know some cats that are frequent litterbox users and others that prefer to hold it so both can be normal- I just don't know that it is to switch right after giving birth, when the output should be more than it ever has been. 

Sorry if that's not very helpful. But, I do think it warrants a call to the professionals to be certain that she didn't harm her GI tract during delivery. 

 Vibes that she's just being a hormonal, indecisive, Momma! 

OMG! Thank you for your super quick reply!!!

And here are my answers to your questions:

- Are you certain she is still eating and drinking normally? Really, given that she is nursing, she should be eating a fair deal more. Are there any other animals that could be sneaking bites of her food? 

She is eating more, as she feeds her litter regularly...and yes, there is another cat in the house but she is deathly afraid of the new cat, as she is a new mom, she is super aggressive and protective of the kittens, so my cat would neverrrrrrrr approach her bowl (which I placed near the kittens cage) so, no, no one is stealing her grub...

- Have you throughly checked to make sure she isn't going somewhere outside the box? A dark, hidden corner may be just too tempting so be sure you look!

She did poo and peed on my potted plants outside but I quickly cleaned it up, disinfected the area, got rid of my plants and she went back to her litter box..then she stopped going for 2 days before she made a huge err deposit on day 3 and it has been continuing ever since. Now that you mentioned it though, she never did do it on my potted plants until AFTER she gave birth, I wonder why that is? Any ideas? She was using the litter box just fine when she first moved in...and because she was pooing and peeing so often in a day (before birth), I had to clean up her box once or twice a day..

- Has she had any bouts of diarrhea or constipation? One of my first thoughts is that she is constipated, but that wouldn't account for her lack of urinating. You could try adding a little bit of plain canned pumpkin (not the baking kind) to her diet. It's good for both diarrhea and constipation. 

No, she hasn't..Weirder still, while she was preggers, she was going all day every day and sometimes 3-4 times per day, and eating and drinking like there was no tomorrow..Hmm..am not sure if they have that here, but I'll try looking for it. Any other alternatives? And yes, she is drinking..

- How are her hydration levels? If you pull up the skin on the back of her neck (the scruff) it should snap right back into place. If it is slow to go down or "tents" then she is not getting enough fluids. 

Yes, I know that trick, my vet taught me..looks pretty hydrated to me..

- Finally what are you feeding her? In addition to having dry kitten kibble at all times you should be timed feeding her wet food throughout the day (as much as she wants to eat). Having more food may increase output. 

Been feeding her dry food, for kittens formula, my vet says that new queens need to eat kitten formula foods (wet or dry) to ensure nutrients for her litter as well. So give her more wet food then? OK! Will try that too.

If none of this seems to fit the bill then I think the situation warrants at least a phone call to your vet to see if she needs to be seen (I would probably err on the side of caution and do this anyway). I know some cats that are frequent litterbox users and others that prefer to hold it so both can be normal- I just don't know that it is to switch right after giving birth, when the output should be more than it ever has been. 

Yeah, I understand what you mean, and I would guess that after giving birth she'd be back to her ol' self but it's quite the opposite! In fact, her output was strangely more BEFORE giving birth. So could her 2-3 days output is actually 'NORMAL' in her case? I dunno, because like I mentioned earlier, I just rescued her..so am not aware of her habits. Other than that, she's still active, playful, feeds her babies often, grooms them and herself well..so, am stumped. All I really want is for her to be healthy..

Sorry if that's not very helpful. But, I do think it warrants a call to the professionals to be certain that she didn't harm her GI tract during delivery.

ARE YOU KIDDING  ME? That was like the best reply (or in my case the only reply so far!! LOL) and I am soooo grateful someone took the time to help shed some light on the situation, am really, really thankful for your help!!!! Will keep you updated if anything else pops up..and thanks again!!!!!

Haha well glad to be of help! Since I have that little advisor thing next to my name that makes me a notorious thread killer. Sorry that I probably scared everybody off! 

It is hard in your case because you don't really know what her "normal" is. As you said, it could have been that pregnancy was making her go-go-go, and now she's back to her old ways. To me it sounds like you are doing everything right, so I think the only next logical step is a vet visit. As I mentioned I may just call them first and see if you can consult with the vet for a few minutes over the phone. Another concern that just came to me is that she may have something like a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) or, is at a high risk of getting one from holding her urine for so long. It would make sense if she had one why she tried going elsewhere for a period of time and is hesitant to go at all now until she absolutely has to. Because a UTI makes urinating very painful cats begin to associate the box with pain and therefore try to avoid it. If she has no other good spots to go at then she may just be holding it until she is about to explode. It's a guess obviously, but I think worth consulting with the vet about. 

To answer a few other points you made:

Layde Dee said:

She did poo and peed on my potted plants outside 

but I quickly cleaned it up, disinfected the area, got rid of my plants and she went back to her litter box..then she stopped going for 2 days before she made a huge err deposit on day 3 and it has been continuing ever since. Now that you mentioned it though, she never did do it on my potted plants until AFTER she gave birth, I wonder why that is? Any ideas? She was using the litter box just fine when she first moved in...and because she was pooing and peeing so often in a day (before birth), I had to clean up her box once or twice a day..

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This concerns me slightly. Is she still going outside right now? I know you rescued her pregnant (thank you for that by the way) but unless you want to go through this again you need to bring her inside full time! She can go back into heat anytime after giving birth (the earliest I have seen personally was 11 days but another user had her foster calling again after 4). If allowed outside she WILL get pregnant again. Crazy I know. The expression "procreate like bunnies" really should be "procreate like cats." If you haven't already get her in and keep her in until after she is spayed! 

Layde Dee said:

- Finally what are you feeding her? In addition to having dry kitten kibble at all times you should be timed feeding her wet food throughout the day (as much as she wants to eat). Having more food may increase output. 

Been feeding her dry food, for kittens formula, my vet says that new queens need to eat kitten formula foods (wet or dry) to ensure nutrients for her litter as well. So give her more wet food then? OK! Will try that too.

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Yes she should absolutely be on kitten food. I would increase her wet intake too in addition to the dry. She can use the extra calories and the extra fluids. No harm, right? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Layde Dee  


- Has she had any bouts of diarrhea or constipation? One of my first thoughts is that she is constipated, but that wouldn't account for her lack of urinating. You could try adding a little bit of plain canned pumpkin (not the baking kind) to her diet. It's good for both diarrhea and constipation. 

No, she hasn't..Weirder still, while she was preggers, she was going all day every day and sometimes 3-4 times per day, and eating and drinking like there was no tomorrow..Hmm..am not sure if they have that here, but I'll try looking for it. Any other alternatives? And yes, she is drinking..

The only other thing I do with Queens (and sick kittens) is switch them to a diet of boiled chicken and white rice. This is great for a few days to help settle digestive upset, but it's not a good long term diet. Given she hasn't had any noticeable diarrhea or constipation I wouldn't put her on this. You can usually find plain canned pumpkin in with the rest of the canned veggies, and sometimes pet stores or even vets offices will sell it. If you can find it that's great and it wouldn't hurt to give her some but if you can't I wouldn't worry. Again, it was a more just to see if maybe she did have a little constipation going on and if that would get her moving. You can do a search or look over in the nutrition section for other tips on the subject but since I haven't tried them myself I am not going to recommend them. 

So, if I were you I would put in a call to the vet's. Explain the situation and that she is seemingly fine otherwise, but you are possibly concerned about a UTI. They will be able to ask follow up questions and determine the best course of action. 

Keep us (er, I guess me) updated!