My cat's bowel movements are not normal

peaches08 · Jul 5, 2014

Thehistorian said:
So, an update on Enya. I took her to the vet today and she was indeed constipated. As odd as it is and as contrary to cat knowledge as it is, I think being on entirely wet food has constipated her. While yes cats are obligate carnivores, I feel like we also have to keep in mind that cats have been domesticated for a few hundred years and some cats have probably evolved to depend on the fiber present in dry foods. For now, I am going to return to doing half wet and half dry as that seems to be what works best for her. Wet is in no way being taken out of her diet ever, but it seems I am going to have to go against all logic and do half wet, half dry again.

As of right now, she is at the vet’s and they are administering an enema and cleaning her out. Ugh, cats can be as complicated as humans. Hopefully this will work. I am going to have to take her in at a later date to have her tumor x-rayed so we can determine what to do with it.

Is it that she possibly needs certain carbs like rice to help her? It's possible the type of wet you were feeding wasn't compatible with your cat, rather than "wet food caused constipation." Your kitty may have motility issues, or a problem in tone, etc. I hope your vet can get her straightened out.

FWIW, dry kibble has only been around for cats since either the 1940s or 1950s from what I've read.

jcat · Jul 5, 2014

for her. You might not even have to go to 1/2 dry for results; a tablespoonful once or twice a day might be enough. Mogli has IBD, and food goes through him too quickly. About 10 pieces of kibble (rabbit & potato) twice a day slows down his digestion.

thehistorian · Jul 5, 2014

jcat said:
for her. You might not even have to go to 1/2 dry for results; a tablespoonful once or twice a day might be enough. Mogli has IBD, and food goes through him too quickly. About 10 pieces of kibble (rabbit & potato) twice a day slows down his digestion.

That is true. I am going to start with two table spoons, which is basically 1/8th a cup. That will be enough to serve as a meal but keep the calories of the dry food low enough that I may be able to still control her weight. Ugh, such a balancing act!

jcat · Jul 5, 2014

I feel for you. For almost half a year, I felt like my life revolved around Mogli's digestive issues! After that, they slid down to "a priority". :lol3:

peaches08 · Jul 5, 2014

jcat said:
for her. You might not even have to go to 1/2 dry for results; a tablespoonful once or twice a day might be enough. Mogli has IBD, and food goes through him too quickly. About 10 pieces of kibble (rabbit & potato) twice a day slows down his digestion.

And you know, that's a really good point: you use dry to slow down Mogli's digestive system. Evidently, he's got something along the lines of dumping syndrome. If the OP's kitty has constipation, I wonder if changing to a different canned food might help? Obviously change one thing at a time and give it time to work, since doing everything including hanging a dead chicken in the corner of the room makes it hard to decide if the kibble, a different canned food, or the dead chicken hanging in the corner was what helped!

jcat · Jul 5, 2014

A different canned food might be the answer, but it's going to be a lot of trial and error. It really could be the antibiotics causing constipation, too, so something as simple as a probiotic might help.

peaches08 · Jul 5, 2014

jcat said:
A different canned food might be the answer, but it's going to be a lot of trial and error. It really could be the antibiotics causing constipation, too, so something as simple as a probiotic might help.

I skimmed the thread and missed that the cat was on antibiotics.

They can totally affect motility!

thehistorian · Jul 5, 2014

peaches08 said:
I skimmed the thread and missed that the cat was on antibiotics.

They can totally affect motility!

The issue with the antibiotics is that they only stay in the system for seven to ten days. Thursday would have been the ten day mark, but it is entirely possible that they are still messing things up. Poor girl. Thanks for all your advice and support guys! I will keep everyone updated.

raintyger · Jul 5, 2014

You still have to wait for the natural gut flora to re-establish itself. You may want to try probiotics. It is best, though, to try one thing at a time. Otherwise you don't know what caused improvement/worsening of symptoms.

raintyger · Jul 5, 2014

With my kitty I did wonder the same thing--if perhaps insoluble fiber was needed. Insoluble usually comes from grains, though. One source I considered is flaxseed. You can get them ground and they also provide omega-3's.

abbyntim · Jul 5, 2014

Thehistorian said:
So, an update on Enya. I took her to the vet today and she was indeed constipated. As odd as it is and as contrary to cat knowledge as it is, I think being on entirely wet food has constipated her. While yes cats are obligate carnivores, I feel like we also have to keep in mind that cats have been domesticated for a few hundred years and some cats have probably evolved to depend on the fiber present in dry foods. For now, I am going to return to doing half wet and half dry as that seems to be what works best for her. Wet is in no way being taken out of her diet ever, but it seems I am going to have to go against all logic and do half wet, half dry again.

As of right now, she is at the vet’s and they are administering an enema and cleaning her out. Ugh, cats can be as complicated as humans. Hopefully this will work. I am going to have to take her in at a later date to have her tumor x-rayed so we can determine what to do with it.

I haven't read all the replies yet, but so sorry Enya is constipated!

One other thing to consider with her constipation is transition time. How quickly did you switch her from dry to wet? The abrupt change could have thrown her off. When we transitioned our cats from 90% dry to 100% wet, we did it gradually over several months. You might want to keep her on a mix of wet and dry for now, then slooooowwwwly give her more wet and less dry, monitoring the litter box for changes in bowel habits.

abbyntim · Jul 5, 2014

Raintyger said:
You still have to wait for the natural gut flora to re-establish itself. You may want to try probiotics. It is best, though, to try one thing at a time. Otherwise you don't know what caused improvement/worsening of symptoms.

Yes, exactly. Even though the antibiotics have cleared her system, her gut flora may not be back to normal.

oneandahalfcats · Jul 5, 2014

Thehistorian said:
So, an update on Enya. I took her to the vet today and she was indeed constipated. As odd as it is and as contrary to cat knowledge as it is, I think being on entirely wet food has constipated her. While yes cats are obligate carnivores, I feel like we also have to keep in mind that cats have been domesticated for a few hundred years and some cats have probably evolved to depend on the fiber present in dry foods. For now, I am going to return to doing half wet and half dry as that seems to be what works best for her. Wet is in no way being taken out of her diet ever, but it seems I am going to have to go against all logic and do half wet, half dry again.

As of right now, she is at the vet’s and they are administering an enema and cleaning her out. Ugh, cats can be as complicated as humans. Hopefully this will work. I am going to have to take her in at a later date to have her tumor x-rayed so we can determine what to do with it.

I am sorry to read about this situation. Your intentions were in the right place.

Transition time from dry to wet is very important due to the fact that dry food is much denser than wet food. There needs to be time for the colon to get used to less bulk, and the change in nutrients. I transitioned my cats to a wet diet over the course of a few months. This started last October. Before that time, they were on an all-dry diet.

Having an enema done can cause a delay in BMs just so you are aware, as the cat gets thoroughly cleaned out, and it can take time for enough stool to be created to bring on a BM, especially if consuming only wet canned. For this reason, returning to half wet, half dry for time being until things get back to normal, is very wise.

Going forward, there are a few different options for implementing fiber in the diet if it looks as though Enya might need this. Slipperly Elm Bark and Psyllium are two holistic solutions. In managing constipation in one of my male cats, I have used SEB with really good results. The difference between this and Psyllium is there is not as much chance for overdoing it with SEB, as it is with Psyllium, in creating too much bulk.

thehistorian · Jul 5, 2014

Hi guys! Enya's enema went as well as enemas can go for cats.

She had to stay at the vet's for a few hours while the administered the enema and waited for it to take effect and boy did it take effect. She had two large stools stuck in there! They came right on out. I am really beginning to think my cat just needs the extra fiber. Also, while most of a cat's water needs come from wet food, for some reason I don't think she was getting all the water she needs on wet food. The reason being is that when I put her on full blown wet food, she stopped drinking from her bowl, from water faucets etc. I don't think wet food is meant to be the entire source of water for cats. They are supposed to eat moist food and drink a reasonable amount of water. My cat must be kind of dense because she stopped drinking water. I assume she did not drink water because even though her body needed water, she did not feel thirsty. Ergo, she did not drink water.

Combined with the overwhelming variety of canned food I had her on, I think her system got overwhelmed. I am keeping her to two main wet food brands that seem to have worked for her and only occasionally supplementing with a different brand. I have her solidly on one brand of dry food I feel comfortable with and can tolerate.

micknsnicks2mom · Jul 5, 2014

Thehistorian said:
Hi guys! Enya's enema went as well as enemas can go for cats.

She had to stay at the vet's for a few hours while the administered the enema and waited for it to take effect and boy did it take effect. She had two large stools stuck in there! They came right on out. I am really beginning to think my cat just needs the extra fiber. Also, while most of a cat's water needs come from wet food, for some reason I don't think she was getting all the water she needs on wet food. The reason being is that when I put her on full blown wet food, she stopped drinking from her bowl, from water faucets etc. I don't think wet food is meant to be the entire source of water for cats. They are supposed to eat moist food and drink a reasonable amount of water. My cat must be kind of dense because she stopped drinking water. I assume she did not drink water because even though her body needed water, she did not feel thirsty. Ergo, she did not drink water.

Combined with the overwhelming variety of canned food I had her on, I think her system got overwhelmed. I am keeping her to two main wet food brands that seem to have worked for her and only occasionally supplementing with a different brand. I have her solidly on one brand of dry food I feel comfortable with and can tolerate.

you could add a little water to the wet food when you serve her her meals. many people do that to help their cats have a better amount of water intake.

raintyger · Jul 5, 2014

Thehistorian said:
Hi guys! Enya's enema went as well as enemas can go for cats.

She had to stay at the vet's for a few hours while the administered the enema and waited for it to take effect and boy did it take effect. She had two large stools stuck in there! They came right on out. I am really beginning to think my cat just needs the extra fiber. Also, while most of a cat's water needs come from wet food, for some reason I don't think she was getting all the water she needs on wet food. The reason being is that when I put her on full blown wet food, she stopped drinking from her bowl, from water faucets etc. I don't think wet food is meant to be the entire source of water for cats. They are supposed to eat moist food and drink a reasonable amount of water. My cat must be kind of dense because she stopped drinking water. I assume she did not drink water because even though her body needed water, she did not feel thirsty. Ergo, she did not drink water.

Combined with the overwhelming variety of canned food I had her on, I think her system got overwhelmed. I am keeping her to two main wet food brands that seem to have worked for her and only occasionally supplementing with a different brand. I have her solidly on one brand of dry food I feel comfortable with and can tolerate.

The fact she stopped drinking from a bowl is good sign. Cats only drink from bowls when they're dehydrated. Cats originated from the desert and do not have a strong thirst drive.

My kitty stopped drinking from a bowl when she got fed 100% wet. The only time she drank from a bowl after that was when she was sick.

snugglecat · Jul 5, 2014

It took me a while to get that when I started to see Peaches drinking from a bowl of water she was getting sick. Last week I noticed she was drinking from her bowl often and we don't see her do that very often. I just realized today she is constipated. I also should have known this because she usually has a bowel movement every other day but she has been having one every day and when that happens we usually end up seeing the vet for an enema.

I was wondering if I stopped what little dry food she gets and add more water to her canned with the miralax do you think it she will get well on her own? She gets miralax twice a day and still gets constipated. I have already taken her to see the vet but we were discussing her IBD and got a B12 injection. I never thought to have her check to see if she was constipated because Peaches was going every day.

oneandahalfcats · Jul 6, 2014

Raintyger said:
The fact she stopped drinking from a bowl is good sign. Cats only drink from bowls when they're dehydrated. Cats originated from the desert and do not have a strong thirst drive.

My kitty stopped drinking from a bowl when she got fed 100% wet. The only time she drank from a bowl after that was when she was sick.

I think it depends on the cat as to whether they continue to drink water after switching to a meat diet. My cats were good drinkers when on an all-dry diet, and continue to drink when on the majority of wet canned and commercial raw. So I don't think the suggestion that cats drink only because they are dehydrated, holds much water (if you'll pardon the pun).

If a wet canned food contains certain carbs like potato or rice, then I think this can possibly negate the amount of water that a cat is receiving from canned food, which may explain why they drink additional water. While a raw meat or total meat diet can provide between 70-80% moisture, this doesn't mean that a cat will automatically stop drinking water. It just depends. Its a known fact that cats in the wild such as lions, cheetahs, and such, will drink a bit of water but can survive without it by getting moisture from their prey.

thehistorian · Jul 6, 2014

I have come to the conclusion my cat defies logic. Also, I think I need to get her on just two canned foods with a different one thrown in for good measure. I don't like having her on dry but when she was on half and half she went normally. I think for her system I switched her over too quickly to wet food and to too many different varieties for her to handle. I will try it again but I am going to wait a while and take a much different approach.

abbyntim · Jul 6, 2014

My cats also pretty much stopped drinking water once we got them entirely on canned food. Yet they peed more and their pee didn't smell as strong. We still keep the water fountains and bowls, but the water fountains are more playthings now.

Good idea to take it slow with trying different foods. I've been experimenting with some different canned foods with my girl, Abby, and she surprisingly gave us a nice, big hairball last night. She normally does not have hairballs. I'm not sure if her digestive system was upset from all the food changing, or the stress due to loud construction next door, fireworks, and Tim's vet visit yesterday, but it's a reminder to me to take it slow when changing a cat's food.

Also: I add some water to their canned food. This is an easy way to make sure they are getting enough.

My cat's bowel movements are not normal

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