Help ... cat digestion after long fast; missing 13 days returns home

Too early to call vet. My cat was missing for 13 days & came home 24 hours ago &  has fractured hip. How much should she be eating and pooping?
She saw vet yesterday; has eaten small amounts and while she has peed some she has not yet pooped. She is indoor/outdoor cat so is not too stressed over her adventure and as 6 year old is doing pretty well. Does not seem to be in a lot of pain, but moves holding up her rear leg. Keeping her as immobile as possible. I had read on web that for cat it is typically 20 hours or so from mouth to anus which is just about now, and also that when a cat eats they automatically get a "message" to evacuate cargo which she has tried to do but with no production. As far as I and vet know aside from fracture shown in xrays there is no internal organ damage, but concerned that now at 5AM she is eating only very small amounts and has not yet pooped.

Your experience around cats who have not eaten in a long while and getting back to normal eating is appreciated. She had weighed 73 12 ozs and upon coming home had lost about 2.5# and was down to 5# 4 ozs so her digestion and bladder/kidneys have been stressed. She is on homemade raw food diet; is American long hair who was rescued from poor city street environment.

I don't have a ton of knowledge in this area.  I do know that my sister's cat went missing for about a month in the dead of winter a few years ago (we think he got shut in a garage or something).  He was a chunky boy when he left and when he returned he was pretty boney and his digestive system never seemed to get completely back on track.  I am not sure how long it took him to poop but I know he had diarrhea for awhile.  The vet had her give him probiotics to help out his system.  Are you feeding her wet food? I think that would be best for her system.

Did the vet give her any pain killers for her fracture? Some medication causes constipation. It could also be that her digestive track is so empty she doesn't have anything to poop yet.

My cat Mia was gone for a month earlier this year. She peed regularly for the first two days, no poop until she'd been home eating regularly for 48 hours. After that she had diarrhea for about 4 days.

If you're worried then call the vet. Ask about some worming medicine too. Mia had been feeding herself so needed two lots of Profender to get rid of all the worms in her system.

@dahlia @norachan Thanks, very helpful and re-assuring. My cat is on raw food diet that I prepare to which I am adding extra moisture in comparison to what she is used to. She is not on pain medication, but will probably get some and give it to hr today. I am dong various homeopathic remedies as I usually have great success with that and with Bach Flower remedies as well as paying attention to nutrition.

I will probably get hr some acupuncture from vet who does house calls. A bit of a challenge, but it seems her body has a lot of wisdom on what it needs to heal. She probably self-nursed for several days after her injury before gaining the strength to return home on her own even though I left flyer at door or talked to people within 10 square blocks of home.

Again thanks for sharing your own experiences which confirms my own sense that poop might not happen until after 48 hours or so of eating some and that lack thereof is "typical" at this stage of recovery. Had thought about probiotics and expect that will be helpful.

You're very lucky to get her back home again. Cats are so good at hiding themselves when they are hurt, you neighbors probably had no idea that she was around. I wish her a speedy recovery. Keep us posted on how she does.

Lots of love and vibes for your girl.

Norachan thanks again. She is doing remarkably well, peeing, grooming, drinking, gaining a little weight, complaining about being confined to a small space (to limit her activity). Still waiting for her to poop but since she was so empty some vets have said it might be as much as 5 days. Prognosis is excellent overall ...

Yes cats can hide well and she probably did to self-nurse after injury to gain strength and less painful movement before coming home. Does not seem to be in pain at all except complaint about small space. Decided against pain meds as any pain would encourage her to limit her activity and is part of her bodies natural wisdom and giving feedback and thanks for menitoning the possible constipation with meds. Giving probiotics and small amount of stool softener to make movement of bowels easier for her.

She will have acupuncture today, and I am consulting a vet soon who does chiropractic with cats.

Just saw your location which is a beautiful part of this wonderful planet earth.