How to tell if cat is constipated?

Yay! Saw a few pieces of poop in the litter box today too. Never thought I'd be so thankful for her not burying her poop.

So butt watch is over ???

More like "less intense". Just back to the usual "make sure she's clean". She can't quite reach back there due to her 17+ lbs.

Donutte said:

More like "less intense". Just back to the usual "make sure she's clean". She can't quite reach back there due to her 17+ lbs.

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So you are the designated butt wiper.

Kittens Mom said:

So you are the designated butt wiper.

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Pretty much. Glamorous life I lead here lol.

Have you considered some night vision goggles ?

Not sure how that would help...

You could creep along in your Ghillie suit in the dark with your night vision goggles . Mostly I'm amusing myself here at your expense. I'm crying my eyes out over Angel's mommy and her kitty.

Kittens Mom said:

You could creep along in your Ghillie suit in the dark with your night vision goggles . Mostly I'm amusing myself here at your expense. I'm crying my eyes out over Angel's mommy and her kitty.

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You can do that at my expense any time Omg, we sit here and talk about looking at cat poops for goodness' sake. Can you imagine talking about that with our neighbors? They'd look at us like we're bonkers.

The Ghiillie suit may work. Then again, Maple's scared by her own poop (the CW seriously cracked up over that) so pretty sure a Ghillie suite would give her a stroke.

Soooo she did another poop this morning. I actually saw it myself, and then she again jumped out like she saw a ghost. I don't know if it was because of the poop this time though, or the fact Penelopy was checking out what she was doing in there. Because Miss Pea-Pea does that for some reason. She promptly buried Maple's poop after that.

Just now, I found two more of Maple's poops just inside the doorway of my bedroom. I hadn't yet cleaned the litter box because a sink was not available to wash my hands afterwards. So I don't know if she's avoiding it because of the poop that was there, or because she was irked by Penelopy. I'm hoping it's just the former. I can deal with that. But I don't want her to STOP using the litter box just because of Pea-Pea possibly lurking around the corner.

I think it's very safe to say by now that constipation can be ruled out. Whew. She has, however, started going outside the litter box again since the other day. I talked with the vet today and we're gonna put her on some kitty Prozac since she's the second most anxious cat I've ever seen. I think Oliver is the winner of that title though after yesterday.

On a very good note - her blood work came back and everything is great!! For an obese almost-14 year old cat, that's wonderful!

However, she really needs a dental, and probably needs at least one tooth pulled (including a fang) but had a murmur that the vet could only hear on and off when she was there. Financially I can take care of it when I get my tax return, so that issue will be off the table. But then it will be able her being able to handle it health-wise.

Soooo Maple has pooped on her chair once yesterday, and peed on the pee pad that I have around the litter box. Yesterday was the first time I noticed the pee on the pee pads. Today, there was blood in it. Off to the vet again.

Once again, they could not get urine from her. They gave her an antibiotic shot and we're stopping the prozac for now (in case this was the reason she started going outside the box again). Also got some Stridex-looking wipes because she was very dirty back there. I've been wiping every day but apparently not wiping nearly enough! I need to use these things on her every day for a week.

Even though the vet quite obviously was seeing her, I didn't get charged for a vet OR a tech visit. I was just charged for the shot and the wipee things. Wow. That was pretty nice.

Donutte said:

She has, however, started going outside the litter box again since the other day. I talked with the vet today and we're gonna put her on some kitty Prozac since she's the second most anxious cat I've ever seen. I think Oliver is the winner of that title though after yesterday.
 

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My 15 year old cat had litterbox problems when I adopted him last year. Has your vet mentioned buspirone? That's the medication that he put my kitty on and my cat got back to using the litterbox shortly after starting it.

Crazy4Strays said:

My 15 year old cat had litterbox problems when I adopted him last year. Has your vet mentioned buspirone? That's the medication that he put my kitty on and my cat got back to using the litterbox shortly after starting it.

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We stopped the Prozac actually for the moment. She WAS starting to use the litter box, then suddenly stopped again, then today she had blood in her pee that wasn't there before. So, treating for infection now, he wants to see if that was the cause before medicating her again with the Prozac. If she continues to go outside the box we'll put her back on the Prozac. I think he wants to try that one first. I can definitely ask him about buspirone though.

I'm hoping this takes care of it though and I don't have to put her back on the Prozac. She did like getting treats though (pill pocket). She hates me at the moment for taking her to the vet again so she probably won't want ANYTHING From me for awhile.

Donutte said:

I mean other than looking in the litter box, because I have five cats. I may be obsessive with my cats, but I can't tell ALL their poops apart just yet. I suspect the one is constipated. I only know one thing about her poop habits and that is that she doesn't bury it. However, Penelopy does, so I don't know how much she is pooping.

Is there anything to look for with Maple herself?

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Hello, My Simon has been forever constipated since he had his operation for crystals when he was 4, he's now going on 13 and since he's on the RC Urinary SO and won't eat wet, he's constantly backed up. Although he does drink lots of water and actually demands it.  For me it's easy to tell, he'll first try to poop in the  tub, his littler box is right next to it,  I know this is gross but it's like little frozen peas, I'm sure he does this because he strains and the litter hurts his pampered feet, plus we used the tub as a playpen when he was a couple of weeks old, so he considers it his territory,  I'd rather have him do it there then on the kitchen floor.

If he's really backed up, he comes to me and tries to poop in front of me with a desperate expression, this being his hint for me to get a q-tip with castor oil or olive oil on the end and I lube his little butt hole. A few minutes he'll be back in the tub with success.  

For some reason, his stool gets bound up and becomes a golf ball size cluster, I asked the vet why, and they prove useless in an acceptable response, we had issues when he had his operation, but I think they did something to mess him up and won't fess up.

You can also see by the butt,  if it's protruding it's stuck.  Simon has a long slender body and I can actually feel his belly.  But for the most part he comes and gets his mother. LOL

With my girl Chestnut being on meds last month got backed up, and she was always regular, I started using, Vetasyl sprinkle a capsule over their food.  And a trick my friend who works at North Shore Animal League here in NY said get plain old Metamucil for the cats at the shelter, mind you I don't know the dosage for that, check with your vets.

 You both have me laughing,  @Donutte  I guess I too lead the Glamorous Life and @kittensmom  Designated Wiper - while Chestnut was sick with kidney issues, I'd help wipe her after peeing, now she comes out of the bathroom and meows for me to wipe. LOL Wow, what we do for our cats, I'm not sure at this point who actually owns who, I guess they run our lives.  

Maple seems to have been doing pretty well in this department, though after today I wonder. I heard a very tell-tail meow (she always does it before pooping somewhere - especially if it's not the litter box, which she has finally been using again). Today she started that meow right before going up on her chair, and she got into the position, and I just watched. I could see her little butt pushing a bit, and all this gas came out. And then, finally, one tiny little poop. After which, she took off like someone had goosed her.

I've seen this once or twice before (I rarely catch her in the act) but never heard so much gas come out!