Constipation?

Cleo has been doing well, but I had a few concerns. When I brought her into the vet for a check-up, her calcium had gone down to normal. However, she was slightly anemic, and the vet said to keep an eye on her. I noticed she had tapeworms so I recently wormed her, so this may play a part. I do not know what I am dealing with, and I will call the vet tomorrow. Her stools have recently become hardened, and the outside of her stools have turned basically black, with the middle a brown color. She goes to the litterbox for #2 every few days, and her stools are smallish and hard. This could be constipation, correct? And also, would her diet cause a change in stool appearance like this, and cause constipation? 

Cleopatras Mom said:

Cleo has been doing well, but I had a few concerns. When I brought her into the vet for a check-up, her calcium had gone down to normal. However, she was slightly anemic, and the vet said to keep an eye on her. I noticed she had tapeworms so I recently wormed her, so this may play a part. I do not know what I am dealing with, and I will call the vet tomorrow. Her stools have recently become hardened, and the outside of her stools have turned basically black, with the middle a brown color. She goes to the litterbox for #2 every few days, and her stools are smallish and hard. This could be constipation, correct? And also, would her diet cause a change in stool appearance like this, and cause constipation? 

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Sorry if you wrote what you changed her diet to on another thread, but what are you feeding her. That sort of poop sounds like what you would see in a cat eating either an all meat wet food, or raw food, which means that it's actually a very healthy poop if so. Cats naturally are not designed to poop significant amounts, or for their poops to be big or soft. My kitty eats raw and he poops once a day, and it's quite small and hard. If you've recently changed her diet to something of this nature then this is normal and healthy. If not then I would be a bit concerned. Try giving her pumpkin puree (solid pack pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling) or cooked sweet potato in her food, this is a natural remedy for constipation and diarrhea.

Thanks for the response!

Yes, she is eating an all meat diet, however, she only poops every other day or so, and it is really hard and tiny. I heard that was normal, but I thought it was supposed to be light colored, not really dark.

Cleopatras Mom said:

Thanks for the response!
Yes, she is eating an all meat diet, however, she only poops every other day or so, and it is really hard and tiny. I heard that was normal, but I thought it was supposed to be light colored, not really dark.

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The color of the stool will depend on what part of the animal they are eating. lighter color indicated bone, and darker is usally organ. It's good to have mix of everything. I wouldn't be to worried about it. My kitty on raw has similar poop. If she doesn't seem to be straining and is going on a normal schedule then everything is normal. I understand your concern however, as kitty parents we tend to be worried when we notice something different to what we're used to, but this is a healthy transition.

you could try feeding your cat a little pumpkin for fiber or give a small amount of miralax.  some people here say their cat's constipation was helped with a little plain yogurt.  do a search and you should be able to learn about the options.

and yes, peeing hard small pebbles every two days does sound like constipation.

basschick said:

you could try feeding your cat a little pumpkin for fiber or give a small amount of miralax.  some people here say their cat's constipation was helped with a little plain yogurt.  do a search and you should be able to learn about the options.

and yes, peeing hard small pebbles every two days does sound like constipation.

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She stated above however that her cat is on an all meat diet, if that is true then that sort of poop is very normal, and in fact is quite natural. She can add a little pumpkin or sweet potato is she wants to soften then poop a bit, but judging from the diet, the cat doesn't sound constipated.

our vet says that little pebbles = constipation, but he could be wrong.

basschick said:

our vet says that little pebbles = constipation, but he could be wrong.

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The average vet doesn't have much knowledge on feline nutrition beyond what pet food company's tell them. I had a kitty with a genetic malformation in your colon, she was constantly getting constipated on normal cat foods. The vet wanted me to switch her to prescription foods, which just made her worse. After I switched her over to raw she was finally able to poop normal after almost a yr. In nature there is no evolutionary benefit for cats to have large smelly soft poop. Poop should naturally be dry and small. This mean the cats digestive tract is using up the food the best possible and little to no food consumed it going to waste. In addition cats are designed to get 70% of their water intake through food, so a dry poop means the cat is absorbing all the moisture from their food and their system is retaining it. Now if your cat is on a dry food diet and has hard poop that is constipation. But on an all meat and/or raw diet this is normal. The only time to worry is if they are straining or avoiding the litter box.

basschick said:

our vet says that little pebbles = constipation, but he could be wrong.

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I suggest you read a couple threads on it in the raw food section, or do a little research. You might be surprised what you find, I sure was! [emoji]128513[/emoji] I wish you the best