Constipation question

[rang_27]

Sorry if this ends up being a little long, but I tend to be an over protective kitty momma. Jordan has a tendency to get constipated from time to time. Let me start by saying he is eating, drinking & peeing normally. On Saturday I noticed he looked a little bloated & has some gas (I only know about the gas because he insist on sleeping right next to my face). So I decided to just keep an eye on him. By Sunday he looked a little less bloated, but was irritable. He gets that way when he's constipated. I felt his tummy & he had a large hard stool. So I gave him some lactulose the vet had perscribed a couple years ago when he was sick. It worked a little, he had a small BM. By yesterday he didn't look bloated at all (OK maybe he wasn't bloated maybe he's just gained weight I'll weight him tonight to know for sure) but still had some hard stool, so I gave him a little more lactulose. I felt his tummy this morning & it was much better but there is still 1 round hard spot. I'm guessing it's just a piece of stool, but since I'm paranoid, I'm worried he may have sawllowed a sparkle ball. If it's come this far down his intestinal track will it pass? and am I just being paranoid?

EDIT: I just had a thought. It's been a while since this happend & I was trying to think what I did differntly last week. Well I was feeling tired & lazy one night (I think Thursday) & so I gave the cats a huge bowl of dry food when I normally give them wet food at night. I'm starting to wonder if that's why he's having this problem.

 

[sicycat]

I dont have much of an answer for you but I'll bump this up

I have to say, how cool it is that you can feel if your cat has a stool in him?? May I ask exactly where do you feel to find that? Sometimes Saki will go to the bathroom but just like 2 little nuggets come out. Then the next day he will have a normal stool. So sometimes I wonder if he's constipated but I am never sure.

I think sparkle balls are awfully big. Do you think he could have eaten the whole thing whole like that?

Maybe in pieces, but I cant imagine a cat swallowing a sparkle ball whole and having it sit there in his stomach/bowel. If he doesnt have any other symptoms and is eating drinking regularly, etc it could just be constipation.

 

[beandip]

That would be a handy skill to have. I watched the vet feel around on Paisley's belly and she found something similar in her, under Paisley's impressive fat "pad"... I don't know if I could find that like she did or not.

I agree that the sparkle ball probably wouldn't pass all the way through the to the colon and all the way out...if he ate one I think you might see pieces of it come out, but not the whole ball.

I hope he's OK. I think you're right that it's likely just constipation...but keep an eye on his eating/drinking/pottying.

 

[rang_27]

Thanks. He did pass a large hard stool last night. He seemed a little crabby this morning, but I think he's just tired of me feeling his tummy. He ate normal this morning so I'm guessing he is fine. I just have to bring up at his next vet appointment that he gets constipated. The only problem is to truly do any good examination on him he will probably have to be sedated. There is a big orange CAUTION sticker on the file at the vets office because he tends to be a little naughty (OK a lot naughty) there.
As far as being able to feel I don't know how to describe it, but the vet showed me when Smokey had CRF. She often got constipated & she wanted me to know how to make sure she wasn't becoming blocked. It is a handy skill especially since I've had to use it on cats at the shelter to make sure they were OK.