Just doing my usual thing, snuggling with my kitties, and I noticed my older male's belly seems a little hard. Not like solid hard, but gassy-hard, so I assume he's bloated. His belly kind of feels like a balloon - I can poke it, but it feels tight. I have no idea if he's in pain because he's a very vocal cat when he's happy or upset, in pain or not, so feeling his belly gets meows or no meows. Sometimes I can't tell the difference between his annoyed meows and painful ones, but he seems more annoyed with me poking him in the sides than anything. He's acting normal otherwise - he's urinating, he wants to play, though he did make more noise than normal when I lifted him up. I think he's uncomfortable, but not hurting badly.
I've got my money on constipation because he was meowing a lot in the litter box for a couple days and today. I'm not sure about his appetite - he seems to still be interested in food and water, but I don't know if he's eating or drinking less. And he has access to fresh water every day too, so that's not an issue. As far as I know, he hasn't eaten anything lately that would cause any kind of an obstruction. Maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago, he ate a couple hunks of tape about the size of a pencil eraser (I tried putting tape on the tips of his claws to prevent scratching of a facial wound and he ate a couple of the tape caps off). I would imagine if those would cause an issue, they'd have caused it sooner, though this cat is noted for eating things he shouldn't despite a pretty well cat-proofed house. He's been constipated before, but was never bloated from it.
Should I try home treatment first? I'm not trying to be a cheapskate or a neglectful owner, but just wondering if I could do something at home to help him first to try and avoid unnecessary stress from a vet visit. I mean is there something non-toxic I could give him that would act as a laxative or stool softener? Should I give it a day or so and see if it just might be gas that clears up? I believe this just started today because I pick him up and snuggle him every day and he felt fine yesterday, both in terms of comfort upon lifting and his belly feeling normal. So whatever is wrong just started. I checked out some other causes for a bloated belly in cats, and none of them really match at all. Constipation fits the bill just about to a T, so while I'm not trying to diagnose him, just saying that's what I think is most likely going on. In any case, I'll see how he feels later and take him to the vet if he's still not well. I'll be out of town for 2-3 weeks starting this Saturday, so he'll definitely need attention before then, especially if I have to make an appointment for (the unlikely chance of) obstruction surgery.
Edited to add: My kitty is 14, eats a mostly dry food diet that he's been on for years (special urinary tract health formula due to bladder stones in the past) and shares wet food with my other kitty, no diet changes, indoor only cat, he's not vomiting, he's not lost any weight, he has access to 2 litter boxes that are cleaned regularly. I think he's had on-off constipation bouts in the past, but nothing that made him bloat up like a balloon (and they went away on their own). Also tried picking him up and pressing on his belly again and he didn't make a peep or flinch or anything, so his meowing before was just him in a bad mood. So he's bloated/gassy, but doesn't seem to be in pain from it.
I've got my money on constipation because he was meowing a lot in the litter box for a couple days and today. I'm not sure about his appetite - he seems to still be interested in food and water, but I don't know if he's eating or drinking less. And he has access to fresh water every day too, so that's not an issue. As far as I know, he hasn't eaten anything lately that would cause any kind of an obstruction. Maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago, he ate a couple hunks of tape about the size of a pencil eraser (I tried putting tape on the tips of his claws to prevent scratching of a facial wound and he ate a couple of the tape caps off). I would imagine if those would cause an issue, they'd have caused it sooner, though this cat is noted for eating things he shouldn't despite a pretty well cat-proofed house. He's been constipated before, but was never bloated from it.
Should I try home treatment first? I'm not trying to be a cheapskate or a neglectful owner, but just wondering if I could do something at home to help him first to try and avoid unnecessary stress from a vet visit. I mean is there something non-toxic I could give him that would act as a laxative or stool softener? Should I give it a day or so and see if it just might be gas that clears up? I believe this just started today because I pick him up and snuggle him every day and he felt fine yesterday, both in terms of comfort upon lifting and his belly feeling normal. So whatever is wrong just started. I checked out some other causes for a bloated belly in cats, and none of them really match at all. Constipation fits the bill just about to a T, so while I'm not trying to diagnose him, just saying that's what I think is most likely going on. In any case, I'll see how he feels later and take him to the vet if he's still not well. I'll be out of town for 2-3 weeks starting this Saturday, so he'll definitely need attention before then, especially if I have to make an appointment for (the unlikely chance of) obstruction surgery.
Edited to add: My kitty is 14, eats a mostly dry food diet that he's been on for years (special urinary tract health formula due to bladder stones in the past) and shares wet food with my other kitty, no diet changes, indoor only cat, he's not vomiting, he's not lost any weight, he has access to 2 litter boxes that are cleaned regularly. I think he's had on-off constipation bouts in the past, but nothing that made him bloat up like a balloon (and they went away on their own). Also tried picking him up and pressing on his belly again and he didn't make a peep or flinch or anything, so his meowing before was just him in a bad mood. So he's bloated/gassy, but doesn't seem to be in pain from it.
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