Incomplete Poops? Eating A Lot Of Hair? Acting Out! Please Help!

[boydmn20]

Hello! I apologize for this being a long thread, but this is our first kitten without our parents' help and as she gets older she's showing more problems! He works from 7-5 everyday and I'm a full-time, student at a military institute so she is home alone for the majority of the day, but she also gets to interact with my mom's cats some weekends.

Problem One:
So, my boyfriend and I got a kitten from our local shelter about 2 months ago (She's about 5 months old now) and she took to using her litter box INSTANTLY! But lately my boyfriend has noticed that she poops when he's in the same room as the litter box, but when she steps out of the litter box she still has poop hanging from her tail and she likes to run around the apartment leaving little poop marks all of the carpet. She still does her business in the litter box... just not all of it. We originally thought she had worms because she would drag her butt on the carpet after pooping, but when I came home one weekend from school she pooped and I noticed something hanging out of her bottom and I pulled it out and found it was part of a zip-tie! After that she didn't drag her butt anymore but still had incomplete poops. What could be the culprit? What should we do??

Problem Two:
When examining Bonnie's (our kitten) poop, my boyfriend has noticed that she is ingesting a large amount of his hair. He's confused as to where she is getting it from, because when he combs his hair in the morning he puts the hair from the brush in the toilet and flushes it. Why is she eating his hair? I feel it's because he works such long hours and she's alone a lot of the day. Could this become harmful behavior? How can we stop it?

Problem Three:
My boyfriend has always played rough with Bonnie, but never to the extent of hurting her. She's full of energy, loves to climb on things, push things over, etc. but lately my boyfriend has been noticing that she's acting out a lot more. Doing things to get attention (clawing up toilet paper, climbing on counters and clawing up the paper towel, biting and scratching him harder, etc.) and he wants to figure out why she's starting to act out. Is it a phase? Is it because she's lonely and just happy he's finally home (my theory)? What can we (mostly him) do to mitigate this even though we aren't home to immediately correct things?

We would never giver her up because of these issues, but we just want to make sure she's as healthy and as happy as she can be! Thank you so much for reading and I hope to get some help!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
1 clean up more, floors, counters etc so she's not eating things like zipties
Shave her behind so she doesn't have dingleberries
2 she might be eating it at night. Try not letting her in the bedroom at night, see if things change.
3 he needs to stop playing rough, she needs toys like wand style Da Bird, platter toys, a cat tree, scratchers

Is she spayed? Has she been in to the vet?
If there is more of that ziptie causing her incomplete poops, youll need to consider x-rays.
Are you feeding her wet and kibble, small frequent meals and as much as she'll consume?

 

[susanm9006]

So, the clawing paper towels and toilet paper, biting and jumping on the counter isn’t acting out or seeking attention. It is kitten behavior that you see in pretty much all kittens. You need to either put away these products or keep keep doors shut so the kitten can’t get at them. And you can teach her to stay off of counters by not leaving things out and putting her down every time she climbs up. You will need to do this dozens and dozens of times before she catches on.

As far as the poop situation she may have something she has eaten that she still hasn’t passed. I would have a vet check that out.

 

[Jem]

She may have some constipation issues due to eating bits of things off the floor (zip tie, and whatever else she might find) and your boyfriends hair. I would start by giving her some hairball remedy (they come in treats, paste...) and ensure she is eating a wet (canned) food diet (at least mostly wet food). That will hopefully help with completing her poops.
If that does not improve, she may need to see the vet in case something is still stuck in her colon. And considering she is a "eat everything I see" cat , be very diligent about leaving small objects around the house (string, hair elastics, gift ribbon, tinsel (just don't EVER use it over the holidays), twist ties etc....You're lucky she was able to pass the zip tie and it didn't cause a blockage, needing surgery. And the only way I can think of to keep your boyfriends hair out of her mouth, is sweep or vacuum everyday. I've got a lot of hair and I shed like crazy. Even with the hair that I put in trash when I comb it, I still leave hair all over the house, (I'm almost as bad as my cats! lol!). Unless of course, your boyfriend is wanting a new "shaved head look"?

When it come to her behavior (biting, scratching), unfortunately, your boyfriend is teaching her this behavior with rough play, even if he's not hurting her. Play time using hands or feet needs to stop ASAP. Only use toys to interact with her. Look up "play aggression in cats".
When it comes to terrorizing the house and destroying your stuff, she is being a kitten. Just keep it all out of reach, and make sure she has plenty of cat safe things to keep her busy while your not home. And play with her when you are home (with a wand toy, not your hands) until SHE is tired and panting, followed up by a treat or small meal. Cats prefer routine, so start one now, and she will start to learn how things work in her home. When is play time (with you and with your BF), when is bed time, when is feeding time, when is cuddle time etc...
Things to keep in the house for her:
- Vertical perching areas all over the house - cat trees, shelving, widow perch (so she can watch the birds) etc... With more cat friendly high places she has around the house, the less she will be inclined to use things like counters, to get around.
- toys, beds and blankets, maybe a cat safe stuffed animal that she can groom, chew and beat up on, instead of your stuff.
Because she likes to eat things, try to buy toys that don't have things that she can rip off and eat. (With wand toys, it's not as important because you can just put them away when your not using them with her)
- Some cats will stay busy playing with running water, so get her a water fountain for one of her drinking water sources. And it will encourage more drinking which will help in preventing urinary issues. (Just place a mat under the fountain in case she's a little messy )

I'm sure there is more I can give you but I haven't finished my morning coffee yet! I'll get back to you if I think of more. I hope all this helps, and good luck with your kitty!!

 

[boydmn20]

She may have some constipation issues due to eating bits of things off the floor (zip tie, and whatever else she might find) and your boyfriends hair. I would start by giving her some hairball remedy (they come in treats, paste...) and ensure she is eating a wet (canned) food diet (at least mostly wet food). That will hopefully help with completing her poops.
If that does not improve, she may need to see the vet in case something is still stuck in her colon. And considering she is a "eat everything I see" cat , be very diligent about leaving small objects around the house (string, hair elastics, gift ribbon, tinsel (just don't EVER use it over the holidays), twist ties etc....You're lucky she was able to pass the zip tie and it didn't cause a blockage, needing surgery. And the only way I can think of to keep your boyfriends hair out of her mouth, is sweep or vacuum everyday. I've got a lot of hair and I shed like crazy. Even with the hair that I put in trash when I comb it, I still leave hair all over the house, (I'm almost as bad as my cats! lol!). Unless of course, your boyfriend is wanting a new "shaved head look"?

When it come to her behavior (biting, scratching), unfortunately, your boyfriend is teaching her this behavior with rough play, even if he's not hurting her. Play time using hands or feet needs to stop ASAP. Only use toys to interact with her. Look up "play aggression in cats".
When it comes to terrorizing the house and destroying your stuff, she is being a kitten. Just keep it all out of reach, and make sure she has plenty of cat safe things to keep her busy while your not home. And play with her when you are home (with a wand toy, not your hands) until SHE is tired and panting, followed up by a treat or small meal. Cats prefer routine, so start one now, and she will start to learn how things work in her home. When is play time (with you and with your BF), when is bed time, when is feeding time, when is cuddle time etc...
Things to keep in the house for her:
- Vertical perching areas all over the house - cat trees, shelving, widow perch (so she can watch the birds) etc... With more cat friendly high places she has around the house, the less she will be inclined to use things like counters, to get around.
- toys, beds and blankets, maybe a cat safe stuffed animal that she can groom, chew and beat up on, instead of your stuff.
Because she likes to eat things, try to buy toys that don't have things that she can rip off and eat. (With wand toys, it's not as important because you can just put them away when your not using them with her)
- Some cats will stay busy playing with running water, so get her a water fountain for one of her drinking water sources. And it will encourage more drinking which will help in preventing urinary issues. (Just place a mat under the fountain in case she's a little messy )

I'm sure there is more I can give you but I haven't finished my morning coffee yet! I'll get back to you if I think of more. I hope all this helps, and good luck with your kitty!!

Oh my goodness thank you so much! Any other advice is greatly appreciated! When I was growing up we only had stray cats that were already 2+ years so this is not only the first kitten but the first kitten without my mom and his mom helping

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!

but still had incomplete poops.

I didn't mention it in my post above, but I was wondering what you meant by incomplete poops?

As far as the poop situation she may have something she has eaten that she still hasn’t passed. I would have a vet check that out.

Is she spayed? Even if she's just been in to the vet, you don't have any way of knowing whether all of the ziptie actually was passed - oh, and by the way, don't pull anything out next time - you could do more damage than good, ...and I also am suggesting you get her in to the vet.

Shave her behind so she doesn't have dingleberries

As I mentioned above, if she's a long-haired cat and has sticky poop like my boy gets sometimes, a hygiene trim helps a lot.

Are you feeding her wet and kibble, small frequent meals and as much as she'll consume?

 

[boydmn20]

Hi!


I didn't mention it in my post above, but I was wondering what you meant by incomplete poops?


Is she spayed? Even if she's just been in to the vet, you don't have any way of knowing whether all of the ziptie actually was passed - oh, and by the way, don't pull anything out next time - you could do more damage than good, ...and I also am suggesting you get her in to the vet.

As I mentioned above, if she's a long-haired cat and has sticky poop like my boy gets sometimes, a hygiene trim helps a lot.

Are you feeding her wet and kibble, small frequent meals and as much as she'll consume?

My boyfriend says she will go to the litter box, do her business, jump out with poop hanging out and just leave poop spots around the house. She is spayed, I am calling the vet tomorrow when they are open, and she is fed a medium can of wet food before my boyfriend goes to work and a small can when he gets home from work.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi again!
Is she leaving any food on the plate when she's finished? If not, you will want to feed her more - she needs as much as she can consume during these early months of major growth - to support the development of her brain, nervous sytem, bones et al

Let us know what the vet says

 

[Kflowers]

If you're going to shave the back of her back legs I'd suggest getting the vet or a groomer to do it. It's far from easy, many cats are afraid of the electric razor. Using a blade razor on something that wiggles and fights is dangerous. A vet would be able to give the cat a light sedation, which is some times best. I don't think I'd use a groomer who used sedation, you never really know how your cat will react to it.

 

[boydmn20]

Update! We took her to the vet and they took a stool sample (poor thing came back into the examination room with her tail tucked) and gave her a months worth of flea protection. She also said she is a healthy, active, growing kitten and from the exam she is perfectly fine, but since she is from a shelter she could have remains of a parasite or something lingering that's causing the diarrhea. The eating of the hair shouldn't be a problem, just vacuum and get a closed trash can. Also told my mom that my boyfriend needs to stop playing so aggressively Thank you all for your help! I'm so happy I sought this website out

 

[Furballsmom]

Thank you ever so much for the update!! we're so glad you came here!!