What to do with a constipated cat?

Question

My cat is constipated and it's giving her hard time in the litter box. Her stomach is hard, but not at an exaggerating point. She had this issue before when she was a little kitten so I used to give her olive oil with her milk when that happened.

Now she's a cat and people say it's bad to give her milk, not mentioning that she herself won't drink it any more. She only eat's cat food and sometimes white chicken. Nothing else. So how do I help with the constipation problem?

Answer 1

If your cat cannot produce any stool she needs to be seen by a veterinarian first to rule out the cause of constipation and have an enema performed if necessary. Book a visit today if you can, the earlier the better - if this were a dog he should be seen ASAP.

You are correct in saying milk is bad for cats. They tend to get an intolerance to it as they grow older which can cause GI upset like diarrhea.

Megacolon is a concern when seeing a constipated cat, so the veterinarian may request x-rays to see what's going on in the abdomen.

If your cat ate something that is causing a blockage, you may see a reduction in stool production, though typically with an intestinal block you will see diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy and anorexia.

Trond Hansen made some good points which I will elaborate on:

• Increase water intake. Water helps stools move along the intestines as the consistency is more moist and less dry. You can entice your cat to drink by having a water fountain (note: some cats do not like fountains), multiple water bowls and keeping food, water and litter box separate. When purchasing a water fountain make sure the pump is quiet, as some cats will be deterred by a loud pump.
• Adding more fiber to the diet: you can add canned pumpkin to his food in the meantime. Depending on the diagnosis your veterinarian may recommend a feline fiber food. I would hold off on the oils for now.

Again, it is very important that if your cat does not pass stools they need to see a veterinarian. Sometimes you need an enema or even an manual evac. With manual evacs the cat is sedated while the veterinarian digs/breaks down the feces through the anus. Some cats need surgery to remove feces as well, but that is by far the worst case scenario.

Answer 2

1. Make sure your cat drinks more water, one way to do this is to move the bowl of water away from the food preferably into another room, but across the room is OK. This is to make the faeces softer and easier to pass for your cat.

2. Ask your vet about finding food with more fiber. More fiber will make the faeces easier to pass for your cat.

3. Start giving fish oil (not cod liver oil) in the food daily, just a tea spoon in the food. If you add some oil to the food it can make the faeces softer and easier to pass for your cat. https://www.petcarerx.com/article/fish-oil-for-dogs-and-cats-the-benefits-of-omega-3-for-pets/601

The most important thing is to make the cat drink more water, the rest is things you might try if this don't work.