When a small kitten appears in the house, considerable responsibility falls on the owner. One of the important factors in a pet’s health is the functioning of the digestive system. Simply put, how a kitten will feel is influenced by how often it visits the toilet. In our article we will talk about how long a pet should go to the toilet, and how to help him cope with this difficult moment.
Why is constipation dangerous?
Defecation is a natural process through which the intestines are freed from processed substances. If feces are retained and not released for several days, this leads to severe intoxication of the body.
When a cat is constipated, bacteria that live in the large intestine release toxins, and waste bile contains breakdown products of hemoglobin.
If a cat cannot go to the toilet for a long time, and this happens often, this is bad. This means the pet needs help. After all, systematic constipation can lead to intestinal obstruction and internal bleeding.
How often should a cat poop?
A cat is an amazing animal.
If you want to have one, you need to learn everything about their body. It is very important to know how often cats poop, because this significantly affects their health and full life. The digestive system and its coordinated and proper functioning are very important in the normal functioning of the cat’s entire body. Simply put, how a kitten will feel depends on how many times it goes to the toilet.
Causes of constipation in cats
If your cat cannot go to the toilet in a big way, it is important to find out the cause of the problem. Constipation is not a disease, but only a symptom that indicates some kind of disorder in the body.
The main causes of constipation in cats:
- The pet drinks little. Due to lack of moisture, stool hardens and moves poorly through the intestines. This often happens when a cat is suddenly switched to dry food.
- Errors in nutrition. Feeding a cat food from the human table can lead to a lack of vitamins and microelements. Because of this, the functioning of various body systems, including the digestive system, is disrupted.
- Stress. A cat may experience constipation after experiencing a fright, a change of owner or place of residence, and a kitten may experience constipation after separation from its mother.
- Worms. Infection with parasites leads to disruption of intestinal function - stool becomes irregular, constipation alternates with diarrhea. In advanced cases, when there are a lot of helminths inside, they interfere with the movement of feces through the intestines.
- Taking diuretics or iron supplements.
- Low mobility. Elderly, pregnant cats, as well as cats with joint diseases have problems with bowel movements because they move little.
- Hairballs. Constipation often occurs due to obstruction of the intestines, as hair clumps accumulate in the intestines.
- Foreign body. If a cat swallows an object, this can also cause constipation.
- Scars in the rectum or anus.
- Distension of the intestines as a result of prolonged constipation.
- Diseases of the paraanal glands in cats.
- After childbirth and abdominal surgery, there are also stool disorders.
Attention! Older cats are more likely to be constipated. It is associated with weakened intestinal motility. In small kittens, this problem occurs due to imperfections in the digestive system.
Chronic diseases that can cause constipation in a cat
Often, constipation is accompanied by diseases that are associated with disturbances in the functioning of the endocrine system:
- diabetes;
- tumors in the rectum or anus;
- kidney pathologies;
- congenital anomalies of the gastrointestinal tract.
Spinal injuries, which damage the nerve roots of the spinal cord, lead to loss of sensation, and the cat cannot poop.
Regular feeding
While the kittens were lying in the above-mentioned basin, I found on the Internet that it is necessary to feed the orphans with a special cat's milk substitute, sold in veterinary pharmacies.
But 10% cream and regular high-fat milk are also suitable; sometimes you need to add 0.5 liters of raw yolk and 4 teaspoons of granulated sugar. I immediately went to the store. I used glass pharmacy vials from penicillin as bottles, and the rubber parts of ordinary pharmacy pipettes became the nipples. They calmly stretch onto the wide neck of the bubbles. But you need to immediately purchase about 20 pipettes. They are sometimes torn, sometimes lost, sometimes spoiled by the kittens’ rapidly growing teeth.
The milk needs to be heated, you can do it for 3-5 seconds in the microwave, check before feeding to see if it is too hot - in general, everything is the same as with human children. And, of course, you need to wash and dry the nipple pipettes and bubbles after each feeding. It is convenient to pour the daily portion of milk into a separate jar with a plastic lid, store the jar in the refrigerator, stick a 10 ml syringe with a needle into the lid, and use it to pour milk into the bottle through a hole in the nipple.
Kittens eat depending on the weather - sometimes every hour, sometimes every 3-4 hours in sleepy, cloudy weather. When they are full, they lean away from the nipple. At night, our kittens slept decently, giving me a rest from midnight until exactly 8-10 in the morning. Only on the first night they made me stay awake, eating every hour.
It is convenient to feed kittens in your arms, with their back facing you, holding them with one hand under their front legs and belly, and holding the bottle with the other. A hungry kitten will fiercely cling to the bottle, preventing itself from sucking on the nipple, so at the beginning of feeding you need to hold your paws, and then when the kitten is calmly sucking, let go, then he will wrap his paws around the bottle.
One and a half month old cats in the same box as in the previous picture. They learned to jump over the partition, so it was removed.
Eight month old cat in a box with a bottom the same size as a cardboard box.
At the age of 15-20 days, you can feed kittens with soaked dry food for kittens, a couple of crackers are enough, or natural food. We started with natural complementary foods, in mini quantities - rice, corn, buckwheat porridge, cottage cheese with sour cream, boiled chicken or beef. Our kittens refused to eat boiled vegetables.
When the kittens were constipated for longer than 3 days, I gave them a little Vaseline oil (from a syringe into the mouth), and did mini-enemas with warm soapy water (a syringe lubricated with Vaseline oil). Around the age of one and a half months, we switched to dry food and canned food for kittens, since the kittens refused to eat natural food.
Associated symptoms
Constipation does not necessarily mean a complete absence of bowel movements. Some cats have regular bowel movements, but very little feces come out. For this reason, the animal owner may not even be aware of the problem. It is important to find out in time that the cat has stool retention, before his condition worsens.
To understand that your pet needs help, you need to study the symptoms of constipation in a cat:
- the cat does not walk much for 48 hours;
- on palpation, the abdomen is enlarged and painful;
- the cat becomes restless and loses its appetite;
- the pet spends a lot of time in the tray, unsuccessfully trying to poop;
- the cat strains and meows pitifully;
- if the pet still manages to pass a large stool, then very little feces are excreted, it is dry and covered with cracks;
- there is blood in the cat's feces;
- the anus is hyperemic.
Attention! If a cat doesn't poop for more than 4-5 days, it's very bad. With prolonged constipation, signs of intoxication appear - lethargy, vomiting, and sometimes the temperature rises.
Saucer training, education
The most difficult thing for us was to teach the kittens to lap up milk on their own and eat solid food from a saucer. They loved the bottle. We put small peas of complementary food into their mouths. Why should they give up such pleasure?
In general, kittens, obeying the feeling of hunger, begin to lap at 3-3.5 weeks from the saucer. But with us, they cried shrilly, poked at the saucer, sneezed from milk that got into their noses and could not understand what to do. There was no one to show how to lap; there were no adult cats or dogs nearby. A week of unsuccessful attempts passed, but then guests came to us - experienced cat breeders and in half an hour they taught the kittens to lap from a saucer.
We just learned to eat from a saucer.
If at 2-3 weeks the kittens are not yet playing, if you take them out of the nest - they can barely walk, waddling from side to side, and constantly squeak, then by 4 weeks they are already accomplished tomboys who have learned to climb onto the sofa, jump on a stool, bite and fight.
Forty-day-old kittens.
What to do at home if your cat is constipated
In most cases, it is possible to improve bowel movements with the help of nutritional correction, increased physical activity, massage and laxatives. If fecal retention in a cat is caused by intestinal pathologies or tumor processes, then only surgery will help.
In cases where prolonged constipation is accompanied by vomiting, the cat is given IV drips to prevent dehydration.
Normalization of diet
To help your cat with constipation, you need to change his diet. In the first days after symptoms are detected, it is advisable to switch your pet to liquid food. Food from the human table is completely excluded from the menu - semi-finished products, sweets, foods with added salt and spices, bones.
To loosen stools, you can give a little beef liver daily.
What to include in the diet of a cat with constipation:
- vegetables – pumpkin, spinach, carrots;
- fermented milk products - classic yogurt without additives, kefir, yogurt;
- vegetable oil – no more than 1 teaspoon per day.
It is very important to increase the amount of fluid consumed. The cat should be given purified raw water.
Veterinarians recommend placing several bowls of water in different places in the apartment.
Special feed
Cats that are accustomed to dry industrial formulas are given special food with fiber, vitamins and minerals. They contain plant components, fish oil, and cereals. List of medicinal foods for cats for constipation:
- Royal Canin Fiber Response. Recommended for the treatment and prevention of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Duration of use for acute constipation is 1 month, for chronic constipation – up to six months.
- Hills Prescription Diet Feline w/d. Recommended for cats with diabetes, colitis and constipation. Contains a large amount of coarse fibers, which help enhance intestinal motility.
- Eukanuba Renal. Dietary cat food for constipation due to kidney dysfunction. Its difference from others is its low protein and phosphorus content.
Attention! It is very important to feed your cat as recommended by the manufacturer. Do not increase the dosage indicated on the package and do not pour food more than twice a day.
Massage and Vaseline oil
If constipation occurs, you can massage your cat's abdomen and give him Vaseline oil. It is not absorbed in the intestines, but moves along it all the way to the rectum, lubricating its walls and softening the stool.
Vaseline oil helps quite quickly: after 3-4 hours the cat goes to the toilet. The method of application is simple - you need to let the cat drink 1-2 ml from a syringe without a needle. It is advisable to do this in the morning on an empty stomach, then the oil will easily enter the rectum.
Massage helps strengthen intestinal motility. It is done 2-3 times a day for 5 minutes. The cat should not eat an hour before the procedure and 2 hours after it.
Massage technique:
- place the cat on its back on your lap;
- massage the abdominal area clockwise with your fingers.
You can help a kitten in the same way. Although it is usually the mother who massages the babies. She licks their bellies several times a day. This helps kittens go to the toilet regularly.
Laxatives
An easy way to treat constipation in a kitten is to start giving a laxative. It is worth giving preference to safe drugs. The following medications are suitable for cats:
- Duphalac Lactusan. A laxative based on lactulose, which not only softens stool well and promotes its movement, but also improves bowel function. Even a kitten can be given this medicine for constipation; it is absolutely safe.
- Microlax. This is a mini-enema with a solution for rectal administration. The composition contains substances that displace bound water from feces. The drug acts quickly - the urge to have a bowel movement occurs from the first minutes after administration of the solution.
- Normaze. Lactulose-based syrup. Effectively softens stool and promotes easy bowel movements.
Attention! Laxatives can only be given to a cat on the recommendation of a veterinarian. In some cases, their use can harm your pet.
Treatment method and prognosis
There is no single treatment regimen for pollakiuria. Therapeutic procedures are prescribed after diagnosis. As mentioned above, pollakiuria can be a sign of a dangerous disease, so treatment will be aimed at eliminating it.
Thus, for diabetes mellitus, insulin therapy is an important stage of treatment. With the help of drip infusion of polyionic drugs, the water-salt balance is restored. The key to successful treatment and recovery or maintaining quality of life at a satisfactory level is nutritional correction and quality care.
It often happens that the pet will be limited in physical activity for the rest of its life, take appropriate medications and eat exclusively special medicinal food.
If pollakiuria is caused by stress, then, first of all, it is necessary to eliminate the source of psycho-emotional stress. To reduce the negative effects of stress, your veterinarian may prescribe anti-anxiety medications, such as Stop-Stress.
Cat marks are an unpleasant phenomenon, but an animal cannot be punished for it. The best way out would be castration or the sedative phytohormonal remedy Kot Bayun.
Antispasmodics are indicated to relieve pain; antibiotics and sulfa drugs are used to eliminate infections.
The prognosis for pollakiuria again depends on the underlying disease. If, for example, we are talking about an infection, then one course of antibiotic therapy is enough. But for malignant and benign diseases, veterinarians are no longer so optimistic in their forecasts.
Prolonged constipation - megacolon
If the cat does not go to poop on either the third or fourth day and at the same time behaves very restlessly, perhaps he has not just constipation, but megacolon. This is a dangerous condition that can only be diagnosed in a clinic. With prolonged constipation, dry and hard stool accumulates in the intestines.
They cannot move towards the exit and completely block the intestinal lumen.
With prolonged constipation, the cat refuses to eat, looks lethargic, and begins to vomit. If such symptoms are detected, treatment should be started immediately, but first the veterinarian must make sure that it is megacolon. You will have to do an abdominal x-ray or ultrasound.
If the diagnosis is confirmed, surgical intervention will be required, since drug treatment is ineffective.
Diagnostics in a veterinary clinic
To make a correct diagnosis, a veterinarian needs to conduct the necessary diagnostic tests. After a visual examination of the animal and collection of anamnesis, the specialist prescribes for the cat:
- blood and urine tests;
- Ultrasound of the kidneys, bladder, abdominal cavity;
- radiography;
- seeding on nutrient media (in case of possible bacterial infection);
- studies on the hormonal antidiuretic complex.
When conducting diagnostics, the veterinarian excludes factors such as increased salt intake, medications, and infusion therapy.
Preventive actions
Constipation can occur in cats of any age and breed. The animal owner should try to minimize the risk. You just need to follow these recommendations:
- Brush your cat regularly, especially during intense shedding, to prevent him from swallowing his fur;
- ensure that there is always clean water in the drinking bowl;
- Deworm the animal 3-4 times a year;
- play with the cat, because physical activity helps the intestines work better;
- do not give your pet bones;
- remove small objects from the floor so that the cat does not swallow them;
- Provide your cat with adequate nutrition - it is best to feed it with high-quality industrial formulas.
At the first symptoms of stool retention, it is better to seek veterinary help. There is no need to waste time, because the effectiveness of treatment directly depends on whether it is started on time.
