Both my cats suddenly haven't pooped for three days.

[caralian]

Ok, first let me start by saying that what makes this a weird one, is that BOTH my cats stopped pooping. I know they do almost everything together, but this seems a little weird, even for them.

They are both healthy, no sickness, no allergies (that I know of, we feed them 100% meat (raw + canned)), the last time at the vet there was absolutely nothing wrong, all perfect. They are current on their vaccines, they are pure indoor cats. They are still eating (not drinking much, but since we add water to their food they should have around 80% moisture with their food). They are still peeing. No vomitting, they are still playing, they use no medication.

All in all, there is absolutely nothing wrong with them (that I can see).. I can even still rub their belly, so it's obviously not (very) painful.

But I'm getting worried. Friday morning around 6am was the last time 1 of them pooped (didn't see who, I was in bed but heard him/her dig). Friday around 1pm I found the poop from the second when I got home from work - not sure which one. But it's now Monday past 6am and still they haven't pooped.

I've seen them not pooping for maybe 2 days max, but rarely, and never both at the same time.

I can pick up a laxative after work, which I think would be no problem, as they are not diagnosed with any issues or take any medicine. Do you think this is a good idea or should I take them to the vet immediately after work? Money is not an issue, but I've been known to worry waaaaayy too much and have actually taken them to the vet several times where I really didn't need to, so..

Also, just to give you a clear picture. A couple of days ago, out of nowhere, they stopped wanting to eat their raw food, so I've been back on all-wet again, but I doubt that's a problem.. right? They were used to it before, they were still eating some regularly, it's not like I forced them onto an all-dry diet.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to what may be causing this? Especially since it's affecting BOTH my cats. 

Thank you.

Edit. Additional info: male and female, same litter. Both have been spayed/neutered. 8.5 months old. No changes in surroundings, type of litter, persons in the household, or anything else. That's why it worries me, it's without apparent reason..

The only thing I can think of is maybe obstruction? Pieces of raw chicken bone, maybe? But I thought those were easily digestable..

 

[caralian]

Update.

I went to the pharmacy after work and got a laxative (for those of you who are wondering: yes, here in Finland you get medicine for both human and animals at the same place 

).

When I got home neither of them had passed stools so I gave them both half a pill (half an hour ago), but just now, not 5 minutes ago Eleni went to the litter box and pooped. I am seriously doubting that the laxative took effect that fast, so what should I expect now? Will she have diarrhea the next time she goes to poop? I really wish I had given them more time, but it's been approx. 3.5 days for at least one of them, and I felt it was too risky to wait even longer.

Her turd was beautiful, dark brown, a little on the hard side compared to usual, but not at all as bad as I had feared after so long. But it was a normal-sized turd as well, shouldn't it be much more after so long?

And omg. While typing this Anyon went to the other litter box and also pooped. His poop was softer than Eleni's, and much bigger. 

I guess I've been worrying for no reason again.. I'm sorry guys. 

 

[vbcatparent]

I love having a website where I can see situations like this and not panic too much myself. I'm very glad to hear they are ok! Could you follow up and let us know what the laxative does?

 

[elise1030]

Have you been on the raw/wet food diet for long? Changed the type/flavours of the raw or wet? I was under the impression that cats who are fed a raw diet eliminate less than those on a canned/dry food diet.

Glad to hear they both pooped though!

 

[caralian]

 
Have you been on the raw/wet food diet for long? Changed the type/flavours of the raw or wet? I was under the impression that cats who are fed a raw diet eliminate less than those on a canned/dry food diet.

Glad to hear they both pooped though!

Ah yes, well.

When we just got them they were on a mixed diet, wet and dry. Thrive complete and Canagan kibble. Thrive is 100% meat, no additives, but Canagan, even though grain-free still had some things that they didn't actually need. Sweet potato and the like. And although better than many other kinds of kibble, I guess they still had a sensitivity towards some of the ingredients, because they were suffering from constant diarrhea, which is why we switched to all-wet, since I wanted to keep them dehydrated. They did well on that, and after a while we made the transition to raw, because ultimately I think that's best for cats, being obligate carnivores. 

They took to it very well, ate raw chicken wings with ease and aside from not wanting to eat raw liver (we eventually got freeze-dried which they love ) they thrived on it. Normal, perfect poop, great coats, better breath, perfect.

But it seems my kitties are the stubborn sort (aren't they all? 

) and they will sometimes just refuse to eat certain foods and I need to try several other to see which ones the royal highnesses want to eat. We've therefore been giving them a mixed diet of wet and raw.. A couple of days ago it got so bad that I had already defrosted 4 types (chicken, beef, turkey, pork) of raw food and they just wouldn't eat any of them. Ever since then we have been feeding them all-wet, because they apparently would rather starve than eat raw again, and I'm not sure why. I do keep trying to get them to eat it again, but I am reluctant to let them go without food for too long (longest I have done is 18 hours before I gave in and gave them wet food again). I might try to mix it. Give them raw and add a bit of wet food, maybe they'll eat it.

ANYWAY. Long story short: I guess it could have been because they hadn't eaten raw in several days. But I don't understand why, because it should have made them poop more and not less, right? Ever since they were on raw they passed stools every 36-48 hours, which of course is another reason to love a raw diet. 

 But it freaked me out, because this was waaay longer than usual. 3.5 days is kind of scary to me.

@VBCatParent  Of course I will let you know. If the laxative works as it's supposed to, they'll probably be in the litter box somewhere in the next 6 hours or so. Let's hope it's not too much of a mess.

 

[caralian]

Update, as promised:

Last monday, when I posted here and they were suddenly both pooping, Anyon made a very big poop, but Eleni had just a normal poop. The next morning Eleni did have a bit of diarrhea and it was yellow, which I know usually means the food went through the digestive system too fast (and as long as it was a one time thing I will just write that off as a side-effect of the laxative).

Neither of them have pooped again, and it's now been 2 days (1.5 days if you count the small bit of diarrhea for Eleni). Should I be worried now? Like I said, they have no other symptoms of constipation. They eat and drink, play and run around the house, they are active, they groom eachother, no excessive licking of their backsides, no lethargy, no vomiting, no straining in the litter box, they still pee, etc. As far as I can tell, there is really nothing wrong with them..

I will of course keep my eye on them, especially Eleni, to see if her yellow poop has passed. But do you guys think it's cause for worry? How long can a cat not poop until it becomes dangerous? I really don't want to give them laxatives when I don't have to, and if only I could wait it out to see if they'll poop by themselves. 

So, in short: after how many days does it get dangerous for cats not to eliminate?

 

[caralian]

Well, Eleni has just pooped. It was firmer (not as hard as usual, but they were whole turds and definitely not diarrhea) and a bit darker. Still leaning towards a yellowish brown, but I'm going to keep my eye on it, see if it gets better, and if not, then we'll see a vet.

Anyon still hasn't done his business.

 

[elise1030]

Cats can go several days without pooping. I know when my boy has had his surgery he'll not poop for a few days afterwards. When he gets to about 3-4 then I give him a laxative. Urinating is a different matter though. A Cat HAS to pee at least 1-3 times a day. If they do not urinate then there is an issue( and its more common in the boys than girls) and you need to take them to the vet for a check-up

It sounds like your cats are pretty normal to me. I guess cats are like people, some people go every day, some every other day, some 4 times a day.

 

[stiletto]

Seems okay to me. As long as they have fresh water around and don't seem to be constipated and grunting, I think it's okay. If you feed raw, have you been feeding a lot of bone-in meats lately? This may cause constipation. If you've changed anything in their diet recently, it could just be their bodies adjusting to the change.

 

[caralian]

 
Cats can go several days without pooping. I know when my boy has had his surgery he'll not poop for a few days afterwards. When he gets to about 3-4 then I give him a laxative. Urinating is a different matter though. A Cat HAS to pee at least 1-3 times a day. If they do not urinate then there is an issue( and its more common in the boys than girls) and you need to take them to the vet for a check-up

It sounds like your cats are pretty normal to me. I guess cats are like people, some people go every day, some every other day, some 4 times a day.

Oh, well mine go way more often. I'm thinking like 7-8 times a day. Not sure if that's a good thing, but they've always done that. Maybe it's because I give them a high-protein diet and that goes out through peeing? Oh and I add water with every meal. AND they still drink from the fountain/bathroom tap.

 
Seems okay to me. As long as they have fresh water around and don't seem to be constipated and grunting, I think it's okay. If you feed raw, have you been feeding a lot of bone-in meats lately? This may cause constipation. If you've changed anything in their diet recently, it could just be their bodies adjusting to the change.

Ah yes, I did have to change their diet from an all-raw to mostly all-wet canned (Thrive Complete), because one day the highnesses suddenly decided raw wasn't good enough anymore. And I don't add any bone to their canned, of course. But would that really make them poop less often? I would have expected they'd poop more!

Oh and another update, Eleni has also pooped, it was not diarrhea but it was all yellow again. I'm calling the vet when I get home from work. I have googled a bit and according to most sites yellow indicates a fast passage through the bowels, but I just don't understand why. Better safe than sorry.

 

[elise1030]

Yeah, my girl pees way more than my boy. I'm always spotting her drink out of one of the many bowls or sinks around the house. My boy, it's a rare sight to see him drink unfortunately. He's never been a big drinker which led to his health problems .

It sounds like your cats are pretty normal to me

 

[caralian]

Ah, fortunately mine do drink enough. And otherwise I would just put more water in their meals.

I just gone home and Eleni was pooping again. Liquid and yellow. Called the vet, we have an appointment in 2 hours.

I know yellow poop is a fast passage through the bowels and/or bacterial imbalance, but now it's also diarrhea. Does this mean it some parasite? Coccidia? I read about it, and it would not have shown up on fecal exams.. I don't know how she could have gotten it. I'm really worried now. 

 

[caralian]

Not sure if anyone's interested, but a quick update.

Went to the vet with a sample, they gave us Inupekt Forte (which seems similar to Fortiflora) and antibiotics. I also have to get stool samples over the weekend and bring it to them on monday.

We are having a lot of trouble making Eleni take the antibiotics. The other pills she will easily eat when I put them in treats (Anyon even tried to eat one, a bare pill, without even having to hide it in a treat, lol), but the antibiotics. Omg. We have tried for two days now and she hasn't taken any. 

We put them in treats, mixed them in food, used tuna water, we rolled her in a towel to open her mouth and put it in there after which we squirted water in, but she just pushed it out again with her tongue. I don't know what to do. I can't keep traumatizing her. It just tastes so bad, I can see it when her tongue even touches it, she makes this face as if she will throw up. I feel so bad for her. But her poop is still yellow so she has to eat it.

Luckily she hasn't been scared or even pissed off. She just refuses. With this determined look in her eyes, she just locks her jaws and we would have to pry them open, literally. I don't want to keep doing that, so I'll ask the vet on monday if she has any ideas, or maybe if she could give her a long-lasting shot in stead. 

Other than that, she is still acting normal and I think at least the fortiflora stuff helps a little, because her poop is now at least more solid, so she won't get dehydrated. Sigh.

 

[caralian]

Anyon also had yellow poop today.

Whatever Eleni has, it must be infectious.. Sigh.

 

[vbcatparent]

It seems the vet should have an IV solution for that. Eleni can't be the only cat in the world who doesn't like it.

 

[caralian]

Yes, I figures I would ask her tomorrow, when I have to go in to give her the stool samples anyway. I can't wait until they get the results (which isn't long here, maybe a day or two) and I finally know what's wrong with them. And hopefully they'll be all better soon.

It just worries me that she somehow infected Anyon. Let's hope it's not too serious.

 

[lisaw]

I know this is an old post but I'm wondering what happened? I've got a similar situation with my 2.

 

[slscatlover]

Years ago I had three cats that suddenly stopped pooping.  It took weeks to discover that the reason was that my shepherd was eating the cat poop out of the litter box.  I spent hundreds of dollars on vet bills only be find out there was nothing wrong with them.  I finally caught my dog in the act and it explained the whole thing.  Ugh.