Has anyone’s cat gone over the 48 hour mark with no poo, but no sign of straining or impacted poo?

[catloverfromwayback]

I’ve been wondering about this since Daisy’s trip to the vet for a micro enema a month ago. She’d gone about 51 hours by the time she had it, and did a good big soft poo about 20 minutes later. She hadn’t strained or as far as I know tried to do a poo at all. She urinated normally, and ate and drank normally. When the nurse examined her she couldn’t feel anything hard inside, and said there was soft poo in her anus. It makes me wonder if megacolon has that effect on some cats, and whether some can indeed go longer than the 48 hours recommended. I was worrying about it again last night when she hadn’t been for well over a day, but thank goodness she did a good big one this morning - 36.5 hours since the last!

 

[tabbytom]

..............whether some can indeed go longer than the 48 hours

My boy last poop was 3 days ago and sometimes he drags it to 4 days. Sometimes every other day and sometimes twice in a day and in a week, maybe twice, but if I remember well, longest is 4 - 5 days.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

My boy last poop was 3 days ago and sometimes he drags it to 4 days. Sometimes every other day and sometimes twice in a day and in a week, maybe twice, but if I remember well, longest is 4 - 5 days.

Thanks, that is definitely worth knowing! Does January have any digestion/bowel issues that give you cause for concern, or is that just his normal variation? I don’t want to be clock-watching for Daisy all the time and rushing her to the vet for enemas if it’s not necessary, but I don’t want to risk harm to her, either. I’ve no training in how to feel for impacted poo, and she’s fat enough that it’s probably difficult to do.

 

[tabbytom]

Thanks, that is definitely worth knowing! Does January have any digestion/bowel issues that give you cause for concern, or is that just his normal variation?

He does not have any digestion/bowel issues. It's just him and sometimes I can't bear it that he does not go poo more regularly instead of not pooping for 5 days.
Usually he does it at 3 days once and I think that's his regular interval.

Edit :
After replying this message, January went to dump.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

After replying this message, January went to dump.

Typical cat!

You have all my sympathy though, I’d struggle to deal with that sort of stress. Daisy’s 36 hour + extensions are bad enough.

 

[tabbytom]

Typical cat!

You have all my sympathy though, I’d struggle to deal with that sort of stress. Daisy’s 36 hour + extensions are bad enough.

Yeah, that’s how his system works and yes it gets me anxious if he took too long to poop. I have a weekly poop chart for him which I record his bowel movements through the week. Unless it‘s something more serious like he just had chronic diarrhea for a month and a half since the start of February this year, I record the details onto the notes app in my phone. Also I have a meal chart to track how much he eats at a sitting and also the time when he has his meals. So I have two charts to keep track on his poop and meals

 

[Alldara]

I think they should poo at least once every two days to reduce risks of developing megacolon.

She might need a bit more fibre to help bulk the poo up to have her go. My friend's cat gets 1/4 tsp of unsweetened pumpkin every other day to help with this. PureBites makes a wet package for digestion that contains it.

Inside Scoop on Cat Poop | ASPCA Pet Health Insurance

 

[fionasmom]

My Graycie only goes every 48 hours, almost to the minute and once in a while a little over. We had a constipation issue a few months ago and she regularly gets Miralax in her food...1/8 tsp four times per day.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Yeah, that’s how his system works and yes it gets me anxious if he took too long to poop. I have a weekly poop chart for him which I record his bowel movements through the week. Unless it‘s something more serious like he just had chronic diarrhea for a month and a half since the start of February this year, I record the details onto the notes app in my phone. Also I have a meal chart to track how much he eats at a sitting and also the time when he has his meals. So I have two charts to keep track on his poop and meals

I keep a daily diary of Daisy’s poos and meds.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

I think they should poo at least once every two days to reduce risks of developing megacolon.

She might need a bit more fibre to help bulk the poo up to have her go. My friend's cat gets 1/4 tsp of unsweetened pumpkin every other day to help with this. PureBites makes a wet package for digestion that contains it.

Inside Scoop on Cat Poop | ASPCA Pet Health Insurance

Daisy has megacolon, and is on Cisapride and Osmolax. I’ve tried her on what little is available here byway of food additives (Australia has very little on offer compared with the enormous US market) and she’s not interested. She doesn’t like wet food and is currently on Purina Pro Plan Weight Loss, itself a problem because she needs to get through 56g a day to get enough calories, and that’s an enormous serve.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

My Graycie only goes every 48 hours, almost to the minute and once in a while a little over. We had a constipation issue a few months ago and she regularly gets Miralax in her food...1/8 tsp four times per day.

Don’t they time it precisely? Daisy once waited till I was dialling the vet before she went!
She’s on 1/4 teaspoon Osmolax twice a day, and Cisapride twice a day.

 

[iPappy]

Yes, I had a cat that would regularly go 36-48 hours, and was also on Miralax. He was a frequent flyer at the vets office, and though he lived for 15 years he never developed mega colon (which was a huge concern of ours). I'm very surprised he never got it!

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Yes, I had a cat that would regularly go 36-48 hours, and was also on Miralax. He was a frequent flyer at the vets office, and though he lived for 15 years he never developed mega colon (which was a huge concern of ours). I'm very surprised he never got it!

That’s good to know, too! If you don’t mind my asking, did he ever have to have enemas, or were his visits unrelated to poo or the lack of?

 

[iPappy]

That’s good to know, too! If you don’t mind my asking, did he ever have to have enemas, or were his visits unrelated to poo or the lack of?

Yes, he did have to have a few enemas and I only noticed he needed them as he would do a lot of straining and produce nothing. A few times, it was just a solid piece "right there" and barely any sedation was needed, but a few times it was much worse. The miralax helped him a lot!

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Yes, he did have to have a few enemas and I only noticed he needed them as he would do a lot of straining and produce nothing. A few times, it was just a solid piece "right there" and barely any sedation was needed, but a few times it was much worse. The miralax helped him a lot!

Now that’s interesting. Daisy never goes and strains, she just doesn’t go at all. Makes me think she doesn’t need to be whisked off to the vet as soon as I’ve done. The Osmolax (same as Miralax, that’s the brand name used here) works well for her, and she likes it - she often comes bouncing up onto the kitchen bench when I’m mixing it, and usually drinks it straight out of the spoon. That, plus all the water she drinks, mean she doesn’t have hard, dry poo.

 

[iPappy]

Now that’s interesting. Daisy never goes and strains, she just doesn’t go at all. Makes me think she doesn’t need to be whisked off to the vet as soon as I’ve done. The Osmolax (same as Miralax, that’s the brand name used here) works well for her, and she likes it - she often comes bouncing up onto the kitchen bench when I’m mixing it, and usually drinks it straight out of the spoon. That, plus all the water she drinks, mean she doesn’t have hard, dry poo.

That's so cute she drinks it out of the spoon! Poor Levi's were usually very hard and dry, despite adding water and being on an all wet food diet. Sometimes it would sound like a gunshot when he would finally manage to "drop one" into the box (or, onto the floor, poor thing.) If it was very bad, he'd give up straining and would hide, and that's when I knew things were getting worse and we needed to see the vet.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

That's so cute she drinks it out of the spoon! Poor Levi's were usually very hard and dry, despite adding water and being on an all wet food diet. Sometimes it would sound like a gunshot when he would finally manage to "drop one" into the box (or, onto the floor, poor thing.) If it was very bad, he'd give up straining and would hide, and that's when I knew things were getting worse and we needed to see the vet.

Poor, poor boy!

Phoebe’s often sound like cannon balls when she drops them (partly because she scrapes all the litter away from the bottom of the bin first) but they’re not hard, just firm and big. Daisy’s tend to be a bit softer and smoother.

 

[KittenAppliance]

One of my cats poops every 2-3 days... she has pushed it to longer,,,,but she also has had to have enemas twice. She takes miralax and lactulose, too. She is an old lady and was always an infrequent pooper, but it is only in recent years that she has needed an enema.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Daisy’s only five, she’s an outlier developing megacolon this young. I just hope I can get her weight down. Nothing has worked so far.

Celebration before: about half an hour ago she did a good big poo (normal for her) after 31 hours!

 

[tabbytom]

Celebration before: about half an hour ago she did a good big poo (normal for her) after 31 hours!