Anybody Have Experience With Cat Poop Consistency?

Somebody

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Well, I couldn't come up with a better title.
My cat is pretty old and she had a bad constipation about a year and a half ago. Doc did XRays and found small hard poop balls sitting in her guts. He got it all out with an enema and since then I have kept her pretty OK with lot's of fiber. I give her pumpkin powder, Benefiber, Petromalt twice a week and when things look a bit hard I give her doses of Miralax until it works better again. So far I managed to keep her on a good consistency and frequency. She had some diarrhea early in the year and the vet said probably inflammatory bowel disease or something like that and prescribed special steroids for the intestines which I'm giving her once a day.

However sometimes I see small and hard yellowish poop balls. I am usually alert by this because I fear it might indicate an episode of upcoming constipation and that's my signal to start giving Miralax.

I wonder however why it is that these hard poop balls form all of a sudden while the fiber intake is the same otherwise. We had a blood test a few months ago and it was OK except elevated kidney values which the Doc said are normal for her age but not alarmingly high.

Does anybody know more about digestive problems and might shed some light on this?

Thanks.
 

Azazel

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What are you feeding?
 

Sararainmaker

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Have you tried using raw pumpkin instead of the powder? We are always told that as far as human nutrition goes the 'real stuff' is always better than dehydrated or powdered, I can't help but think the same applies to our furbabies, not to mention with constipation you want to include liquid anywhere you can to help.

The canned stuff is perfectly fine as long as it's pure, unsweetened pumpkin puree, I use libby's. Try mixing it with a bit of raw yogurt (again pure and unsweetened) and it's quite the treat for them, and the probiotics could be helpful, I have an amazing vet and this is what he recommended for Kaylee for her stomach issues, which was mostly gas but I have noticed her pooping became much easier for her as well.
 
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Somebody

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Thank. I tried raw once, she ate the one Ralphs had at the time but it's consistency changed. I tried again recently and she licks a bit, doesn't eat it all. My other cat loves it and empties the bowl. I am trying with different admixtures then, the yogurt thing is a good tip, I will try that. I also thought about anchovis or oilsardines, some fish with strong odor.
Other than that she is on limited ingredient diet, both good ones since sh tested positive for food allergies, but maybe it's not that real, I read a lot about allergy tests not being reliable
 

daftcat75

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Are you feeding all wet? All dry? Or something in between?

Dry and IBD make bad gut buddies. If you’re feeding any dry, I’d start there and work on reducing or eliminating it.
 

loopycann

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Are you feeding all wet? All dry? Or something in between?

Dry and IBD make bad gut buddies. If you’re feeding any dry, I’d start there and work on reducing or eliminating it.
I agree especially about the dry food feeding. A lot of times poop consistency is reliant on how much water intake a cat is getting. In the wild world,felines are desert animals & being obligate carnivores cats get 80 to 90% of the moisture they need from the game that they eat in the wild. I would especially Pay attention to her water intake and take her off any dry food. Also probiotics are good for kidney function as a lot of the toxins that would be the job of the kidneys can be removed in the digestive track with the right probiotic load.
 
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