Cat is leaking 💩

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RacDou

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We adopted our 7 year old cat Tilly back in September 2020. Everything was perfect until she had to get some teeth removed in October. The vet we went to told us there was blood in her poop and sent us home with a deworming pill, some painkillers and some probiotic powder.

Since then, Tilly has had a series of digestion problems including liquid poo and her bum was always dirty. After she started bleeding in January we brought her to a new vet. This vet told us she had colitis and put her on high fiber foods which cleared up her poo problems.

However, this vet told us the original vet didn't take out the right teeth, and poor Tilly went into a second surgery to remove all remaining teeth. After the surgery she became so constipated, we were constantly bringing her to the vet for enemas (she received 8 in three days). The poor thing was in so much pain and wasn't at all like herself. She lost over two pounds (she went from 7.6lb to 4.95lb in 3 weeks) as she had stopped eating.

Now she is on cissapride which did wonders for her. Her pooping is great and consistent. Only problem is she is leaking like crazy. It is thin, clear liquid with some darker liquid mixed in. We confirmed with the vet that it isn't anal gland fluid (the smell is not the same).

The vet prescribed steroids for the next two weeks. Our vet is amazing and we are hopeful that this will help, but I was wondering if anyone has had a cat with a similar situation to this? It has been a month and a half of her leaking, she has a good appetite and is acting normal. It's just frustrating for us as we can't hold her and she is staining all of our furniture.

Thank you in advance!
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. I have no experience with anything like this, so I searched this site for previous posters that might have had something similar happen and wasn't able to find any. Hopefully, other members will see your post soon and some of them might have had an issue like this and can be more helpful than I can be. Is she leaking immediately before or after using the litter box, or is it more random than that?

What did the vet say about their reasoning for steroids? Inflammation perhaps that could lead to some leakage, or maybe trying to heal any residual impacts from so many enemas? Is there any chance the cisapride dosage should be reduced a bit if it were to be causing too much activity in the bowel prompting the leaking? The fact that she is having good BMs but leaks suggests there is likely some longer term effects from the enemas that the vet is hoping will be corrected through the use of steroids.
 
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RacDou

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Hi, thank you so much for your answer!

It seems to be more random. She will leak whenever she lays down anywhere, and when she comes out of the litter she will often have some liquid poop on her but we are quick to clean her up. Her butt does start to puff out whenever she comes out of the litter however and gets a little pink in the middle.

The steroids were sort of a "what else can we possibly do" solution to help with any potential inflammation or possible intestinal/colon cancers.

We honestly haven't considered lowering the cisapride dosage since it was the first thing that led to a real positive change, but it is definitely something we will bring up with the vet! Now that you mention it, the severe leaking started after we started her on both lactulose and cisapride and we first assumed it was just the daily 4ml of lactulose causing it, but when we lowered that dosage (and then eventually stopped it) the leaking still hadn't stopped.
 
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RacDou

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I just wanted to update this thread, even though there hasn't been much activity. Tilly has now been constipated for 4-5 days, she is being brought in to the vet tomorrow to help her out and to run as many tests as possible to see if we can figure out why shes getting so sick/leaking.

We brought up lowering the cisapride dose to our vet who said that it would only make her situation worse now that she is back to being constipated.

We are hoping for some answers from all these tests but if anyone has any ideas on why she could be leaking please let me know! It's now been 2 months of her leaking and I am hoping we can get some good news. Unfortunately the steroids don't seem to be helping.
 

neely

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First, I'm terribly sorry to hear the first vet removed the wrong teeth for Tilly. :frown: Should she ever need dental surgery in the future I would highly recommend going to a certified veterinary dental specialist. Regarding the constipation, what type of food is she eating, e.g. canned (wet), dry or raw? Perhaps her diet is contributing to her digestive problems. I thought this Article about Constipation in Cats might have some helpful information for you. Please note #2 and #3 in the paragraph, What Causes Constipation in Cats.

Best of luck, I hope the tests Tilly will be undergoing provide a diagnosis for you. :alright:
 

FeebysOwner

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It sounds like very little time goes by between bouts of constipation, yes? I know that with constipation that leakage can happen because some of the digested material in her colon can 'squeeze' by the harder stool, and results in liquid poop. If she is heading toward another bout of constipation immediately after the previous one appeared resolved, I think it might still be able to cause some leakage.

Another thing to ask the vet about is sub-Q fluids on a routine basis. Some cats who have no identifiable cause of constipation are sometimes given sub-Q fluids to help keep moisture in their system so that the stool doesn't get as hard.

And, as mentioned above, the high-fiber food given to Tilly to help with her earlier diarrhea issue may no longer be appropriate for her.
I still wouldn't rule out the anal glands, despite the fact you aren't smelling the normal strong odor - especially if the vet didn't check the glands and just advised you via a phone conversation. Feeby had a couple of bouts with her anal glands starting to clog, and both times they were expressed there was not that strong of an odor that accompanied the 'gunk' that they were able to remove. It would seem anal gland issues can accompany constipation.

I hope others will come along soon with some other ideas. But, please keep us posted.
 

abyeb

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I’m sorry to hear that this is happening to Tilly. I hope that you’re able to figure out the cause soon. :alright:

I may be way off-track here, but, as I see it wasn’t mentioned yet, I thought I might bring it up: has the vet ruled out a blockage? This is something that the vet checked when Charlie had GI issues.
 
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RacDou

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Thank you all for your very helpful information! Unfortunately, Tilly's condition deteriorated quickly and under the vet's recommendation we said goodbye to our dear girl this morning. We appreciate everyone who offered their knowledge and help :redheartpump:
 

neely

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My sincere condolences and deepest regrets. She found her forever home with you the day you adopted her. RIP sweet Tilly. :angel:
 

mani

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RacDou RacDou the team at TCS are so very sorry for your loss..
Threads are locked after someone has suffered such a loss, as a sign of respect.
We invite you to place a tribute at our Crossing the Bridge forum as an enduring testimony to your friend.


RIP Tilly
:greenpaw: :butterfly: :rbheart: :purplebutterfly: :bluepaw:

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