Cat stool

Aafia Ijaz

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I had this question in my mind since a long time. Does cat poop become harder if kept in the litter for a long time?
 

Antonio65

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I had this question in my mind since a long time. Does cat poop become harder if kept in the litter for a long time?
Litter is designed to absorb fluids, especially if it's the clumping type. So yes, if poop is let sit in the litter for a long time, it may become drier and harder.
 
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Aafia Ijaz

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Do
Litter is designed to absorb fluids, especially if it's the clumping type. So yes, if poop is let sit in the litter for a long time, it may become drier and harder.
Don't you think a lot of pet owners can confuse this with constipation?
 

Antonio65

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You didn't ask about constipation.
Constipation also involves difficulties at pooping and not visiting the litter box regularly.
My cat was regularly constipated, and she visit her litter box up to every three days for poop, and I could see her straining to poop. Also she was lacking her appetite when she was constipated.
 
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Aafia Ijaz

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You didn't ask about constipation.
Constipation also involves difficulties at pooping and not visiting the litter box regularly.
My cat was regularly constipated, and she visit her litter box up to every three days for poop, and I could see her straining to poop. Also she was lacking her appetite when she was constipated.
What did the vet do to get rid of her constipation? How is she now?
 

Antonio65

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Well, she's at the Bridge now, she left me 5 years ago, yo can see her in my profile picture.

We tried several things. During the acute episodes we found that some lactulose could help, but the definitive solution, for my cat, were a few psyllium seeds in her wet food once a day.
 
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Aafia Ijaz

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Well, she's at the Bridge now, she left me 5 years ago, yo can see her in my profile picture.

We tried several things. During the acute episodes we found that some lactulose could help, but the definitive solution, for my cat, were a few psyllium seeds in her wet food once a day.
Im sorry to hear that. Was constipation the reason? Or was it something else?
 

Antonio65

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Im sorry to hear that. Was constipation the reason? Or was it something else?
Thanks for your thoughts.
The constipation was the least of her problems. She had been through nearly everything, even one of rarest diseases, but she surrendered to an oral carcinoma.

The constipation was something we had total control of. Those psyllium seeds did a very good job, she took them for two years and never a single episode of constipation since day one.
 
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Aafia Ijaz

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What was the reason of constipation though? Was it related to kidneys? Or ibd or pancreatitis? Secondly, were the stools stuck in intestines and she had to be given enema for that?
 

Antonio65

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Well, I don't really know what the reason for her constipation was, maybe she was just like that. She started being periodically constipated around 6 to 7 years of age, which is more or less the same age when she developed her CKD (kidney disease), so who knows.
Basically she had slow BM.

Our vet advised me to give her some lactulose along with a few drops of paraffin oil straight in her mouth, or added to her wet food.
Of course this worked during the acute episodes, but didn't fix the chronic problem.
We also went through a period with Trimebutine, a powder I had to mix with a little water. This was to help the bowel movements. But we only used it for three or four weeks.

In her later years, during a very bad episode, we saw a different vet who advised me the use of psyllium seeds. He said 12-15 seeds a day added to the cat's wet food. These seeds need to be left in some water for a while in order to work properly.
So, either I left a few seeds in a small cup of water for an hour or so, or I added them straight in her food with extra water, wait for about 20 minutes, and then serve my cat her meal.
What I know is that it worked fine, and I regret I was late with this treatment...

My cat also needed some enemas. A few of them were performed at home with rectal solution for babies (like THIS ONE ), one real enema was performed at the vets' a year prior her death. My cat got really constipated due to a rare disease that had still to be diagnosed at that time.
My poor Lola was a real warrior, and I will miss her for the rest of my days :bawling2:
 
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Aafia Ijaz

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Well, I don't really know what the reason for her constipation was, maybe she was just like that. She started being periodically constipated around 6 to 7 years of age, which is more or less the same age when she developed her CKD (kidney disease), so who knows.
Basically she had slow BM.

Our vet advised me to give her some lactulose along with a few drops of paraffin oil straight in her mouth, or added to her wet food.
Of course this worked during the acute episodes, but didn't fix the chronic problem.
We also went through a period with Trimebutine, a powder I had to mix with a little water. This was to help the bowel movements. But we only used it for three or four weeks.

In her later years, during a very bad episode, we saw a different vet who advised me the use of psyllium seeds. He said 12-15 seeds a day added to the cat's wet food. These seeds need to be left in some water for a while in order to work properly.
So, either I left a few seeds in a small cup of water for an hour or so, or I added them straight in her food with extra water, wait for about 20 minutes, and then serve my cat her meal.
What I know is that it worked fine, and I regret I was late with this treatment...

My cat also needed some enemas. A few of them were performed at home with rectal solution for babies (like THIS ONE ), one real enema was performed at the vets' a year prior her death. My cat got really constipated due to a rare disease that had still to be diagnosed at that time.
My poor Lola was a real warrior, and I will miss her for the rest of my days :bawling2:
I've also heard the seeds work only for a short time?
 

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The one thing i learned from the cat poop is that the blood in a cat stool shouldn't be ignored.
Especially if it happens more than once. the reasons for that can be very and very different but for sure it is something you want to discuss with your vet. Sometimes it is not very obvious, so if you think that cat changed the behavior or is not very active, better to keep a closer look at that.
 
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