Not pooping after a diarrhea episode

[Kimluvs2dance]

Hi all! I gave my cat a quarter can of “aging” food by accident Thursday night. He is only 2.5 years old. Friday morning he went regular poop and then a little while later he has diarrhea. I assumed it was from the food. He has been totally fine since. Eating and acting normal, except now it’s Monday and he still hasn’t gone. Is this something I should be concerned about? He doesn’t seem constipated. He’s getting over a flare up so I have been watching his litter like a hawk.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I think this situation warrants at least a call to your vet. They may suggest an x-ray of his intestines to see if he is constipated or if something else shows up. The vet may recommend treating as if is constipation with the use of a stool softener, such as Miralax or lactulose as a first line of treatment.

Don't know what kind of a flare up he is having, but that would also be something to mention to the vet as well.

 

[Kimluvs2dance]

Hi. I think this situation warrants at least a call to your vet. They may suggest an x-ray of his intestines to see if he is constipated or if something else shows up. The vet may recommend treating as if is constipation with the use of a stool softener, such as Miralax or lactulose as a first line of treatment.

Don't know what kind of a flare up he is having, but that would also be something to mention to the vet as well.

Thank you! He is having an FIC flare up after a blockage, but we are on the mend. I called the vet and waiting to hear back. Hopefully miralax will do the trick.

 

[meeshfoster]

Just adding my own experience - my previous kitty had a pretty bad diarrhea episode and did not poop after for 4 days. We were told to let her go on her own time, and she did. In my other experiences I would say it is normal for cats to not go for a few days after diarrhea (my current cats are like this too, not as long as 4 days but still a few)

 

[Kimluvs2dance]

Just adding my own experience - my previous kitty had a pretty bad diarrhea episode and did not poop after for 4 days. We were told to let her go on her own time, and she did. In my other experiences I would say it is normal for cats to not go for a few days after diarrhea (my current cats are like this too, not as long as 4 days but still a few)

Thank you for this. He only had one bout of diarrhea but it was nasty lol. He seems totally fine. Eating a lot and playing. So maybe I’ll give it another day before the miralax. I’m still waiting for the vet to call me back.

 

[Kimluvs2dance]

The vet told me to give him a little pumpkin in his food and it worked! He went a few hours later

 

[Furballsmom]

That's great news!

 

[GraciesParent]

Hi! I'm having the same issue as the OP of this thread -- Gracie had diarrhea for several days after a dental cleaning/extraction. The diarrhea stopped a couple of days ago (~ 54 hours ago)... but she hasn't pooped since.

You can read the saga thus far, including a trip to the emergency vet in the wee hours on Sunday, in this thread.

She's been on a light, bland diet (boiled chicken, Royal Canin prescription gastro) for the past couple of days, and was eating well yesterday, but today seems inappetent. She's definitely not eating her normal volume of food, either -- I'd say probably half the normal volume, at best.

I'm adding water to her wet food, and she's taking small amounts of S. boulardii + FortiFlora, as well.

I emailed her vet, who said cats usually produce stool within 24-48 hours of diarrhea stopping, but some "take longer." She said to watch for signs of straining in the litter box and/or constipation... which is why her lack of appetite today has raised a red flag. She's also fairly subdued compared to yesterday.

All of this started because of the stress of the dental/hospital stay, and then compounded by the trip to the ER vet, so I'm trying to do whatever I can to resolve this before subjecting her to yet another trip to a vet.

Does anyone have any anecdotal advice? Googling tells me that it can sometimes take a cat 3 to 7 days to poop after diarrhea resolves, and I see upthread that M meeshfoster cites four days... when do I need to worry? (I mean, I'm already clearly worried, so I guess: when should I panic?)

 

[louisstools]

only advice I have is motion activated wifi cameras on the litterbox are great for diagnosing litterbox problems like this.

 

[Kimluvs2dance]

Hi! I'm having the same issue as the OP of this thread -- Gracie had diarrhea for several days after a dental cleaning/extraction. The diarrhea stopped a couple of days ago (~ 54 hours ago)... but she hasn't pooped since.

You can read the saga thus far, including a trip to the emergency vet in the wee hours on Sunday, in this thread.

She's been on a light, bland diet (boiled chicken, Royal Canin prescription gastro) for the past couple of days, and was eating well yesterday, but today seems inappetent. She's definitely not eating her normal volume of food, either -- I'd say probably half the normal volume, at best.

I'm adding water to her wet food, and she's taking small amounts of S. boulardii + FortiFlora, as well.

I emailed her vet, who said cats usually produce stool within 24-48 hours of diarrhea stopping, but some "take longer." She said to watch for signs of straining in the litter box and/or constipation... which is why her lack of appetite today has raised a red flag. She's also fairly subdued compared to yesterday.

All of this started because of the stress of the dental/hospital stay, and then compounded by the trip to the ER vet, so I'm trying to do whatever I can to resolve this before subjecting her to yet another trip to a vet.

Does anyone have any anecdotal advice? Googling tells me that it can sometimes take a cat 3 to 7 days to poop after diarrhea resolves, and I see upthread that M meeshfoster cites four days... when do I need to worry? (I mean, I'm already clearly worried, so I guess: when should I panic?)

Hi! I gave my boy a tablespoon of canned pumpkin and he went the next day regularly! I gave it to him for a week with his dinner to regulate him and it seemed to work.

 

[GraciesParent]

^^ Thanks -- I did give her about 1/2 a teaspoon of pumpkin just now, which she ate. She's really lethargic today, after being pretty perky yesterday, which makes me think she might be feeling queasy, so I don't want to give her too much of anything.

Keeping an eye on her to see if she needs to go back to the vet later (I *reallyreallyreally* hope not, as vet-visit stress is what caused the diarrhea in the first place).

 

[GraciesParent]

This just in: Gracie has pooped! A lot, actually.

We just got home from the vet, and she's gone 5x in the past 15 minutes. The first one was solid, but they've been getting progressively softer. The last one was close to diarrhea, so I'm really hoping we're not starting the cycle again.

Edited to add: yeah, we're back at diarrhea. She's now gone to the box about eight times over the past hour. :-(

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh goodness, poor sweetie!