Not Pooping

[Noushi]

My baby is going on 19 years old. Little background, he has suffered from constipation all his life. We were in and out of the vets all his young adult life trying to address this. Finally, I discovered miralax and that has improved his life enormously! He still takes 4-5 days to poop, but he very rarely his an "episode" where he is puking and pooping.

Last Friday (april 26th) he had one of his rare episodes. It was terrible, poor baby. He had a big poop and threw up. Saturday he was not feeling well, so he didn't eat more then a bite of food, but was drinking. Same thing through Tuesday. Tuesday night he ate very well, Wednesday through Today he is eating and drinking very well. He is peeing, eating treats, and sleeping around the house.

He is not pooping. I have given him 1/8 tsp of miralax every day in his food (thought he isn't eating it all so, I am sure he isn't getting the full dose), along with a new medicine that I received Friday which is called "Pet WellBeing Smooth BM Gold." He gets that twice a day by syringe. I have also added .5 mg of CBD oil to his food, starting today.

He no longer eats the dry food, he is strictly on fancy feast wet food (right now he likes the kitten food). I leave dry food out, but he isn't interested. He will eat treats though.

I have felt his belly and area around his intestines, there is no hard spots (which I have seen with him before when he was constipated). His belly is soft, and he let me give him a rub.

Taking him to the vet is incredibly traumatic at his age and condition. Last time we took him to the vet, the vet said he was nearing his end time, and to make him as comfortable as possible.

So, I don't know what to do. I am sick with worry. Taking him to the vet scares me because he is so old and frail, I don't want to stress him out. I am afraid if I do take the chance and get him to the vet, if he needs an enema, that is even more traumatic and could kill him from the sheer stress.

I don't know if I am over-worrying, and should give it a little more time, maybe up the dose of miralax to 1/4 tsp and give that by syringe instead of in the food? He seems completely normal except for the pooping.

I would appreciate anyone's advice who has maybe gone through this with an older baby. I just don't know what to do for him.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I know how traumatic a vet trip can be for a cat, especially at his age, but I really think that he should be seen. Are you in the US? If so, there may be a vet who does housecalls in your area. That would be far less traumatic for him, poor baby. I don't know about availability of vets for housecalls in other countries. If you are not in the US, google may help you find someone.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

When was it that the Vet said he was nearing "the end"? Does he have other medical conditions that would cause him to say that?

Is it possible he's pooping outside of the box since you aren't feeling any hardness in his colon? Sometimes constipated cats got outside the box. I've had a couple seniors with constipation, and often I would find little "nuggets" where they didn't belong.

I would try upping the dose of Miralax. Do you only give it once a day? With my last two seniors, I was told to give it twice a day (by our Vet). Then I just checked the consistency of their stools to determine how much to give. But I must say, LOVE that stuff. Best thing since sliced bread!! What I would do also is to give the miralax (dissolved in water) in just a teeny amount of food to make sure it gets ingested, then give more food.

 

[di and bob]

Yes, I gave 1/4 tsp. mixed in a beaten egg yolk to my senior, repeated next day and he went a large amount. You could call your vet and see what they suggest, explaining how frail he is. Make sure you tell them EVERYTHING he is taking, all the luck!

 

[Noushi]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I am going to try upping the miralax and possibly the egg yolk.

A little good news: I rubbed his lower belly again, and there was a faint smell of poop. I did it again about 3 hours later, same thing. I think he was farting, and we might be seeing a poop soon!

If not, I will try calling the vet - praying that we don't have to go that route. Its just too much for him.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Any poop?

 

[Noushi]

So sorry to leave y'all hanging! We did not get any poops. I took him to the emergency vet on sunday. He had a small amount of constipation, so they did an enema and gave him something to settle his stomach. Vet said to continue with the miralax, CBD oil, more Metamucil, and the smooth BM. We are going to follow up in a week or so, to see if any of this helps him.

He was a real trooper, but it took a lot of him, which I was afraid of. Its all I can do to coax the little guy to eat and drink today. I am spoon feeding wet food and water. Breaks my heart to see him this way.

Vet said I did everything right, its just that he is so old and his arthritis is so painful - hard for him to want to get up.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Are you giving him anything for his arthritis? You can either give medication OR natural things, like Krill Oil. Heated beds work great too!

 

[Noushi]

I just got a bottle of CBD oil May 2nd. I do see a small improvement in him, but its too early to tell just yet. I do have a heated bed for him, which he hangs out in pretty much all day.

We tried pain killers from the vet awhile ago, but they made him so spacey and out of it, vet said to discontinue. Trying anything we can no that is natural. I will look into Krill oil!

 

[Noushi]

*we can do that is natural...boy if I read my posts before sending, they might be readable

 

[Mamanyt1953]

*we can do that is natural...boy if I read my posts before sending, they might be readable

LOL, don't worry about it. 5 days and 20 posts in, you'll see a little "edit" button pop up at the lower left of your posts.

 

[zed xyzed]

Does he drink a lot? make sure he has clean water, I use charcoal filtered water to help get rid of the chlorine taste. I have his water bowl in a different room than his food (he didn't like his water by his food) . My old boy is 19 also and have had a few issue of constipation. On those bad days he gets a good extra dose of Miralax. I too had a vet that told me to prepare for the worst 5 years ago and said he had a heart murmur. I found another vet who said that he was doing great for his age and that he didn't have a heart murmur. Some vets just plan suck, I have been to 6 until I found the one I trust. I hope you have many more happy years with your little man. BTW post a picture of him if you can. We all love kitty pictures

 

[Noushi]

Here is the picture as requested! I think we solved the poop problem! Today it just won't stop coming. Every time he walks, a poo trail follows him - RUH ROH.

Mama has been a very busy girl trying to keep him clean and the house clean. Its a poop-apocalypse.. The vet had us up his Metamucil intake, and I think that has finally done it...TOO WELL, so I will be reducing that slowly so we get back to some kind of normal pooping.

In the mean time, he is in his favorite bed (puppy-pad proofed), and has a hot-compress on his poor arthritic hind legs. He really likes that!

 

[Noushi]

Does he drink a lot? make sure he has clean water, I use charcoal filtered water to help get rid of the chlorine taste. I have his water bowl in a different room than his food (he didn't like his water by his food) . My old boy is 19 also and have had a few issue of constipation. On those bad days he gets a good extra dose of Miralax. I too had a vet that told me to prepare for the worst 5 years ago and said he had a heart murmur. I found another vet who said that he was doing great for his age and that he didn't have a heart murmur. Some vets just plan suck, I have been to 6 until I found the one I trust. I hope you have many more happy years with your little man. BTW post a picture of him if you can. We all love kitty pictures

He does drink a lot. I have water bowls in every room, and I add a substantial amount of water to all of his food. He is on wet-food only, so he gets quite a bit of liquid in him.

I am so glad to hear that about your old boy! I have to agree with you, it felt like that vet was just giving up on him. He has zero..and I mean ZERO health issues other then the constipation and the arthritis in his back legs/hips. I didn't understand why I was being told that, and I still don't. The report from the emergency vet said that he was in good health.

He is just very fragile, like any old animal or HUMAN...put stress on him, and he doesn't do well. This is why I hate taking him to any vet, it takes everything out of him and they doom and gloom. So frustrating..

 

[zed xyzed]

Here is the picture as requested! I think we solved the poop problem! Today it just won't stop coming. Every time he walks, a poo trail follows him - RUH ROH.

Mama has been a very busy girl trying to keep him clean and the house clean. Its a poop-apocalypse.. The vet had us up his Metamucil intake, and I think that has finally done it...TOO WELL, so I will be reducing that slowly so we get back to some kind of normal pooping.

In the mean time, he is in his favorite bed (puppy-pad proofed), and has a hot-compress on his poor arthritic hind legs. He really likes that!

awww poor little man, he is a beautiful guy, I hope he feels better soon, and you have less cleaning to do. Those diapers look so cute on him, but I am sure he must not be loving them.

 

[Noushi]

awww poor little man, he is a beautiful guy, I hope he feels better soon, and you have less cleaning to do. Those diapers look so cute on him, but I am sure he must not be loving them.

oh lol, it does look like a diaper!!!! Its a heating pad (the kind you put in the microwave), to soothe his hips and back legs. Underneath him are just puppy pads. He pooed all over the bed twice and mama got a little tired of scrubbing it. So, I got it clean and poop-proofed it!

 

[zed xyzed]

He does drink a lot. I have water bowls in every room, and I add a substantial amount of water to all of his food. He is on wet-food only, so he gets quite a bit of liquid in him.

I am so glad to hear that about your old boy! I have to agree with you, it felt like that vet was just giving up on him. He has zero..and I mean ZERO health issues other then the constipation and the arthritis in his back legs/hips. I didn't understand why I was being told that, and I still don't. The report from the emergency vet said that he was in good health.

He is just very fragile, like any old animal or HUMAN...put stress on him, and he doesn't do well. This is why I hate taking him to any vet, it takes everything out of him and they doom and gloom. So frustrating..

he is lucky to have you looking out for him, you are obviously doing a great job!!

 

[zed xyzed]

oh lol, it does look like a diaper!!!! Its a heating pad (the kind you put in the microwave), to soothe his hips and back legs. Underneath him are just puppy pads. He pooed all over the bed twice and mama got a little tired of scrubbing it. So, I got it clean and poop-proofed it!

lol sound like a diaper might be a good idea.

 

[Noushi]

lol sound like a diaper might be a good idea.

lol right!? I get him and everything cleaned up...two minutes later..apocalypse take 100.../face palm

 

[zed xyzed]

Have you tried DASUQUIN® Sprinkle Capsules for Cats | Dasuquin.com it has helped my old boy move a lot easier he gets it twice a day mixed in with his food. Midi also love heat his favourite place is his heated cat bed.