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I suspect one of my kittens is having some trouble going to the bathroom. I do have a follow up appt scheduled this Friday, but I want to be sure I know what to tell the vet. I plan on bringing samples, but there are 2 cats and unless the timing is right I may be limited on what I can provide.
When I got Simon about a month ago, he had some loose stool and was diagnosed with worms and coccidia, which was treated. He was dumped at a neighbors and despite this, appeared lively and healthy. Prior to his first vet visit I had introduced wet food to him, which made his soft pies into melted peanut butter, and pulling back a bit and increasing the dry did help a little. The vet gave me something to help with his stool (I forget what it was called) along with the dewormer. I'm not confident that I was able to give it to him correctly, as he hated it and refused to eat much. In spite of this, he improved and had normal stools (a little soft, but formed well) until the beginning of this week.
Now, his stool has gotten softer and taken on more of the "mud pie" effect. I also noticed that the walls next to the litter boxes were getting flecks of litter and feces thrown onto them. I assume it's from flicking off his paws, but tonight there was litter sprayed a good 3 ft above the litter box. It's higher than either of the cats can reach. I was more impressed than mad about it, honestly. I did have a little of that medication left over, due to not being given any duration of administration and his stools appearing normal, so I gave him the little bit that I had left for the last 3 days. Tonight, I happened to be cleaning next the box and got a front row seat to him using the box. Now, when I clean the littler box both of them seem almost offended that I am removing their creations, and jump in to redistribute the goods before I'm even halfway done. Sometimes, they will squat but nothing comes out. Other times, they will tinkle a little, jump out and when I move to the next box (there's 2), they repeat the process and leave droppings.
Mostly, I took it as just eager to use a clean box/ scent marking or something, and having already used the bathroom prior to my cleaning the boxes. I've witnessed just that a handful of times, but now I'm starting to wonder if there isn't something else going on. I feel like neither are drinking enough water, at least not to my liking. Hard for me to tell, because I tend to refresh/ refill at least 1-2x a day if not more. Both are urinating, although it is less when they do it as I'm cleaning the box. Garfunkel's stools are soft but have form, and are large because he eats like a dumpster. Both fart like sailors, but Simon is riper. Tonight, I witnessed something a little different from the soft stool. As I was cleaning, he went to use the bathroom as usual. He will dig, squat, not like that position, dig some more, sometimes gets distracted and have to start over, and then do his thing. This time he squatted twice, and appeared like he just didn't have anything in the chamber but when he turned around to bury his phantom poo, I noticed a small nugget hanging from his rear that just didn't drop. It did, of course, when he jumped out of the box right near my feet. This looked like a normal poo, not his usual soft serve, but I'm concerned that he may have been experiencing some difficulty and straining.
Food wise... I had upped their wet food meals from 1/4 can 3-4x a day to 1/2 can 3x a day. Simon didn't seem to eat more than 1/4 at a time at first (Garfunkel seems like he would eat forever) but I got him to finishing the 1/2 for the last 2 weeks. That is, until I tried putting the medication in his food. Without the medication, and giving him his favorite flavors, he is still not finishing his 1/2 of the can. He's just as active as ever and excited to eat as usual. It's a small change and maybe I'm reading into things, but I feel like there's something going on that I just can't put my finger on. He's maybe 4 1/2 months old now, and small, so I'm really paranoid about his health.
Please tell me if I'm being crazy, or if there is something possibly going on. And any pointers to talk to the vet about would be very helpful. The vet I go to is kinda close to my social/ professional circle, and while I trust his diagnostic skills his bedside manner leaves something to be desired. He will rush in and out and not communicate very much unless you know how to advocate for your pet and know what to say. I knew what to ask when it came to my senior cat, and he was more than happy to talk shop with me when I got him going, but this is new territory for me. This relationship works best when I come in fully prepared, so I need to to get my thoughts and questions in order. I'm also a little uncertain because prior to my cat's unexpected death, he had had his yearly exam just 2 days prior and everything seemed normal. Logically I feel like he was just old and it was something that just happened at nobody's fault, but it's hard to feel confident in myself or my vet after that. I just want to be sure that I'm not missing anything here.
When I got Simon about a month ago, he had some loose stool and was diagnosed with worms and coccidia, which was treated. He was dumped at a neighbors and despite this, appeared lively and healthy. Prior to his first vet visit I had introduced wet food to him, which made his soft pies into melted peanut butter, and pulling back a bit and increasing the dry did help a little. The vet gave me something to help with his stool (I forget what it was called) along with the dewormer. I'm not confident that I was able to give it to him correctly, as he hated it and refused to eat much. In spite of this, he improved and had normal stools (a little soft, but formed well) until the beginning of this week.
Now, his stool has gotten softer and taken on more of the "mud pie" effect. I also noticed that the walls next to the litter boxes were getting flecks of litter and feces thrown onto them. I assume it's from flicking off his paws, but tonight there was litter sprayed a good 3 ft above the litter box. It's higher than either of the cats can reach. I was more impressed than mad about it, honestly. I did have a little of that medication left over, due to not being given any duration of administration and his stools appearing normal, so I gave him the little bit that I had left for the last 3 days. Tonight, I happened to be cleaning next the box and got a front row seat to him using the box. Now, when I clean the littler box both of them seem almost offended that I am removing their creations, and jump in to redistribute the goods before I'm even halfway done. Sometimes, they will squat but nothing comes out. Other times, they will tinkle a little, jump out and when I move to the next box (there's 2), they repeat the process and leave droppings.
Mostly, I took it as just eager to use a clean box/ scent marking or something, and having already used the bathroom prior to my cleaning the boxes. I've witnessed just that a handful of times, but now I'm starting to wonder if there isn't something else going on. I feel like neither are drinking enough water, at least not to my liking. Hard for me to tell, because I tend to refresh/ refill at least 1-2x a day if not more. Both are urinating, although it is less when they do it as I'm cleaning the box. Garfunkel's stools are soft but have form, and are large because he eats like a dumpster. Both fart like sailors, but Simon is riper. Tonight, I witnessed something a little different from the soft stool. As I was cleaning, he went to use the bathroom as usual. He will dig, squat, not like that position, dig some more, sometimes gets distracted and have to start over, and then do his thing. This time he squatted twice, and appeared like he just didn't have anything in the chamber but when he turned around to bury his phantom poo, I noticed a small nugget hanging from his rear that just didn't drop. It did, of course, when he jumped out of the box right near my feet. This looked like a normal poo, not his usual soft serve, but I'm concerned that he may have been experiencing some difficulty and straining.
Food wise... I had upped their wet food meals from 1/4 can 3-4x a day to 1/2 can 3x a day. Simon didn't seem to eat more than 1/4 at a time at first (Garfunkel seems like he would eat forever) but I got him to finishing the 1/2 for the last 2 weeks. That is, until I tried putting the medication in his food. Without the medication, and giving him his favorite flavors, he is still not finishing his 1/2 of the can. He's just as active as ever and excited to eat as usual. It's a small change and maybe I'm reading into things, but I feel like there's something going on that I just can't put my finger on. He's maybe 4 1/2 months old now, and small, so I'm really paranoid about his health.
Please tell me if I'm being crazy, or if there is something possibly going on. And any pointers to talk to the vet about would be very helpful. The vet I go to is kinda close to my social/ professional circle, and while I trust his diagnostic skills his bedside manner leaves something to be desired. He will rush in and out and not communicate very much unless you know how to advocate for your pet and know what to say. I knew what to ask when it came to my senior cat, and he was more than happy to talk shop with me when I got him going, but this is new territory for me. This relationship works best when I come in fully prepared, so I need to to get my thoughts and questions in order. I'm also a little uncertain because prior to my cat's unexpected death, he had had his yearly exam just 2 days prior and everything seemed normal. Logically I feel like he was just old and it was something that just happened at nobody's fault, but it's hard to feel confident in myself or my vet after that. I just want to be sure that I'm not missing anything here.
