Trouble with pooping

Susan Jeffries

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My little Bengal female of 5 years only opens her bowels every 3 days, l know this because l mark it on the calendar because l am worried about it..if she doesnt go for 4 days there is usually blood droplets at the end, this doesnt happen very often now, her poo is very hard when it comes out, it drops like a rock (sorry)
She doesnt cry out when she goes, but she does run around like a mad cat just before.
I put water in her wet food, l never feed her dry food, l also give her cat malt paste, which l am sure does help, but it's still very hard poo.
I have spoken to the vet, there is nothing underlying.
I want to help her have softer poo, but l dont want to purge her or cause diarrhoea..has anyone else experienced this with their cat and resolved it.
Thank you
 

minish

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Minish never had this problem but I guess 3 days is too long and adding fibers to her meals would help. There is some info on this site, sorry that I can't remember where. what I definitely know is pooping is related to activity as much as feeding. If your cat is not very active nowadays, I suggest encouraging physical activity especially after meals (Jackson Galaxy etc make a good case of play before meals but minish has insisted on securing her food before any leisure activities :) when we play a lot, she poops almost instantly after her midday or evening meal and having relieved as such, comes to play more)
 
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Susan Jeffries

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Minish never had this problem but I guess 3 days is too long and adding fibers to her meals would help. There is some info on this site, sorry that I can't remember where. what I definitely know is pooping is related to activity as much as feeding. If your cat is not very active nowadays, I suggest encouraging physical activity especially after meals (Jackson Galaxy etc make a good case of play before meals but minish has insisted on securing her food before any leisure activities :) when we play a lot, she poops almost instantly after her midday or evening meal and having relieved as such, comes to play more)
Oh thanks for that, but we do have a large catio with tree stumps and platforms she is in it all the time and we have 4 cat scratching trees indoors, and l play with her and a feather that she loves alot..she doesnt drink at all except l put water in her food, l pinch her neck fat all the time to see if she is dehydrated but she is not..she is playful most of the time. So you see l am at my wits end to try and get her more regular. Oh and l take her for walks every morning in her harness around a small field attached to our house.
 

minish

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maybe it's her normal, but still, I think it's a problem since she has trouble defecating when she does. probiotics help with humans, some brands can also be used on cats. maybe you could try that (sorry I don't know the specifics)
 
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Susan Jeffries

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Thanks, l think it might be her normal too but it's very hard, l want to try and soften it and try to get her to go more often...thank you so much for your reply, probiotic, l will look into that
 

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Lots of cats have zoomies before and after pooping :)

If the vet can't find anything wrong, maybe it's just normal for your cat to poop every 3 days :dunno: Some cats don't poop every day, just like some people don't.

What brand of canned food do you feed? If the calcium is high, that could cause hard poop.
 
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Susan Jeffries

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I feed her purina pro plan delicate wet tinned food, it is sort of pasty and l give her small amounts of cooked chicken cut up very small, yes l agree it might be normal for her but it's very very hard stools that l would love to be able to soften for her and perhaps for her to go maybe every 2 days, l dont want to disrupt her digestion too much though it's a delicate balancing act...thank you for replying
 

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I wonder if Miralax or equivalent (in some countries, the product is called PEG) would help? You can ask the vet.
 
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Susan Jeffries

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The pro plan does have calcium 0.8mg per tin, is that a lot, l wouldnt know
 
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Susan Jeffries

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The pro plan does have calcium 0.8mg per tin, is that a lot, l wouldnt know
I wonder if Miralax or equivalent (in some countries, the product is called PEG) would help? You can ask the vet.
I will look at Miralax, l am in Ireland, l am seeing the vet next week with our other Bengal l will ask him about it then, might even have it in their pet shop section, worth a try
 

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Miralax is a product for Human constipation so it's not sold in pet stores or vet offices. Look for it at the Human pharmacy.
 

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I would skip the chicken pieces. The tinned food is nutritionally balanced. Meat alone is not. But if you are keeping it to a treat portion (no more than 10% of her calories), I would opt for chicken liver instead. Chicken liver is higher in fat which will help her poop. You may also want to look into a fish oil supplement which is again adding fat to her diet to help her poop.

Something else that might help her poop is egg yolk. You can give her a small amount (1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp raw egg yolk) and see how it treats her. It can have a laxative effect so you want to start with a small amount. If you find it's helpful, you'll want to make (or buy) egg yolk powder since we're talking about such small amounts.

How to make egg yolk powder
Make Homemade Dried Egg Yolk Powder

Where to buy egg yolk powder
EZ Egg Yolk

Don't confuse this with egg shell powder. That's a calcium supplement which will most certainly make things go in the wrong direction.
 
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Susan Jeffries

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Hello, thanks for this, l have just put very small amount of egg yoke in her pro plan food and she is eating it now..l have put the rest of the egg yoke in the fridge is there any reason l cant use the same egg yoke a couple of times and is it every meal l give a little to her, l will cut out the chicken..believe it or not l have never seen chicken livers for sale here in Ireland, it's hard enough getting lambs liver..l will search for them from now on though....you also said about fish oil, l already give her quite a lot of Trixie cat malt there is a lot of fat in that and she loves it, could that be as good as fish oil, l can get a bottle of cod liver oil, but l think l tried her on that a long time ago and she wouldn't eat the food when it was added (well she is princess Sansa)..l like the sound of the egg yoke solution as l can cope with that as its natural food. (We used to keep chickens and had loads of eggs then)...thanks alot l will let you know how l get on..Sues
 

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I think egg yolk can keep for a day or two. I'm not really sure. That's why I would go to the powder as soon as you know it's going to work for her. Much easier to "micro-dose" with the powder. I would start small. I always give a new thing to Krista about half the recommended dose and only once in a poop cycle to make sure it's well tolerated. Since your poop cycle is quite a bit longer, I would say once a day is plenty to see whether it's going to swing things too far in the wrong direction. After you've determined it's not going to cause diarrhea or other distress (vomiting or allergies e.g. itching and headshaking), you can play around with the dose and frequency. It's better to give too little at first than too much.
 
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Susan Jeffries

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She is due to go tomorrow! Let's see, l will only give it to her once per day she doesn't eat much she is quite small, she has eaten the first dose..thanks again.
 

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I am also giving my 16 yo the PEG powder once a day 1/8 tsp to 1/4 tsp. Got it from the vet to soften kitty’s stool. She was having very hard and small bowel movements. She does not eat any wet food, so I just mix it in water and syringe it (without a needle, or course) into her mouth. It is the same as the human “polyethylene glycol laxative that you can get at a drug store. It really helps her have easier bowel movements of more substance. See how the egg yolk goes. Check with your vet. Hope this helps. Good good luck with your kitty.
 
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Susan Jeffries

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I will try that if the egg yoke doesn't work. Thank you.. Sues
 
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Susan Jeffries

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I think egg yolk can keep for a day or two. I'm not really sure. That's why I would go to the powder as soon as you know it's going to work for her. Much easier to "micro-dose" with the powder. I would start small. I always give a new thing to Krista about half the recommended dose and only once in a poop cycle to make sure it's well tolerated. Since your poop cycle is quite a bit longer, I would say once a day is plenty to see whether it's going to swing things too far in the wrong direction. After you've determined it's not going to cause diarrhea or other distress (vomiting or allergies e.g. itching and headshaking), you can play around with the dose and frequency. It's better to give too little at first than too much.
Sammie had a poo tonight, its just over 3 days since the last time she went and there was some blood again, so that's blood twice in 7 days..l am putting small amount of egg yoke since yesterday on her food and l have ordered a bag of dried egg yoke from amazon..l was disappointed to see the blood as although her poo has been hard the blood hasnt been showing for over a month ...poor little mite.
 
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