[lofmarks]

I have an 8 yr old boy house cat.
His butt gets blocked up by some fairly large, hard stool.
I took him to the vet a few times when his anus got so large that he was in a lot of discomfort. They knocked him out and cleaned out his pooper and told me his anal glands seemed to be plugged or something.

The recommended giving him pumpkin to assist him.

His diet is Hills prescription Diet X/D [he had a lot of stones in his kidneys about 4 yrs ago] This food used to be called CD OXL, just recently had a name change.

He eventually passes his mega stool, but in the meantime he will puke from time to time.
He may go 4 months without this happening, other times it will happen a few times a month.

Any suggestions as to what to give him?

We actually put some vaseline on a QTIP last night and put it up his butt in hopes we would pass his "boulder" he's had trouble with the last few days.......and yes, we did find his rock hard stool on the living room carpet this morning

Thank you for your assistance with my boy!!!
Scott

 

[queen of the nile]

Please don't stick anything up his rectum, it can really do more hard then good. Here's a thread with a very similar situation, I hope it can help you.
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=4770&start=0

To summarize the thread, it was recommended that you add about 1/4 tsp of psyllium powder (health food store) or rice bran to wet food to add fiber. Be careful with how much you add, however, because too much will just cause the cat to become constipated again. Also, you can give a finger-full of petroleum jelly as a laxative. Also, I would suggest that you call your vet again if this issue doesn't resolve, because being constipated *cannot* be comfortable for the cat!

 

[lofmarks]

Thank you for your reply!

The vet recommended the Pumpkin for just the same thing. I guess I'm looking for something to keep his stool soft.....i guess??

 

[Lithium]

my cat mishka has the habbit of swallowing anything that seriously endangers her life :? !!
so for the few times that something stuck in her stomach and she couldnt poop it out ..... 3/4 teaspoon of medical castor oil orally through a syringe was a life savior !!

 

[queen of the nile]

I just wanted to say that there was a short debate on Cat Forum over whether castor bean oil was safe for cats or not. Although Lithium has had success with it, I personally would avoid it because castor beans are toxic to cats (although whether the oil is safe or not, is debatable). It would be much better, IMO, to use petroleum jelly because of the safety issues about castor oil and it's horrible taste.

 

[Annissa]

Hi there! You've already read my thread, so I won't rehash, but I still give Sabby Laxatone (it's tuna-flavored petroleum jelly) with his evening meal and sprinkle a pinch of psyllium powder over his morning meal. He still occasionally gets blocked up, but he's able to pass it without an enema. Oh, and he loves Laxatone. He considers it a treat. You can get Laxatone at Petsmart and you can get psyllium powder at your local drugstore or health-food store. You'll find it next to the Metamucil.

 

[lofmarks]

well,,I realize we are not suppose to POKE anything up their butts, but that vaseline on the QTIP worked,,,however, he looked at me awfulllllly strange afterwards! 8O

Would like to know more about food he's eating and if it's causing all of this.....darn Vets are expensive tho'!

Scott

 

[Annissa]

What are you feeding him and how much? And how's his water intake? Can you give a rough estimate of how much he drinks every day?

 

[lofmarks]

no telling on water intake but he gets his share.

I mentioned in the initial post that:

His diet is Hills prescription Diet X/D [he had a lot of stones in his kidneys about 4 yrs ago] This food used to be called CD OXL, just recently had a name change.

He loves to eat!!!! Fat Boy! We put golf balls in his food to slow him down. He has this huge fear that the other house cat is going to eat all of "his" food, so he USED TO eat till he puked,,,,but since we added about 5 golf balls to the food bowl, it takes him some time to manipulate around them.

Thank you for your reply,
Scott

 

[Annissa]

I mentioned in the initial post that:

His diet is Hills prescription Diet X/D [he had a lot of stones in his kidneys about 4 yrs ago] This food used to be called CD OXL, just recently had a name change.

Whoops! I swear I read your original post. Sometimes my mind fails me. Another thing my vet told me to do to help with constipation is to make sure Sabby was drinking plenty of water. He said that a lack of water would turn his stool to a wet sand-like consistency. Imagine trying to pass that! A canned food will help with water intake. Also, Sabby really wasn't interested in drinking out of his water dish. He insisted on drinking out of the toilet. I figured maybe it was because his water dish was plastic so the water got warm and tasted kind of "off." In contrast, the toilet water would be fresh from being flushed several times a day and cold because of the porcelain. So I invested in a water fountain. It's still plastic, but the water circulates through a filter so it stays fresh. I still catch him drinking out of the toilet on occasion, but not nearly as often.

He loves to eat!!!! Fat Boy! We put golf balls in his food to slow him down. He has this huge fear that the other house cat is going to eat all of "his" food, so he USED TO eat till he puked,,,,but since we added about 5 golf balls to the food bowl, it takes him some time to manipulate around them.

Sabby is a good eater too. He used to go through a five-pound bag of cat chow every two weeks. Like your cat, he would eat until he vomited. I've begun feeding him measured meals. It took him a few weeks to get used to it, but he does fine now. I'd never heard of using golf balls to slow a cat's eating. Ingenious!

 

[lofmarks]

A girl at the Vets office recommended the golf ball idea........works EXCELLENT!!

 

[lofmarks]

.........well.............my boy is blocked up again. his arss' is like a hersheys kiss. puckering but the mini-golfball he's got in there isn't comming out.
Any suggestions friends???

Thanks!
Scott

 

[malcolmsmom]

Poor kitty, sounds like it might be good to take him to the vet again.

Sounds like he might have a hurting bum

ouch!!

 

[threecats]

I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty.

Boy's been to the vet twice because of his ruptured anal glands already. I've recently been sprinkling Metamucil into his food (it's a fiber powder for constipated humans) and adding more water bowls everywhere so he has no excuse not to drink water.

I hope that helps.

 

[lofmarks]

well....he dropped his load while we were at work today!!!!!! YAY!
I put a lil vaseline on his butt this morning.

This piece of dung is larger than a golf ball but narrower.

He is obviously more playful/happier......

so.........whatdowedonow??

It's def diet.

He is on Science Diet OXL for kidney stones a while back.....

Hate to take him to the vet,,,,the TESTS are what are expensive.

 

[BoscosMum]

Is that food wet food or dry food?
I am umfamiliar with it.

Have you tried an all wet food diet?
Poor kitty.....I feel guilty for laughin' at your posts.

 

[lofmarks]

only the dry. don't know if they make a wet, but the wet is a pain to feed all the time routinely/scheduled.
gonna have to take him to the vet eventually AGAIN......ugh....
s :?

 

[drjean]

Dry food is the primary contributor to constipation. A cat eating only dry food -- even though you see him drinking more water -- actually takes in only half the moisture of a cat eating an all canned diet.

Canned food is also the best preventive for urinary tract crystals and stones.

Giving Vaseline by mouth rather than by butt is much safer and just as effective! Give some every day to keep things moving!

Cheers,
Dr. Jean

 

[BoscosMum]

lofmarks....at first I thought it was going to be difficult to feed my cat an all wet diet...but it is going really well! Once the routine establishes itself it is not bad at all....
If you work during the day...you could put wet food out before you go to work and leave some dry for while you are gone....and then feed a wet meal during the evening or when you go to bed.

I really encourage you to give this a try! It would be awful for your cat to suffer long term damage from all this constipation.

 

[lofmarks]

ya...i don't think he likes any of this either. takes him about 3 days to pass his football....ouch!