Cat not had a bowel movement!! Please advise!

[emem]

Hi

Could anyone offer any advice to me regarding my cat?
I have an indoor 2 year old female cat, called Grace. She has not had a bowel movement for over a week now, possibly longer as I thought my husband had been emptying her little parcels of joy out of the litter but he hadnt and neither had I, so this may have been going on for longer!
She is eating and drinking normally, playing and simply acting her usual self. We have not changed her food/diet either. Shes not showing any signs of ill health, nethertheless we took her to see the vet They told us she did not feel constipated and said there was no evidence of any problems!
The vet asked whether Grace could be going elsewhere in the home.....so myself and my hubbie went on a poo search (even though we know we would have smelt it should she have been going in the house somewhere!)
We found nothing. Grace is still weeing in her litter tray and we always make sure it is regularly cleaned for her.

I just wondered if anyone has had the same problem with their cat or if anyone can offer any advice?

We would be very grateful as I am getting very worried as surely it is not normal for a cat to be eating but not emptying her bowels!?

Please help anybody! Im very worried.

Thank you xxx

[angieh]

It does sound odd, but if your vet has examined her and not found her to be constipated, then I would say there is no evidence to suggest she needs to go. As you say though it is strange.

I used to find that liquid paraffin from the chemist worked for my old cat Merlin. He would lick it off my fingers and that usually worked after a couple of days.

[Elaine]

How very strange, I would have thought that if she hadnt had a poop in such a long time that the vet would have easily felt that she was impacted, after that length of time she would have shown signs of illness aswell.
Does she get out at all or is she strictly indoors?
When she goes to the tray to pee, does she show any signs of straining?
She surely must be doing it somewhere.

[Mags]

That is unusual:? .... do you feed her wet or dry food?

[Aquatic]

hmm.. that's Strange.
Oh that reminds me I have to go clean Felix's tray out:lol: almost forgot there

[dandysmom]

She MUST be going somewhere or the vet would have found signs of constipation! You might try giving her some sardines in oil or tuna if she'll eat fish. Do you have any of the malt flavored hairball remedy gels like Petromalt? It aids in passing hairballs so might encourage movement. Also, years ago when my Siamese was constipated after eating a bird the vet told me to use a baby suppository .....

[pookyandjo]

like the others have said... she HAS to be going somewhere... she simply couldn't be eating a normal amount of food and behaving in a normal manner without either becoming constipated or going somewhere other than her tray... however some foods l produce less stool than normal AND the ones that they do produce are less odorous so you might not have smelt them... also if she is a little constipated.. and only done one or two little "messages" over a period of a few days they would be quite dry and they may not smell as much.

Chances are if she IS constipated and has gone outside the tray she will have chosen a place that is private where she is not going to be disturbed whilst she does her business... under beds in spare rooms... nice quiet wardrobes...you get the idea... you may have to play detective and follow her around to see what she is up to!

[Aquatic]

It could be under the bath if your cat can get under the bath or maybe in your wardrobe you never know

[angieh]

I think it might have to be Hunt The Poo!

[dandysmom]

:mrgreen: ..........

[emem]

Thank you all for the replies to my post.
Today though, I learnt my answer! After spotting a fresh poo in my cats litter tray, I was overjoyed that there was nothing wrong with my little one. I ran downstairs to ring my husband and let him know......as this really had puzzled the pair of us and when I got back to the litter tray to empty it, the poo was gone!!!!...........................My dog was sitting by the litter tray licking her lips. I am utterly shocked!! Certain now that my Grace has been going to the toilet as normal but that my dog has actually been eating her poo!! Disguisting! I just never thought my dog would do something like that!
I have moved the litter tray up a height and hopefully my cat can continue to poo now in peace without a dog's head poking through to eat her mess!
Thanks again everyone, but the answer is I have a dog who is foul! xxx

[calismum]

Oh - I wish you had said you had a dog - that is the first thing I would have suggested. My dog also used to assist us to empty the litter trays.

Glad you got the solution though - it was very strange.

[angieh]

Kizzy is sitting with me here at my desk and has done something to my keyboard - anyway - I've just told her this story, you know how you do, talking to cats ..... there was this poor cat, no poo, taken to vet ..... and it was all the fault of this disgusting dog ..... EATING the cat's poo.

You should have seen the look of complete disgust on Kizzy's face.

[emem]

Ha ha! It must have confused poor Grace as she wouldnt have understood what the daft dog was doing:roll: Poor Grace, I feel awful having put her through the trauma of a vet visit!:(
I should have mentioned about having a dog, yeah, but I genuinely never thought my dog would do anything like that, afterall we have had Grace for 2 years and my dog, (Katie) has never ate her poo before up until the last 2 weeks! Madness! :lol:

[pookyandjo]

well it seems that you and hubby aren't the only ones who like a hot meal on these cold days!!!


sorry couldn't resist that one!

[dandysmom]

Oh, I would have mentioned that if you had said there was a dog, some of them are very prone to coprophagia! Yuk!

[dandysmom]

Actually I'm a bit surprised that your vet didn't mention the possibility of this, as I presume he knows you have a dog and that it is not uncommon.

[emem]

I know-the vet didnt mention this as a possiblility at all! Not to worry. As I say, we ve moved the litter tray to higher ground. The greedy hound will just have to hunt for food crumbs in between her meals again rather than the tasty poo snacks shes evidently been devouring these past few weeks! :lol: xxx

[Elaine]

Dogs will be dogs;) Glad you have resolved the problem.:lol:

[pookyandjo]

found this on the net which may be of interest....

Many animals, including dogs, eat poop because poop contains vitamins produced by the intestinal bacteria that the animal can't absorb through the intestinal wall. So, they get these vitamins by eating poop. Dogs and some other animals also eat poop is because it contains protein. Dogs are particularly fond of cat poop because cat poop is high in protein.

[Aquatic]

ewww.. :lol:
thank goodness my dog doesn't eat Felix's poo :p

[James]

I smell a novel here ...."The strange case of the vanishing poo". I suggest that the first copy goes to your vet :)

[dandysmom]

:smt005 :smt005 :smt005

[pookyandjo]

either that or a recipe book..... tasty morsels from the cat box:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

[calismum]

either that or a recipe book..... tasty morsels from the cat box:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

oh, I just had to read this while preparing a sandwich for lunch :cry:

:lol: :lol: :lol: