Cat poop issues. When to go to the vet?

[RJC]

This is going to get fairly descriptive about poop and cat anus, but we are all animal people here so…

This is about Willis, the stray I’ve had for around a month now.

When he was living in the shed, he did not use a litter box and I don’t know what his pooping habits were. BUT I noticed very early in our time together that he had an angry looking anus, with some scabbiness. It looked pretty swollen. When he went to the vet for his neuter, I authorized additional treatment as needed, but the clinic didn’t say anything about it, so I thought it was fine and just a holdover from being a malnourished stray cat.

Now that he’s been indoors (or in a kennel pre-vet) and using the litter box for the last 2-ish weeks, I know that he only poops every other day. However, his anus looks normal and not angry, scabby, or red anymore.To try to help him poop more, I completely took him off kibble and started feeding only wet food mixed with a good amount of warm water. He eats it all, but has stopped drinking water from his bowl now, so I’m not sure there was a net gain in water consumption.

Since the extra water wasn’t helping, I started adding baked sweet potato (~1 tsp) to his food along with the water. Still no change in frequency, and now his sad dry poops are found on the mat in front of his litter box instead of in his litter box. So his last two meals have been extra soupy with sweet potato AND coconut oil (~0.5 tsp).

Willis is my first cat and I don’t have a good concept of how cats work yet. Should I be calling to make the vet appointment today? Or pulling out all the stops and getting him to drink a big bowl of tuna water laced with coconut oil or something?

I will admit that he is on crap wet food right now. It’s just cheap stuff I had on hand from my shed full of feral cats. I am switching him to The Honest Kitchen food, which should arrive in the mail today.

[cnvh]

If his anus no longer looks scabby/swollen and he’s eating/drinking/behaving normally, maybe he’s just an every-other-day pooper?? I would not be concerned about trying to “make” him poop every day; it seems like that could cause more problems than it would solve.

I must be lucky re: having cats who enjoy water; all of them eagerly partake of the dogs’ water bowls, as well as the toilet if I happen to leave the seat up, the shower right after I’m done with it, etc. If you’re concerned about his water consumption, maybe try to make the water more enticing, like with one of the bubbling fountain waterers. Or switch his water bowl up-- my cats don’t like plastic bowls, but they LOVE stainless-steel ones. Or are you on city water, and maybe Willis doesn’t like the added chemicals? Maybe he needs bottled/filtered water.

[DarkBayUnicorn]

In my experience, a great many cats only poop every other day. If I have an empty litter box longer than two days straight, I administer a dose of kitty laxative/hair ball medication. Works like a charm.

[CanadianTrotter]

A tablespoon of puréed (pure) pumpkin is good for constipation and/or diarrhea. Pumpkin is also good for their urinary tract as well as full of vitamins and can possibly help prevent cancer. It’s great to add to existing food as a filler if you’re trying to get a dog or cat to lose some weight and most of them like the flavour.

[Rain]

I think he sounds perfectly normal. I have one cat that’s an every-other-day pooper and two that sort of fluctuate two days in a row, skip a day, two days in row, etc.

Frequently once they’re on wet food, their water consumption drops. I’ve experienced this with all my fosters.

I have never used sweet potato but I thought it was used to stop diarrhea? If that’s the case, you may be causing a bit of constipation, and that could be why you’re now getting sad, dry poops.

[Midwesterner]

I also have one that is an every-other-day pooper, sometimes she only pees once a day too. My advice to you is what I follow myself, if everything else seems normal, try not to worry about it. Mine get 1/2 can wet in the morning, then free access to dry all the time.

[Louise]

I agree that you probably don’t have to worry if he is an every other day pooper. I’ve had those, also. I’d be more concerned about the dry and hard poops. It’s hard to judge from just a description. Most kitty poops are kind of dry and hard, so that might be perfectly normal, also.

What I would do, if he were mine, would be to keep him on the wet food, liberally laced with water (mine is the consistency of pea soup by the time I’m through mixing). You can usually mix more water with the pate types than the shreds or chunks, if he will eat that. Cats that get enough water in their food often don’t need to drink additional water.

For the time being, I’d take him off of the sweet potato, which I never heard of for a cat, it’s usually pumpkin, and the coconut oil. Keep an eye on him, to make sure he’s pooping and, if everything stays the same, the next time you have a regular vet visit for him, take along a sample of his poop.

If the vet says that it is too dry and hard, she might suggest that you do something. I have one, for instance, that the vet recommends that I give a level half teaspoon of Miralax every other day, just as a preventative. I WOULD NOT, however, do that on my own, but only under a vet’s supervision.

Of course, if anything changes, then you need to consider a vet visit right away.

[mvp]

[QUOTE=DarkBayUnicorn;8964104]
In my experience, a great many cats only poop every other day. If I have an empty litter box longer than two days straight, I administer a dose of kitty laxative/hair ball medication. Works like a charm.[/QUOTE]

Yes. Willis is within normal limits with that every other day, thing. And if you are feeding him wet food, there’s less total/extra food going through him, so there might not be a whole lotta cat crap in this equation at all.

The pooping just outside the litter box (if he previously has had “better aim”) is a sign to consider. A cat who feels pain pooping or peeing can come to associate that with the litter box so that, yeah, they go in there to start the job… then it gets painful and they try to leave (duh), but don’t get too far before they finish. (Hard when you have a brain the size of a small, small walnut and use so much of it to do things like catch birds mid air.)

The tube form of Cat Lax is a fine/easy/cheap place to start. You feed it like a strip on your finger. There are other laxatives or stool softeners out there as well. None is rocket science to use: You feed them to effect. If you wish to experiment on Willis to see if he is, by his standards, unhappily constipated, you can soften things up and see how his booty and behavior improve… or do not.

[RJC]

Lots of helpful info! Thanks!

So at first I wasn’t worried because the every other day poop was still a soft consistency that litter stuck to. I became more worried when it started being drier, which also occurred aroudn a “2 days of no poop” stretch.

Half the reason I added sweet potato was that it’s the third ingredient of the Honest Kitchen Prowl food I ordered, and I thought it would up the nutrient profile of what I was feeding until that came. BUT … maybe the poop DID get drier and harder after I started feeding that. I will stop the sweet potato and see what happens.

I also felt the every other day poop (and not very big poops) wasn’t enough because the feral cats in the shed poop like it’s their job. There are probably 8 poop piles (some that rival my 23 lb dog’s poop in turd size) every day for the 5 cats. BUT they get mostly dry food, with supplemental wet food only, so mvp explained that as well.

Ok. In summary, I may have created a poop issue where there was not one. Good. Cool. Pets are fun.

[RJC]

[QUOTE=Midwesterner;8964135]
I also have one that is an every-other-day pooper, sometimes she only pees once a day too. My advice to you is what I follow myself, if everything else seems normal, try not to worry about it. Mine get 1/2 can wet in the morning, then free access to dry all the time.[/QUOTE]

Willis pees 6-8 times per day (not small UTI pees. Big, Full pees). Your single pee cat makes me think dehydration is not Willis’ problem at least!

[Louise]

[QUOTE=RJC;8964564]
Willis pees 6-8 times per day (not small UTI pees. Big, Full pees). Your single pee cat makes me think dehydration is not Willis’ problem at least![/QUOTE]

Six to eight times a day is on the high side. Combined with dry, hard poop, that would set my alarm bells off. Now, my bells go off easily and others who know more may answer and say that isn’t a problem. But, that would send me and the cat to the vet. How is his weight? Is he losing, gaining, or have you not had him long enough to be able to tell?

[Rain]

[QUOTE=Louise;8964645]
Six to eight times a day is on the high side. Combined with dry, hard poop, that would set my alarm bells off. [/QUOTE]

Me too. That sounds like a lot of peeing.

On the other hand, I’ve had several fosters who were previously on all-dry diets and when they came to me and went to wet food, they still drank a lot and as a result also peed a lot. It was almost as if they had been chronically dehydrated and spent the first two weeks making up for it. (I’m just throwing out guesses at this point.)

[RJC]

[QUOTE=Louise;8964645]
Six to eight times a day is on the high side. Combined with dry, hard poop, that would set my alarm bells off. Now, my bells go off easily and others who know more may answer and say that isn’t a problem. But, that would send me and the cat to the vet. How is his weight? Is he losing, gaining, or have you not had him long enough to be able to tell?[/QUOTE]

Is it? With his soupy food I’m essentially forcing him to drink a lot of water per day. And he still does drink a little from his bowl.

He was skinny when we took him in, but not emaciated. He’s filled out nicely so far, and has bright clear eyes, is very soft and shiny now, purrs anytime he gets attention, and I have palpated his abdomen extensively and he doesn’t stop purring. I would say he’s at an ideal weight right now.

[RJC]

[QUOTE=Rain;8964667]
Me too. That sounds like a lot of peeing.

On the other hand, I’ve had several fosters who were previously on all-dry diets and when they came to me and went to wet food, they still drank a lot and as a result also peed a lot. It was almost as if they had been chronically dehydrated and spent the first two weeks making up for it. (I’m just throwing out guesses at this point.)[/QUOTE]

Willis’ drinking has actually toned down over time. His first night in the shed (maybe even first couple days) he’d drink half his quart water bowl between each feeding. Eventually that decreased, but became harder to track as more cats left the kennel. He took a hiatus from drinking and eating when he was neutered, but I figured that was pretty normal and he perked up after a couple days.

I don’t know… he seems fine in himself other than the pooping issue. And I knew it was 6 or more pees when I was cleaning his litter box twice a day. Now I’ve been cleaning it about 4 times per day (looking for poop) and sometimes there isn’t any pee, but I haven’t been keeping track very well of total pees per day.

I think I need to just let him settle down and settle myself down and see where we are next week, unless he shows signs of worsening health.

[D_BaldStockings]

Your feral cats are not out hunting sweet potatoes to supplement their diet.

This should direct your own supplementing of his diet with… meat or animal products.

You changed him from one food to another and his poop changed. this is not surprising.

You could always go back to the dry food that agreed with him and just add hot water.

Willis sounds like a nice boy.

[hoopoe]

most cats on canned food only drink very little water.

Like good desert creatures they are, they get their hydration from food.

Feral cats and those who hunt have a lot of indigestible waste to get rid of

His cruddy hind end may have been a combo of poor self-sanitation and greasy Tom cat stuff.

[jen-s]

I prefer Laxatone or Cat Lax if I have a cat that seems to need some help pooping. One of mine will happily eat it off of his food. Another won’t touch it unless I put it on his paw and then there is a mighty grudge held (for 10 minutes because he ain’t too bright and his short-term memory is verrrryyy short).

That seems like a lot of pee to me (not a vet, nor do I play one on TV). I also make my cats’ wet food very soupy but they get regular kibble for dinner. If it continues the same, then I’d consider running bloodwork (chemistry panel and CBC) and a UA just for giggles and because I’m a tad paranoid.

Should you want to decrease the water in his kibble (and increase regular drinking), you could try moving the water bowl a significant distance from the food bowl and/or litter boxes. Some cats prefer their water to be quite separate. Another option would be a drinking fountain. There are certainly plenty of cats that prefer running water.

[GraceLikeRain]

I’ve got 3 right now.

Between the three litter boxes I normally have 2-3 poops and 5-6 pees between all three cats. I clean boxes daily so this is a very consistent number for the household.

They each eat around 2 oz of wet food twice a day plus a quarter cup of water at each meal. So each cat is drinking at least a 1/2 cup or 4 oz of water a day and averaging 2 pees per day. They also have access to 3 bowls of water and drink that as well.

6-8 pees for one cat would have me really worried.

[mvp]

[QUOTE=RJC;8964668]
Is it? With his soupy food I’m essentially forcing him to drink a lot of water per day. And he still does drink a little from his bowl.

He was skinny when we took him in, but not emaciated. He’s filled out nicely so far, and has bright clear eyes, is very soft and shiny now, purrs anytime he gets attention, and I have palpated his abdomen extensively and he doesn’t stop purring. I would say he’s at an ideal weight right now.[/QUOTE]

Ok, so one way to “break the tie” on this question is to feel his skin for it’s hydration level. So grab a small tent of it and see how fast it snaps back into place. Also, a dehydrated cat’s skin gives me the impression of a dried, fall leaf or the thin skin you’d find on the back of an old lady’s hand.

If kitteh’s skin is good and he’s still doing everything else well, eating, purring, looking bright pooping some, peeing a tad too much, I’d think that he were more or less in equilibrium. If he’s a middle-aged cat (I don’t remember Willis’ stats), perhaps have his kidney function tested or consider the possibility of diabetes. There are a few things out there that can make a cat drink and pee excessively.

[RJC]

[QUOTE=mvp;8965249]
Ok, so one way to “break the tie” on this question is to feel his skin for it’s hydration level. So grab a small tent of it and see how fast it snaps back into place. Also, a dehydrated cat’s skin gives me the impression of a dried, fall leaf or the thin skin you’d find on the back of an old lady’s hand.

If kitteh’s skin is good and he’s still doing everything else well, eating, purring, looking bright pooping some, peeing a tad too much, I’d think that he were more or less in equilibrium. If he’s a middle-aged cat (I don’t remember Willis’ stats), perhaps have his kidney function tested or consider the possibility of diabetes. There are a few things out there that can make a cat drink and pee excessively.[/QUOTE]

Willis’ skin is very pliable and hydrated with no flakes. He passes the skin pull test with flying colors (familiar with this from horses).

I think Willis is between 1 and 2 years old, based on my internet reading (the vet at the spay clinic didn’t make a guess for me). His teeth are still very white and he has a tad of youngster about him still (he’s a bit clumsy and goofy), but he’s certainly full grown. He has his full squishy tom cat jowls.

I cleaned his box this morning after 24 hours of no cleaning, and he did have 6 pees (5 clumps, but one was probably a conglomerate of 2). He gets about half a cup of water with each meal, so about a cup of water per day. Then maybe a little tiny bit more from his bowel, but such a very small amount that it’s hard to tell quantity.