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  #1  
Old September 4th, 2014, 10:04 PM
ghennifer ghennifer is offline
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Question Cat scared to eliminate

Hi,

This question is regarding my parents 10 year old cat, Athena. She was at the vet almost 2 months ago as she was severely constipated and they had to remove the stool from her. She also remained at the vet overnight. The procedure left her with wounds around her anus (my mom said it was really messy). Since that vet visit, Athena has gone from using the litter box a little to not using it at all. She appears to be scared to eliminate, running when she has to go and while she is going (usually once a day). The rest of the time she hides or sleeps. My parents took her to a vet (a new one) and they ran all sorts of tests and can't find anything wrong physically. The tried acupuncture as well, and Bach remedies. I am trying to help my parents, but am having difficulty finding anything online about this. She is not scared of her litter box, but of eliminating in general.

Currently, she is being given something to help her soften her stool and pain medication (since the vet visit). She is on a special diet as well because she can't digest meat. She was very sick as a little kitty, but up until now was doing very well and was not on any meds.

Any ideas/help would be much appreciated. Athena's quality of life is not great now, and my parents are wondering if they need to put her down (although they really don't want to!!!!). They do not like seeing her in constant distress!!

Thank you for the help.

Jennifer
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  #2  
Old September 5th, 2014, 08:58 AM
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marko marko is offline
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Hi ghennifer and welcome to the forum.

Elimination problems are difficult to deal with, but I'd never put an otherwise healthy animal to sleep over this. Never.

Despite the vet ordeal, First question when it comes to litter box issues - is the box clean enough from the CAT's point of view? (Solids scooped every single day and litter completely changed at least 1x a week every single week.)

If the cat never liked to use the box, perhaps the box was too smelly, or in too high traffic an area? and perhaps the bad vet experience has caused bum soreness which only exacerbates the condition.

Just thinking aloud here and hope other members have additional suggestions.
Good luck!
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  #3  
Old September 5th, 2014, 02:28 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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http://pets.webmd.com/cats/cat-const...ecal-impaction

Is your cat drinking enough water , if not that can cause constipation. Maybe you could try adding a little fish oil to the food and see if that helps.
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Old September 5th, 2014, 03:53 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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What did Athena eat before the constipation problem, and what does she eat now?

Has she had any lab work done, like a urinalysis and senior blood panel? If so, do you have a copy of the results?
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Old September 5th, 2014, 04:21 PM
cpatlan1507 cpatlan1507 is offline
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no one watching

Try putting it in a nice quiet room an hour or so after it eats with a soft litter type in its box. Mine had a hard time cause there was too much going on. I even put some soft low music on. It seemed to do the trick. I was at wits end. This is my very first post. I hope it helps.
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Old September 5th, 2014, 10:03 PM
ghennifer ghennifer is offline
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Thank you

Thank you everyone for the advice!

Just to clarify, Athena was using the litter box fine before the procedure. My parents are really good about keeping it clean as well. Good idea about putting her in a quiet room after eating, maybe that will help.

Athena drinks lots of water, but, on a previous vets advice, was eating only dry food because of her inability to digest protein. Now she is only eating wet food as the diarrhea she would normally get is not as much an issue now that she is having constipation.

Athena had blood, stool and urine tests done and were all fine. Sorry, no copy of the results, I live in a different province from my parents.

The new vet says that Athena is a mystery!

Fish oil is a great idea, and I will mention that to may parents. They also heard about pumpkin, I am not sure how that works.

As of today, the vet is recommending Athena may need Prozac for a couple of months. I also know very little about this.

Thanks again everyone for the advice and the nice welcome to the forum!
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  #7  
Old September 6th, 2014, 03:39 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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http://pets.thenest.com/effects-proz...cats-7261.html


You could not pay me money to give Prozac to my pet.
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Old September 6th, 2014, 07:14 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghennifer View Post
Athena drinks lots of water, but, on a previous vets advice, was eating only dry food because of her inability to digest protein. Now she is only eating wet food as the diarrhea she would normally get is not as much an issue now that she is having constipation.
What brands/flavours of dry and wet?

And that's just silly for a vet to suggest that a cat can't digest protein. Shows they really don't understand feline physiology at all. Protein (meat protein, specifically) is what they're "designed" to eat. It's possible to have allergies to particular types of protein, which usually develop because of the extremely poor quality protein in most kibble, but that doesn't mean they can't "digest" it.

Anyway, something else your folks might want to look into is slippery elm bark. It can help with both constipation and diarrhea by maintaining the moisture balance in the intestinal tract, as well as soothing any inflammation. http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/slippery-elm/
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Old September 7th, 2014, 09:41 AM
Digston Digston is offline
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Were xrays done recently? If she was backed up enough that she had to have her colon surgically emptied there is a good chance it could happen again. Being constipated hurts like a *insert curse word here*, I would dread going near the toilet too!
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Old September 7th, 2014, 11:25 AM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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When I got my dog Marty he could not poop b/c he was impacted , I had a x ray taken and the vet showed me how bad it was. He was given an
enema and that helped him.
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