Kitty hasn't pooped for about 3 days

Hi everyone! I have been Googleing my guts out looking for answers and stumbled across this forum! YAY!

We just moved to Panama from the Dominican Republic last month. We brought our child (AKA...Kitty Cat) with us. Kitty adopted us in the DR about 3 1/2 years ago - showed up at our door and decided he liked the place and has never left! :)

In the DR, there is VERY little for cats! So, my only option in the beginning was to feed him Whiskas dry cat food. Not long after that, he developed a blockage and we had to take him to the vet where he was kept overnight so they could insert a catheter and run some tests. He had crystals in his urine that was causing the block. The vet there told me that I needed to change his food to something better than Whiskas. A task NOT easy to do...but I did finally find Iams Dry food. I fed this food to him for about 3 years with no more blocks or problems.

Now...we have moved to Panama - to a small little town. Again, here, there is not much for cats - and I was faced with having Whiskas or some other stuff called Gatti as my only options for feeding. I should mention that Kitty is SOOOO not a fan of wet food. He has now decided that he likes Tuna...sometimes.

Sooooo......low and behold....Kitty can't pee again! :( So I call a vet and he comes to look at him and decides that he needs to take him to the clinic to run some tests. Again, he's diagnosed with crystals in the urine!! He gave him antibiotics (and enough for 3 more days) and sent Kitty home the next day.

In the meantime, I KNOW I have to get some better food for him! A friend of mine was in Panama City and was able to find Science Diet for Adult Cats - so she brought a bag back with her. Kitty has been eating this food since yesterday morning.

So, why am I asking about poop?? Well...Kitty returned from the vet late Saturday afternoon (March 27). He did poop that night...but nothing since then. He does pee.....but now, no poop!! Ay, Dios Mio! I was feeding him Tuna until the new food arrived. He is back to his regular self - sleeping, eating, drinking water, playing and jumping up on things he shouldn't (like the kitchen counter) - so he's all good there....but NO POOP!!!

Could it be the combination of going to the vet & spending the night, antibiotics (mean mommy shoving pills down his throat), Tuna (which he would rather NOT eat), and then this new food that is causing the delay in his normal pooping schedule??

I appreciate anyone who has read to the end of this post! :) I'm just a little worried that we might now have fixed one problem, just to have another! :wall: I'm just worried about my furry little baby!

Any info or help would be greatly appreciated!! :)

Sue :cat:

It's almost like he just knew I was worried enough to make a post on a forum!! I could hear him diggin' in the litter box, so when he came out - I went in to look for buried treasure....AND FOUND IT!!!! :thumbs up

It feels a little weird being this excited about cat poop...but I AM! Things are getting better in Kitty Cat's world! (and mine!)

I should also mention that currently, he is laying in the middle of the floor, upside down, crashed out cold....his usual position! I think Kitty is gonna sleep good tonight! :sleepy:

Hi, KittyCat Mommy. Welcome to the forum.:)

I'm so glad to hear Kitty Cat is feeling better. Like you suggested, it could well have been the changes in food and the vet visit that caused the poop problem. Although most cats love tuna and it is fine for a treat now and then, it, as well as other fish products, should be limited in a cats diet although feeding it for the short time that you did likely wouldn't have caused any issues. Most people here also agree that almost any kind of wet cat food is better than dry although it can be very difficult to convince a diehard kibble eater of that. It does sound like your choices are very limited where you are located and you can only work with what is available to you.

If you are interested in getting some more information on foods or any other pet related subject, there is a wealth of information and many knowledgeable people on this forum. We even have a raw food forum on here if you are interested in learning more about feeding raw.

Once again, welcome, and we would love to see some pictures of your little fur baby. You will find that we all love pictures.:cloud9: I think you need to do about five posts before you can upload pictures.

Hi Mikischo,

Thank you for the warm welcome! I agree about the wet cat food....but Kitty, apparently has other plans! He just won't eat it no matter how hard I try (and beg and plead) Besides - wet cat food is next to impossible to find here! Tons of wet DOG food...but nothing for cats! Maybe one day there will be enough people here with cats to get some of the stores to order it in - but I won't hold my breath on that!

I gave him the Tuna only for a short time because he had to eat something! I certainly didn't want to give him the Whiskas again - especially after just getting back from the vet. Kitty is a rather odd cat...he just doesn't seem to like anything that isn't his crunchy food....and that includes raw stuff! He's an odd duck....but that's one of the many reasons why I love him to bits! :lovestruck: I'll check out the raw forum though and see if there is something I haven't tried yet!

Thanks again for the welcome! Oh, and btw....I am originally from Winnipeg....so it was doubly nice to read your reply! :)

Hi my fellow Winnipeggers :D So happy to see all of us on this forum!!!

I just wanted to say that it would be a good idea to not give your kitty Tuna very often as it is full of mercury and can cause Urinary problems. Some cats are very sensitive to fish and can block even when given as a treat I have heard.

The poop situation was hopefully just becasue she was stressed from the vets office. Do you know if the poop was hard or soft. Just keep an eye on the poop situation for awhile and make sure she is going and the poops are not dry, hard and small (like rabbit pellets) because this can indicate constipation. Make sure kitty is getting plenty of water. My Lexus has feline megacolon which started with constipation.

Good suggestion about the raw diet. There is a wealth of information on the internet on feeding the right raw diet. You must be sure it is balanced. But you can start out when you are making yourself some type of meat to drop the raw meat on the floor next to you and see if kitty will take to it. If not, there are many tips and tricks on getting your cat to start on a raw diet....PATIENCE is the number one tip :laughing::laughing:

Good luck and welcome to the forum!!! :cat:

Welcome to the forum. :thumbs up I am so glad kitty finally pooped!! :highfive:
However, unless you get him convinced that he loves wet food you are going to be having increasingly worse issues with his crystals. Cats need meat. Not grains and corn which is what dry food is made with. They also need water with their diet, not beside their diet.
This is a wonderful site that is well worth the read.
www.catinfo.org
I would go into more detail but I am running late as it is. Good luck. Stick around. This is a great site~~~

Hi KittyCat Mommy, and welcome to pets.ca! Sorry to hear about Kitty's urinary tract issues, I know how scary they can be. Many years ago, one of my cats had to have his penis removed (perineal urethrostomy) he was blocked so bad. Unfortunately that was before I (or my vet) knew how bad dry food is for cats. Doesn't matter who makes it or how much it costs, kibble has no place in the feline diet.

I can also sympathize with having a kibble addict, as my diabetic cat was one of those too. Took me many months to convert him to an all wet diet, but if I can do it, so can you! Do you have canned Fancy Feast available anywhere near you? Or even Friskies? Or perhaps you could give some serious thought to making your own raw food for Kitty. I have lots of tips for transitioning cats off of kibble, but here is a good place to start for some advice: http://www.catinfo.org/#Transitioning_Dry_Food_Addicts_to_Canned_Food_

The key is to stop free-feeding dry and only give a precisely measured amount at meal times, picking up whatever isn't eaten in a few minutes. You can leave wet food out instead (if insects aren't too much of an issue) in case Kitty decides he's hungry enough to eat it while you aren't around. Sprinkling the top of the wet food with some pulverized dry often works to make the new food more familiar.

It would also be a good idea not to feed tuna anymore. I know you only did it for treats or for the interim, but because fish can exacerbate urinary tract issues, as Khari mentioned, I'd eliminate it completely from this point forward. If you need to use the strong flavour to entice Kitty to eat some wet food, you can pour just the water from the can over top of it.

And lastly, here is an article on why it's so incredibly crucial that you get Kitty eating only wet food. Even if it takes a while. Patience and perseverance are the key! But I firmly believe there is not a cat that can't eventually be converted :D. http://www.catinfo.org/feline_urinary_tract_health.htm

Good luck!