Tailless Cat, Bowel Problems, Not Using Litterbox?

Question

We have a cat who is refusing to use the litterbox to defecate. She will use it to pee, though. She's about 1-2 years old, otherwise healthy. We think it is causing her pain, because sometimes she even cries while trying to go. she also runs quickly away from the litterbox after using it, as if she thinks it is causing her pain. Her stools are usually real hard. She also has a bad hairball problem and vomits several times a week. The vomit looks like completely undigested cat food. The vet suggested we give her a few drops of mineral oil in her food. But if she senses or smells even a drop, she refuses to eat it. She also refuses to eat any food with hairball formula. actually, she'll only eat one specific type of food and virtually nothing else. The cat is tailless and has alot of the traits of a manx, though she was a stray. I wouldn't think she has manx syndrome because she can walk fine and is otherwise healthy. Any ideas?

Answer 1

hold her down,with a small droper feed her olive oil twice to three times a day until her regular movements are back on schedule and soft,after this consider putting it in her food ,it smells a lot better than mineral oil and is very good for her health.hope she feels better...

Answer 2

She may have some bowel problems related to her being a Manx. Being tailless is not proof positive that she is a Manx, since sometimes cats' tails are amputated due to an injury. Manx cats have other characteristics, notably the long hind legs. You can look at breed standard photos of Manx and compare them to your cat.

http://www.cfainc.org/breeds/profiles/manx.html

The Manx-gene bowel problems are sometimes apparent early but sometimes don't show up till a cat is older.

I have a cat who has chronic constipation due to megacolon, although he is not a Manx. I have had good results with him for nine years by using Lactulose syrup, which you can get from your vet. It's a stool softener rather than a laxative. My cat won't eat it mixed in his food, so I use a 5 cc syringe with the needle removed, and squirt it into his mouth.

You might see if Lactulose works for your cat. It's quite inexpensive.

Megacolon can be a serious problem and eventually prove fatal. The nerves to the colon are defective so the waste material does not get moved along and eliminated normally. It just builds up, stretching the colon more and more, and as it stays in the colon it loses water and becomes hard and dry. Eventually the colon is filled with a mass the cat cannot possibly pass, and it either has to have surgery or it dies. Surgery is not a permanent cure because it doesn't change the fact that the colon's nerve supply is defective.

Your cat may be avoiding the litterb box because trying to defecate hurts her, and she originally was using the litter box, so she thinks the box is causing her pain and maybe if she does elsewhere, it won't hurt.

Has your vet checked to be sure the cat doesn't have a urinary tract problem? She could have one along with a bowel problem.

Answer 3

With 2 cats you need more than one litter tray. Ideally you should have 3 as some cats - a) Will not share. b) Will not use the same tray for pee and poo. Make sure the litter is as soft as possible on their paws - it should be as close to sand as possible and it should never be scented as when it gets wet your cat will have to lick off something which tastes of perfume. If you are using a hooded tray then I would remove the hood as some cats find them difficult to get comfortable in (a cat stands up a bit more when it is pooing) and also the smell builds up inside. Make sure you are scooping the litter as soon as possible after use and completely cleaning and disinfecting the trays once a week. Place the new tray near the spot he is using to deficate and if he still does it outside you should pick it up with a tissue and place it in the tray - hopefully the scent will attract him back there next time. Were the cats littermates or did you take 2 separate cats and put them together? If they were previously unknown to each other then you might have a territorial situation and one might be preventing the other from using the tray. I would also try Feliway Artificial Pheromone Diffusers which you should plug in around the house and this will help to calm and reassure the cats - they are probably very stressed at the moment.

Answer 4

Will she eat tuna? Maybe tuna packed in oil?

There's a new product for people, miralax, which is undetectable in most foods, can't smell, can't taste, etc. If you could get her to eat some sort of wet food, perhaps you could add in just a tad of that. It works really well and is extra gentle.

Poor baby! We all know how it feels to be constipated, but she's so constipated it's coming back up, too. You've got to get her a laxative of some sort. Can you slip something into her water? Is she drinking enough water? Most cats are lactose-intolerant. So if you fed her a nice saucer of milk or cream it should theoretically cause diarrhea, right?

We thought it would be really difficult to give liquid pennicillin to our cat--she shreds vets by the dozen. But she got used to taking it, and we'd tell her what was going on and she'd fuss, but one of us was holding her, and the other pried her mouth open and we got it down. Maybe that's what you'll have to do.

I hope she gets better. She must feel miserable.

TX Mom
Not a vet

Answer 5

There are flavored hairball remedies that cats will take. Try malt for some reason, cats love it. It's cheap, if she won't eat it, no big.

X-rays can clear this up for you. It will show any malformations in the intestines. It's not as expensive as it seems.

Answer 6

I would get another vets opinion. To give oil or liquid meds put it in a syringe [without the needle] and put it in the cats mouth.