we have POOPage!

[mellowtigger]

I earlier voiced concerns about how to accomplish veterinarian visits. It was because Hope has had increasing problems with constipation during the last year. I've successfully used olive oil on dry kibble for mild cases, and I bought the generic "Smooth LAX" product to help with the worse ones. This last week was the worst case yet. I had to increase the daily dose from the usual 0.6mL / ¹⁄₈ teaspoon. And it took 3 days instead of 1, with a total of I think 5 days when she couldn't poop. But I see this morning that she has finally pooped.

I've already ordered a lot of wet cat food at Petco. It should be delivered this week. I'll start alternating between wet and dry food, hoping to increase the hydration in her gut.

I suspect, though, that part of the problem is her tendency to eat my long hair that's loose on the floor or stuck in the blankets we use in winter. She's the same with cobwebs. She seeks them out and starts snacking at them like they're cotton candy. I know it causes digestive problems for her, because I've had to pull the, uh... "formation" from her behind that she can't shake loose. When I get to it, I discover that a single human hair is keeping it attached to her insides like an umbilical cord. I snap it off so she stops freaking out about the messy condition, but I know that my hair is still in her intestine.

Nearly every year I wonder, "Is this the year that I finally cut my hair?" I've never had a good reason to finally do it, but that's the only solution I can think of, if it keeps her from having these worsening digestive problems. I need to get her to a vet to make sure she doesn't have kidney problems that are disrupting the fluid balance in her stools.

But for today, at least, I'm relieved that she has a functional digestive path again.

Comments

[scrottie]

Ok the cobwebs would be comic if it weren't tragic, but this is still somewhat relateable with Emma, who had more and more trouble passing things as she got older. I don't know if this qualifies as advice, but, for what it's worth, we eventually moved to just wet food and at a vet's advice, started mixing in about 1/5th canned pumpkin puree. Doubt that will fix anything if cobwebs were the problem. Emma always really really loved gnoshing on plants. It made her puke but we tolerated that thinking she must be doing it for some reason. I think the puking was less bad if she had a steady supply rather than binging. So, lots of wheat grass. Wondering if Hope might displace some of the cobwebs with greens? Sorry, just coming in to this discussion, so apologies if this is well covered territory.

[rebeccmeister]

I popped over here to commiserate, but S beat me to it!

Kind of amazing to discover a commonality in concerns over cat pooping, heh.

I'd agree with S, the canned pumpkin might be worth a try for Hope, mixed into wet kibble.

Emma would also eat our hair, but in her case that mostly just resulted in dingleberries, so I'm a bit skeptical it's the hair that's making things difficult for Hope.

I'm about to blog about it, but just this past week we got connected up with a local electric carshare program. I believe the program got started thanks to either state or federal subsidies. So far this setup seems to be far better than equivalents set up and managed by commercial car rental companies that we've tried in the past.

I'm not sure what MSP has in this arena, but I see information about something called Evie and something else called Hourcar. Somehow or another the latest carshare here doesn't have exorbitant monthly member fees - just an hourly use fee.

[mellowtigger]

Yes, I'm already signed up with Evie/HourCar. Unfortunately, it's focused on areas that are not my neighborhood. :( I'd have to walk a lot farther away to get a car, then drive home->vet->home, then maybe even drive somewhere they expect the cars to be, then walk back home again. Possible, but still nothing.

Minneapolis is also experimenting with hyperlocal small bus rounds. Unfortunately, their test ground is neighborhoods south of mine. :( But at least they have the right idea, looping through local businesses and homes. :) I'm not finding a link online to this experimental service, sorry.

[foeclan]

If you need a ride to the vet, I should be able to help with that (though it's a bit trickier during the work day).

[mellowtigger]

Thanks. It may still come to that. :( She still not pooping more. I do have a garden cart that I could use to tow her to the vet. Probably wouldn't help much with the yelling, but at least she'd be slightly more stable than me carrying her, if I pad the bottom with lots of blankets to cushion the rough sidewalk travel.

[mellowtigger]

Oh, thank goodness. Just a few minutes ago, she pooped for only the 2nd time in a week. Hopefully she'll get better quickly. I'm switching her solely to wet food for now, and I'll try stopping the Smooth Lax medication.

[kathmandu]

I'm sorry to hear your cat is having troubles.
When my then-elderly cat started having hairball problems, she was helped by eating small amounts of butternut squash puree (same deal as the pumpkin other commenters are recommending) and butter or cream cheese. (My cat was thin and getting thinner, so our concern was more to feed her up than to minimize calories.)

The only other low-intervention thing I can think of is to brush/style your hair in one place every day, and tidy up the loose/fallen hairs right afterward as much as you can, to reduce the amount of it she finds.

Good luck to you both. Poor kitty.