How long to leave constipated cat before taking vets?

[Prehfoan49]

I've had my Male cat for 6 years and he has always been in perfect health. Never had any issues. He was neautured years ago, is short haired, very vocal and very loving

For the last 2 days he has been struggling/ straining to go to the toilet and hasnt been himself at all. Right now hes in the kitchen in his bed, hidden away where as usually he would be in here with me, all over me and chattering away

The first day I noticed somthing was wrong he was crying everytime he attempted to go to the toilet,

At first I thought maybe he had a UTI so got him some cystaid. After a bit of online reading I wondered if he maybe had worms so also bought some worming tablets and some probiotics for his tummy.

So he had the cystaid, worming tablet and probiotics yesterday, today he seems a lot more relaxed, isnt crying when attempting to go to the toilet ( but he is still attempting and nothing is coming out )

Aside from taking him to the vets tomorrow what else can I do to make him comfortable?

I ended up down a rabbit hole with cat symptons and now I'm worried he might die, I've read all sorts about is it megacolon? And cat IBD ect

He doesnt have a swollen stomach, will let me stroke, rub and pick him up without any complaints ( only picked him up to give him the medicine)

And does anyone have any helpful advice I could do to relieve the constipation at home?

I have watched him drinking water ( I put the cystaid in his water ) havnt seen him eat though, he wasnt tempted by the cat treats or the slices of beef, only thing I've seen him eat is the probiotics I put on his paw. His ears are cool to touch and he doesnt feel hot anywhere,

Hes normally so active and happy, it's horrible seeing him lay in bed not interested in anything

Also ---- my cat has only behaved like this since having a flea tablet so I have wondered if this is an adverse reaction to the flea tablets? ( johnsons )

I think I'm just hoping someone will come along and say their cat was like this and was back to their normal selves within a few days

I'm so sorry that you are so distressed.

If the PDSA cannot help,and you really do not have the money for treatment, a last option might be to speak to Cats Protection.

I hope you manage to work something out.

Oh dear, yes it does sound stressful for him and for you.

If he's still straining just nothing coming out then you still have a problem. Essentially you need to squeeze his bladder to force it to empty, but there's a way to do it. Like one hand on top of his back by the tail, one hand flat under the bladder and push hands together to push everything backwards towards the exit. For this, more water intake is better, as with human cystitis.

To minimise stress in the house, keep the kittens away from him for now. Food in separate rooms, water bowls away from food dishes away from litter trays. Make sure you have all the litter trays you can possibly fit. Recommended number is one more than the cats that have access to the space. So if one cat is separated, two litter trays in that cat's space.

Feliway optimum plug in is magic, expensive but worth it.
Zylkene tablets sprinkled on his food help to calm him (possibly not until this issue is sorted though)

A very cheap solution is to ensure he has space that others can't reach him. A bed in a high place that only be can reach, tempt him up with treats so he knows it's there. Put something that only smells of him and you on it to confirm him. Like give him a cuddle wearing an old jumper or towel.

I hope this helps a little. Main priority is emptying his bladder though. Perhaps ask on your local Facebook if anyone could help you out? A small local rescue or something may be able to help today.

Also, if cashflow is such an issue I think you need to have a serious think about whether you can afford all the pets. Vet bills snowball very quickly as you've seen. And pets get more expensive as they age.

I know you don't need extra stress right now but please make some plans for how to manage. Unfortunately it sounds like you still have a way to go with this current issue 💐

He is just weeing very small droplets now where as when he first came home he was weeing a decent amount

OP, this is an emergency. A male cat who is unable to wee properly needs to see the vet. I've been there with one of mine and it was life or death - if we hadn't taken him when we did, we'd have lost him.

I am so sorry about your baby and your struggles but even if you have to borrow money, you really need to get your cat to a vet today or he may genuinely not survive the night. Bladder blockages can be fatal very, very fast.

I’ve had two male cats that have experienced this. The procedure is painful for them and they become reluctant to wee, because it hurts them.
I would not panic just yet, just give the cat some peace and quiet and allow him to recover from his surgery and keep and eye on him. I would look at how you can reduce stress for him going forward, because this is what causes it.
But get him to the PDSA on Monday if there’s still no improvement in him.

I've spent the last 20 minutes or so very slowly bottle feeding him mashed up cat food, water and his medicine whilst he was wrapped up in a blanket. 10 or so minutes after I unwrapped him he went and had a wee on a sheet. I think this is a good amount compared to what I've seen him try to do. Means hes not blocked for now anyway which is a massive relief

Yes, that's a decent amount of wee.

I’d also recommend getting liquids into him, cat soups etc. to get the unrinary tract flowing for him. And a cat fountain to encourage him to drink water.

That sounds promising. Just keep and eye on him. He’s had surgery and he’s in pain from that.

Aren't there foods you can get to prevent this happening again?

Royal canin urinary. Although I was advised it wasn’t necessary. Plenty of fluids and no stress are what’s needed.

These tablets are what I used and stopped any further flare ups.Cystease

MyBeloved

PDSA can help tomorrow, their closed on the weekends though. I'm taking him to the hospital tomorrow and he's just had a decent sized wee which means he isnt blocked right now ( but can still get another blockage at any time )

Growingoutthegrey

Fortunately after feeding him with a bottle mixture of meds and his water hes gone and had a decent sized wee. I'm just going to continue to feed him his meds like this now as I'm assuming the very small droplets of wee is because hes not been drinking enough by himself.

I've kept the kittens away from him since we had them, theyve just started being able to climb out of it now but theyve been in a play pen since weve got them when we havnt been able to supervise them. He has full run of the house where as they dont but he would often approach their play pen just to hiss at them 🤦‍♀️😅 I have 2 towers and a 3 bed cube thing and yes to the multiple cat litter trays 😅 my house is full of them aha.

I ordered some feliway whilst he was in hospital, it's been plugged in for 2 days and he has seemed more tolerant in that he will walk past their area without hissing now.

Since being back at home hes prefered to sleep in my bedroom ( kittens and dog not allowed upstairs ) so I moved his things upstairs to my room,

Growingoutthegrey

Money isnt such an issue its only an issue today because if he has another emergancy right now i dont have the money today. I spent almost £1000 on emergency help for him last week. I can afford to get everyone insured at the end of the month and hes eligible for help from the pdsa during weekdays

margotrose

I know, hes already had emergancy care this week for the exact same issue. After bottle feeding him hes done a decent sized wee so I'm not worried that hes blocked up right now but I'm still taking him hospital tomorrow as he still has stones in his kidneys that need removing asap

Superhair

I think your right and hes just been reluctant to wee, that and the fact he hasnt drank much water by himself so probably not a large amount to wee out, hes done a decent sized wee after I've bottle fed him so that's relieved some anxiety

From what I've read it can be caused by stress and some foods. He is on Hills C/D now, I've bought feliway, hes currently staying in my room but can go anywhere he wants in the house he isnt restricted and ive not let anyone mither him,

Since hes been home he has been trying to wee just wherever he is despite the multiple litter trays, he was like this for 2 days before he went to the hospital too. I havnt said anything to him about it and dont make a fuss, I'm assuming this is because it's still so sore and feels so uncomfortable plus the fact hes had a stressful week?

It depends on the cause.

If it's "just" stress then urinary food is a bit pointless, but if the cat has a diagnosis of crystals then the prescription food does help - it works to dissolve the crystals and prevent them from forming.

Try giving him some tuna in oil. If that doesn't shift him, take him to a vet.

Superhair

Brilliant thank you, I'll order him some of that next week. Before I even thought he might of needed hospital I ordered

Cystaid
Vets Best Urinary Tract Gel
Homeo urine plus

And ive since bought apple cider vineger as I've read that can be great for balancing levels and for potentially dissolving stones. I've been giving him these alongside his medicine

margotrose

The vets didnt mention anything about Crystal's, just said they had removed the stones from his bladder but he still had some in his kidneys

They recommended he be put on Hills C/D food which he now is but from what I've read that only helps with certain types of stones and I dont know which he has. They said they could only find that out via surgery

D-Mannose supplements are fantastic for urinary health.

I have a 3yo male who had a diagnosis of struvite crystals - luckily he never blocked but he had a few issues of struggling to wee/bloody urine that required antibiotics and anti-sickness jabs.

We switched him to a dry urinary diet specifically formulated for that type of crystal (there are two types so you need to make sure you get the right food). He now gets food in gravy for added liquid (he wouldn't eat the urinary wet food) as well as Cystease tablet everyday and two D-Mannose tablets.

He's not had a re-ocurrence in two years now.

They can find out via a urine sample (that's how ours was diagnosed) but stones/crystals are generally the same thing.

There are struvite crystals and another kind (I forget the name) and both need slightly different diets so I wouldn't be switching his food until you know exactly what the problem is.

@margotrose.
I’ve just had the misfortune to experience this with 2 male cats at separate points in my life. Stress can also cause the crystals in their bladder, my first male cat (approx 15 years ago) was pretty much on the Royal Canin food from his diagnosis. Second time round I was advised by a vet that the food is not really necessary and if you research there is evidence to back up this statement.
The one thing I would highly recommend are the Cystease capsules I’ve linked in an earlier post. I used those continuously on my last cat and didn’t experience any further episodes.

@Superhair yeah, I've had two cats with the same issues too and urinary foods were massively helpful to us. Obviously we did what we could to alleviate stress but the neither of ours had another episode once we switched diets.

We don't use Royal Canin though - Purina is much cheaper and does exactly the same thing. We pay around £26 a bag (lasts around a month with three cats eating it) whereas Royal Canin comes in at nearly £60.

@margotrose. It expensive all round if it’s not really necessary and a pain if you have other pets too. The condition is also generally caused by stress and dehydration, so feeding dry food to a dehydrated animal seems nonsensical to me now with hindsight.
Anyway enough of that. I hope the ops cat makes a speedy recovery and she finds something that works for her.

I suspect different things work for different cats. We have three boys and all they all eat the urinary dry food plus regular wet food in gravy with no issues.

I suspect different things work for different cats. We have three boys and all they all eat the urinary dry food plus regular wet food in gravy with no issues

The urinary food for crystals is meant to work by reducing the acidity in the body, to stop the struvite crystals forming. I don’t see the point of you feeding them that with regular wet food that will basically undo what the dry food is doing.
I suspect it works because whatever was causing stress has passed and the liquid content of wet food.
It’s an unnecessary expense that imo would be better invested in a good wet food and a water fountain for the cat.

Thanks, but I'm happy with following my vets advice and recommendations. I trust them to know my animals best. I have three happy, healthy boys so I have no reason to change anything.