Jenks bowel movements, not frequent enough?

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AZJenks

AZJenks

Member Since 2014
Lately, he's been having a bowel movement approximately every two days. He just went as of this writing, otherwise we were looking at a third day with no poops. I'm concerned that he's not getting enough fiber. Is that possible on an all wet food diet? What can I do assist his regularity?

Thanks!
 
You can try adding a teaspoon of regular canned pumpkin--not pumpkin pie filling, but plain pumpkin. It adds water and fiber.

We have used Miralax with our cats. You add 1/8 tsp of Miralax (plain unflavored) to wet food once or twice a day depending on need.
 
AZJenks said:
Lately, he's been having a bowel movement approximately every two days. He just went as of this writing, otherwise we were looking at a third day with no poops. I'm concerned that he's not getting enough fiber. Is that possible on an all wet food diet? What can I do assist his regularity?

Thanks!
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What is his poop like? Does it seem normal, wet, dry...? Is he straining to poop?
 
lak99 said:
You can try adding a teaspoon of regular canned pumpkin ... We have used Miralax with our cats.
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Pumpkin is certainly something I never would've considered. Perhaps, if needed, I'll try the unflavored Miralax first so as to minimize any changes to the taste or texture of the wet food.

Elizabeth and Bertie said:
What is his poop like? Does it seem normal, wet, dry...? Is he straining to poop?
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The most recent one was two solid, normal looking poops followed by a third that was decidedly mushy. They're definitely not dry. He also does not appear to be straining during the process.

When does one consider supplementing with added fiber? Am I being concerned for nothing? Is it possible that his body is just using most of the wet food that he consumes so that there isn't enough waste for a daily bowel movement?

Larry and Kitties said:
When did you change to all canned? It can take a while to get normal bowel movements
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The all wet transition occurred 6 weeks ago.
 
Just a thought, and maybe not relevant at all, but...
Maybe your cat was producing more poop before because of the higher carb diet; because there was more of that food that was indigestible and being passed out as waste?
With my own cats I found that, as I've reduced the carb content of the food (and have fed better quality food with less fillers etc), the poop seems to get smaller (and less smelly too...). And my feral girl who eats mostly raw food has the least poop of all (and her poop doesn't smell!). It seems to me that the more digestible the food, the less poop comes out the other end...
As I say, just a thought....

Another thought though if it is constipation is to increase the water in his diet, either by adding a little water to the food, or by getting a water fountain to encourage him to drink more..?
 
Thanks for the tips everyone! He just had another healthy BM, so I'll just keep monitoring for any changes. As Elizabeth mentioned, perhaps once every other day or so is his new norm given the more digestible nature of an all-wet diet.
 
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