Possible constipation?

[Kendra R]

Last night Piccolo threw up his dinner after eating less of it than normal. There was a hunk of plastic bag in it which explained his lack of appetite (he is prone to chewing and eating bits of grocery bags/trash bags which we try to keep away from him but sometimes he finds something)

He'd already had his insulin , 1 unit after dinner but since he'd thrown up I wanted to get some food in him. He readily ate a whole lickable treat but shortly after threw that up.

Then he started straining to poop (sometimes he pees/poops in inappropriate spots like on blankets, which is a bad habit probably related to the diabetes. we've partially corrected it with a 2nd litter box) Each time he'd strain to poop it would just be a few drops of liquid poop. I followed him around and he probably did this 6-8 times.

I kept as close an eye on him as I could but it was after midnight and my 2 year old daughter was also up, it was a hot mess of a night. He slept under the bed for a portion of the night (not normal) but ended up at my husbands feet where he usually is. He was licking his bum for awhile too (I didn't see anything that looked off) His appetite is lower than normal this morning, I poured out a Tiki cat broth, he drank all the broth and 10 or 15 min later came back and he's been nibbling at the chicken. He's kept it down so far. Postponing insulin, may skip morning shot altogether... Going to offer some pate in a minute though.

No vomiting or straining yet this morning that I have seen. He doesn't seem to be in pain (jumped up on table like normal) Planning to pick up some pumpkin at the pet store in a bit. Wondering if the cold turkey switch to wet food has backed him up or something?

**Trying at home care first due to finances so just wanted to describe his symptoms and see if anyone experienced similar. will take him to vet if things escalate**

Thanks for any tips

 

[plumsteal]

(Wanted to edit to preface this with: I’m not a vet, just a person whose own cats have had problems with constipation in the past.)

The liquid poop suggests there’s a blockage right at the end that he can’t pass. He’s straining so hard that he is squeezing out some of the poop that is just behind the blockage. The trouble is, you can’t really remove that kind of blockage with pumpkin or laxatives, which work on earlier parts of the digestive system. Once the blockage is all the way at the end, an enema is usually needed to remove it. I’d be worried that some of the plastic that he threw up also made it’s way down through his system and has created a bowel obstruction.

 

[Kendra R]

thank you for responding, that was also a concern of mine. that's good info about the pumpkin. I hadn't seen your message so i gave him some tiki cat pumpkin meal topper earlier on a blend of pate/tiki cat chicken shreds and he ate readily. Also, earlier this morning i noticed his anus was bulging out slightly (not red or bleeding) and i just checked it again (we've been out running errands for a few hours) and his bum looks normal again and i see fresh poop in the litter box. i have 2 cats so im not sure it was him but im hoping he's passed the poop. just gonna keep a close eye the rest of the day. to your knowledge is constipation common with diet changes/or with diabetic cats? He's been on kibble up to now and never had any bowel issues before now