10 month old kitten with large stool

by Barbara
(Maryland)

I adopted a tonkinese kitten three weeks ago. She was spayed at that time, and recovered from her surgery very well (has seen the vet since then). Before she moved to my home she was eating Natural Balance Ultra Kitten/Cat dry food, and Wellness kitten wet food. I put her on the same dry food but gave her Natural Balance Ultra Kitten/Cat wet food instead of the Wellness canned food.

She was crying in her box straining to go, and was passing very large stool with some bright red blood on it (she's only a 5 pound cat, and her stool was close around 3/4 inch in diameter, poor thing). The doctor said she was constipated. She only goes once a day, and the stool is firm. The doctor recommended adding some pumpkin, which has helped a little bit. The stool is slightly smaller, but still big. I've been switching her back to the wellness wet food the last couple of days, but the problem is continuing. I have also been adding water to her wet food. I do leave the dry food out during the day/night so she can snack some throughout the day. I'm concerned about her not going more often and in smaller amounts. Is this normal for a kitten her age after being spayed?? Can certain wet foods cause this type of constipation/large stool? I also changed her litter - was using World's Best, but I think she was allergic to the corn based litter and dust. I had seen some of the corn dust in her vomit the one time she threw up. Not sure if it's possible for the corn clumping litter to cause that type of problem after just a couple of weeks of use if she happened to ingest some. Any suggestions you have would be very appreciated. Otherwise, she appears to be a very healthy kitty who loves to play.


Answer by Kate
It sounds to me that due to the recent changes in food and routine that your kittens digestive system is a little out of sync. Causing her not to go to the toilet very often and therefore the stools become big.

My advice is not to give her half wet food and half dry food. the dry food should encourage your kittens to drink more water and this will help her.

It may take some time for her system to settle down but if you can keep her to a regular routine of meal times and also make sure that there are plenty of water available for her to drink.

I have a web page about this problem here on this which you may find of further help. Here is the page

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-constipation.html

best wishes Kate

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