Constipated or just not ready yet?

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  • 6 August, 2015 at 3:19 am #835898
    Shea B.
    Participant

    I took in three orphan kittens two weeks ago, so I estimate them to be almost 3 weeks old. The first week they pooped runny yellowish poop every time I wiped them. It’s been three days now since any of them pooped. I figured it was from switching to powdered formula, so I switched back to goat’s milk yesterday. Gave them a few drops of olive oil too. The last poop I saw was a hard, dry poop one of them squeezed out in their sleep. That was on Monday morning, today is Wednesday.

    Their stomachs aren’t really hard, there’s squish when I gently squeeze their bellies. When they’re awake they’re crying and begging for food and will crawl all over their box and try to climb out in order to get to the bottle, so they’re obviously not feeling ill. So maybe there’s just no poop in them yet? I’m just not sure if I should rush them to the vet or wait a bit longer.

    6 August, 2015 at 3:45 am #835900
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Shea, they probably have poop in them, but keep them on the goat’s milk for the duration of their formula days. Powdered formula is famous for constipating kittens–every kitten I’ve raised on powdered formula has done it. Goat’s milk just doesn’t. They are also probably old enough to start on wet food too, which would help move things along. You could add a little of it to the goat’s milk to get them used to the taste, or put a little on your finger and put it on the roof of their mouth. I don’t know about rushing them to the vet, but work on it really hard tomorrow after feeding them, and if you can’t get them to poop, maybe the vet can help you with it, or give them enemas. I’m going to post a link on the triangle method of pooping a kitten too, maybe it will help.

    Helping a kitten to eliminate

    6 August, 2015 at 4:23 am #835903
    Shea B.
    Participant

    Oh wow, wet food already? All right, I’ll see if the grocery store carries kitten friendly wet food tomorrow. I’ve been considering giving their butts a dunk in the sink and seeing if that helps. I’d hate to stress them out but they need a bath anyway.

    I’m a bit scared to try the triangle method. I don’t want to hurt them. But I’ll give it a try too.

    6 August, 2015 at 6:46 am #835910
    Shea B.
    Participant

    I practiced the triangle method on the one who’s gone the longest without pooping. She peed from it, but no poop. Maybe I was too gentle. I was afraid of hurting her, and she was squirming a lot. Will try again next feeding time.

    6 August, 2015 at 2:23 pm #835914
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Shea, they squirm a LOT when you poop them. Sometimes they holler too, it’s not that it hurts them, they just don’t like it I guess. You can be gentle and firm at the same time, you just have to get the lower intestine moving by stimulating the anal area to poop. I used a warm washcloth, since it mimics the mother’s tongue more than my bare fingers. But whatever works, is okay by me! Yes and 3 weeks is old enough to start introducing wet food. Some may take to it, others, not so much. It’s not to take the place of the milk, just to start seeing if any are ready. I don’t worry about kitten wet food either, just a pate type of food with no chunks or shreds.

    6 August, 2015 at 9:06 pm #835939
    Shea B.
    Participant

    Good news! I got two of them to poop using the triangle method. I could tell it was working when the squealing stopped and they went very tense like they were pushing. The expressions on their faces were so relieved! The poop was very hard and multi-colored, but by the end their poop was coming out soft. So hopefully that was all that was plugging them up. Haven’t had luck with the third kitten yet, but I’ll keep at it.

    6 August, 2015 at 9:22 pm #835941
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Woo Hooooo! Persistence pays off!! Keep at it with the 3rd one, there’s poop in there — Congratulatiions! We celebrate poop here!

    7 August, 2015 at 2:12 am #835946
    Shea B.
    Participant

    No luck with the third one still! I considered using a thermometer in her butt but chickened out. I’ll keep trying the triangle method after every meal. I figure if no poop by this weekend she’ll take a trip to the vet.

    7 August, 2015 at 7:43 pm #835975
    Shea B.
    Participant

    Third kitten has pooped! What a relief for all four of us.

    7 August, 2015 at 7:56 pm #835977
    JerseyJoan
    Moderator

    Yay for poop! Everyone is relieved, literally!

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