How long until I worry about constipation?

[MJ]

So, we just adopted a kitten on Saturday. She's a cutie pie. She has no name yet.

http://www.PestilenceWARE.Com/images/fo ... tten01.jpg

I'll try to put as much details into this topic as I can think of.

She's about four months old. We got her from an animal rescue center that takes in all sorts of unwanted animals to adopt them out later. They have a really nice set of cat rooms for them to roam around, and let people come in to play with them. She was the last kitten there from the yearly kitten boom. The lady there said she's been lonely since her last sibling got adopted.

She was spayed in early June. The fur has almost grown back and the whole area looks normal. She tested negative for leukemia and FIV. She's had all her initial shots. She has no fleas, and passed a nominal health checkup at the adoption center before we brought her home.

Introductions to my two older cats are going pretty well. There was a tiny bit of hissing Saturday night, but no one is hissing today. No one has growled or smacked anyone. My oldest cat has started approaching her and acting like he wants to play. My younger cat is still running away from her, but isn't acting aggressive or depressed. It's not too bad for the second full day. My other cats also have had their shots, etc.

The kitten seems to be extremely happy. She purrs at the slightest provocation. She keeps nudging everyone and everything. She's very playful and active, and having lots of fun. She seems to be eating and drinking fairly well. She's not chowing down like crazy, but I'm not feeling concerned about it.

She seems to be well litter trained, and has gone straight for the box for a pee several times.

So here I get to my one and only concern... I haven't seen or smelled any sign of her pooping since she pooped sometime late Saturday night/early Sunday morning (unsure exactly, we were asleep). That poop was fine, a little tiny bit on the soft side, but not bad at all. But now... Nothing. I guess if she pooped Sunday morning it's only been a little over 24 hours. But how long is too long? I may be somehow missing one that she did somewhere she shouldn't have, but I have been looking.

I'm not seeing any signs of her being in distress except for one POSSIBLE issue... She's very, very vocal. She meows about basically everything. The meowing is usually followed by lots of purring/playing, but I haven't known her long enough to know if she's just a meower or if she's complaining about not feeling good. She's been meowing a lot since the day we adopted her, and of course she did poop after that... But the lady who did our paperwork when we adopted her was surprised about how talky she was, and said she normally didn't meow so much.

So hard to know if she's just happy because she knows she tricked some suckers into loving and adopting her, or if she is feeling bad. :P

How concerned should I be if I don't see any poopies tonight? Am I jumping the gun on already being concerned? (Will she poop as soon as I post this topic? Haha)

I'll gladly take her straight to the vet for a checkup if I should be concerned about constipation or something else... And actually, she'll probably be going for another checkup pretty soon anyway. But a little input is never bad. :P

Edit: Oh yeah, and she's eating Science Diet for kittens. We usually feed Iam's, but that cat shelter didn't support the brand, and she was already eating Science Diet, so we bought a bag from them. It helps support the shelter too, so it worked all around. :P

[slvrwhispr]

Any time you bring a new animal home, it's a good idea to take them to your established vet who you trust to have the animal evaluated. I'd make an appointment for her tomorrow, and keep a very close eye on her tonight. It's probably just the change of environment, but if she starts to show any signs of distress, get her to an emergency vet immediately. And, unless she poops tonight, don't wait past tomorrow to get her seen.

[Traci]

I agree, despite the animal rescue seemingly a good one, it ALWAYS leaves MUCH to be desired in the way of how the pets are fed, monitored for daily urination and defecation habits, not to mention parasites etc. If she wasn't already treated for parasites, now is a good time to do so with your OWN vet.

Stress in any kitten or adult can cause them slight anorexia and thus, less stool production.....you did say she's eating and drinking ok, but does she have a distended abdomen? Is she really active and playing? If so, chances are she is not constipated, and her vocalization might be as simple as just being vocal, since she was so confined for god knows how long at the shelter. Plus, she's only 4 months old, so she's needy, she needs you for everything, food/water, love, attention, bonding, toys and playtime, and did I mention lots of attention!

But, play it safe. As slvrwhispr said, we ALWAYS strongly encourage owners take new kittens and adult cats immediately to their own primary vet directly after any adoption. Your vet is better able to examine her properly, and determine her overall health status, as well as feel her lower abdomen etc to determine if she has impacted feces or constipation. Make the appointment first thing in the morning, you'll feel better for having done so, and your vet will have a brand new record for your kitten's health.

Congratulations on your new addition, she is a sweetie, I love the tiny white tip on her tail and her markings!!

[MJ]

I know, that tiny white tailtip is part of what got me about her... Hahaha. So cute.

And we have poopy! I was just looking at the litter seeing if I could find anything, and she saw me looking at it, and decided to poop. :P It was pretty good consistency, yay. LOL.

Unfortunately, we don't have an established, trusted vet. We never have. We've moved far too often, and vets have closed down here too.

She will be going to the vet soon though. Even if it weren't my intention regardless of cost, I would be silly not to use the free checkup that came with adopting her. :P I just wondered if I should be panicked about getting her in RIGHT NOW or just ASAP. Personally I would have loved to take her in the day we adopted her, but it was too late to do so on the weekend... And during the week we have to work around my husband's extremely busy work schedule.

As a general rule, for future reference, do you know how long a cat or kitten can go without pooping before it's a problem? I bet there's lots of factors to take into consideration, but I'm curious now.

She's purring on my desk right now, silly thing. :P

Also to update, she's getting along very nice now with the oldest cat. He's letting her lay down and snuggle with him. He's such a good big brother. He wasn't amused when she tried to suckle on him though. :P

Unfortunately, the younger cat seems to be liking her even less today. I think I'll have to close her out of the bedroom and give him some extra love and brushes today.

[Traci]

Woo-hoo, we're always excited about stool production, LOL.

Well, just remember that with any newly adopted, the best and ultimate thing to do is get them directly to your vet, no later than a couple days after adoption, and preferrably, the same day. This way, the vet has the first opportunity to examine the pet, and establish your relationship with the vet/clinic, and so good record keeping can ensue for the pet's health.

One should not let constipation go longer than 3 days, AT MOST. If a stool isn't produced within three days, there is usually a problem, and the soonest it is addressed by the vet, the sooner the cat can produce normally, and ultimately, feel better.

It's only been a few days between the cats, just give it time, allow them to try to share the same space, but with your supervision. However, the less you intervene and the more you simply talk in soft tones or simply observe, the better. Unless of course a fight broke out, in which you would intervene and give a temporary time-out for the instigator. (only 10 minutes at a time, in another room).

[MJ]

Just got back from the vet. He said she seemed perfectly healthy and great, and just to enjoy her.

There was only one issue he noticed... He said she had a small umbilical hernia and that it was "fine" and "nothing to worry about". As always, I didn't really think to ask some questions until it was too late.

Should I be concerned? Should she have surgery to get it fixed eventually? Or will she be fine if it's just left alone indefinitely?

She doesn't have any symptoms of there being any issues because of it, and his lack of concern about it seemed quite complete, but meh.

On another nice note, as soon as we got home the eldest cat started licking her face all nicely. :) He's a sweety.

Edit: Pic of him being a nice big brother and sharing a chair yesterday. :)

http://www.pestilenceware.com/images/fo ... Kitten.jpg

[Traci]

If the hernia is not protruding or causing her discomfort, it might not be worrisome. However, I'd be more concerned with the vet's diagnosis....since she has been spayed, any hernia could have been corrected via spay surgery. It may be raised or scar tissue that sometimes occurs after a spay incision. Since it's been about a month since her spay, if this is indeed a hernia, it should be reducing in size gradually, did he mention anything about that?

[MJ]

No, the only thing he mentioned was that he thought it was probably caused by recent surgery, aka her getting spayed.

Edit: Also, now that I'm aware of it, I think I can feel it myself... Feels kind of like just a tiny little pebble under her skin on her tummy.

So it could just be scar tissue and not a hernia?

A hernia would shrink over time? Would it get totally better eventually without help?

What should I do? Wait so many days/weeks/months and take her for another checkup to see what's going on with it? Or something else?

I don't wanna be all worried about her when I'm getting to like her so much now. :(

[Traci]

Well, it's too bad it wasn't noticed sooner, then you could determine if it occured directly after the spay. This does happen occasionally during a spay when the tissues are manipulated and stretched, that a small bump will appear at the incision site. It will usually and normally decrease in size within a few weeks, and be unnoticeable once the incision site has completely healed and new fur growth occurs. If it is near her incision site, can be felt just at the skin level, it very well could be a spay hernia, and generally nothing to worry about.

Give it a couple more weeks and monitor it, if it hasn't receded in the least by then, I'd suggest getting her rechecked and taking a closer look at that area.

[MJ]

Okay, thanks very much for the advice. I'll definitely keep an eye on it and her.