Constipation in a kitten: a newborn or at the age of 2, 3 months, how to help at home

The reasons why a kitten is constantly or periodically constipated can be varied. The most common include poor nutrition, progression of helminthiasis, and stress. If the problem is constantly bothering you and cannot be eliminated using usual means, it is better to visit a veterinarian who, based on the diagnostic results, can help cope with the disease. If constipation is left untreated and the disease progresses, the consequences can be unpredictable, including the death of the kitten.

If your kitten is constipated: what to look for

In this article we will not consider the causes of this pathological condition, but we note that most often the pathology is in one way or another connected with the nutritional characteristics (including the mother of the kittens).

Before starting any active actions, it is necessary to analyze the following nuances:

When exactly and after what did the pet stop defecating?
How long has this been going on?
Were antiparasitic treatments carried out, and when, in particular, was the last one?
Has the baby’s diet changed recently, and has this happened too abruptly?

All of the above will certainly help to quickly identify the causes of constipation. In addition, we recommend contacting your veterinarian immediately if:

The kitten not only strains, but also constantly, pitifully meows.
The excreted pieces of feces show abundant clots of blood and mucus.
Palpation of the abdomen reveals severe tension in the abdominal wall and pain.
Also, the help of a specialist will not hurt if the kitten has not pooped for more than three days.

If you experience bloating due to constipation, you should not self-medicate.

This sign often indicates one of two most dangerous pathologies:

Or is it a foreign body in the intestines.
Or full-fledged coprostasis, which is impossible to cure at home.

If in these cases you try to “help” the pet by giving it drugs that enhance intestinal motility, then the kitten will most likely die from intestinal rupture . So, if there is severe bloating, you should immediately call a veterinarian, without wasting time on dangerous attempts at self-medication.

What to do at home: the main tasks of the owner

The first priority is to provide your pet with an unlimited amount of clean drinking water. The more the baby drinks, the better the semi-dry stool in the intestines will be moistened, and the greater the chance of coping with constipation on its own.

If the kitten does not drink, or his thirst is not very pronounced, you will have to force him to drink. In such cases, we strongly recommend that you immediately seek help from a veterinarian, as your pet will almost certainly require intravenous fluids.

The second most important task of the owner is to create a diet enriched with dietary fiber that stimulates intestinal motility. In addition, it is necessary to create a strict feeding schedule that will help return the kitten's digestive system to normal.

To do this, you can use two simple folk remedies: pumpkin puree and bran. It is best to use puree, since its sweetish taste and pleasant consistency do not cause rejection in the animal, and therefore the baby does not have to be force-fed. A kitten can be given up to one teaspoon of this product per day.

You should not overdo it, as in this case you can achieve the exact opposite result (i.e. constipation will be replaced by diarrhea, which is even more dangerous for the kitten).

You need to be careful with bran when treating constipation in kittens, as it can severely irritate your pet’s digestive tract. Be sure to consult your veterinarian when adding any nutritional supplements to your kitten's diet!

You need to play with the kitten more often. Don’t forget that physical activity is the key to an animal’s health (and more). The more active the pet runs and jumps, the more active the peristalsis of its intestines will be.

We do not recommend playing with your baby if he has recently eaten.

First, it can make constipation worse.
Secondly, physical activity with a tightly full stomach greatly increases the risk of volvulus and death.

Finally, you need to regularly and carefully observe your pet, noting any oddities in its behavior. If, despite the owner's best efforts, the animal's condition does not improve within two days or more, consultation with a veterinarian is necessary.

What not to do

It is highly undesirable to deal with constipation in kittens using the following methods:

Do not give your baby diluted cow's milk. Yes, such a remedy really “breaks through” constipation, but stagnation of feces in such cases is often replaced by violent and prolonged diarrhea. It is deadly for kittens, as it leads to rapid death from dehydration. In addition, this approach threatens with serious consequences for the animal’s liver.

You should not give your kitten vegetable oil. This is a severe blow to the liver, and this remedy does not help very well against constipation.

Never, under any circumstances, should castor oil be given to kittens. Perhaps the problem with constipation will be solved, but only at the cost of the death of the kitten.

We strongly do not recommend using porridge to combat constipation in kittens! Their use will certainly lead to the exact opposite result, since the digestive system of cats is not physiologically adapted to such food.

Main reasons

In a newborn kitten of three weeks of age, constant problems with defecation often indicate congenital anomalies in the structure of the digestive organs. In a two-month-old baby, hard stool may indicate poor-quality nutrition or incorrectly selected foods for the first feeding. Other reasons why young kittens experience periodic or chronic constipation include:

overeating or undereating;
lack of fluid in the body;
poor quality food;
entry of a foreign object into the digestive organs;
helminthic infestation;
inactive lifestyle;
kidney and liver diseases;
neoplasms of a benign or malignant nature.

Practical advice

So, here's what to do at home:

Since in the case of severe constipation, a kitten's thirst can be significantly reduced, it is necessary to hydrate its body forcibly. Enemas are perfect for these purposes . Veterinarians recommend using sodium lauryl sulfoacetate. It is used in a dose of 2.5 ml (per animal). If constipation was not caused by something really serious (foreign bodies in the intestines, for example), then the effect of the enema will be visible in just half an hour.

If you don’t have such an “outlandish” remedy in your home medicine cabinet, warm saline solution (temperature approximately 37° Celsius) will do. It is administered at a dose of 5 ml per kilogram of live weight.

Sodium docusate (5 ml per kitten) has a good effect.

Lactulose helps a lot (its pure solution is sold in the form of Duphalac). Take 5 ml per kitten. The product is diluted with warm boiled water in a 1:1 ratio.

Vaseline oil for constipation

Yes, you can use Vaseline oil, but you need to follow a number of simple rules:

It should be given in a dose of 1 ml per kilogram of live weight, but experienced veterinarians advise reducing the dosage to 0.6-0.7 ml per kilogram of weight.

A single dose should not exceed 5 ml, but in practice it is better not to give the kitten more than 3.5 ml at a time.

In addition, during the day the animal should not receive more than 17 ml of the drug, but this is in extreme cases!

If no positive changes are observed in the pet’s body within three hours from the moment the oil is administered, the medication can be repeated once. If this measure does not bring results, further self-medication should be considered inappropriate. You need to urgently seek help from a veterinarian.

How to give a kitten an enema

In all the cases described above, the medicinal substance is introduced into the kitten’s body using an enema. The problem is that not all owners know how to do it correctly. Poor quality of this procedure is fraught with serious consequences, including perforation of the rectum.

To avoid this, the following recommendations must be followed:

First you need to get the smallest syringe of those used in pediatrics to evacuate intestinal gases and mucus. Such pears are made of very soft hypoallergenic rubber, and their small volume will prevent the introduction of too large a volume of medicinal substances into the animal’s rectum.

To prevent the tip of the syringe from injuring the tissues of the rectum, it should be lubricated with petroleum jelly.

The medicine must be heated to 37° Celsius! Failure to comply with this rule and the introduction of cold medicinal compounds can result in severe injuries, including rectal rupture.

When administering the medicine, there is no need to sharply squeeze the syringe, splashing out all the contents at once. This must be done carefully, administering the drug in small portions.

The ideal option is a ready-made Microlax microenema. Half a dispenser is enough for a kitten; the product can overcome even quite severe constipation within half an hour.

Prevention

The best way to control the problem is prevention. Simple rules help reduce the risk of relapse:

Regular combing of hair should be a mandatory procedure for caring for your cat.
After treatment, nutritional adjustments are made with increased fluid intake. The pet needs to be fed foods with fiber and added vitamins and minerals.
If possible, transfer from dry to wet food.
Do not expose the animal to stress.
A cat's life should be active. The cat is forced to move and play more.
Give your pet a paste with cleansing phytomins.
In the postoperative period, introduce probiotics into food.

Relieving constipation in a newborn kitten

Cases where newborn pets suffer from constipation do not occur so often in veterinary practice, but they are also among the most severe. If nothing is done within two days, the baby may well die from intoxication. Most often, constipation in newborns occurs in cases where the cat, for some reason, does not properly care for the litter.

The problem is that for the first few days after birth... kittens cannot poop or pee on their own.

In order for the organs of their excretory system to work in “normal mode”, mechanical stimulation of the genital area is required.

Under normal conditions, the mother does this, licking the kittens' perineum every three or four hours. Otherwise, the owner himself must deal with constipation in a newborn:

Take a cotton pad soaked in warm saline solution.
Using it, starting from the top, the tummy is massaged. This should be done in a circular motion, gradually going down to the groin area.
This should be done once every four hours, at least! Kittens drink a lot of milk, and therefore their tiny digestive tract quickly fills with “production waste”.

If a lot of “waste” has already accumulated in the kitten’s body, just a couple of seconds of massage are enough, after which the constipation immediately goes away.

What to do if a week-old kitten is constipated

In general, all the recommendations given above are relevant. Of course, by this point the kittens should already be able to relieve themselves on their own, but still, additional stimulation will not hurt them.

In addition, it is necessary to give them a tummy massage at least twice a day:

To do this, use the same cotton pad soaked in saline solution.

To perform the procedure, place the kitten on its side. To make it more convenient, it is advisable to perform the procedure together: the baby is unlikely to lie quietly, and there is no need for his extra activity.

The massage should be done by performing circular movements on the abdomen. The circles should gradually narrow and end closer to the groin area.

Such a simple procedure, if performed regularly enough, stimulates intestinal motility and completely prevents new relapses of constipation in a week-old kitten.

Constipation in a one-month-old baby

In this case, all the above recommendations are relevant. To eliminate constipation, you can and should combine the following methods:

Enemas. We recommend using lactulose, since it gives not only a pronounced, but also a mild effect, without overloading the baby’s digestive system.

Regular abdominal massage for four days, and the procedure should be performed at least four times a day.

Every day the kitten is given a teaspoon of pumpkin puree, spoon-fed.

Constipation in kittens at 2-3 months

At 2-3 months, a kitten can technically be considered “almost adult”, so to eliminate coprostasis in it, you can use more “vigorous” means:

In particular, veterinarians recommend the administration of polyethylene glycol (PEG 3350) orally. Dosage – from 6 to 10 ml per kilogram of live weight. In severe cases, the medicine is given every hour.

With great caution, you can still use Cisapride. This drug stimulates peristalsis and copes well with constipation, but... its use in the case of foreign bodies easily leads to death from intestinal rupture. So consultation with a veterinarian is a prerequisite for use.

How to treat

Helping the cat should begin after identifying the source of the problem.

When a violation of the act of defecation occurs due to scar reformation, neoplasm or intussusception, surgery is required.

In case of fecal retention due to poor nutrition, the diet should be adjusted and the amount of water consumed should be increased.

If an inflammatory pathology is diagnosed, antibiotics are prescribed. Symptomatic therapy involves taking a laxative, but the use of such medications is allowed after examining the animal by a veterinarian.