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rivierep · Jun 17, 2012, 04:11 PM

We rescued a young cat and her six kittens. The mother seems to react to cat food dry or wet. I have tried some with fish only, some with game only but she still seemed very bloated. I ended up giving her some cooked chicken but I think she may be constipated now. Any suggestions for her constipation or her food intake?

LadySam · Jun 17, 2012, 06:24 PM

Stick with the canned food. There are over the counter products that help with constipation and hairballs that you can pick up at the pet supply store or your vet.
How old are the kittens, and how is she acting otherwise?
Is she where you can monitor her bowel movements?
If she has gone more than a couple days without a bowel movement, it would be worth touching base with your vet, before the problem gets worse.
They will have something a little stronger than the over the counter stuff.
Don't let her go too long, a fecalith (dry, hard stool trapped in the colon) can be pretty troubling to loosen up and pass. It may require an enema at that point.

rivierep · Jun 17, 2012, 09:17 PM

The kittens must be around 5 weeks old. We are not totally sure, she brought them under our porch and we tried to save her from the neighborhood dogs. We took them in after a visit to the vet who thought at that time that they were around 3 weeks old. They are currently learning how to jump and how to climb. Besides her trying to tell me something about her food that I don't get - she looks thin and bloated at the same time. She stays close to her babies most of the day. Recently she went outside for a short amount of time. She seems to be a very good mother despite her young age. I was wondering if she could be reacting to something in the canned food. Since she is a stray cat she may not be used to certain ingredients.
I can monitor her bowel movements since I have to clean the litter box 3 times a day for those 7 little monsters. At first I thought she wasn't digesting her food or having diarrhea but then I got reassured that things seemed to be okay. -Maybe it was a reaction to the deworming or flea medicine-. The smell was horrendous though. Her kittens try to go to the litter box when she is in there, sometimes just to play with her tail or attack her playfully. I guess that she may have issues because of that or I am projecting... Anyway I really appreciate the time you took to answer and your answer. Thanks.

LadySam · Jun 17, 2012, 11:58 PM

Given that she was a stray was there any testing done at the clinic for feline diseases?

rivierep · Jun 18, 2012, 01:06 AM

Originally Posted by LadySam

Given that she was a stray was there any testing done at the clinic for feline diseases?

No, they just took her temperature, weighted her, the kittens, and looked at all of them. They gave me medicine to deworm them, some spray to deflea them, some antibiotic for an eye issue -the mother may have had something stuck in her eye because it looked inflamed. I tried my best but it was very difficult to put the drops in her eye. Thanks again.

LadySam · Jun 18, 2012, 03:37 AM

On a side note, it is always advisable to have a cat with no known vaccine history tested for infectious diseases like feline leukemia and FIV.
It is money well spent to know the status of a previously outdoor cat.
If negative the cat can be vaccinated. If positive you can take measures to insure that she doesn't infect other cats.
I realize that wasn't your question just thought I'd throw it in.
Have a good day!