Hi, I just joined this forum hoping upon hope that someone could offer me some help. I have taken my cat, Ollie, to the vets 5 times and have got to the point that my Vet does not know what more to do for him

Here is the history:
Ollie is a 13 yr old Male Tabby cat
He lives indoors all the time

* Quite a few months ago he started to urinate & poop outside of the litter tray and seemed to have trouble pooping, almost falling over and always small hard amounts. As well as urinating outside litter tray.
I took him to the vets and she said she thought he had arthritis and gave him a cortisone injection, this did not help at all and the problem continued.

* I took him back to the vets, this time she did a full x-ray and he had NO arthritis at all, all perfect on that side of things.
She checked his urine and there was no problem with that. Checked his kidneys etc and that was fine.
No tumors, but he was completely blocked FULL, very very constipated.
So she said to change him from dry to wet food, (he was on Hills, Science Diet, Adult Light) this did not help, I also tried some puree pumpkin which helped a little but not enough. He had lost about 2 kg in weight.

* So back to the vets! This time she gave me Royal Canin Fibre Response (Royal Canin Fibre Response Feline Veterinary Diet)
This worked almost immediately on his poop, much larger amount and much softer, almost like a long, wide thick ribbon once a day every day! However he still does this everytime outside of the litter tray (I am not sure if that is habit or due to pain still). He has been eating this food for about a month.

* With this new dry Royal Canin Fibre Response food he is drinking a lot more and urinating more, sometimes in the litter tray and often outside the litter tray. Often he urinates where he is sleeping or if he stands up from lying, almost as if he is not aware of it. It just comes out when he stands up.

* He is holding his tail lower down, lightly clamped down.

* He is clearly in some kind of discomfort, if I try to stroke him on his lower back by his tail his tail clamps right under and all the hairs go up on end along his back. It is worse on his RIGHT side by the tail, here is clearly not groomed at all by him and a bit matted (he is short haired), he really does not like me to touch him there even lightly.

* Otherwise he is not lethargic, but a bit restless, still puurs when I stroke his head.

* He is on a clumping litter as always and uses this the best.

* The vet does not know what more to do and I am feeling so helpless.
I wonder if this rich fibre food is too much for him, but I do not know what I should give him instead that will help?
Could the long term blockage have caused some kind of permanent damage, like maybe Megacolon?
I understand it is hard for you to say without seeing Ollie but I do hope someone will be able to help somehow, I am so worried.

I really appreciate any kind of advice you can offer,
Thank you every so much in advance for any suggestions,
Catherine & Ollie!

please, can anyone offer advice for Ollie? Making my previous note a bit briefer -
He had chronic constipation (& urinating outside litter) for considerable time. The vet put him eventually on Fibre Response food from Royal Canine, a lot more softer stuff comes out, but still outside litter tray in same place. Now he urinates in and outside litter tray. When he gets up from sleeping often he just peees there and then, as if there is no control. He seems sore if I stroke him on lower back by tail, mostly on his right side. The vet does not know what more to do. Can anyone think what the problem could be (has had urine, kidneys checked all fine) and if other food may help?

Thanks heaps,
Catherine
x

Sorry to hear about Ollie did the vet suggest anything for incontinance? I know there is stuff for dogs but not sure about cats

Hoobs is the food person you need I'l give her a nudge for you

__________________

All my children have paws!

aww poor ollie can you not take him to another vet for a second opinion? i have never heard of this before. maybe he is becoming incontinance? hopefully someone will be along soon to give you more advice x

Hey Catherine, so very sorry to hear about Ollie. I know that Dally Banjo thinks that I am the right person to help you a little here but I think this may be more a case for another couple of peeps on here - Doollaly or Ianthi. I will give them a nudge for you.

For what it is worth, I think the pooping and weeing outside of the littertray (when he isn't caught out) is probably due to some now negative association between needing/wanting to poop and pain.

I am really not sure whether a diet that is too rich in fibre would lead him to be incontinent but perhaps Doollaly or Ianthi know more.

My advice to you would be to seek out a second or even a third opinion. If it is anything vaguely approaching megacolon or even just chronic severe constipation than perhaps a lubricant such as lactulose or the US Miralax can help. So, maybe a different vet might change his diet slightly, which might or might not help with his incontinence.

I am so very sorry that I cannot be of more help for you. But please hang in there and don't give up on the little man.

Just a thought but how big is the litter tray?

__________________

All my children have paws!

Hi Catherine- Sorry didn't see your post yesterday! I can see though why this problem is soo frustrating for you and completely understand your wishes to help Ollie. Urinating and defecating outside the litter day indicates a medical problem and in Ollie's case the constipation.

Firstly, just a few questions to clarify a few things. How long was he constipated on the first occasion and how was it relieved? Enema? Laxative When did the urinary incontinence begin? Around this time? The fact he's sensitive could point to some type of inflammation caused by the blockage or indeed the food he's currently on.

I've not used the RC Fibre response he's currently on but from what you describe ( soft more frequent stools etc ) this isn't producing the correct consistency either and may in fact be adding to the problem. I would switch him back now to a good wet food and see what the response is.

I'm a bit concerned about the weight loss though. When were his last blood tests? Out of interest did the vets test for Hyperthyroidism because it's possible he had another underlying condition which may be compounding things. How is his appetite?

Oh gosh, this is a tough one, i'm reading it over and over again trying to see if there's something I can pick up on to recommend you suggest to the vet...However it does sound as if he is painful and has also built negative connections with his tray, tray = pain.

Where abouts are you?

Like you say, it does sound as if he's painful with him not grooming that side etc. I assume the vet has given him a full neurological assessment seeing as they went to the trouble of xrays...I'd definitely recommend acupuncture if you can find a vet who does it, it sounds as if he's sore in that area, may not be arthritis as his xrays were clear, but could be something such as muscle spasms...although TBH i'd put my money on him having some sort of arthritis, you would expect bony changes but you can have bones shot to pieces from arthritis and a pain free animal, or minimal changes and lots of pain.
As his kidneys are ok it may be worth a trial of metacam to rule out pain.

Is he on anything else? I've not really seen Fibre Respone used in cats as it is a relatively new food, all cats I know with constipation issues have been on lactulose to help soften the stools. Katalax is a paste which can be given which I think has variable results, but wont hurt to give him a squidge a day, along with the lactulose.

It may be worth having an abdomen scan to check his intestines look normal etc, I know this would be the next step the vets I work with would take, then possibly a colonoscopy with biopsies taken to check for any issues with his bowels...depending on how far you want to go, but it seems you're at your wits end now.
It could be arthritic pain, or problems with his bowels, or even both creating a chicken and egg situation, then to complicate matters he's now developed an aversion to his litter tray.

I think the weeing outside the tray having ruled out everything else is due to negative connections with his tray now. Does he ever use his tray for any business now?
How many trays do you have? What litter are you using?
Depending on the above i'll try and advise how to litter train again

ETA just seen the dribbling urine bit, knew i'd miss something...I think there's something going on either pain wise or neurological here..I think it's second opinion time and get him fully worked up, scans etc to get to the bottom of all this

Catherine-I've just looked at the food data and it recommends the diet should only be used for 3-4 weeks in first time cases of constipation as with Ollie!

Definitely agree with Doolally about investigation that pain/inflammation he's having! Believe identifying and treating this is key to it!

my cat started doing that some time ago and the vet put it down to behavioural problems from arthritis pain. he would go outside then come back in to go for a wee or poo somewhere in the house. he also had matted fur where he couldnt groom himself because of the arthritis in his knees and hips, and seemed to dislike me brushing his back end. my cats kidney test results showed that the kidneys were okay (although she did say that problems dont show on the results until the kidneys are 75% damaged?), but the vet i used to use said the concentration/dilution of his wee wasnt that good. as far as i could see his wee was always yellow, not water-like as i would imagine cats with kidney problems would have?
hope your cat is okay and you get to the bottom of it.