Number twos trouble
Number twos is a subject definitely on the ‘‘not to talk about list’’, but this past week it has unfortunately been on the top of my patients’ list.
As a vet, the blunt end gets a bit too much attention for my liking at times. With large animals it was a big rubber glove – not my idea of fun – and nowadays it is the Dr Doolittle thing with a thermometer.
But several patients this week did have serious conditions affecting their ability to go number twos and we answered several calls about kittens with diarrhoea.
Amelia is a 14-year-old charcoal tabby feline. She came in with a poor appetite and until several days earlier, had been seen trying to go to the toilet in the garden with little success.
This last part is a clue, as most of us never see our cats going to the toilet because they are such private creatures, unlike dogs who seem to be number-two factories.
As soon as I felt Amelia’s tummy it was obvious what the problem was. She had an abdomen full of faeces and was having difficulty passing it. To see the full extent of the problem we admitted Amelia and took an X-ray that showed her bowel was full.
There is a difference between cats and dogs in the list of the common causes for constipation.
Causes for cats:
❚ A previously fractured pelvis – as it heals it can narrow the gap for the rectum
❚ Megacolon – read on and not a type of dinosaur
❚ Constipation in young kittens fed powdered milk replacers
❚ Diseases that mimic constipation due to the straining seen
❚ Colitis or irritable bowel syndrome
❚ Diarrhoea – straining
❚ Cystitis – inflamed bladder – straining to pass urine.
Causes for dogs:
❚ Bones stuck in the rectum
❚ Prostate disease – see below, and sorry about the pun
❚ Obesity with solid dry faeces accumulated in rectum
❚ Diseases that mimic constipation, such as irritable bowel syndrome.
Amelia unfortunately had ‘‘megacolon’’. This is a poorly understood disease of older cats affecting the large bowel, which is the bottom end of the intestines – upper being the small bowel that comes off the stomach further up.
The bowel just stops moving and the faeces gradually accumulate – and mega accumulate. The function of the large bowel is mainly to resorb water, which makes solid stools. This wasn’t the first time Amelia had the problem and she had had enemas and oral laxatives previously. The only curative option was some pretty radical surgery. So after several days of manually removing some of the contents, we had Amelia in the surgery sound asleep. The surgery involves removing most of the affected large bowel and joining everything back up again. A bit of fiddly plumbing really.
Several hours’ later Amelia was resting and after several days of only intravenous feeding we started her back on soft food. By the end of the week she was doing well and passed something all the way through, which was great.
Another common cause of feline constipation is a narrow pelvic canal due to the healing of a previous pelvic fracture. Unfortunately, this problem can be difficult and only managed sometimes by regular checkups and the use of faecal softeners with dietary management as well.
Dogs are totally different and bones and the dreaded prostate are the main causes in these guys. Not the girls, as they don’t have a prostate. Unlike people, the main presentation for prostate disease in dogs is difficulty passing faeces, rather than urinary difficulties. But that is a topic for another day.
However, we have seen four cats during the past week with lifethreatening blocked bladders that mimics constipation. So please get us to check any cat, but especially a male cat that is straining.
And it is kitten season and we see diarrhoea commonly during the first week in a new home. This is usually caused by food changes and using milk, along with just the stress of being in a new home.
There are other causes, including little gut bugs these guys can get, but definitely trying to stick with one type of dry food can make things better in those first weeks.
Have a great week, laugh every day and enjoy the nice evenings.
Most of us never see our cats going to the toilet because they are such private creatures.