Sassy cats – Gracie’s $350 poop

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Yep she’s sticking her tongue out at me.

It’s the peep today. Gracie is recovering and taking it easy.

Readers may remember that Gracie has been having barfing issues. She’s had them ever since she joined our group. We’ve tried different things. Nothing worked. This year with a couple of new quirks, I decided to get a complete workup with blood tests and x-rays.  Cha-ching, cha-ching.

Blood tests showed elevated white blood cells levels which scared me. That’s not specific enough to pinpoint a problem. It could be allergies or inflammation. A different veterinarian looked her over. His first comment was that she had a lot of hard stool in her. She’s a tiny eight-pound cat full of poop.

The x-rays showed no obstruction or any other issue. He gave her some subcutaneous liquids to “jump start” the process and I’ll be giving her “hairball medication.” In cat speak that’s a mild laxative.

He suggested pumpkin. I’ve heard that before and tried it with Jake (RIP) but he wasn’t having any of it. Gracie doesn’t like much, so we’ll see.

After she came home, she hollered her disapproval of the whole affair but within three hours, there was a monumental turd in the litter box. Score!

She immediately pounced on her kicky stix, battering the daylights out of it. All the cats like them but Gracie loves them. I may have to buy her a new one for being such a good sport.

Gracie will always barf more than a “normal” cat. Now we know she gets constipated. We can handle that. If there is any leftover pumpkin, there may be a bread in my future. Maybe I’ll buy her the big can.

Have a great weekend!

68 thoughts on “Sassy cats – Gracie’s $350 poop”

  2. When we first took tiny RC to the vet, he sadly shook his head and said she had a high white blood cell count and didn’t have much hope for her……19+ years later, so much for some science. (Our “good” vet said some cats just have weird chemistry and she was healthy with hers.) She did tend to be a little constipated so we did our best with fresh growing grass and a fingernail bit of vanilla ice cream as needed. Yogurt was alternatively devoured or snubbed. It’s just a cat thing.)
    Glad she’s feeling better (nothing like scaring staff once in a while – it is not a funny joke, kitties!)

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    • Since this is the first time she’s had her blood tested I have no baseline to compare against. All I can say is that she doesn’t act sick although she was lethargic for the week before the visit. I couldn’t give her the steroid my other vet recommended and if all it takes is some hairball med a couple of times a week, I prefer that to any chemical. She also has crystals but the vet said that doesn’t mean she has stones. She hasn’t eaten wet food in almost three weeks now. She loves her dry. Always did. Came from a hoarding situation and I suspect that’s what she was fed from young. It’s a cat thing. She does drink a lot of water (one of the reasons for the blood work — I was fearful she was diabetic.) Scare the staff? You betcha! Gotta love her though.

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    • When Mollie got sick, I switched her to the Tiki purees and she loved them. Since her issue was esophagus-stomach related, she could eat it better. I bought some for Gracie and she tried to bury it like she tries to bury any food I give her. She didn’t like Merrick purees either. She’s gone a week without a major barf. There was a small spit puddle with hair (makings of a hairball) but no food and not a lot.

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  8. Kate, I have had cats my whole life. Two of my current cats have hard stool.. I give them 1/4 teaspoon of Miralax (pwder, no flavor) mixed with their canned food twice daily. It works like a charm. It was suggested by my vet.

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    • That would be great if my cat ate wet. So easy. She only eats wet periodically so I couldn’t trust that she would eat it. So far the laxatone goo that you smear on them seems to be working. Who would have thought that hard stools was a thing?

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  14. Good to hear Gracie is feeling more like herself again. Maybe she would eat the pumpkin if you mixed it with her dry food. Jack gets constipated sometimes. Maybe, I will try some pumpkin to see if it helps. Teddy eats urinary tract/hairball dry food. It’s a bit expensive but beats the worry and cost of bladder stones.

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    • Getting cats to eat things like that is difficult. I don’t know if it’s a texture thing but Gracie hasn’t eaten wet food in a few weeks. Fortunately the laxatone seems to be working.

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    • I’m not sure if it’s the solution but she hasn’t vomited all week. There are so many causes it’s like throwing jelly to the wall and seeing what sticks. In any case, she is feeling better and more active. The x-ray was really for me. We treated Hazel for something she didn’t have and I didn’t want to do that again. Gracie would be on steroids if we could medicate her but she doesn’t seem to need them now. Also I found that Gracie licks off the laxatone very efficiently. If I had to, I could crush a pill and mix it in. I wonder why the vet didn’t suggest that.

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  21. It’s always such a relief when pets return to normal (i.e., annoying) behavior. For about a day.

    Kids are the same way. If my child is lying on the couch instead of running around the house, out come the thermometer.

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  23. So glad she’s no longer “backed up”…..not a happy situation for sure and she just HAS to feel not only lighter on her paws (haha) but a whole lot more comfortable. I’ve heard about that pumpkin treatment before and most people say it works.

    Hugs, Pam

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    • I forgot to pick it up when I went to the grocery store so I’m not sure. I can’t get her to eat any wet cat food. She’s been like this for 2 weeks so I’m not sure she’ll eat the pumpkin. We’ll give it a try though. Some cats like it.

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  24. I hope the pumpkin or other solutions work out for Gracie. It’s no fun to be all bound up! Our Zoe has constipation/hairball issues as well. Zoe said to share that pumpkin is yucky but laxatone’s catnip flavor is a super special treat. I find it fascinating that we can go too far with the laxatone and she can still be throwing up hair. Right now, she loves Blissful Belly which is easy on the tummy and contains prebiotic fiber – which means no catnip flavored laxatone. Shedding season will be starting soon so we’ll see if eating BB gets her through hairball hell. It helps us to be sure to brush Charlie daily as he will sit on her until she washes him. Lazy man-cat.

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    • When I bought the laxatone, I didn’t know which flavor she would prefer. I chose chicken because most of her cat food is chicken based. I saw the catnip flavor and wondered. Maybe next tube. I have to give her a 5 day treatment, then a couple of times a week. Too soon to tell is it will stop the barfing but she hasn’t vomited since she came back from the vet on Monday. Thanks for the tip on Blissful Belly. I want to give her a urinary track food as she tends to get crystals.

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      • Oh ouch on the crystals. It’s hard to address several health issues at the same time. But, on the positive side, at least there are a number of companies making foods specifically to address urinary/kidney concerns, hairballs, and other health issues. It helps to have choices, particularly is Gracie is a picky eater.

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        • She has had crystals ever since she came with us 5 years ago. The vet said it didn’t mean she has stones. The food the vet recommended is unavailable anywhere but I’m trying to cobble together some urinary track food with her regular food. When I look at the ingredients they are pretty much the same as her regular food. She gets Rachel Ray’s chicken and brown rice dry.

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