Twelve year old male cat started dropping small stools
by Gareth
(Featherstone)
Hi…my 12 year old male cat who is generally healthy and vet serviced every year, has recently started dropping small round stools uncontrollably.
He is licking his rectum more and has lost fur around the opening. This does not happen all the time but is regular, like once a day.
He has a favorite window sill he sits on that has now got stool smear marks on it that return when cleaned off each day, suggesting he is leaking stool without knowing it.
He is spending more time with his leg in the air cleaning his rectum. While doing this he appears to have a distant look in his eyes like in a trance. He is becoming more noisy when he wants a pat on the back and will meow like mad until you stroke his back.
Just wondered if anyone had any ideas before going to the vet?
Gareth
Hi Gareth… thanks for visiting and asking. My immediate thought was fecal incontinence. In other words your cat is losing control of his anal sphincter muscle. This results in defecation intermittently or permanently without control.
There is a loss of hair around his bottom because he licks there a lot. And he licks there a lot because he is constantly going to the toilet albeit unintentionally. The licking and loss of hair are normal. The loss of anal control is not.
The usual reasons for this are spinal cord injuries due to a car accident or fall, for example. It may be due to an infection caused by a bite from another cat.
The tail might be paralysed. Although perhaps this is not immediately apparent.
Spinal cord injury may affect the bladder and he might urinate more or be doubly incontinent.
The excessive defecation is not due to diarrhea, clearly, as the stools are small and formed.
OK, I am not a vet. I am suggesting no more. The detail from this comes from Book 1 on this page.
What to do? Go to the vet for X rays and more.
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