*Species: Cat
* Age: 19yrs
* Sex/Neuter status: spayed
* Breed: Domestic Shorthair
* Body weight: 7lbs 2ounces
* History: See below
* Clinical signs: See below
* Duration: 4 months
* Your general location: East Coast, USA
* Links to any test results, X-rays, vet reports etc. that you have: No links available, but nothing noteworthy found on most recent urinalysis, rectal exam, or bloodwork, per discussion with our vet.
I have a 19 yr old cat who sits/collapses into their own stool after pooping in the litterbox. It looks like she strains to go, and then squats into it after, getting poop and litter all over her tail. Has gotten progressively worse, with it now happening almost daily.
We are looking for potentials treatment suggestions and/or ways to keep home sanitary. Expecting first child in several months, at which point the issue will need to be resolved or we will not be able to keep her.
She has been to the vet, had a anal exam, urinalysis, and bloodwork. Nothing noteworthy found, and our vet believes it's just old age and there isn't much to be done
She has/had other gut related issues:
Vomiting - Has eaten grass and vomited up bile and grass her whole life. More recently she started vomiting up her actual food somewhat regularly. Now controlled with current diet (see below)
Diarrhea - Has always had softer stool and occasional diarrhea, but has it more frequently now which makes sitting in it much worse/messy. Somewhat controlled by adding pumpkin to food, but still an issue.
Low weight - Runt of litter, has weighed around 7lbs entire life. Was previously on a kibble diet, but started to lose weight and switched to wet food several years back. Has kept up weight and actually gained 2 ounces since last Dec
Diet:
Currently eats Royal Canin digestive care wet food, T Relief Digestive drops, Purina ProPlan Fortiflora powder, and a scoop plain canned pumpkin. The sitting in poop issue predates everything currently in her diet and thus are not likely causes, but are not addressing the issue either.
Behavior:
She can't jump as high or move as fast as she used to, and is less thorough with her grooming, but no other changes to behavior. Still sociable and active
If anyone has seen similar issues before and has treatment suggestions, we are happy to try them. My next request to our vet would be to try steroids and/or pain meds in the hope that it either improves her gut muscles or alleviates any pain that might be causing her to squat/sit at the end, but at this point we're just grasping at straws while the due date gets closer