Kitty on diet with constipation?

[Mylo]

Hi all

My one year old indoor neutered kitty recently put on some weight and our vet advised us to put him on a diet and to gradually wean him off a mainly dry food diet (which she believes is what is causing the weight gain) to around 25 grams of dry food max per day. So he weighed 5.5 kilos and is now 5.3 kilos after 5 weeks (we were advised it should be slow weight loss!). But I've noticed the last 3 weeks he isn't pooping every day as before. It's happened four times in 3 weeks, as in he will go 48 hours without pooping. Is this normal or is it because we are changing his diet? At the moment his diet is 60% dry 40% wet and he still drinks plenty of water. Previously it was around 80% dry food.

We are first time cat parents so just a bit worried if this is normal or not. He used to be very regular and I never had a day without having to clean poop out of his litter tray! He seems ok, alert, active. Any feedback would be appreciated!

Thanks

[Lilith]

Hi there, it could be that he's maturing; it could be the change of diet, but some cats, like humans, don't produce a motion every day, and unless he seems uncomfortable, or you see him straining to pass hard motions, it's not necessarily a problem. I'd certainly mention it to your vet though, a bit of extra advice can't hurt.

One of my cats used to be very constipated and I read on here about Royal Canin Fibre Response diet and fed her it, and she did very well; enjoyed the food (she has wet food as well) and her stools became much larger and softer and more regular. But it is a dry food and they do tend to stuff themselves on a new dry food (the novelty) so it might not be ideal in his case.

There will be other people along soon hopefully, but hope this helps for now, all the best with him

[Mylo]

Thanks for this, we have an appointment with the vet next week for his worming tablet so I'll ask her but was just worried in case it wasn't normal for them not to poop every day

[alanc]

Hi and welcome to the life of a cat slave. May he keep you under his paw for many years! My Tilly is on a 50:50 wet:dry diet and frequently goes 48 hours between poops. Partly due to using high quality cat food. Savings in cost of cat litter only partly offsets the higher food costs, though!

[Mylo]

Hi Alanc

Hehe you're not wrong there, I'm definitely a cat slave, he's got me wrapped around his little paws!

Thanks for the posts, it's put my mind at rest! Love this forum, everyone is so helpful!

[Crewella]

As has been said, no harm in asking the vet as any information is good, but a couple of mine don't poop every day, and never have, so it's not necessarily an issue. Good luck with the diet - your vet's right in that dry food is much more calorific and often is the culprit when a cat is overweight.

[Mylo]

Thank you. I did actually call the vet, even though our appointment was next week and she told me to take him in early just to check him over. He is perfectly ok and vet thinks it is due to the change in diet and no harm in him not pooping daily! And it does make the litter cleaning a bit more pleasant (if you can call it that) at the moment