What can I give my cat to soften his poop and help him go easier?

You can try mixing in a teaspoon or two of natural bran cereal to Tiggs' food. Dehydration is a very common cause of constipation in cats, so you can try soaking his food in warm water or gently warmed low sodium beef or chicken broth to get more moisture into his diet.

Sometimes changing the diet helps or adding more fiber to the diet as well can help firm up the stool if there are no underlying causes of soft stool such as an infectious cause like parasites. You can try and add a tablespoon of regular canned pumpkin puree (not the pie filling) to her food to see if that helps firm it up. I would also recommend a fecal test with her veterinarian.

He should start having an easier time pooping but could be difficult at first due to the pain and/or swelling. If you aren’t giving any stool softeners right now, I would contact your vet and ask for some to help with recovery. They may also want to recheck his incision. You can also add some canned pumpkin (~1 teaspoon) to his diet twice a day to help make the stool pass more easily. I hope this helps.

If Simba is having no other symptoms other than soft stool you may want to consider adding fiber to his diet. There are some commercial diets that have increased fiber content (senior diets are typically higher in fiber). Another option would be to simply add a tablespoon of fiber powder (like Metamucil) to his food once a day. If this does not help then you may want to consider bringing a stool sample to your vet to be checked to ensure nothing else is going on. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

Instead of switching food I would first start with adding a tablespoon of plain canned pumpkin to each meal. That is natural fiber and most cats like it and eat it readily. Adjust the amount so the stool is larger, softer and he goes to the bathroom at least once daily. You can also open a capsule of plain Metamucil and sprinkle it on the food to increase fiber. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Oliver.

Make sure she has plenty of water. You can add 1 teaspoon of pumpkin (NOT pie filling) per 10lbs body weight once or twice daily. Mix well into the food. Canned is preferred since it contains more moisture which will aid defecation. Too much pumpkin may cause diarrhea. It should not cause pain. If Mishka is painful, have her examined by your veterinarian.

Hi. Poor Zoe. Definitely not normal to have feces that firm. You need to do all you can to increase water consumption. Some ideas include adding ice cubes for her to play with, a water fountain that they make for cats seem to help attract them to drink. I would also recommend adding wet food and with the dry food and even possibly adding water to the dry food. You can also speak to your veterinarian about a stool softener. In addition I would recommend a full blood panel to make sure that there is no obvious Medical reason that could cause dehydration. Good luck