Why is my 2-month-old kitten straining and crying when pooping?

Poor baby! I am worried that she is having diarrhea and an increased urgency to go or severe constipation. Since she is so uncomfortable and so tiny and young, I would strongly recommend to have her seen by your vet as soon as possible. Your vet will be able to determine the cause and get her started on the proper meds to help her feel better. They will also be able to give her fluids if needed. I hope this helps and she starts to feel better really soon!

Your cat could be severely constipated and the straining can make him nauseous. For severe constipation, your pet should be seen by a vet. Hard stool building up in the colon stretches it out of shape, and it also causes stretching of the muscles around the anus, causing perianal hernias that trap the collected feces, effectively making a plug. Your pet may need more than one enema and even manual extraction of the feces in order to relieve this episode. To help avoid this in the future, you can add Miralax to the food. Miralax is a very gentle, easy to give treatment for constipation, available over the counter at any pharmacy. The dose of Miralax is 1 tsp per 50 lbs mixed in with food once a day. You can also add a tablespoon of vegetable or olive oil to his food once daily, or add a couple of teaspoons of canned pumpkin (not pie filling) to his food daily.

It could be a sign that it's a bit painful for Louie to pass feces. Try adding in a teaspoon of canned pumpkin puree to his food to see if that helps. Also feed him some canned for too because if he is constipated, the number one cause of it in cats is dehydration. If these methods do not help, have him seen by a vet next week. Best of luck, I hope this helps.

With a 2 month old kitten crying in the litter box I would be concerned about diarrhea or even constipation. If this is the case I would recommend bringing Kajin to be evaluated at your veterinarian to make sure there is no intestinal parasites and to make sure this is what is going on. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would definitely recommend having Tamtam evaluated by a veterinarian. At his age there could be a congenital abnormality (abnormal anatomy that he was born with) that could be hindering him from being able to urinate/defecate normally. Intestinal parasites can also cause straining to defecate which could be presenting as straining to urinate as well, so it would also be beneficial to perform a fecal float on a sample to look for common parasites. I hope Tamtam feels better soon.

Constipation can be a very serious condition, it can be caused by a physical blockage (foreign body like a bone) or a functional peristalsis deficiency of the intestines. In order to treat simple constipation, you should increase the fibers in the food (e.g. canned pumpkin) and can add a little mineral oil to the diet. I strongly advise taking Acil to the vet in order to check if there is a serious condition causing the constipation first.

Young kittens will normally toilet frequently, often up to 6 times a day but I would be very concerned by repeated trips to the tray without producing anything as this may indicate an obstruction or severe spasm and inflammation which is quite common in cats and can be triggered by stressful events such as moving house. I recommend an urgent vet check to determine if he is constipated or bladder pain and to prescribe the most appropriate treatment and ongoing management to prevent recurrence. In the meantime I would try to encourage fluids with flavoured water (freshly boiled chicken broth or a little cod liver oil on the water bowl) and provide wet food to maximise fluid intake which can help soften stool and flush the bladder