Constipation - or the trademark of a dessert dweller?

Perhaps it is much more interesting to study and tell about how to prepare and feed a truly nutritious and healthy diet for cats, than it is to address the by-product that results from our culinary efforts. Nonetheless, the evidence left behind in the litterbox is highly educational and an excellent indicator of our cats? health and wellbeing. I am indeed very happy to say that many of you are already keen observers in this regard, and are eager to share your findings.

In general, cats eating a raw meat diet prepared using InstinctsTC will have firm, small stools of dark colour, and little odour. This is very pleasant for us who clean the litterbox. Cats might have a bowel movement every day, but more commonly every other day. The faeces dry very quickly when passed and sometimes have light coloured areas. All this is very normal, but frequently raises concern with owners who are concerned about the cats being constipated. Indeed, constipation is not uncommon in cats, but appears to be unrelated to what they are eating - dry food, canned food, raw meat, or mice.

FACT: By the time the food reaches the large intestine, most of the nutrients have been digested and absorbed. In this part of the gut, water is absorbed and some fermentation of cellulose by bacteria takes place. Faeces are around 70% water and 30% undigested food, dead bacteria and some inorganic material.

FACT: Our domestic cats have retained the physiological adaptation of their dessert dwelling ancestors and possess the ability to concentrate urine and absorb moisture from faecal matter to a greater degree than other animals. This enables cats to survive on the moisture content of their natural food - prey - alone. Cats' faeces are naturally of little volume and are firm.

FACT: Stool volume increases as the crude fibre content and portion of indigestible matter in food is raised. Large, frequent bowel movements indicate that the food eaten is largely indigestible and little of it is being utilized. Additionally, high levels of fibre in the diet of cats can depress digestibility of nutrients.

Fibre is not considered essential for simple stomach carnivorous mammals like cats. In moderation, however, dietary fibre can benefit them - which is why we add psyllium husk to InstinctsTC. Psyllium husk is a very gentle source of fibre. Unlike other sources of fibre it helps to move things along in the gastro-intestinal tract without causing gas, loose stool, and depress digestion. Psyllium husk trap water in faecal matter which the cats are unable to extract. The stool is softened and volume increased for easy passage.

We can conclude that many commercial diets - especially dry foods - produce bowl movements of unnaturally large size, loose texture, and frequency due to the content of high fibre ingredients of poor nutritional value. When switching to a highly digestible, nutritious raw meat diet without fillers, stool volume and the frequency of passing is dramatically reduced to what we know to be a more natural condition. This can raise concern, however, when cat owners are used to frequent, large stools in the litterbox. We can not rule out that some cats do get constipated due to their physiological individuality despite our best efforts to carefully balance the fibre content in InstinctsTC. In this case, consulting with your Veterinarian will help to diagnose its cause and find an appropriate solution, because constipation is not always diet related.

Photo on the left: faeces of a cat eating mice
Photo on the right: faeces of a cat eating InstinctsTC
- hardly different !

(Photos by Natascha Wille from a controlled study at Feline Future)