Survey of defecation habits in apparently healthy and chronic kidney disease cats

Abstract

Objectives Changes in bowel movements (BMs) are an important clinical sign in many diseases, including chronic kidney disease (CKD), and the purpose of this study was to collect information on BMs and fecal scores in both apparently healthy and CKD cats. A secondary aim was to assess owner awareness of BM frequency. Methods Owners were asked to complete an initial online questionnaire about their cat’s health and litter box habits (including predicted BM frequency and fecal scores) and were then asked to clean the box daily for 7 days and report results (observed frequency of BMs and fecal scores) daily. Differences in BM frequency and fecal scores between apparently normal and CKD cats were compared using the Mann–Whitney test, and predicted vs observed data were compared using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Difference in percentage of cats defecating more or less than once daily were assessed with Fisher’s exact test. Results Survey data from 124 owners of apparently healthy cats and 43 owners of CKD cats who submitted two or more days of daily observations (in addition to the initial questionnaire) were analyzed. Eighty-five percent of apparently healthy cats were observed to defecate one or more times per day and 15% defecated less than once per day. Fifty-eight percent of CKD cats defecated one or more times per day and 42% defecated less than once per day. A significantly higher percentage of CKD cats defecated less than once per day in comparison with apparently healthy cats ( P <0.0001). Observed BM frequency was significantly less in CKD cats compared with healthy cats ( P = 0.02). Observed fecal scores were not significantly different between healthy and CKD cats. Conclusions and relevance The observed BM frequency of cats with CKD was less than apparently healthy cats and represents a clinically important variation from normal.

Comparison of Frequency and Stay Time between Normal and Abnormal Elimination Behavior of Cats Using a Litter Box with Automatic Sensor

“…The difference in the mean value of daily total visits (healthy vs diseased; 3.38 vs 3.77 times/ day) was presumed to be due to clinical signs of polyuria, pollakiuria, and diarrhea. This result is consistent with that of previous studies that diseased cats show more frequent urination (6,12). According to some previous reports, a cat with a urological disease exhibits more frequent urination than a healthy cat.…”

“…A higher frequency of using the litter box implies the clinical signs, either LUTS (lower urinary tract symptoms), constipation, or diarrhea, or it's a combination. The mean value of daily total visits (3.38 ± 1.45 times/day) in this study is similar to the sum of the frequencies of urination (mean 2.43 ± 0.90 times/day, range 1-4) and defecation (mean 1.29 ± 0.56 times/day, range 0.33-3) in the other study (12).…”

“…Some previous studies reported a difference in the frequency of daily elimination behavior (urination or defecation) between healthy cats and cats with urological disease (6,12).…”

“…One study, in which data were collected using a video recording system, showed that a diseased cat urinates 2.9 ± 0.7 times (range, 1-5 times/day) on an average (6). Another study reported that a cat with CKD urinates 3.13 ± 0.93 times (range, 1-5 times/day) on an average (12).…”

Fecal identification markers impact the feline fecal microbiota

“…Fecal samples are commonly used to evaluate gut microbial communities because of their ease of acquisition. However, unlike other species, fecal collection in cats is limited by husbandry needs (e.g., group housing) and feline elimination behaviors (e.g., preference for privacy, fastidious environments, ability to hide their feces, variable day-to-day timing of defecation, and lower defecation frequency) ( 10 , 11 ). These differences create a challenge in identification of an individual cat's feces in multi-cat households and group housing research facilities.…”