What Are the Different Stages of Feline Constipation?

Craig B. Webb, PhD, DVM, DACVIM, professor and head of small animal section at Colorado State University, discusses the different stages of feline constipation.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability).

“We make the diagnosis of chronic constipation along a continuum, because kitty cats can get constipated every once in a while for no particular reason, just like any of us. If that happens regularly, so the owner is noticing a problem, say, every other week, or every week, we might then use the term ‘obstipation,’ and then finally, if the kitty is constipated to the point where it’s simply stopped defecating, so it’s not really frequency, it’s haven’t defecated for two or three days, then it’s at least possible [that] the cat has Megacolon. There’s a continuum from constipation, which happens to all of us, obstipation, where it’s becoming regular and frequent, and then Megacolon, where we have a cat who is no longer moving stool.”