Constipation

[Siva's mom]

Took my 2-1/2 year old female cat to the vet this morning and he says she's constipated from the middle of her belly to her rear-end. I asked what to do for it and he said there isn't much you can do. He wasn't concerned at all which suprised me because he's so good with all my cats. He said he wouldn't worry about it since she's not showing any signs of discomfort or whatever. Any suggestions on how to get this lil darlin' unconstipated?

P.S. We don't feed her people food any more which could have contributed to the problem in the first place.

[Jessika]

Well if he doesn't seem too worried then I wouldn't be too worried myself. :)

Sorry I can't give you any tips though :( apparently my sister's cat was constipated and my mom said to give her milk.. which is why I think she was constipated in the FIRST place. Agggg..

[Siva's mom]

This is a rescue kitty - she found me when she was barely 6 weeks old. I must admit that as the youngest in the house, she's been very pampered, sheltered and gets just about anything she wants which includes people food. There wasn't anything she would turn down. So she's had milk and I suspect that, along with all the other food she would eat was one of the culprits. I'm going to give her Vaseline for the next few days to see if that will loosen it up some. I've gotten some suggestions online but thought someone in Pet Talk might have something that's a tried and true remedy. I sure would like to prevent any future potential serious problems with this. Thanks for you help!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm sorry to hear that your cat is constipated. :( My Sky was also slightly constipated and I asked my vet about it and she said to try giving him some canned pumpkin. I mix it in with some of his wet food. It has a lot of fiber in it so this should help with constipation. It's also great for binding stools for a cat with diarrhea too. She also said that if this doesn't work then I could try some other over the counter laxatives. I forgot the names of them though.

Before I asked my vet about Sky, I found some information on a website that said to use mineral oil. My vet said that this wasn't a good idea because it can become trapped in the cats lungs and cause problems. Pumpkin is the most natural and noninvasive thing to use on your cat. Good luck. :)

[Siva's mom]

Thanks for the reply! I'll try some pumpkin this weekend. This cat will absolutely eat anything so I'm pretty confident she'll like it. I never would have thought about that. Has Sky ever had further problems with constipation since the pumpkin cure?

[Miss Z]

Canned pumpkin is a good idea because it contains fibre. Anything with fibre in helps to clear the digestive system. Hope that your cat gets better soon

[Siva's mom]

Thanks, Ms. Z! This cat is the heart of the house - keeps everyone on their toes - and now the house is too quiet. The other cats don't know who to chase since Chex is lethargic these days. Do you think the pumpkin will work quickly or maybe take a few days?

[slick]

When my 18th yrs old gets "plugged up" I use something called Lactulose. You can buy it in any pharmacy...actually it's for hoomans. 2cc's once a day does the trick on her. It's a liquid and I give it to her by mouth.

[Siva's mom]

Hi, Slick!

Thanks for the advice. Now I have 2 to try! I'm sure your remedy would keep longer than an open can of pumpkin! I'm going to try the pumpkin since I already have a can in the house and see what happens. If that doesn't work, it's off to the pharmacy! I do have Lactose (or Lactone - something like that) in the house. I get it at PetSmart where the Kitty Malt is located. Chex loves the stuff and eats it right out of the tube so I'm sure she would do alright with the stuff you just recommended.

[Siva's mom]

Ms. Z, now that I'm thinking about it, the can of pumpkin I have at home has all the spices in it for pumpkin pie. Is that okay or do you think I'll need to get just plain canned pumpkin without any spices in it? Also, do I need to give it to her just once? About how much?

Thanks for you all your help. Chex and I appreciate it!

[krazyaboutkatz]

You should only give her canned pumpkin not the one called pumpkin pie filling. You can give her about tablespoon or maybe a little bit more. It may take a few days to work. Sky's been fine and I'm still continuing to give him a little bit of pumpkin twice a day just to keep him regular. Good luck. :)

When my RB Pepper became constipated, he was so bad that he had to have an enema. He was then on lactulose every day for several years. At first the vet thought that he had megacolon but that wasn't the case.

[Sky57]

I give my 6 month old puppy a teaspoon of olive oil or fish oil in her dinner to keep her skin and coat in good condition. I think that might help with constipation too, but I don't really know for sure.

[Laura's Babies]

I would give the kitty pumpkin more than once. My vet told me to give it to a cat I had every day. You can adjust the amount until she no longer needs any once things are moving correctly.

[Miss Z]

Ms. Z, now that I'm thinking about it, the can of pumpkin I have at home has all the spices in it for pumpkin pie. Is that okay or do you think I'll need to get just plain canned pumpkin without any spices in it? Also, do I need to give it to her just once? About how much?

Thanks for you all your help. Chex and I appreciate it!

I wouldn't give her that pumkin pie filling, it probably contains loads of sugars and sweeteners that could upset your cat's digestive system even more. When feeding the plain canned pumpkin, i would mash it up so it's easy for your cat to swallow. I'm not entirely sure how much you should feed her, but if she doesn't want to eat it, don't force her to. I would think that just one hlping would be enough, but you'll only know when your cat starts to use the litter tray again.

Hang on, i just found this site (http://www.cah.com/dr_library/felconstip.html) which should help you it says about fibre supplements on there. Hope that i've helped!

[Siva's mom]

Thanks, Ms. Z, for the info. The web site is most informative as well. I talked to the vet this a.m. at length about it as I had taken in my oldest cat for her annual and discovered she is constipated as well. He said he sees this a lot in the winter because cats decrease their water intake when it's cooler because they're not as thirsty. I got the plain pumpkin for the 2 I know are constipated and let's just say there was mushy pumpkin all over my white kitchen floor when we were finished. They wouldn't go near it mixed in with canned food so I used syringe full of it. My tortoise shell was not happy. I'll find a way to approach it differently and hope that she gets over herself soon. The vet said to give it to them once a day and if that doesn't take care of the problem, let him know and we'll try an over the counter laxative. I will definitely be monitoring the trips to the litter boxes this weekend.

Thanks for all your help. I feel much better informed now and have a handle on what needs to be done. I have never had a cat with this problem and now have 2! Gotta love those new experiences, eh?

[Siva's mom]

Just wanted to let you all know that I think we've got it under control. The pumpkin didn't work - not one of the 4 cats would go near it. I tried to force feed a couple of them and my white kitchen floor as well as the blinds over the windows was spattered with orange pumpkin goop. I ended up sprinkling Metamucil onto their dry food - which by the way, is hairball food that the vet suggested. One of the cats will eat canned food and she's getting Metamucil in it every night. I'm noticing more poop in the litter boxes each day so it's working. Thank all of you so much for helping me out with this. Siva, Wooz, Sweets, Chex and I all appreciate it a great deal.

Ms. Z, the site you mentioned was most informative. I learned a lot and am now better able to spot a problem before it gets too far along. Thanks!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm glad to hear that you were able to use something that finally worked. Hopefully all of your furkids will stay regular now. :)

[Miss Z]

Ms. Z, the site you mentioned was most informative. I learned a lot and am now better able to spot a problem before it gets too far along. Thanks!

That's OK, any time!!!:)

[Siva's mom]

We can hope all is well for the rest of the winter! Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and info! Have a great holiday season!