Ideas to relieve constipation soon?

[1196rachel]

Hi
I've posted before about my lazy cat Iggi who has problems with constipation.

Unfortunately, he loves dry food much more than wet, however he is now on the following routine.

Morning - wet food (under 40g) with tablespoon water
Afternoon - spoonful of canned tuna (in water) with extra water and 1.2ml lactulose (mainly to give him the lactulose)
Evening - dessertspoon 'hypoallergenic', 'natural' complete dry food
Bedtime - wetfood (again under 50g) with tablespoon water and 1/2 teaspoon olive oil.

He is a cat who sometimes overgrooms and he has a flea allergy but is on regular frontline so he shouldn't ever get itchy enough to pull our fur like he used to.

Sometime, like today, he just seems to block up completely. He strains in the litter tray and drags himself across the floor to try and expel the poop.

I can't get him a vets appt today for an enema - which has sorted him out before. He's lethargic and obviously not comfortable. Has anyone got any home remedies to 'help things along'?

Thanks!

[aTailOf2Kitties]

pumpkin

[Freedom]

Canned pumpkin. NOT pumpkin pie filling which includes spices. Just pumpkin.

Darn vets, that cat needs help and "we don't have an opening" just doesn't cut it! Grrrr.

[pomtzu]

Yes - definitely canned pumpkin - but not the pumpkin pie mix. This works wonders for diarrhea or constipation.

[columbine]

Regular psyllium fiber supplement has been proven safe in cats too. I find that it also reduces hairballs in my long-haired Distinguished (ha!) Elder Cat. I mix it in with his canned food along with his other medicines/supplements.

Love, Columbine

[moosmom]

Tailof2kitties hit the nail on the head. Pumpkin is a natural laxative for kitties. Mix some with a can of wet food and a little water.

Good luck!!

[1196rachel]

Thanks everyone.

Managed to get Ig and appointment at a different vet. They were great and so were the usual one actually as they sent all the history across.

Poor boy was so full up. He had a really nasty, hard blockage. "Like concrete" the vet said. The vet had to fully sedate him and manually remove the problem (yuk!). Then he had an enema.

He's just coming round properly from the sedation - which took much longer than I thought. He's still misjudging his jumps a little, and thinking he can get away with murder because he's been ill - going on all the surfaces he knows he's not supposed to.

The vet has suggested increasing his lactulose. I'll look out for canned pumpkin, not sure if it's widely available in UK though.

Thanks again everyone!

[kb2yjx]

We had a problem when Hope Simone was younger. We added MORE fiber to her diet, and it made her constipation much worse. It became so bad that at 3am, she was RUSHED to a 24 hour emergency clinic. I was shown her a flat plate x-ray, she was loaded from stem to stern(and she had been passing stool). There was a risk her large intestine was going to rupture. After an enema, she was succesful in passing a ton of stool, she came home. Our vet suggested to continue with the added fiber, one suggestion was pumpkin. Hope still was terribly constipated, and had to go to the vet several times, for a SSE(soap suds emena). As a RN, I remembered that our end stage liver patients were given lactulose and resulted in having soft stools. I found that lactulose was recommended AND a LOW RESIDUE DIET. Hope was put on lactucose and I/D with a few pieces of dry food( NOT ALL ANIMALS(and people as well), do well on a high fiber diet). Hope was on the I/D for several months, then VERY SLOWLY was transitioned to canned Evo. She still eats the Evo, along with a few pieces of Pet Guard dry food, and Lactulose 3cc mixed in her food at breakfast and supper. Hope Simone is now three and a half years old, and has NOT suffered with constipation since she was six weeks old.....Please ask your vet about this approach, it just may help your boy.....please keep us posted....

[1196rachel]

Thanks kb2yjx

I did have him on a hairball control diet last year - which I think is high fibre - and it worsened things so I took him off it.
I will try and look for a low residue alternative instead. I just have a problem with buying Iams and that's the only one I know of.


He's doing well since the vet visit, and back to his cheeky self.

[Catty1]

Good he is better.

Did you ever try salmon oil from a pet store? Good for Omega 3's too!

Hugs to Iggy!

[kb2yjx]

O yes!!! The hairball diet is a fiber fest!!! Ask your vet about a low residue diet, he/she may be able to suggest one....Hills makes the I/D....and it is canned.... OR you might put low residue diet for cats in your search engine and see what comes up...Good luck...

[Catlady711]

If you're still checking on this thread about your constipated kitty...

I have a cat named Jack that had the same problem, although he never got quite bad enough to have to be sedated and manually evacuated. Mine was diagnosed with Megacolon.

Currently he's on 3ml. of Lactulose (can be varied as needed) twice a day, 70% canned W/D (he prefers dry) and 30% dry W/D (he hated pumpkin), and 5 mg of Cisapride twice a day. Since we started this routine he hasn't had to have an enema in almost 2 years.

If this is a reoccuring problem with your cat, ask your vet to x-ray him and see if he also is Megacolon.

If so, your vet would have to have a compounding pharmacy make up the Cisapride, but it helps move the poo along while the lactulose, wet food, and (in my cat's case) high fiber diet keeps things soft so he can pass stools.

I know how frustrating it is to see your cat straining and not being able to pass stool and knowing how uncomfortable he must be. Good luck, I hope things straighten out for your kitty.

[critters]

I'd up the lactulose. I adjusted Buddy's as needed, although constipation was never one of his serious problems; I gave it to him pretty much as a prophylactic because of his spinal cord injury.

[1196rachel]

Thanks everyone - just noticed the newer posts.

We saw a locum vet once, a very young woman, who mentioned megacolon but at the time following discussion with family we thought she must have been a newly qualified vet who was a bit over-enthusiastic. Maybe thinking vets are young is a sign I'm getting old!!

I'm going to up the lactulose gradually since Jack's dose is a fair bit more than Iggi's currently on. I think that will help him so I'll see how it goes.

I'll keep a close eye on him and if things happen again then I'll ask the vet about megacolon.

He's going along quite well now, not straining but the occasional 'incident' outside the litter-tray.

Thanks again.

[Medusa]

The vet has suggested increasing his lactulose.

My 21 year old Pidge just went through this and my vet gave me Lactulose. I'll tell ya, it works and I mean right away, so well as a matter of fact, that I stopped giving it to her and instead have increased her Cat Lax which she likes. If you do give your kitty Lactulose, you may have to play w/the dosage for a while. It gave Pidge diarrhea. Good luck.