Advice please for my Katie girl

[rg_girlca]

My tabby girl, Katie who is 10 years old gets constipated about every 2 or 3 months. She eats dry food for seniors but also gets a moist food about every 2 days.
When she gets constipated she will sit there and cry like she is in a lot of pain. I get some vaseline and massage her rectum with it which seems to help her go within a half an hour. Is there anything that i can give her so she doesn't get constipated. I would greatly appreciate any input on this.

[AmberLee]

Hi there!

Poor baby, this sounds really painful. Has your vet suggested anything? My pet sitter suggested that I occasionally put a little dab of vaseline out for my cats to lick to reduce hairball problems and they (wierdly enough, to me anyway) seem to enjoy it. Apparently it's good as an internal lubricant for cats. Perhaps you could check with your vet and see if this might be useful to your Katie?

The only other thing I can think of is to increase her roughage. Does she enjoy cat grass? My critters enjoy it, and as long as I keep it trimmed short, it doesn't seem to harm them at all.

[4 feline house]

There is also a product called Laxatone that will work. There's another one with "malt" in the name, but it's late at night and the exact name escapes me now! But there are many laxatives that are sold right over the counter that are safe when not overused.

Are you sure she's constipated, though, and not having bladder problems? Many cat owners swear their cats are straining at their stool, only to take them to the vet and find they have urethral blockages, which can be fatal.

So if you're not absolutely sure, she probably should be looked at.

But if you know, then any of the laxatives will do, and most cats really like them.

[Nomilynn]

I think the malt name is just called Fur-Malt. My cat's have Laxatone for furballs, and one likes it and the other hates it. Our dog had a problem with being stopped up - so bad he had to go have an enima.. poor boy! Anyway, all the vet recommended for him was give him a teaspoon of bran three times a week. It's just the loose flaky stuff that you can buy in bulk bags from the grocery store. Maybe that would help, if you could mix that in with her wet food (to mask the taste). I hope you find a solution!

[krazyaboutkatz]

You may want the vet to check her out. My cat was also constipated and he was diagnosed with megacolon. He now takes lactulose twice a day. As long as he takes it , he's fine. This is a presciptive drug. I've also heard of feeding cats pumpkin pie filling and also feeding them a cat food that is high in fiber. Good luck. Keep us posted.

[rg_girlca]

Thank you all so very much for your suggestions. . I spoke with my vet (like you suggested)and explained the whole situation with him and he suggested that since massaging Katies' rectum with the vaseline works, cause she licks it, that i should try putting vaseline twice a week on her and see how this works.
Cause he just saw her about a month and a half ago and she got a very good clean bill of health. If her constipation should happen again in about 2 or 3 months time, after applying the vaseline every two weeks, then i will bring her in to have her checked out. Also 4 feline house, no need to worry, it is definitly not a bladder problem.
Thanks again everyone for your input on this as i have made a note of all your suggestions for future references, if i should need it.
Meow meow from Katie, who thanks you too.

[sasvermont]

I put a little mineral oil on her wet food (at the vet's suggestion) and also forced her in to exercising a bit more. It seemed to help a bit. I also gave her more canned food than dry. There are hair ball formula cat foods, although I have never tried them on my cats. I too have heard of pumpkin pie - but not all cats will eat it! My cat didn't mind the mineral oil.

Good luck!

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

My mom's cat had the same problem once, and the vet gave her some hairball stuff which was mentioned previously. He is a ragdoll with very long fur and the vet didn't know if that had anything to do with it or not because he, surprisingly, doesn't really get hairballs. But it helped when he was constipated, so I thought I would just reconfirm everyone else's suggestions on that.

does your cat drink enough ???that could be a reason for the constipation !!!

[rg_girlca]

Thanks for your concern, lut. Katie does drink enough. She has fresh water every day and drinks on a daily basis.