Megacolon Experiences?

[elizabethann]

Is anyone familiar with Megacolon? My cat, JoJo, who has kidney disease, was diagnosed on Tuesday with Megacolon. She was at the vet overnight to clean out her system. I picked her up on Wednesday and she hasn't pooped since. She eats tuna or chicken, watered down. She drinks a lot. She no longer eats her K/D. She's peed on my bed on several occasions at night. I give her pills but it's getting harder and harder. She has 3 legs and no tail but she's a tough 4 3/4 lb girl. She's bitten me several times. She won't take the pills in pill pockets or wrapped in cheese or tuna or chicken. I've tried giving her the subq fluids but it's impossible.

I guess another question I'm asking is if anyone ever put their cat to sleep due to Megacolon. I've been thinking of making the call. I couldn't get her cisapride in her just now so I've decided to stop giving it to her and calling the vet tomorrow.

It's just so upsetting because all she has to do is poop. It's so simple. But she can't.

She's a wonderful kitty but I think it may be time.

Anyone experience Megacolon? Any thoughts?

Thanks.

[maid25cats]

copied from petmd,com
http://www.petmd.com/blogs/nutritionnuggets/cat/jcoates/2013/june/dietary-management-of-megacolon-in-cats-30472
A couple of teaspoons of psyllium, canned pumpkin, or wheat bran can be added to a cat’s regular food to increase the fiber content.

I was having a hard time giving my cat her Zyrtec
I tried hiding the pill in her wet food.
i tried crushing the pill in her food she would not eat it. :(

I took a LITTLE BIT of Hot water from the faucet a small container.
I let the pill dissolve in the water. Then I mixed it in with the gravy from her wet food.
Worked like a charm :D

Do you give her human tuna?
Maybe you could take that liquid and microwave it for a few seconds to warm it then dissolve the pill in that?

GOOD LUCK

JoJo stop giving your mommy a hard time and take your pills

[elizabethann]

Thanks. I will talk to the vet about psyllium. She gets human tuna. I also bought some chicken baby food and she enjoyed that. Thanks for the link.

[maid25cats]

Copied from http://www.thecatsite.com/t/205398/diet-to-manage-megacolon

1. Megacolon kitties actually need to be on a no grain diet. Not high fiber like you'd think. We use Wellness Core dry and wet.
2. Miralax, Miralax, Miralax! Way better than Lactalose and much much easier to get into the kitty.

COPIED FROM http://www.thecatsite.com/t/262510/constipation-issues

I know all too well about constipation in one of my kitties. Boo has chronic constipation and it got worse as he got older. He's 13 now. Under the care of a vet, we've had to aggressively treat it with Miralax and Benefiber mixed with his wet food, plus extra water mixed in. I've installed two water fountains, cleaned every other day, to encourage drinking. Water is important! He's doing so well now.

YOUR BABY SOUNDS LIKE A LITTLE FIRECRACKER DON'T GIVE UP HOPE.

[Grace]

Charley is 10.5 years old. He was diagnosed with megacolon about 2 years ago - and is doing fine right now.

He gets Miralax and Cisapride on a daily basis. We give him the meds mixed in with a small amount of tasty canned food and never have any problems.

He gets 1/4 teaspoon of Miralax powder and 1/4 cc of Cisapride every morning. The Cisapride keeps the peristalsis going for the intestines, and the Miralax keeps the poop soft.

I remember when we saw the initial x-rays. I knew it was megacolon - having seen it in patients while still working as a nurse. I had no idea animals could also get it.

Good luck :)

[elizabethann]

Thanks everyone. I wrote down some of your suggestions. I gave a 9:30 vet appointment. She peed on my bed again last night. But she is still eating, drinking and even cleaned herself up a bit. She meows and bops me in the face when she's hungry. Thanks again.

[Catty1]

The peeing on the bed might be something completely separate from the megacolon - maybe a UTI, easy to treat.

Sounds like there are some good solutions for your furbaby! Good luck!

[bowlkat]

How old is your cat? We had a young male, Max, diagnosed with it, they performed surgery to remove much of his colon (90%) and he had a happy, healthy 8 years thereafter- he couldn't take much water out of feces so he really loaded up a catbox but he was happy! It's not cheap but it sure did get him a happy life! Ask about this possibility- if she's not too old it might be a way to give her a real quality life-

[dehlers43]

I make my own "pill pocket" type of stuff which my Franklin just loves. Just use a food processor to grind up soft kitty treats. Then slowly add canola or other light oil until a paste is formed. Just enough to hold the stuff together. Works great-no more stress with the pills!
As for the megacolon, there is a human laxative called crystalax (I think that's what it was called). It is a tasteless powder you can add to food. My kitty Winston had a poorly functioning colon due to nerve damage, acted a lot like megacolon. I feed him an almost entirely liquid diet...a mixture of Clinicare and puréed baby meats. Really help to keep things moving along....good luck with your kitty...

[maid25cats]

Just wondering how the vet visit went?
How is JoJo feeling?

[elizabethann]

How old is your cat? We had a young male, Max, diagnosed with it, they performed surgery to remove much of his colon (90%) and he had a happy, healthy 8 years thereafter- he couldn't take much water out of feces so he really loaded up a catbox but he was happy! It's not cheap but it sure did get him a happy life! Ask about this possibility- if she's not too old it might be a way to give her a real quality life-. JOJo is probably 10+. I don't really know since I got her at the shelter around 2007. She was not a kitten back then. I'm guessing 12. I've heard of the surgery. That's not an option due to cost and the fact she also has kidney disease. I'm glad your cat Max lived a long life after his surgery.

[elizabethann]

I make my own "pill pocket" type of stuff which my Franklin just loves. Just use a food processor to grind up soft kitty treats. Then slowly add canola or other light oil until a paste is formed. Just enough to hold the stuff together. Works great-no more stress with the pills!
As for the megacolon, there is a human laxative called crystalax (I think that's what it was called). It is a tasteless powder you can add to food. My kitty Winston had a poorly functioning colon due to nerve damage, acted a lot like megacolon. I feed him an almost entirely liquid diet...a mixture of Clinicare and puréed baby meats. Really help to keep things moving along....good luck with your kitty...
I will ask my vet about that. Thanks for the idea about the homemade pill pockets b

[elizabethann]

Just wondering how the vet visit went?
How is JoJo feeling?

The vet gave JoJo an enema and she pooped. She pooped on Sunday and I just found a poop this morning. YAY! My vet is going to try another medication. She's really nice. She researched it and came up with two options. I can't remember the name of the medication. I'll post it. It's only available at a pharmacy in Arizona. They're compounding it and shipping it to NH. I hope it works. I was telling the vet that JoJo doesn't even try to poop. It just comes out. The vet thinks she's lost all the muscles in her colon. Probably because she only has the one back leg. She's been dragging it lately.

[maid25cats]

Glad to hear shes pooping on her own.

I hope the new medication works for JoJo.

[phesina]

Good work, JoJo! Best wishes with the new medication.

All my best wishes to you and your loving Purrrson.

:love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

[Catty1]

What wonderful news, elizabethann! I hope she continues to do really well! http://petoftheday.com/smiles/PetTalk_heart.gif

Do you think she would tolerate a soft "sock" on the paw of the leg that drags?