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!