Feline Constipation

[kabuki]

Thanks Kabuki! I actually reground her food on a finer setting this afternoon. I have also begun using a little olive oil today along with the pumpkin. Several sites made the olive oil recommendation. She does not cry when she uses the litterbox, I am hoping for a bm tomorrow . If not it will be off to the vet for us.

My guy behind would be swollen and push hard and nothing come out but liquid and cried... It was a sad sight. I felt so so bad...


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[ZahrasHuman]

Success!!!!! She tried 4 times today and finally manage to succeed. With the caveat that it was not in the litter box , but I am just happy she went. I think she may have been trying to go for longer than I realized and might have a little litter box poo aversion we will need to work through, but that's okay. She did try to go in the litter box 4 times so I am not going to fault her. I'm just going to keep her more regular from now on. If you think about it in the last two weeks she: Got fixed, received massive antibiotics, got her final immunizations, had her food slightly modified two times, moved from LA to Chicago, and had her dad come in and out of her life due to our long distance relationship..... I would be constipated too

 

[ZahrasHuman]

My guy behind would be swollen and push hard and nothing come out but liquid and cried... It was a sad sight. I felt so so bad...


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Poor little guy

 

[sacred]

Hello all. I thought I would introduce myself as I am the "sometimes absent boyfriend" mentioned above which is, apparently, what I am referred to by my significant other when I'm not in the room.

p.s. There is more to the pooping story than any of you EVER want to know. Suffice it to say that I am scarred. Forever.

p.p.s. I am seriously considering changing my username to "ZahrasWallet" as she is the gift that keeps on giving to everyone and everything but my bank account.

 

[ZahrasHuman]

Hello all. I thought I would introduce myself as I am the "sometimes absent boyfriend" mentioned above which is, apparently, what I am referred to by my significant other when I'm not in the room.

p.s. There is more to the pooping story than any of you EVER want to know. Suffice it to say that I am scarred. Forever.

p.p.s. I am seriously considering changing my username to "ZahrasWallet" as she is the gift that keeps on giving to everyone and everything but my bank account.

Lol, baby she is the best gift I ever got, and worth every penny . As far as your scarring is concerned, sometimes raising kids is a dirty business. I think we are both just glad she is healthy.

 

[Trish Allearz]

Ha-- poop and cats, it's the life long story... I'm glad she's using the potty again!

 

[ZahrasHuman]

Ha-- poop and cats, it's the life long story... I'm glad she's using the potty again!

Me too Trish!

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I know more than most about kitten constipation issues.... having once had a kitten that developed megacolon from the inability to pass a BM.

I would suggest maybe adding the psyllium husk (as Patti says, unflavored metamucil) to her raw chicken...this will also allow you to add more water to the mix which is also good. When I had my kitten with this issue the specialist vet recommended adding baby oatmeal and psyllium...well actually he wanted to add cooked whole grains but Babbage refused to touch it, and same for pumpkin.

The BEST laxative by far for cats is Miralax (as recommended by the pro's on the feline megacolon email groups). Old school vets will still prescribe lactulose which is a horrible sticky liquid that cats hate and you have to give a decent volume to them and it gets everywhere...ugh. Miralax (over the counter for us humans, get the unflavored one of course), you only need to give them ~1/8 teaspoon and it is relatively flavorless and can be mixed in with food or if they are not wanting to eat even a spoon of chicken baby food, you can dissolve in a mL of water and syringe it very easily. Being tasteless they don't even really hate you for that.

I hope Zahra gets back to a pooping routine now and the worry is over though!

 

[ZahrasHuman]

I know more than most about kitten constipation issues.... having once had a kitten that developed megacolon from the inability to pass a BM.

I would suggest maybe adding the psyllium husk (as Patti says, unflavored metamucil) to her raw chicken...this will also allow you to add more water to the mix which is also good. When I had my kitten with this issue the specialist vet recommended adding baby oatmeal and psyllium...well actually he wanted to add cooked whole grains but Babbage refused to touch it, and same for pumpkin.

The BEST laxative by far for cats is Miralax (as recommended by the pro's on the feline megacolon email groups). Old school vets will still prescribe lactulose which is a horrible sticky liquid that cats hate and you have to give a decent volume to them and it gets everywhere...ugh. Miralax (over the counter for us humans, get the unflavored one of course), you only need to give them ~1/8 teaspoon and it is relatively flavorless and can be mixed in with food or if they are not wanting to eat even a spoon of chicken baby food, you can dissolve in a mL of water and syringe it very easily. Being tasteless they don't even really hate you for that.

I hope Zahra gets back to a pooping routine now and the worry is over though!

Thanks Brigitte!
Just to be clear are you recommending the Miralax only for when she gets constipated despite the psyllium in her food? Or are you recommending it as a daily dose? I suspect she has had some constipation issues for a while now and because this is our first experience with a raw fed cat, and because she never complained, we missed the signs. She did not have a BM until the fifth day we had her, and after that she only went about every thee to four days. I am thinking, if I understand your advice properly, that I should use 1/8 tsp of Miralax for a day or two to jump start things, and then add the psyllium to her food to prevent future issues. I don't know how much I can trust the advice of the "feline nutritionist" at petco, but she did suggest I up the water intake in Zahra's food until she is an adult at least. Are you still giving this kitten psyllium as an adult? Thanks for your advice again

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

No, I wouldn't recommend Miralax as a daily thing unless there is a diagnosed issue. It is good for when she hasn't gone for a few days. If this becomes at all an issue you will definitely get a feel for when they need extra help.

This is not a raw issue btw... but it is possible that because with raw fed cats you may not have as much poop then maybe you miss when there is a slowing down of that process. As you understood, the psyllium will help regulate movement, but if there is ever another incident when you really feel she is having an issue, keep the miralax in mind.

No, the kitten's issues turned out to stem mainly from an anal stricture that was missed when he was 2 weeks of age... although he did have some acupuncture that may have also helped stimulate nerve production along his gastrointestinal tract that may have contributed to the issue. Babbage is on a normal kitty diet without added fiber and no need of miralax. He also turned into a good-sized ~20lb kitty (F5 SBT) so obviously his kitten issues did not seriously affect his growth!