Cod Liver Oil?

jaffacake

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Is this safe for cats? My sister told me it`s bad for them but you can buy it at the pet shop.
Im wondering because Kitty was constipated yesterday and it took him 8 hours to have a poo! He eventually did it on the carpet next to his litter box and it`s not the first time its happened so I was wondering if it would help to give him cod liver oil or is there a better alternative?
 

ktlynn

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A far better alternative is plain (NO spices) canned pumpkin. About 1/2 teaspoon mixed into wet (canned) food 2 -3 times per day for a day or two should do the trick. A can of pumpkin will be good for 5 days in the fridge - it can also be frozen.

Most cats like the taste of pumpkin, so it's usually easy to get them to eat it mixed into their food. Since this seems to be a recurring problem for your kitty, you may want to take him for a vet check-up just to be on the safe side.

You have to be careful with cod liver oil. It contains lots of Vitamins A & D which can be harmful to cats with underlying liver problems. Even healthy cats should not be given overdoses of any vitamin.

Remember that unfortunately, many things are sold at pet stores that are *harmful* to cats, starting with food that contains unhealthy ingredients, to toys that are made of string and bells that can be chewed off and swallowed with fatal results. Never assume that just because an item is marketed for cats that it is in fact good for them!
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by KTLynn

A far better alternative is plain (NO spices) canned pumpkin. About 1/2 teaspoon mixed into wet (canned) food 2 -3 times per day for a day or two should do the trick. A can of pumpkin will be good for 5 days in the fridge - it can also be frozen.

Most cats like the taste of pumpkin, so it's usually easy to get them to eat it mixed into their food. Since this seems to be a recurring problem for your kitty, you may want to take him for a vet check-up just to be on the safe side.

You have to be careful with cod liver oil. It contains lots of Vitamins A & D which can be harmful to cats with underlying liver problems. Even healthy cats should not be given overdoses of any vitamin.

Remember that unfortunately, many things are sold at pet stores that are *harmful* to cats, starting with food that contains unhealthy ingredients, to toys that are made of string and bells that can be chewed off and swallowed with fatal results. Never assume that just because an item is marketed for cats that it is in fact good for them!
I agree ...

cod liver is okay but I would use it for a coat issue not Constipation...

Pumpkin and sweet potato are better options..
 
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jaffacake

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I don`t think I`ve ever seen canned pumpkin in any shops here (uk). I will look though.
Thanks for the advice. I`ll be disposing of the cod liver oil!
 

booktigger

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i have never seen canned pumpkin in the UK either!! Molly has constipation issues, she is on Lactulose as per the vets recommendation, you can get it from all chemists. You can also get Katalax too, cheaper from online pet pharmacies than the vets though
 
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jaffacake

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I will have a word with the vets. He really hates going but I guess I shouldn`t give him that before checking with them.
 

booktigger

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I think a phone call should be enough for the vet to say yes or no to Lactulose or Katalax. The other suggestion my vet had was high fibre food (which was hard to find, the only adult foods I found were Perfect Fit), and I have found adding more water to her food helped. how old is he?
 
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jaffacake

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Ooh! He likes Perfect Fit but I`m having trouble finding the big bags of the sensitive one. I got two trial size bags and they were 49p but now they`ve all gone and all the shops I`ve looked in have the big bags of the rest of the range but not the sensitive!

The vet thinks he is 4-5 years old.
 

booktigger

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it is a bit hard to find - I went to a garden centre place called The Range last weekend, and they had both the wet and dry cheaper than the RRP, not sure if they did the sensitive though, I bought the Senior, but use the 'in home' wet as it is one of the highest fibre wet foods I have found. The reason for asking his age is that some health conditions like CRF can cause constipation, but it would be very rare to find one in such a young cat. Does he have yearly checkups?
 
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jaffacake

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What is CRF? Sorry, I`m probably being thick.
I`ve tried him on several wet foods inc.Perfect Fit sensitive and he just can`t tolerate them. Thats why he has poached fish for breakfast and the dry food in the afternoon end evening.
He had his vaccinations done in november and had a check up then.
He`s never had any blood work done. I`ve never had sole responsibility for a cat before so I`m being guided by the vet. I guess they would do it if they felt it was necessary. They just recommended Hills ID for his sensitivity but I know thats not too popular here.
 

booktigger

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CRF is chronic renal failure, but very rare in young cats. Your comment about him having a sensitive tum could have a lot to do with his constipation, Molly suffers with it more the more dry food she has, does he drink a lot of water? IT is a shame he can't have wet food, as it is a lot easier to add fibre to wet than dry (bran etc). Has the vet ever done any tests for his sensitive tum?
 
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jaffacake

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Oh, I should have guessed that!

He does drink quite a bit. I mean he never drinks all his water but I have noticed he has a good long drink most days. Especially last week when he was having trouble doing a poo, he was drinking alot then.
I took him to the vets about his sensitive stomach because his vomiting was getting rediculous. When I first got him he could eat the chicken and fish variety of Whiskers wet but then he was even vomiting that. I didn`t take him to the vet sooner as he wasn`t really mine but when we did go she said gave him an injection ( can`t remember what, think it was anti-emetic ) and pills to take for a week and recommended Hills ID. He stopped vomiting on the pills but wasn`t his usual self and on the packet (they were human anti-emetics ) it said a side effect was depression and headaches.
He has done quite will on the hills and he has Science Plan for sensitive stomaches at the moment.
He was ill about 6 weeks ago and the vet said it was gastroenteritis or something he`d eaten and he had anti-biotics for a week and he didn`t vomit once but as soon as they stopped he started vomiting his breakfast of fish and if i gave him the buiscuits instead he was vomiting them. So, after asking on here, I raised his food bowl on 2 dvd boxes and started giving him a meal late at night so he didn`t have an empty stomach in the morning and the vomiting stopped for 5 days. Now it has started again!
Do you think I should ask the vets for tests to be done? I`m sure they think I`m neurotic!
He is fit and healthy in all other ways.
 

booktigger

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Sorry, managed to miss this!! What brands and flavours of wet food have you tried him on in the past?
 
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jaffacake

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I only just realised we spoke before about this in your thread about your chubby foster cat! Doh!
Well, when I first started feeding him, it was Whiskers and Felix pouches. He seemed ok on the fish and poultry varieties but the beef, lamb etc made him sick. then he started being sick on those too which is when we went to the vet and started on the Hills buscuits.
He didn`t like Iams. Tried the Hills ID pouches but he didn`t like them much and they made him sick. The last thing we tried was the Perfect Fit pouches. He had a teaspoon in the morning and in the evening and the next day he had to go to the vet because he was quite poorly. Whether it was the food, I dont know, but I`m scared to try again.
 

booktigger

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:-) Have you ever tried him on foods like HiLife or Nature's Menu? Sometimes cats can't cope with the stuff put in the cheaper foods - and Whiskas kitten is well known for causing dodgy tums!! I doubt it would be the Perfect Fit that made him poorly, I have used the pouches on a few different cats with no probs, so it probably was just a coincidence. I have also known cats that can only cope with one flavour food, I have a friend who's cat can only eat fishy wet foods, he is poorly off meaty ones, and vice versa.
 
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jaffacake

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Not tried those. I will see if I can get some this week and give it a go.
Thank you for all your help by the way. I really appreciate it.
 

booktigger

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It isn't a prob, I do hope it works - most of the HiLife pouches are complimentary though, so do have to be fed in conjunction with a complete food (I feed half a pouch of that, plus a bowl of biscuits), whether it will help with his constipation is a different matter, as only one flavour of HiLife has a decent fibre content, but it is easier to add things like Lactulose to them.
 
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