Cat w/constipation ? what kind of food

Hello. I am hoping I can get some advice. My 5 year old male cat is in the animal hospital right now being treated for a fecal impaction. Most of the impaction was manually extracted today and he has been given an enema to help relieve the rest. Note: vet said NO sign of megacolon.

He has a history of hairballs and has eaten Science Diet Hairball formula for over 3 years - he also get wet food - to add fiber and water to his diet once a day. For the most part he moves his bowels with little or no trouble. His stools are at times very hard. We also give him vet-perscribed lactulos 2x daily.

Last week I noted him in and out of the litterbox frequently straining to have a movement. over the last couple of days he has moved small amounts of hard feces. I called the vet and brought him in this morning.

The vet mentioned changing his diet to senior food to help with the constipation by adding fiber and water.

My question is: what would you suggest is the best food for this problem. There are so many and I want to give him the best one for his issue.

I also have two other cats. One female 7 years old..never been sick a day in her life; and a 2 year old male...who is very healthy...they all eat the Science Diet hairball control formula.

thanks in advance for any advice. I am distraught tonite that my boy is not here with us.

I'm sorry that your boy is having trouble. I know it's tough when they have to stay at the vet.

I would suggest a high quality wet food, and no dry food at all. It makes all the difference in the world for my Paisley.

I'd vote for a wet food diet as well.

another all wet ...

contispation does not always need more fiber sometimes just more water

Pippin had this problem last year. He was eating all dry food with fresh water left out. I added more wet food and the big winner was the water fountain!!! He loves it and hasn't had any issues since. I thought it was going to be a constant battle.
If you can, I second the switch to an all wet diet, or as much as you can afford. Also, higher quality food. The more digestable and more species appropriate a food is, the easier it is to poop, at least that works for me. lol!
Another suggestion is to groom / brush him regularly. Pippin loves to eat fur (yes, he has many issues lol) and the more I get off him and the other cats and dispose of, the less he eats of it.

Good luck!

Have had all this with Dillon. I try to add half teasp of phsyllium husk power (completely natural stuff from health shop) a day to his food in daytime then half tsp liquid paraffin to a small amount of tuna at night.
Best Wishes
Chris

Welcome to TCS and let me say I'm sorry you & your kitty are having this problem. My Jordan is 4 and has always had a bit of a slow moving bowel, but around a month ago had to have his first enema. So while I'm learning I'm no expert. I think the biggest thing I've learned is that each cat is differnt and you have to find what works for your baby. That being said here's my experience with Jordan (who does show some signs of mega colon). First of all he does not like lactulose but does preety good taking it 2x a day. Adding fiber to his wet food at night works like a charm, but he no longer wants to eat if when there is fiber in it. There are perscription foods that are higher in fiber, one I know for sure is WD. That being said you face the same problem I do, how do you feed perscription to one and regular food to the rest. I don't know but if I think of a way I'll let you know. Another good source of fiber is canned pumpkin. Jordan loved it the first couple of days & then decided it was no longer a treat. So the combination that worked best for him was 3 cc lactulose in the AM & 3 in the PM, with fiber added to his wet food at night. Just keep trying and your sure to find a combination that works well for your cat.

that canned pumpkin, not pie filling, worked well for our constipated cats. We also had to give supositories -- I don't recommend that; it can be painful for the person. Unflavored metamucil can also be mixed into wet food -- it has no taste and our cats didn't even notice it.

We feed only wet food here. High quality, human ingredients. Arthur who was constipated gets PetGuard chicken and wheat germ and only that. He eats by himself as he eats very slowly.

Good luck with your boy. It's very hard when they are not home where they belong.

Hi. I'm actually here for the same exact problem. I have two cats. The male, Liddell, has become constipated over the last day or so. I think it's because he licks himself and then eats the fur. It's an annoying habit that causes me to leave the vacuum cleaner out constantly.

I am about to take him to the vet later this afternoon, but he's been crying and licking his butt all morning. Does anyone know of any home remedies that would help him with his constipation?

I really hope its not some sort of obsitipation or megacolon. I'm kinda scared. I was looking for some sort of constiaption remedy for cats, and this site about cat constipation mentions you can add bran to your cat's food and that will help? Has anyone heard ofthat? Do you think it's safe?

Also, I was reading the above comments and someone mentioned giving your cat pyssillium hust. What is that? Where can I get it?

Do you think it would be dumb to try anything at this point, before knowing what the real problem is? The vet appointment isn't until 4 this afternoon. I don't know what to do. I feel so bad for him. IF anyone can offer any sort of advice about this, itwould be appreciated. thank you so much. god bless.

Originally Posted by StylesP

Do you think it would be dumb to try anything at this point, before knowing what the real problem is? The vet appointment isn't until 4 this afternoon. I don't know what to do. I feel so bad for him. IF anyone can offer any sort of advice about this, itwould be appreciated. thank you so much. god bless.

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Sorry to skip some of your questions, but "butt licking" in a male makes bells go off for me - it usually is a sign of urinary blockage, or at the very least a urinary tract infection ...those are serious business in male. Untreated, it can become life threatening. The behaviors associated with it are oftentimes mistaken for constipation. Please keep your appoinment, and/or go there sooner.

I feel so bad for everyones kitties because I've seen the affect this has had on Jordan; however, for me it's nice to know I'm not alone in this battle. I wish everyone the best of luck. I'm still stuggling with the right combination every since Jordan caught on to the fiber in his wet food and will no longer eat wet food with fiber in it.

Originally Posted by DebsKats

I worked my way up to about 5/8 tsp and then . . . his stools started getting loose and he's acting like he doesn't feel well. Argh!!!

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You know I noticed this morning that even though Jordan was a little on the constipated side he was much more himself. When he was getting fiber everyday his tummy was bloated and he had a lot of gas. Last night he was even playing in the bathroom drawer.

Had similar problem w/14-week old foster...basically had constipation problems since he was 10-days old. Anemias, lactulose, flagyl (for intestinal bacteria build-up), Fortiflora (purina), etc. was given to this poor little guy.

For whatever it is worth, I took him off of ALL of the above and he has been eating NB ultra wet, NB ultra dry, "real" chicken w/broth, "real" meat/steak w/broth, 2x daily Nature's Biotics by Life Science, CS in water 1x daily 1/2 ratio and GSE in water 1x daily (for possible intestinal bacteria) and gave him approx. 5 days 3x daily Slippery Elm. He now has good stools, no straining whatsoever and is a happy little camper.

I just noticed this post, but I thought I'd add my input. My cat, Bailey (weird how there are 2 Bailey's mentioned in this post with constipation!), has had constipation issues for over a year. She's seen multiple vets who have been unable to diagnose the issue. Bailey has additional issues now that haven't been diagnosed, so she's apparently some type of enigma.

Anyway, I've been giving Bailey lactulose for as long as she's had constipation issues. I recently added canned pumpkin, but she's a wicked pain about eating it. It seems to have helped, even though I can usually only get about 1/4 of a teaspoon in her if I'm VERY lucky. Bailey won't eat the pumpkin alone, and she refuses to eat it mixed with canned food. What I've been doing is mixing a very small amount in with about a teaspoon or so of meat-only (NO onion or garlic) baby food. I even put her lactulose in it, and she eats it almost every time without fail.

Just a suggestion for those of you with picky eaters who ALWAYS seem to figure out when we're trying to trick them into eating/taking something they don't like.