Desperatly need advice, should I put my cat down?

My cat is 15 yrs old. He is the best cat, still loving and playful. But he has bathroom issues. He gets backed up every 2 weeks, which is almost near a 100 bucks to clean him out. My grandmom pays for it, and loves him so but cant afford it. I am tryin so hard; using fiber, mineral oil, fish oil, laxatone, lactulose, no dry food. I dont want to cremate him yet, but it has to be so painful for him.I dont want to torture him. Yet yesterday he was running, jumping, purring, playing. sooooo what should i do? what more can i do?
yes i am feeding him nine lives shredded. I will but the pate next doc said that is the best. she also daid there is a surgery for his bottom cuz its stretched, anyone know about that?
where would i go for a pshyic, how much?
last week both vets did say he had a lump near his hiney that maybe cancerous. he drinks tons of water and has no problem peeeing.

Before you do anything, I think you should have a senior blood panel done on him. He could have some medical problems that could easily be addressed with medication if discovered by blood tests. That would be the starting point.

He could be having some kidney issues, which cause hard, dry stools. Not a big deal if managed correctly. You could try adding some plain canned pumpkin to his diet (not pumpkin pie filling) with his canned food. You might also want to try Slippery Elm Bark. For more info, check out this page: http://www.felinecrf.org/holistic_treatments.htm#SEB1

I definitely don't see a need to put him down, if he's not suffering from quality of life. I'd also definitely switch him to a higher quality food, which might also help him.

Stephanie

Originally Posted by stephanietx

Before you do anything, I think you should have a senior blood panel done on him. He could have some medical problems that could easily be addressed with medication if discovered by blood tests. That would be the starting point.

He could be having some kidney issues, which cause hard, dry stools. Not a big deal if managed correctly. You could try adding some plain canned pumpkin to his diet (not pumpkin pie filling) with his canned food. You might also want to try Slippery Elm Bark. For more info, check out this page: http://www.felinecrf.org/holistic_treatments.htm#SEB1

I definitely don't see a need to put him down, if he's not suffering from quality of life. I'd also definitely switch him to a higher quality food, which might also help him.

Stephanie

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what type of food is a high quliaty?

I feed Wellness, which you can find at PetCo, but there are others. Check out the Cat Nutrition forum, or send Sharky a PM and she'll help you.

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=64

You could also try some raw food. We add raw chicken to our girls' wet food concoction. I just get some chicken tenders or small frozen chicken breasts and grind them up in the blender (usually just one small breast or 3 tenders). Start off with adding just a bit so he'll eat the rest of his food since he might balk at the new stuff, then gradually increase the amount you're feeding. In the nutrition forum, there's a link for raw feeding.

sooooooo......im goin to try.............................these things i found, waht should i try 1st
:

here are a few "natural" remedies you can try. If your cats stool seems dry, try adding a 1/2 tsp of bran to each meal. It will help the stools retain additional moisture and might provide some relief. You can also try a bit of milk (not much) because milk is often the cause of loose stools in cats. Using mineral oil for too long will deplete vitamin a, so you don't want that to be a long term solution. Plenty of exercise really helps a cat get things moving.. like games with string, feathers.. where they are pouncing and running. Finally, you can also see if your cat will eat any raw veggies/fruits.. like carrot, apples.. mixed in with food?

I thought your comment about the rectum being stretched was interesting. I looked this up in Dr. Pitcairn's natural remedy book and found something interesting.m

Cats can suffer from Aluminum Poisoning (dogs can too btw) and this causes weak rectums. Signs include chronic constipation with straining, stools that are sticky and messy rather than hard. They can't pass because of weak rectal muscles.

If you suspect this problem, stop using aluminum cooking pans or feed bowls for your cat. Also, stop buying wet food in aluminum cans. You can use a raw diet, full of veggies, which your at will probably LOVE. To remove the aluminum, it says to use high levels of vitamin C along with a zinc supplement. For cats, he recommends 500 milligrams of the Vitamin C and for the zinc, 5 milligrams.

He goes onto say that not all animals are affected, but that some animals are extremely sensitive to Aluminum. So, I learned something new today! WOW!! Check with your vet, but it might be worth a try.



You could also try some raw food. We add raw chicken to our girls' wet food concoction. I just get some chicken tenders or small frozen chicken breasts and grind them up in the blender (usually just one small breast or 3 tenders). Start off with adding just a bit so he'll eat the rest of his food since he might balk at the new stuff, then gradually increase the amount you're feeding. In the nutrition forum, there's a link for raw feeding.
canned pumpkin to his diet (not pumpkin pie filling) with his canned food. You might also want to try Slippery Elm Bark.
Hills Science diet W/dRAW and canned diet miralax!!! Wellness Core no cans
A low fibre grain free canned food (MAX 1 to 1.5% fibre content), miralax and cisapride very expensive, and again, has to be continually increased.California Natural Dry which has 1.5% Fiber. She is also getting a quarter can twice a day as well. The canned foods are Innova, Natural Balance, Ca Natural ect. All these foods are highly digestable and lower fiber catlax lactulose on an empty stomach an hour before a meal.