Miralax vs. Lactulose-your experiences?

Originally Posted by David's Steph

Also, he KNOWS when I have something in his wet food and won't eat it

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Why not give it a try before casting it off? Try a small amount and mix really well with the canned food (add a bit of water as well). If your kitty goes for it then increase amount each time. Miralax is a very fine powder and adding it to the canned food would be so much less stressful on both you and your kitty. For me it is well worth it.

I switched my Bickford from lactulose to Miralax. The vet recommended 1/8 to 1/4 a teaspoon, and I just mix it in his food. He doesn't see it and I'm not fighting him to get the syringe in his mouth. If you're feeding dry mix the Miralax with a little bit of water and then sprinkle it on the food.

Thanks for the suggestions, I will try them! GOOD NEWS- I woke up this morning to a beautuful present right outside the litter box The BM was harder at the front, but was much softer at the end, so the miralax is working!
I can tell right away the consistency is much different than the Lactulose BM, much softer

Whoo Hoo!!! I'm doing the Poop Dance with you!

Still, after all these years with Sven and his "poopy problem", I congratulate him every day when I see his poopy in the litterbox . He knows just what I'm talking about too! He always meows back at me as if to say "thanks for the Miralax, Mom".

A little late in taking part of this thread.

We have multiple cats and our eldest 18 years old has had occasional problems with hard stools.  Always passed his stools but this time we thought we'd best take him in and find out if there was something we could do.  Vet recommended boty Miralax and Lactulose.  Picked up both, but reading reviews seem to indicate that Miralax might be the best for Blackie.

Blackie is good about taking a solution via a syringe.  So I took the advice (Rx by Vet too) of 1/4 tsp in 2cc water.  I mix it well until it dissolves and then hold Blackie by the scruff of his neck...tilt back slightly and then place tip of syringe to side of mouth and then administer.  We're done!  Too soon to tell, it's been only day one.

All cats have dry food in early a.m. (2 Tbs), dry food at mid-day (2 Tbs)and then I feed them all a couple of tablespoons of wet in the afternoon with an small dry food feeding in late afternoon (1 Tbs).

Will also be ordering Cat Mate Pet Fountain.

Thanks for all your sharing your advice and experience.

My kitty we thought was megacolon as she would get chronically constipated every few  months. I did research and got her on a low fiber diet with canned food and in the beginning I did give lactulose. I was giving a cc 3 times a day. She hated it and it was a sticky mess. We did have to gradually give more and more to keep her regular. I switched to miralax a few years ago and it is great. I mix a quarter teaspoon in 1 1/2 cc of water and syringe it to her. I was doing that 2 times a day and it got to the point where it was too effective. I backed down to once a day which was ok, Now I am doing every other or every few days. Pretty much when I haven't noticed a stool in the box. She isn't true megacolon though as we recently discovered that she has an old pelvic fracture that healed funny so that it made her pelvic canal smaller. When her stools get too bulky, she has issues. So the miralax is basically to keep the stool soft enough to pass. In a true megacolon kitty I would definitely be giving it every day. It is safe and OTC and not too expensive so way better than lactulose. Doseage varies til you get the result you want. You can start with as little as an 11/8 of a teaspoon twice a day and if that works, keep it there. You basically want to give the least amount to get the effect you want so you can go up if you need to. Even with larger doses though, I''ve found it  very safe. The worst side effect is diarrhea.
 

I have to take lactulose 3x daily for hepatic encepholaphaly. I would not recommend changing away from it without speaking in depth with a vet. I had an unfamiliar doctor in a hospital take it upon himself to change it and I went into a coma and nearly died. That being said, I do not know the cats reaction from it, but would hate to see anyone do what they thought was best and accidentally harm their  fur baby.

For those who use Lactulose, you may want to go to Walgreens and get on their Rx Savngs Club.  I believe it was $25.00 per year and then you can secure a Rx for you kitty via having them call your Vet or having the Vet call it in. 

I get Blackie's thyroid medication (Methimazone 5mg) 180 tablets for ~$25.00.

I got Generlac 10gm/15Ml solution (it's a big bottle); @ 2cc per dose that's 240 doses, which = 80 days @ 3 times a day or 120 days @ 2 times a day.  This was $10.00.

Update on Blackie's situation:

We did the Lactulose and it seemed to work after a couple of days, however, from what I read it could be a agressive. 

Due to what I have read, we've opted to give Blackie Miralax 1/4 tsp with 2cc H2O twice day, every other day and we'll see how that goes.  We need to keep an eye on him, it's difficult to ascertain if he's regular or not.  Blackie seems to be fine, his appetite is fine, he seems doing quite well.

Another thing we've done it increase the wet food amongst all our cats (we used to give wet only at 3:00 p.m. feeding):

• 2 TBS dry food (Kirtland Healthy Maintenance; Hairball control), early morning 4:30 a.m.
• 2 TBS wet food (Friskies Classic Pate; mix 3/4 can water with one can); ~ 11:00 a.m.
• 2 TBS wet food (") ~ 3:00 p.m. Three of the six cats get 1 TBS dry added; seems to satisfy them better and one tolerates having dry with wet better.  Blackie just gets 2 TBS wet and a pinch of dry
• 1 TBS dry food  ~ 7:00 p.m.  "Snack"
  

Let me know your thoughts on dosing of Blackie and diet.

My cat is 5 years old and we rescued him from the outdoors. He has not been very fond of water in the past so we bought him a water fountain and a huge low water bowl, the same as our dog's. Because he did not like water, he had hard stools over the years but had his first real bout of constipation at 3 1/2 years old where our vet put him under to remove the fecal mater without much success. He ended up at the emergency animal hospital who used meds to help move his bowels. In the past year and a half, we have spent thousands on vet bills and emergency visits for his megacolon. Our vet put him on lactulose and cisapride which worked for a while but then got constipated again and again...more money spent at the vet's!!!

Finally, we found the answer and this will work for your cat or dog also...PEG 3350 (Canada) or MIRALAX (United States). It can be found at Wal-Mart for around $10! Our maine coon is over 20 pounds and we give him 1/4 teaspoon twice daily in the gravy of his wet food. He does not like canned wet but will lick the juice. If you have to, give it to him in any liquid or with a dropper diluted with a little water. We have him on IAMS low residue dry food. Don't spend any more money on vet bills or meds, or surgery (we were ready to have his colon reduced for thousands of dollars). PLEASE DON'T PUT YOUR BELOVED PET DOWN BECAUSE YOU THINK NOTHING WILL WORK...THIS WILL WORK FOR SURE IN A DAY OR SO! E-MAIL IF YOU NEED ANY MORE INFO [email protected]

The Miralax worked well for Blackie.  The stools were well formed and not anywhere close to being on the "loose stool".  We eventually lost Blackie who was 19 years of age when he passed away.   Our experience with Miralax was good but be careful on dosing.  You can go the route of mixing with H2O since it gives ends up being viscous and easy to swallow and if giving with a syringe place it on side of mouth opening and they will have an easier time swallowing than down the middle. 

Note: We recently had an issue with Coco out 14 year old calico who had throwing up fluid and was not eating very much.  Her stools were not that great and a bit soft.  Took her into the vet 3 days ago (Wednesday) and had her checked out.  She got some fluids in her via IV since she seemed a bit dehydrated and then a blood panel was done.  Prior to taking Coco in I was giving her 1/2 teaspoon Laxatone and continued after vet visit.  We discussed Miralax and thought it might be too aggressive.  

Results came back 2 days  (Thursday) that nothing was wrong and she slowing got back to eating more and more.  Yesterday a bit more and she seemed to be herself.

This a.m. she had a decent appetite and bowel movement.

I'll start giving her more wet food and she seems to like that a lot more than the dry and may end up mixing both and giving her that in her diet.

Hence, in this situation the Laxatone seemed to best for this situation.

Laxatone did nothing for our 5 year old diagnosed the megacolon. he was having lactulose and cisapride and eventually it didn't work any more and he got backed up.

MIRALAX PEG 3350 in Canada) is the only thing that has worked...it is a miracle! If the stools are too loose, then just cut back on dosage. Start with 1/8 lof a teaspoon twice daily...morning and night. if it's too much, then 1/8 teaspoon once daily. At night is best since it should work by morning! Good luck!

Hello Everyone,

I am a newbie, and very glad to have found this site. I have read alot of your caring posts about your babies, and their poop issue.   My 5 year old baby girl owns my heart.   I rescued her from deaths door when she was 5 weeks old.  I am so glad that I took her from the people that were going to throw her away.  She is the sweetest cat I have ever had. She grew up beautifully.  A Maine Coon.

Sorry I got carried away.    " Miss Little"  has always had a poop problem.  I have been giving her Laxatone, she hates it.  I am so happy to hear she can have miralax, her vet never mentioned that.  I know how good the product is as I must take it every day of my life.

I feed her Blue Buffalo dry mixed with fancy feast dry.   She hates canned cat food.  I have not found one she likes.

Can y'all give me some names to try that are loved by other fur babies?

Also, what would be the very best dry food for her?   

I appreciate every one of you!

Kdennis

Hi, my vet never mentioned it either. In fact, he had never heard of it. The animal hospital suggested it. My Maine Coon is 5 years, (or 1/2 MC, not sure), was a kitten when he showed up at our door and developed megacolon almost 2 years ago. After almost going for surgery, very expensive and may have killed him in the long run, we tried to PEG 3350 (Canada) or Miralax. He gets 3/4 teaspoon in a can of Fancy Feast daily, split into 2 feedings. He really likes the pate of any kind. Add some water and mix thoroughly. Don't give him dry before that and he'll be hungry enough to eat it or at least lick up all the juices. The vet prescribed Iams low residue or intestinal plus because it produces less poop, so this is what we give him only. Remember to push the water. The Miralax has to work. Just increase to a full teaspoon if you have to until he gets soft thin poops. Good luck and e-mail me personally if you have any questions ([email protected]).

Carm,

Thank you so much for your fast reply.  Your kindness means alot.   My baby has not found a canned food that she likes.

She used to gobble up Fancy Feast's  SKIPJACK.      But......they changed it and the label reads new........she will not touch it.

Any suggestions on a all cats love??????   food.

Kdennis

Hi, if you can't get her to eat any of the Fancy Feast canned food, you can try dissolving it in another liquid such as Cat Milk by Whiskas. You will have to really stir it up so it won't be lumpy. In order to make sure she gets the full dose, if all else fails, I would try to dissolve it in water and give with a dropper.

I would still keep trying with the canned food though because if she's hungry enough with no dry food overnight, she will eventually eat it by morning. Try to resist no matter how hard she meows! Good luck!!!

otto said:

I have not used Miralax yet, but I loathe lactulose and will not use it with any cat of mine. And yes, the dose does need increasing as time goes on as the body becomes accustomed to it.


Cisapride is not a high risk in cats. Cisapride gave me three extra years with my dear Ootay

who had megacolon (along with many other things.) If she had been well enough I would have had the surgery done, but by the time it was properly diagnosed, she was not strong enough for such an invasive procedure.


My advice is to discuss the change you want to make with David's vet before doing it.


Since a cat's body does become dependent on laxatives you may have to taper the lactulose, not just take him off it abruptly.


Please do let us know how things go.

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hello, I'm reading your posts and it seems like you have a lot of experience with megacolon(,unfortunately), I'm reading a lot about Miralax versus lactulose and seeing Cisapride mentioned. I'm confused, very confused! We're new to this as of 2 weeks ago and my cat has motility prob so he's not getting the "urge" to go. From my understanding, Cisapride is the only thing everyone uses for motility, and the Miralax I lactulose arguments are only about the stool softening,laxative properties of each, correct? In other words, Miralax won't help with motility of the colon, it only acts as a softener/laxative? So the main discussions are one laxative versus another, and the need for Cisapride is a separate issue? We need help understanding badly!

Hi, my cat was on lactulose and cisapride for about a year and my husband had to give him both by mouth about 2 times a day. We could not go anywhere as he would be constipated within a few days due to his megacolon. The animal hospital, not my greedy vet, suggested Peg3350 in Canada which is like Miralax in the US. We stopped the other 2 meds, and he is now on only 3/4 teaspoon of the powdered laxative in some wet food once a date and I can happily say it has worked for over a year! We had even taken him to be assessed for the colon surgery and paid several hundred dollars to be examined and we are so glad we tried the laxative weeks before that. We thought we would hold off and we are so thankful we did as he passes at least one soft slim stool every day! We have him on a low residue dry food as well so he poops less. You may have to adjust your dosage of Miralax as ours is a big cat (part Main Coon). DO TRY THIS...IT WON'T KILL HIM FOR SURE BUT IT COULD SAVE HIM!

I've posted my experience previously and wanted to again share same.  Miralax did work for us.  Our late kitty, Blackie had issues with constipation and we had used Laxatone which is a basic feline laxative no luck.  We then attempted to use Lactulose and Blackie did not like the viscosity / taste of same.  We then started using Miralax and the viscosity was like a water thickener (very slight) and I gave it to him via a syringe (make sure you squirt it along the side of mouth...not down the middle).  You have to tweak the dosage to accommodate what your kitty will tolerate.  Good Luck in your efforts...believe me your kitties appreciate all you do!