Pumpkin is constipated - again

Pumpkin had poop issues in the past.  When I adopted him from being an outdoors cat several months ago he was on a dry food diet only.  This was according to one of my neighbors, who was one of several in the building who fed him.  I don't know his medical history before this period of time because he was abandoned before arriving at our old apartment building.

I took him in this past January.  He struggled to poop at first and at one point threw up.  Just once.  Otherwise he seemed fine, so I put him on canned food too.  Pumpkin started pooping like clockwork, about twice daily.  Not long after that he had tapeworms too, so I took him to the vets for a complete checkup & meds.

The tapeworms are gone.  He has no fleas.  His ears have been checked twice for mites and infection, including last Saturday.  He keeps shaking his head and scratching at his ears, so the vet gave him a steroid shot.  Didn't seem to help much at all.

I know that wet food only is the preferred diet for cats, but I have to give Pumpkin what he will eat.  For dry food he prefers a combination of Meow Mix Hairball Formula, Purina One Urinary Tract Health and Friskies Indoor (the last of which is a new addition to his diet).  For canned he will only eat Meow Mix.  I tried getting him to eat better quality canned, going by the list the vet gave me but Meow Mix is the only canned food he will eat.

I tried giving him chicken and ground beef.  A few months ago he seemed to like the ground beef but he won't touch it now.  Forget about chicken.  He seemed to like the broth from canned chicken that I gave him not long ago, but he won't eat the chicken itself.  I'm not comfortable giving him a raw diet because of bacteria issues.

Pumpkin is on Laxatone, which is given twice daily. He's been on this for several months and it seems to help.  He sheds alot and the vet who saw him last weekend for his ears said he overgrooms himself.

The last time that Pumpkin had a decent bowel movement was Wednesday morning.  He didn't go yesterday.  He went just a tiny bit about an hour ago.  And the piece was firm too, and quite dry.  I don't know if he's drinking enough water or not.  It is quite warm out and I don't have a/c.  However, I saw him drink twice this morning, which is good.

But why can't I get Pumpkin to poop more?  He still eats, and still pees.  He likes to play with his catnip rats.  He likes his laser light toy.  He was very rambunctious last night and ran all over the place.  But hardly any poop.  Btw, when he cranked out that tiny piece he strained.  He strained a few days ago too.

Can I give him Laxatone more than twice daily?  Canned pumpkin won't help....he tried that in the past and it made him hurl.  I don't know what to do.  Help!

Diana

I'm not sure I would even be giving him the Laxatone twice a day .  It contains Petroleum Jelly, which prohibits nutrients from being absorbed into his system, so when you DO give it to him, make sure it's in between meals, at least.

Have you tried Miralax (or a generic version) for his constipation, since he can't eat pumpkin?  Or have you tried any other kind of squash?  Miralax works very well, and you could mix it directly into his wet Meow Mix.  perhaps 1/8th teaspoon, morning and night?  What I did was dissolve 1/8 teap into about 1/4 teas water, then mixed that into a little bit of my guy's wet food, made sure he ate it, than gave him more wet food.  It might take a day or two to work, but it should work.  We just kept our guy on it all the time,  since he had chronic constipation. 

Also, you can try adding more water to Pumpkin's wet food, just to make sure he is getting plenty of water, since you don't see him drinking much.  Does he like to drink from the faucet?  If so, maybe you could get him a pet fountain. 

That hairball formula food he is on has extra fiber, which is probably bulking up his stools, which is adding to his problems if he is prone to constipation.  I tell you,what helps one thing aggravates another ...it's a vicious circle.