Constipation issues

I just joined so I am new to this and not sure what I am doing. My cat Peaches has had constipation issues for over a year now. Last month she was at the vet 3 times in one week for enemas and fluids. The vet gave me lactulose which she has been on and off it for the last year. I am having a hard time affording it and was wondering if there was anything else I could give her? She now has to have it daily and even then she only goes every 2 or 3 days. She hates getting it and I hate giving it to her, such a big sticky mess. Was wondering if anyone else has this issue with their cat?

I know all too well about constipation in one of my kitties. Boo has chronic constipation and it got worse as he got older. He's 13 now. Under the care of a vet, we've had to aggressively treat it with Miralax and Benefiber mixed with his wet food, plus extra water mixed in. I've installed two water fountains, cleaned every other day, to encourage drinking. Water is important! He's doing so well now, and he's SO happy after he "goes." 

What does your kitty eat? If she's only on dry kibble, please consider introducing wet foods into her diet.

This is a great site to learn about causes and treaments - www.felineconstipation.org.

As GoHolistic mentioned, there are 3 things you can do to help address it: diet, water balance, fiber.

The experience on this site has been that Miralax is easier to use and get the correct dosage than Lactulose. It's tasteless so it can be mixed in with wet food and very effective for many kitties.

She does get mostly wet food since all this started but I give her a little bit of her dry food because if I don't she will cry all day for it. She has never been a cat that drinks water and after we lost our dog Abby, her best friend since birth she will not drink any water at all. Peaches used to drink out of Abby's water bowl and I still have it down but she has nothing to do with it. I also have bowls of water in other rooms but she won't touch them.

I mix a lot of water in her wet food to make it real soupy and she is fed wet twice a day. I guess I forgot to mention she does get miralx and the lactulose and still only goes every 2 or 3 days. Should she be going every day with all of that in her or is it still because she does not get enough water? I am afraid to buy a fountain as she is scared to death of the running water in the sink or any running water. I also am so confused on wish one to buy, they are so expensive. I live on a very tight budget.
 

I wonder if something like slippery elm bark might not be helpful here. If you are adding lots of water to her wet food, she should be getting enough water even though she's not drinking. She may have really slow motility, but generally it's normal for cats to poop every 24-36 hours. There are cats who are 100% raw fed who poop every 3 days which is normal for them, but I wouldn't expect that from a cat fed commercial foods.

Here's some info on the use of SEB on constipation. It's inexpensive and low risk.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/constipated-cats/

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/slippery-elm/

http://www.felineconstipation.org/prevention.html

I wouldn't even think about getting  a fountain if you already know she is afraid of running water.  And I agree, if you are mixing water into her canned food to make it pretty soupy, then she should be getting enough water already.  Also, it could be that she is drinking out of some of those water dishes you have around the house...you may just never see her.  Cats do a lot during the night that we're not aware of

As to giving her both the Laxatone AND the miralax - I would ditch the Laxatone and give strictly the miralax (or even the generic form of it).  How often to you give the miralax?  I used to give my Sven miralax twice a day.  Between 1/8 and 1/4 teaspoon twice a day mixed in a little water, then added to a little of his food (to make sure he drank it) before he got the rest of his food.  Worked like a charm.  If his poop started getting a little too soft, then I would back off to a smaller portion (but still twice a day), and then if he didn't "go", I would go back up to 1/4 teas. for awhile.  It was a miracle in our house   But we did NOT increase his fiber.  I figured if he was having problems anyway, I certainly didn't want to builk anything up .  That being said, though, a lot of people swear by pumpkin. Some cats love it, some dont'.  But you could try adding it to his canned food and see if that help.  Maybe up to a tablespoon per day.

Agreed. Boo used to get 1/8 teaspoon of Miralax when he first started it, but his body got acclimated to it, so I've gradually had to increase it. Boo can NOT have a bulking fiber such as psyllium husk (Metamucil) or else it makes the stools too big to pass and is painful. He does well with wheat dextrin (Benefiber), but some say it can be problematic for kitties with a wheat/grain/gluten intolerance or allergy.
 

I am wondering what kind of wet you are feeding her? There are two schools of thought one is that high fiber foods are a good idea and a new school that suggests high protein low carb. I believe in the latter as it is more species appropriate and seems to be more successful. There are a bunch of cheap high protein diets like fancy feast classic and there are high end ones like hound and gato. I would really try to limit her dry and I have found sprinkling some kibble on wet to do the trick for kibble addicts. Frank hates faucets but he does love his catit it is actually super cheap (can usually be found for about $30-$40) and at least my cats seem to love it. The water does not splash out it just moves slowly and it does seem to attract them. Here is a video  .

Another thing that may be helpful is fish oil. I would also look into kidney function as constipation is a sign. 

The other thing to think of is if your cat has IBD/IBS my cat suffered from chronic hairballs/ vomiting and I was able to treat him with shaving, grain free wet and vitality science products (http://www.vitalityscience.com/v/AllProducts/feline-comfort/cat-health.asp). I am hoping to transition him to raw because I think it is the best for cats with ibd/ibs. 

She is eating Wellness Turkey, she can't have anything with fish or soy and now she might even be allergic to chicken. I have been trying different foods every now and then since 2010 and the Wellness turkey is the only thing she will eat. I bought some different canned foods to try today but I don't think I will try them as I can't keep paying for these high priced foods for her to turn her nose at them. I opened one can tonight and mixed it with her food and she would not touch it. The feral cats will get it....I feed 6 feral cats besides Peaches and only on SSI. I bought a different water dish that was like the one she had months ago that broke. I used to catch her drinking out of that one every now and then. She also used to drink out of Abby's water dish which is still in the same spot for Peaches.

She had been doing good since January.....that is when we had our last bought of constipation issues. She was going every other day. We lost our dog Abby June 3, 2013 and Peaches has not been the same since. They were very close....Peaches was born in my house and has always known Abby, they slept together and played together. She started this bought of constipation right after we lost Abby.

Maybe it's just her reacting from the loss. She has always had problems even when she was a kitten and I introduced food for the first time. She also has to have her anal glands expressed every month if not sooner.

Is going every other day still good? I just know people who have cats and they have a bm every day and my feral cats go every day. I was just trying to find a way to get more water in her because the vet said I might have to give her subq fluids at home and I know I would not be able to do that.

Thanks for all the replies.

A food that might be worth a try is natures variety pride in a novel protein like duck or lamb-that is what I mostly feed frank now. It comes in minced or flaked versions and both of mine love it.