My journey with a constipated cat

I wanted to share my experiences with Chipsie and her chronic constipation. I'm hoping to help others with this issue and to possibly gain some new insights for myself.

Chipsie is turning 19 next month. She has struggled with constipation for years but it's only been in the last 4 that it's become a major issue.

I have tried everything!

-Increased fibre- didn't work, made her stool more bulky and harder to pass.
-mineral oils(back when I didn't know any better)
-lactulose- she won't tolerate it in her food, she aspirates it by mouth and it's really hard on the kidneys for a CKD cat.
-cascara(colon stimulant/irritant)- worked slightly and only for a short time.
-senna- not much better than cascara
-aloe Vera juice-no effect
-slippery elm- not much of an improvement plus all of her meds and herbs go into her food and I was worried she wouldn't absorb them because the SEB coats the intestine.
-cisapride- this worked the best but it too had it's 15 minutes of fame. She was on it for about a year but I was still having to give her enemas so finally I gave it up.
-I massage her regularly, she eats grain free wellness canned.
-I tried the raw diet but it made things worse.
-she's very emotional so I thought this could be part of why she holds it in so much. I had an animal communicator speak to her and though we were able to help her with other issues, the constipation thing just keeps rearing it's ugly head.
-she gets regular Reiki. She's had chiro, osteopathy, heck, I'd shake magic rocks at her if I thought it'd help!
There was a moment I thought it was sorted. That moment lasted almost 5 months. It was wonderful and glorious and she was popping almost every day!! I thought YAY, this is the miracle cure.

Da Huang- it's TCM(traditional Chinese medicine) common name, rhubarb.

I was giving her 1/8 tsp twice daily and it was amazing!

It works by drawing fluid into the colon. She's in kidney failure technically so I also give her daily subcutaneous Lactated ringers.

The past month things have started slowing down again and the weekly enemas are back to the dismay of everyone involved.

Ugh it's all so frustrating I just don't know what to do anymore.

She's on various Chinese herbs for other things and everything else is going really great...except for this one thing...

I feel like I've exhausted all my options and I may have...there are I'm sure other things I've tried over the years, things I've probably forgotten about, that's how many things I've tried without success.

If anyone has ANY suggestions please feel free to share.

Thanks for reading

I started the constipation problem with my cats four months ago...so I have an inkling (just a tiny one) of what you're going through.  I admit my dread that this will turn into a long lifelong condition.

It seems many things have worked but your cat became immune to the aids.  Have you tried rotating the successful solutions?  Perhaps this can stave off her body from getting used to the solutions?

Btw, many posts on constipation have suggested miralax (or some generic version) for constipation.  It works by softening the stool for my cats but unfortunately it doesn't increase their bowel movement frequency.  It seems to be solution for many site members though.

Glycerin suppositories worked on my severely constipated cat--when she allowed me to insert them.  After the 4th or 5th application, she has steadfastly refused them.  I only used 1/2 of the pediatric version.

And are you sure the various other Chinese verbs aren't constipating her?  

I've thought about possibly putting her back on cisapride, it's a fairly safe med for kidney cats. My vet just phoned me, they've been just exceptional with her, I love her vet dearly. She mentioned revisiting another herb that she's been on in the past. It's called Ma Zi Ren Wan. They're going to try and source it again as one of the ingredients in the combo is difficult to come by because of it's "green" nature...if you catch my drift lol.
We'll see, here's hoping.

The herbs aren't constipating from what my vet says.

Lactulose, pumpkin, SEB, diet changes - none of them worked for my cat. But miralax has been a miracle drug. Haven't had a problem in the 4(?) months she's been on it. (She's on cisipride for  the constipation and other reasons as well.)

Edit: it's called restoralax here in Canada.

My cat is quite the complicated case. She has
problems with stool hardness and colon motility. She has also been diagnosed with megacolon. This is not something that is very common in small framed, underweight cats. Usually it's the big beefcakes that are more prone to it. My kitty is tiny.

Are you seeing a holistic vet?  I'm assuming she is due to the non-traditional meds she's advocating.  I wonder if the TCM pharmacies would take me seriously if I went in and asked for meds for my cats?  I'm tempted to try, I can bring my mom to translate

I will ask about the miralax but something tells me that that was one if those drugs that my vet didn't want her on for some reason. I have to be careful because she is a kidney cat.

Yes she sees a holistic vet but they also use western medicine when needed. They are really awesome!

cocheezie said:

Lactulose, pumpkin, SEB, diet changes - none of them worked for my cat. But miralax has been a miracle drug. Haven't had a problem in the 4(?) months she's been on it. (She's on cisipride for  the constipation and other reasons as well.)

Edit: it's called restoralax here in Canada.

Click to expand...

Ok yes I've discussed that one with my vet and she didn't want to put her on it because of her kidneys. I will ask again to make sure but I'm pretty sure I had inquired about that one before. Thanks for the info.

It does sound like you have tried quite a lot to keep your girl comfortable. Have you thought about joining the yahoo feline megacolon group? I believe @Raintyger found the members helpful when she was researching constipation.

http://www.felinecrf.org/constipation.htm     This page has some info about using Miralax in CRF kitties and it says that it is fine.  It has to do with dosage.  I didn't realize that Miralax works a little differently than Lactolose, I thought they worked the same.  This article says that Lactolose draws fluid into the colon and Miralax retains it in the colon.  My kitty is prone to constipation because of IBD and the vet recommended Miralax.  He doesn't have CRF though.

My Chipsie said:

There was a moment I thought it was sorted. That moment lasted almost 5 months. It was wonderful and glorious and she was popping almost every day!! I thought YAY, this is the miracle cure.

Da Huang- it's TCM(traditional Chinese medicine) common name, rhubarb.

I was giving her 1/8 tsp twice daily and it was amazing!

It works by drawing fluid into the colon. She's in kidney failure technically so I also give her daily subcutaneous Lactated ringers.

The past month things have started slowing down again and the weekly enemas are back to the dismay of everyone involved.

Ugh it's all so frustrating I just don't know what to do anymore.

She's on various Chinese herbs for other things and everything else is going really great...except for this one thing...

I feel like I've exhausted all my options and I may have...there are I'm sure other things I've tried over the years, things I've probably forgotten about, that's how many things I've tried without success.

If anyone has ANY suggestions please feel free to share.

Thanks for reading

Click to expand...

Hi there. Sounds like you have been on quite a journey. I am sorry to read that you are still looking for a solution though. 19 years old is quite an accomplished age. You obviously have taken good care of her through the years.

Sorry to read that the SEB didn't work for your kitty. It's been so helpful to many member's kitties here, including one of my own.

There is one thing I didn't see in your list, and that is B-12 injections. A couple of members here use this and have experienced good results. B-12 works to stimulate nerve endings in the colon and in turn, this can help to improve motility.

SEB also has this ability to a lesser extent.

To add to the link that Denice provided, you might also want to visit this site which was written by someone who went through the experience of constipation in their cat and created this site that contains a wealth of information :

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

oneandahalfcats said:

Hi there. Sounds like you have been on quite a journey. I am sorry to read that you are still looking for a solution though. 19 years old is quite an accomplished age. You obviously have taken good care of her through the years.

Sorry to read that the SEB didn't work for your kitty. It's been so helpful to many member's kitties here, including one of my own.

There is one thing I didn't see in your list, and that is B-12 injections. A couple of members here use this and have experienced good results. B-12 works to stimulate nerve endings in the colon and in turn, this can help to improve motility.
SEB also has this ability to a lesser extent.

To add to the link that Denice provided, you might also want to visit this site which was written by someone who went through the experience of constipation in their cat and created this site that contains a wealth of information :
http://www.felineconstipation.org/prevention.html

Click to expand...

Yup, forgot to mention the B12. She gets 0.3mls every week in her sub q.

Thanks for the links, I will check it out

Hi guys,

Just an update on Chipsie.

I've been giving her Restoralax and it seems to be working. I started her off at 1/8 tsp twice a day then worked up to 1/4 tsp twice a day. This occurred over a two week time frame and I still had to give two enemas.

Because she's been throwing up during the enemas and then aspirating on the vomit(scary!), the vet prescribed Cerenia, 1/4 tablet, one hour before enema.
It worked really well and she didn't vomit at all.

For now she's popping every second day which is great but I don't want to get my hopes up too much because this enema free living seems to always be temporary.