Miralax is not working

sjohnson321

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Help! My cat Chloe out of the blue became constipated, hard stools and then stopped pooping. Had to take her to the vet and he did two enemas. I had been trying Miralax before I took her. He said to give her 1/8 tsp a day after that. I brought her home and immediately started 1/4 tsp twice a day. She still has done nothing since the enemas three days ago. She eats, pees but doesn't even try to poop. The week before this happened I found her straining in the litter box and started her on just two doses of Miralax and it worked so I stopped it. Then the next week she started again with the constipation and that's when I had to take her to the vet. She is 14 and in good health otherwise. It is like she doesn't have the urge to go.

Should I try magnesium citrate? Can you give cats this in liquid form? What is the dose if so? I am getting concerned. The vet said the next step is Lactulose but wouldn't give it to me unless I brought her back for another office visit and another xray (she was just xrayed 3 days ago). I can't afford to keep going back and would appreciate anyone's suggestion. Thanks!
 

geely

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What are you feeding her? I would suggest feeding only a wet food diet.  You can also add stuff to the food to help like pumpkin or psyllium husk powder or SEB as suggested.
 

furmonster mom

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Recurring constipation makes me suspect the diet.  Many dry foods have a lot of grains which can contribute to this issue.  Also, dehydration could be a factor, which dry food will exasperate.   I would recommend changing to a grain free wet diet and see if that helps alleviate the issue.
 
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sjohnson321

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She was at the vets last Friday for constipation. He xrayed her and gave her two enemas and said next step would be Lactulose. To give her Miralax once a day which I had been doing. She still didn't go and wasn't even trying even with the Miralax twice a day. So I started her last night on magnesium citrate once and twice today as the vet refused to give me any Lactulose unless I came in for another xray. She finally pooped today and it was very runny and black. It had been five days. So now I need to put her on a maintenance diet to try to prevent this again. I have been giving her canned food only for several weeks now along with olive oil and trying to introduce canned pumpkin. She has always eaten even when she was days into her constipation, drinks water and seems healthy otherwise. The black stool concerns me but wondered if it was from the trauma of constipation, Miralax and magnesium. Before all this started she was throwing up a lot and the vet put her on Pepcid. It stopped the throwing up but I'm wondering if it is the reason she suddenly became so constipated. I stopped the Pepcid two weeks ago. Thanks for all  your input. 
 

keyes

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Just a note, when I giving miralax to my constipated cat I had to adjust the dosage until I found the right amount that would work.  Not to loose and not to dry. 
 

sarah ann

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I would not use magnesium citrate. Magnesium citrate can cause electrolyte imbalance and is not a good long term solution. Magnesium gets absorbed into the bloodstream and can get too high.

Miralax is safe for daily use for long periods of time. Do not wait until she is constipated, keep her on a twice daily dose and go from there. If miralax alone fails to help, you can combine that with psyllium. My vet recommends benefiber which is wheat dextran.

You may need to give her enough miralax to cause diarrhea. That is fine. Once your cat is going you may need to reduce the dose some.

In baby horses we use a soapy water enema to help them go to the bathroom for the first time. If you go back to the vet, ask if they can show you how to do an enema.

If neither of those work, I would be concerned with megacolon or nerve damage to the colon. In that case you need to try prokinetic drugs like cisapride or prucalopride. They are pricey and cisapride can cause heart attacks.
 
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