Guar Gum Vs. Agar Agar for Constipation

Have any of you guys used either Guar gum or Agar agar to soften your cat's stool? 

I looked online and found a vet who uses guar gum with the raw food diet she feeds her cat: http://www.catinfo.org/makingcatfood.php

Last night I added 1/16 tsp of agar-agar with water on my cat's food and in the morning, he let out a very soft long stool. I was so happy he let out all of the toxins in his body  Poor guy all that stuff stuck in his colon due to his constipation for the past days. I was so relieved to see the poop this morning. 

Which do you guys thinks is easier on the cat's digestion, guar gum or agar agar? 

I was doing my research on agar agar, and it looks like it has some benefits on humans, didn't find much on cats. But looks like it works for constipation, since my cat doesn't respond to lactulose, cisapride and miralax 

Interesting.  Never heard of using either of those "thickening agents" for constipation.  But if they work, more power to them.  Personally, I would chose agar-agar over guar gum, just because some cats have issue with guar gum.  'course, some cats have issues with so many things, I'm sure some cats have issues with agar-agar too, but I think of it as being more natural for some reason.

I just took my cat to the clinic today and the vet said "he seems well, no more hard feces." 

And yeah I did my research on guar gum too, looks like there are more negative things about it than the agar agar...

UPDATE: Been a couple of weeks now and with me adding a pinch of agar agar to his food, he has been pooping regularly and texture of stool= medium soft. So no straining anymore! [emoji]128522[/emoji] And this is WITHOUT cisapride.

That's great news!   Sometimes research and experimentation pays off

mrsgreenjeens said:

That's great news!   Sometimes research and experimentation pays off :high5:

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Yep. You know cat owners are also researchists, detectives, investigators, scientists and explorers LOL

Where do you get it? I'd be willing to try it with Booberry the cisipride cat. The Cisipride works, along with miralaxx but some sort of seaweed seems like a nice alternative to the miralax anyway. Not sure I'm brave enough to try foregoing the medication.

Laura Mae said:

 
Where do you get it? I'd be willing to try it with Booberry the cisipride cat. The Cisipride works, along with miralaxx but some sort of seaweed seems like a nice alternative to the miralax anyway. Not sure I'm brave enough to try foregoing the medication.

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I got it from a local Asian market where I live. I got the telephone brand. I heat a little bit of water in the microwave(1 min) and then throw in a pinch of the agar agar powder in it, mix it and add to my cat's food. But there is also the Now Foods brand, that has good reviews on amazon. I decided to try the agar agar because first I really don’t like the idea of my cat depending on a drug just to poop and second, my cat still gets constipated even on that drug. Cisapride if used long term can make a cat develop a “lazy” bowel meaning the cat will lose its motility completely and when the drug comes to the point that it no longer works, the cat will be constipated forever.