Feline Constipation

Any good remedy for cat's constipation?. I think is my cat's new diet - Hill prescription diet dry food c/d what is causing this. I already had to give her an enema two days ago. It worked that night, but now we are going on two days again and nothing.
Please help

I would report back to your vet who prescribed the enema...they should have a recomendation as to what else to be doing. If they hadn't suggested a medication or tips such as adding pumpkin to the food for extra fiber, ask them now...or consider asking for a prescription of lactulose (not cheap) which is a liquid medication you can give, and which works very well.

If by chance, you gave the enema without vet advice, please get your cat in for an exam, find out what may be wrong (i.e. certain conditions such as dehydration which is a problem with chronic renal failure, cause constipation)...and they may want to approach that with increasing fluids in the diet, i.e. using a pet water fountain, or doing sub-q fluids.

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

I would report back to your vet who prescribed the enema...they should have a recomendation as to what else to be doing. If they hadn't suggested a medication or tips such as adding pumpkin to the food for extra fiber, ask them now...or consider asking for a prescription of lactulose (not cheap) which is a liquid medication you can give, and which works very well.

If by chance, you gave the enema without vet advice, please get your cat in for an exam, find out what may be wrong (i.e. certain conditions such as dehydration which is a problem with chronic renal failure, cause constipation)...and they may want to approach that with increasing fluids in the diet, i.e. using a pet water fountain, or doing sub-q fluids.

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I gave her the enema with the doctor's advise. She is drinking a lot of water. I just bought her a fountain and she loves it

Has she passed any stool at all? Constipation means hard, dry stools and doesn't have anything to do with frequency. She might be temporarily eating less because she's adjusting to her new diet, and therefore producing less stool.

I would recommend pumpkin as the first thing to try. Most cats really like it and it usually works well.

Originally Posted by vegansoprano

Has she passed any stool at all? Constipation means hard, dry stools and doesn't have anything to do with frequency. She might be temporarily eating less because she's adjusting to her new diet, and therefore producing less stool.

I would recommend pumpkin as the first thing to try. Most cats really like it and it usually works well.

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Yes, she did, actually twice on Wednesday when I gave her the enema and I have to agree that she is eating less because she is getting used to her new food.
I don't want to panic and I'm going to wait one more day. Anyway today is Good Friday and her vet is not at the office, I am also going to try pumpkin and see if she likes it.
Thank you for your help

One thing I didn't mention when I suggested the pumpkin, is that of course, it should be plain canned pumpkin, none of the lovely spice we enjoy in pumpkin pie mix

For an overall good site on treating constipation (though this is a site for kitties w/crf, it's just a wonderful overall site):
Tanya's site page on constipation

Try offering some wheat grass. It works as a natural laxative. I keep a small trough of wheat grass available for Nano and she quickly figured out how to take care of herself.

where do u get wheat grass?

I get my seeds from a local nursery, a place with lots of natural plants and gardening and health stuff. I don't know what they do in Ohio, so you can search for "wheatgrass seeds" on a site like Amazon.com and get them over the internet.

Then just get a cheap tray, some potting soil and plant the seeds according to instructions. A little bit of watering and then you are set. I had to adapt things to my circumstances but wheatgrass was not too difficult to grow.

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

One thing I didn't mention when I suggested the pumpkin, is that of course, it should be plain canned pumpkin, none of the lovely spice we enjoy in pumpkin pie mix

For an overall good site on treating constipation (though this is a site for kitties w/crf, it's just a wonderful overall site):
Tanya's site page on constipation

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Well, I had to give Kirim another enema this mroning. It was 3 1/2 days without going #2.
I am taking her to her vet tomorrow morning. I want a complete check up. I need to know what is causing this constipation.
The weird thing is that she is as normal as she can be. She is eating, drinking a lot of water from her fountain, I bought her grass and she ate some. She is playing with her toys, sleeping, no vomiting, urinating normal, but no #2.
I am going crazy imagining all these awful things. I love Kirim soo much that I don't know what I would do if something is definetely wrong with her. By the way I tried the pumpkin, but she did not like it.
Thank you all for your comments and ideas. I will post again tomorrow after the vet.

OK, I had to leave Kirim at the doctor's office for a complete check up. She said to call her at 5 P.M. and she should be able to tell me what is wrong.
My heart aches and I have to be here at work, but my mind is not here. I can't help it.
Please pay that there is nothing serious with my Kirim. She is my life.

Good wishes and prayers coming your way.

Vinny,

I hope they find out what is wrong with her. Enemas are so hard on kitties-

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

Good wishes and prayers coming your way.

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Warning - THIS IS A LONG POST
I picked up Kirim yesterday at the vet and everything was normal with her. She had a complete blood check,they check her urine her stool, she had XRays, they check for fever, dehydration and everything was OK.
The doctor thinks that the constipation is due to the change in her diet from Meow Mix to Hill prescription dry c/d and that she is not eating treats anymore so in fact her fiber comsuption has been drastically reduced.
She told me to give her a teaspon of olive oil daily for a week and laxatone also for a week and then reduce both to three times a week to see if we can get her back to normal.
I am praying that this works, and if no. after a week I am going to try some Metamucil sprinkle in her dry food to see if she likes it. She is not easy, she doesn't even like the laxatone and I know some cats go crazy about it, but at least I know that there is nothing wrong with her. I kept thinking of Megacolon and was very worried about it.
She showed me on the XRay that she had no accumulation of feces, after the enema I gave Sunday morning and that she only went #2 once, she had one little ball of stool, so she is not producing much stool with this diet food.
I will keep you all posted on any new development, but I feel much better now.
Thank you all for your concern and advise.

Vinny,

Thanks for the update..I'm glad her x-rays were clear and that her labs came back normal as well. One suggestion, if you do feel you need to try something besides what the vet suggested, do not use metamucil...I am not yet awake (where oh where is my coffee??), I know from a list I am on where the kitties have to deal with constipation as a related issue, that it's a no-no..instead, one can use (and I found a bottle easily at my grocery store) plain psyllium husks (nothing added). I believe if you go to Tanya's Site - then find page for constipation and look for the section she has on this issue, it discusses use of psyillium.

I would of course, ask vet for the okay, and doseage There is also (if you can get a small amount of liquid into her) the idea of asking for a prescription of Lactulose, which works rather well!

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

Vinny,

Thanks for the update..I'm glad her x-rays were clear and that her labs came back normal as well. One suggestion, if you do feel you need to try something besides what the vet suggested, do not use metamucil...I am not yet awake (where oh where is my coffee??), I know from a list I am on where the kitties have to deal with constipation as a related issue, that it's a no-no..instead, one can use (and I found a bottle easily at my grocery store) plain psyllium husks (nothing added). I believe if you go to Tanya's Site - then find page for constipation and look for the section she has on this issue, it discusses use of psyillium.

I would of course, ask vet for the okay, and doseage

There is also (if you can get a small amount of liquid into her) the idea of asking for a prescription of Lactulose, which works rather well!

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Thank you for your suggestions. I will follow up, and of course would not do anything without checking with her vet first.
Was your coffee good? It seems that we have quiet a few hours difrerence in time. I am in Miami, Florida - USA. Where are you?
You don't have to reply if you don't want to tell me. I appreciate all your help
and concern.
Good Bless!!

Yes, I think I am awake now...after fielding several before 8 am work related calls for my husband, I finally got my coffee

I'm on the other coast, so I am 3 hours earlier in the day than you.

ps I lived in Opalocka way back in the 1960's for a couple of years.

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

Good wishes and prayers coming your way.

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Yesterday 3/31/05, I left Kirim at the vet again for the same problem.
This time the vet ran more tests and gave her some barium to be able to checks her internal movements as this sustance highlighted her intestines, etc.
Again she told me Kirim is OK and finally she face the fact that the new diet was constipating her . (she did not charge me for this visit, that was nice)
I took her home and put her back in her old food, Meow Mix with the laxatone and a teaspon of olive oil until she is back to her normal self.
After Kirim is normal again, we will look for some good brand food but for the time being, we need her to go back to Meow Mix until this problem is under control.
I can take some good suggestions regarding a good brand food . Please keep in mind that Kirim already had some urinary problems. She is only 4 1/2 yrs old and this could had been an isolated incident, the doctor thinks, but we have to be careful.

Hi Vinny,
This is above what I can advise you on. My one note would be...hairball formula and lite formula foods are higher in fiber...find one that is also on the lower end of phosphorus content (and on the lower range of protein for most dry foods), and I think that might work. Finding the one food that best meets that is something I just tried to tackle and realized your vet would be a better guide for you on this!

The food lists I use to find out protein/carb/phosphorous content are these:
Katkarma dry food lists - newly updated
and katkarma canned food lists - newly updated
and these for fiber content information also:
JMPeersons Canned food lists
and JMPeerson's dry food lists

Hth,

I have a ten year old male that has developed constipation issues over the last few years. I recently switched him to Eagle Brand Holistic Catfood (both wet and dry) and can't believe the difference. It's been about six weeks now and he is a new kitty. I had tried lactulose and hairball remedies etc and nothing worked but this food did.