Cat constipation? What can i do?

[Jee]

Hello,

My cat stool changed 2 months ago, she a 8 years old siamese with hyperestesia (she take gabapentin every other day). She started, couple of weeks ago to make very very small stool often (the size of rice grains) but other time she make normal stool.

I went to the vet a month ago, she told me she could do a special scan for 700$ + blood work for 200$.

I choose to give he some laxative from time to time and wait another month. Today i scooped the litter and it has not change, yesterday she made a normal stool but in the litter i'm finding still very small piece. Should i wait it out or go for the 1000$ test even if she has no other symptoms? I dont have that kind of money but i can find it.

Thank You for your time.

 

[hexiesfriend]

The problem with laxatives is you have to stick with them. Also if you are feeding a high protein diet you are not going to get much stool. For mine I gave her 1/2 teaspoon of miralax in her food everyday and it kept her regular. I also had her on a fiber diet.

 

[Jee]

Since she was born she is on Royal Canin Feline Breed Nutrition Siamese Adult Dry Cat Food. I'm open to try something else tbh i'm just worried it could be something ''serious''. Should i give her the laxative ''paste'' every day? I'll seach for miralax. Since she has 0 other symptom I just want to try ''homemade'' remedy before i go down to battery of test since it's expensive and when she comeback from the vet she's very very anxious for a week or two.

 

[LTS3]

Bloodwork wouldn't show anything related to the constipation. A x ray may show colon full of poop which the vet may remove with an enema.

Miralax is a brand name sold in the US. The product may be called a different name in other countries, such as PEG in the UK. The only ingredient in it is polyethylene glycol 3350. It's sold at pharmacies with other Human constipation remedies. A cat sized dose is up to 1/2 teaspoon twice a day. Dissolve a dose in some water and then mix into canned / wet food or other moist treat. It takes a day or so for the Miralax to work so don't expect immediate results.

If you can feed your cat canned / wet food that would help the constipation some. Dry food can cause constipation in some cats.

 

[hexiesfriend]

Ask your vet for a high fiber cat food Royal Canin makes a fiber response food. See if she will eat canned pumpkin that is natural fiber

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I was going to suggest an all wet diet as well. It's quite normal for older cats to become constipated, and an all wet diet helps with that. Adding pumpkin to that food helps as well since it's a good type of fiber. Up to one tablespoon per day is fine, usually divided into three meals. And get her to exercise by playing. All those things will help with constipation.

So did the Vet diagnose her with constipation? Usually they can feel if they are constipated by just pressing on their abdomens. No bloodwork or other tests are needed. Did they say what type of tests were needed and why? Were they looking for something specific?

 

[Jee]

When she saw her couple of weeks ago for an annual checkup she told me she was in perfect shape. She asked me if she was drinking more with the constipation, she wasnt. She told me it could be something that pass or something wrong in her intestine/kidney and a full scan could tell us more (700$) she also suggest blood work annualy (200$) even if she was in good health. (should i do that?). She sold me a paste for hairball but i gave her maybe 6-7 time since (She dont like it at all).

Since her constipation hasn't pass (but sometime she make normal stool) more than a month after i saw the vet i'm kind of stressed about it and i'm thinking maybe it's something serious even if she has no other symptom (but i'm hypochondriac so i'm really not a good judge, I always think the worst). But then again i haven't done much to help as i understand.

I'm free feeding my cat since she's born so dry food is 24/7 available (and she's 5 pounds always) but with wet food she loose her mind and eat it all like it's a treat. How should i feed her wet food, what amount for a 5lb siamese? how many time a day? Because anything i'll put in it she will eat it 100%.

I'll go to the vet buy some high fiber wet food tomorrow and ask about laxative. (I have laxaday here it's the same I think as PEG). Should i consider the scan and bloodwork? Last time i paid 500$ (xray/bloodwork) for them to tell me she was in perfect health when I thought she was not. I'm the perfect target for vets .

Thx you for your time, sry for my english, it's not my first language.

 

[Jee]

That's Zia sleeping on me... (about 5-8h a day )

 

[stephanietx]

I would get the bloodwork to get a baseline and to make sure there's nothing wrong with her kidneys since she's been on a pain medication. For wet food, I would feed twice a day. Depending on the can size, you could feed approximately 1/4 can twice a day. My girls are about that size and get 1/4 can a day plus snack size servings of dry food at scheduled times. I would decrease the dry food because that can cause constipation. If your cat will tolerate it, add in a little bit of plain canned pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling) as that has good fiber in it to help get things moving. You can also add in warm water to make the wet food a thick slurry or thick oatmeal consistency. This will also help with hydration and bowels moving.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Agree with the above poster that I would go ahead and get bloodwork done, but as long as constipation is her only issue, I don't really see a need for anything else. Feeding wet food with extra water added in should else with constipation, and adding pumpkin to that mix for added fiber should help as well. Personally, I feed three meals per day and don't leave out snacks of dry food, but if two meals works better for you, that's fine too. As far as how much, that should be based on how many calories she actually needs, so her size plus her activity level will determine that. Typically cats need between 20 - 25 calories times their weight per day. So if she weighs 5 pounds (not kg?) that would be between 100 and 125 calories per day. Look at the can of wet food you are going to feed and see how many calories are in that can and go from there. Typically in a 3 oz can there are between 45 and 90 calories. In the 5.5 oz cans there are obviously more, almost double. But it really depends on the brand and type of food (pate vs minced vs. shreds) And then if you do feed her some dry food, you need to factor in those calories too.