Constipated Cat

[segelkatt]

 
Miralax  works pretty well if given correclty. You don't mix the dry powder direclty into food. You have to disslove the Miralax into some water first (a spoonful or two is plenty) and then mix it into canned food. Miralax works by drawing water into the intestines. If the Miralax isn't dissolved in water first, the dry powder will still draw water into the intestines but much more water and that will result in dehydaration and the constipation may become worse.

Adding extra water to the canned food in general will keep the body well hdyrated and may help keep things moving along in the intestines.

I totally agree. My Patrick gets a whole teaspoon (measured!) of MiraLax with his canned food every night. I sprinkle it on top of his food and then pour water on top of that so that the bowl is full, it looks like soup with some chunks. When I let him out of "his" room  in the morning he has eaten all of the food during the night and makes a beeline to the kibble. During the day he nibbles on kibble. Many times he runs to his room when I bring his dinner, sometimes he's already in there waiting for it. Just about every day he makes a big poop that looks big enough to have been done by a human ( a good 6 to 8 inches long and so big around I can hardly believe it came out of him - sorry about the description but this is a 'shitty" subject) and it is of semi-soft consistency. He has not been constipated for many months. He also has access to a fountain so he always has water. Maybe you don't give your cats enough MiraLax, I had started with 1/4 teaspoon and upped the amount until there were no more problems. Good luck.

 

[stephenq]

I am totally confused now, I have 2 senior cats. Both get wellness canned food every day, the only flavor they seem to like is chicken & herring. 1 cat, the non hyperthyroid (pickles) gets some dry like tbsp or so. So why then are my cats getting constipated?? the hyperthyroid cat (nellie) had not pooped in 3 days gave her all sorts of things, slippery elm paste, cat laxative petr. jelly, she drinks lots, gave pumpkin, finally squirted water up the anus she poops now but not much, she was lethargic for a day.
decided to buy miralax (restoralax) and put a little in her soft food to help with cronic constipation. The vet never ever takes a stool sample, where one other vet used to every time. They are going by what i tell them, but I have 4 cats and it is difficult to moniter. I decided to also add some restoralax to pickles food and gave her a little tiny bit of pumpkin in the food ( like 1/4tsp) today she was in excrusiating pain with a poop half out, i could hsrdly touch her. She was moaning, I used a very narrow syringe to squirt a tiny amount of warm water but hardly got any in, this was a fat poop almost 1/2" wide, tried to pull on it but not enough out to pull. She had just eaten! i also put ky jelly around her anus, it came out but this has me freaked out now. Turns out it was a folded poop so it was double wide and it was soft not hard. Totally confused.
Why are these cats often constipated? They eat wet food twice a day, someone suggested too much wet is mot good and they may need fiber. What do I do to help them I need to give something on a continuous basis that is ok to do regularly. zthe vet is the one that suggested restoralax.
Could the chicken & herring food be constipating?
Any suggestions appreciated.
The holistic vet does not have any sense of urgency, a regular vet just wants to give meds, pulling my hair out!

I feel like youre trying too many treatments and what may be needed is some consistency with miraliax, but if she is still very constipated she may need an enema at the vets to get her back on track.

 

[kitmom]

Here's what I've learned the hard way with my beloved kitties.  Wet food is generally too dense-- even if it appears wet to us, it'll still lead to constipation after a while.  I add a little bit of warm water to each dish of food (helps warm the food as well, after being in the refrigerator), and warm food tends to stimulate kitty's digestion better than cold.  (Kind of true for people too.)  

Another thing-- cats should not be eating pumpkin.  You can get away with it for a while, but if kitty is having a digestive problem, then it can start to clog them up (in my experience and research, not an expert), even after appearing to work initially to get their colon moving.    Instead, I use slippery elm powder (organic), and I dilute with water till it's a viscous but still liquid texture, and I add about a teaspoon to each meal of wet food for my 10 pound kitty.  It works fabulously well.  Even if your kitty is sedentary, you should see regular bowel movements every day and a half to two days.  

KitMom

 

[kitmom]

One more thing.  A bunch of wet foods have carrageenan, which is a thickener, and it is carcinogenic.  It will tear up your cat's system and make her/him sick.  Even really high end brands can have arageenan.  There are lists on-line of the handful of brands that don't put this garbage into kitty food.  But I read labels periodically to make sure it has not suddenly appeared in my cat's formula.  The same producer will use it in one flavor but not in another, so assume nothing.  And, of course, the wet food has to be grain free.  

Kitmom