Constipation with our Lillian

[dgspencer101]

Will adding olive oil to our cats wet food that gums up in the fridge help with constipation? She drinks a lot of water and has normal urination.Her latest stools have been tiny dark hard balls of excrement.But it wasn't a lot...We had a vet appointment scheduled and I used a calming spray in the carrier and on the carrier.Plus I used it about 30 minutes ahead of transport time in her general areas in the house...Ok but when we finally got her in the carrier she was crying loudly which made us feel like she was maybe thinking we were carrying her back to the shelter.She is 13 years old and we adopted her at 5 months old.My wife was screaming "We can't do this!" Truth be known my heart was breaking also.So with all of that above we have to depend on home remedies etc..I plan on picking up some MiraLax tomorrow and some fresh olive oil.We had some in the cabinet but it expired 2 years ago.I trashed that.Is there anything more potent that I can purchase that will really truly calm her down with? Or should I ignore her screaming and carry her on.If I do that then I will need something to calm me down.Thanks for any suggestions.I am new to this site.My first post. (Just a few weeks back her stool was normal) Thank you.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

What did the vet recommend? Did they give her an enema?

 

[dgspencer101]

What did the vet recommend? Did they give her an enema?

SWe were unabkle to carry her to the vet.Due to my what my post stated.Thanks

 

[stephanietx]

Two of mine sing the song of their people...LOUDLY... any time they're in the carrier. It's very nerve wracking on us, but it's something we all have to live through for a vet visit. One of my kitties does not like being confined, but for her safety, she must be in her carrier for the trip to/from the vet. It's very stressful for us all, but is actually a pretty normal occurrence.

If you're not feeding wet food, I highly suggest switching to a high quality wet food for most of her diet. You can add in a little bit of plain canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, to help soften stool. You can also add a couple of teaspoons of water to the food to make it like thick oatmeal to help with water intake. I would not add olive oil to the food.

What are you feeding her now and is it wet or dry food?

 

[catloverfromwayback]

SWe were unabkle to carry her to the vet.Due to my what my post stated.Thanks

Oh, I'm sorry, I misunderstood.
Mine have often cried a lot when I put them into the carrier, and all the way up to the vet. I don't use anything on them, just talk to them.

 

[dgspencer101]

Sorry about the typos-

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi and welcome to TCS! Are you saying that the food you keep in the fridge is causing the hard stools? I wasn't sure. If so, try adding some warm water to the food to 'un-gum' it before giving it to her. You can try olive oil too, just a couple of drops. But, if you have always been giving the wet food to her like this and no other recent food changes have been made, I am not sure it would all of sudden cause constipation all on its own. Is she drinking less water than normal? Anything else going on with her?

She is considered nearly a geriatric kitty, so she should have routine vet visits, and it sounds like that may not be happening. My cat does 'cry' in her carrier when we go to the vet. I talk to her and play soft music in the background. It doesn't stop it altogether, but it does help.

 

[dgspencer101]

Two of mine sing the song of their people...LOUDLY... any time they're in the carrier. It's very nerve wracking on us, but it's something we all have to live through for a vet visit. One of my kitties does not like being confined, but for her safety, she must be in her carrier for the trip to/from the vet. It's very stressful for us all, but is actually a pretty normal occurrence.

If you're not feeding wet food, I highly suggest switching to a high quality wet food for most of her diet. You can add in a little bit of plain canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, to help soften stool. You can also add a couple of teaspoons of water to the food to make it like thick oatmeal to help with water intake. I would not add olive oil to the food.

What are you feeding her now and is it wet or dry food?

We leave dry food out all of the time for her which right now is IAMs Proactive Health--I was feeding this Friskies stuff that is sort of souply and has chunks in it.She really didn't care for that so I switched to Blue Buffalo Tastefuls wet food.

 

[dgspencer101]

Hi and welcome to TCS! Are you saying that the food you keep in the fridge is causing the hard stools? I wasn't sure. If so, try adding some warm water to the food to 'un-gum' it before giving it to her. You can try olive oil too, just a couple of drops. But, if you have always been giving the wet food to her like this and no other recent food changes have been made, I am not sure it would all of sudden cause constipation all on its own. Is she drinking less water than normal? Anything else going on with her?

She is considered nearly a geriatric kitty, so she should have routine vet visits, and it sounds like that may not be happening. My cat does 'cry' in her carrier when we go to the vet. I talk to her and play soft music in the background. It doesn't stop it altogether, but it does help.

The gummy fridge food it what I suspect is causing it.I added water to it before and she turned her nose up to that.Just ealier I warmed some up in the microwave.Not hot just slight warm to ungum it.She ate about half of it.Now she is sitting here staring at me

 

[dgspencer101]

Two of mine sing the song of their people...LOUDLY... any time they're in the carrier. It's very nerve wracking on us, but it's something we all have to live through for a vet visit. One of my kitties does not like being confined, but for her safety, she must be in her carrier for the trip to/from the vet. It's very stressful for us all, but is actually a pretty normal occurrence.

If you're not feeding wet food, I highly suggest switching to a high quality wet food for most of her diet. You can add in a little bit of plain canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, to help soften stool. You can also add a couple of teaspoons of water to the food to make it like thick oatmeal to help with water intake. I would not add olive oil to the food.

What are you feeding her now and is it wet or dry food?

Thanks for your post saying yours cry also when in the carrier.I called the vet and they said they have something that will calm her doen just for me to go pick it up.I will try this.Hopefully its stronger that that calming spray I bought from Chewy.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Some cats don't like leftover food - mine included. Putting it in the fridge, even if you take it out of the can and cover it, still changes the smell and taste of it. So, that could be part of the problem. And, since you have changed her food, that could be playing a role as well. My older cat does not like chunky food, so she gets pates and I leave it out on the counter for hours covered up rather than in the fridge. I also add a bit of water to what is remaining in the can to help 'preserve' the taste a bit. Leaving it on the counter is really only appropriate if you feed her the food later in the day, not so much overnight.

Call the vet and ask them about it. You can try Miralax too, but if you do, start out with 1/8 tsp mixed in with just a bit of water, and then add it to her food. Wait 24 hours to see if you get results before you give her anymore.

But, it sounds like the vet wants you to bring her in, so that is good - and, it is good they will give you something to help calm her. It is probably gabapentin, and hopefully the dosage is low so it doesn't 'dope her out' too much.

 

[dgspencer101]

Some cats don't like leftover food - mine included. Putting it in the fridge, even if you take it out of the can and cover it, still changes the smell and taste of it. So, that could be part of the problem. And, since you have changed her food, that could be playing a role as well. My older cat does not like chunky food, so she gets pates and I leave it out on the counter for hours covered up rather than in the fridge. I also add a bit of water to what is remaining in the can to help 'preserve' the taste a bit. Leaving it on the counter is really only appropriate if you feed her the food later in the day, not so much overnight.

Call the vet and ask them about it. You can try Miralax too, but if you do, start out with 1/8 tsp mixed in with just a bit of water, and then add it to her food. Wait 24 hours to see if you get results before you give her anymore.

But, it sounds like the vet wants you to bring her in, so that is good - and, it is good they will give you something to help calm her. It is probably gabapentin, and hopefully the dosage is low so it doesn't 'dope her out' too much.

I have decided since she is 13 years old to just grin and bear the crying she does when put into the carrier.Its for her own good.Thanks for you suggestions which I will do.Thanks