Diet to manage megacolon

[dida kingston]

They actually do need to be on a high fiber died ....like humans fiber will make them poop accompanied with mess to help ease the poop along there system

 

[Steph83Ga]

Hi everyone! My 12 year-old male cat was recently diagnosed with megacolon. Before being diagnosed, he was pooping once a day, however, it wasn't very much and his stools were always hard and ball shaped. Once he was diagnosed, he was prescribed Lactulose (3ML twice a day) and Royal Canin fiber response dry food. The first week was great- he seemed to like the food and his poops were a very good size. He then began to have diarrhea and the doctor cut him back to just one 3ML dose per day of Lactulose. We are now on week two and he has decided he no longer likes the Royal Canin food and his poops are back to the way they originally were. I have tried everything to get him to eat the food and he just won't. Have any of you found any wet (pate) foods that help with megacolon? I'm back to feeding him Fancy Feast because it's the only thing he will eat. I have tried mixing pumpkin with the Fancy Feast to give him some more fiber but he won't touch his food even with the smallest amount of pumpkin mixed in. He is very skinny and so a food high in calories wouldn't be an issue. He also has dental disease and the pate type wet food works best for him. Can anyone recommend a wet food that he might like and that would help with his constipation?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Hi everyone! My 12 year-old male cat was recently diagnosed with megacolon. Before being diagnosed, he was pooping once a day, however, it wasn't very much and his stools were always hard and ball shaped. Once he was diagnosed, he was prescribed Lactulose (3ML twice a day) and Royal Canin fiber response dry food. The first week was great- he seemed to like the food and his poops were a very good size. He then began to have diarrhea and the doctor cut him back to just one 3ML dose per day of Lactulose. We are now on week two and he has decided he no longer likes the Royal Canin food and his poops are back to the way they originally were. I have tried everything to get him to eat the food and he just won't. Have any of you found any wet (pate) foods that help with megacolon? I'm back to feeding him Fancy Feast because it's the only thing he will eat. I have tried mixing pumpkin with the Fancy Feast to give him some more fiber but he won't touch his food even with the smallest amount of pumpkin mixed in. He is very skinny and so a food high in calories wouldn't be an issue. He also has dental disease and the pate type wet food works best for him. Can anyone recommend a wet food that he might like and that would help with his constipation?

I cannot think of a wet food just off the top of my head, but since he doesn't like any FLAVOR added to his food, have you checked with your Vet about adding something else that is a fiber, like psyllium fiber? Or else using Miralax, which is totally odorless and tasteless. (my old girl also would not allow anything to be added to her food, and she could NOT detect the Miralax ).

Batting the addition of ANYTHING in his food, you might just try looking at different cans of food to check the % of fiber in them. Just look for things that are higher than Fancy Feast. I'm sure there are some out there, just don't know what they are. But fiber is one of the things usually listed on the cans under Guaranteed Analysis.

 

[artiemom]

Oh man... this sounds so familiar to me...
Ok.. I finally went to a Specialist Internal Med Vet, who has been a tremendous help, and a Godsend..

My guy also, ended up refusing the RC Fiber Response food. I was stuck..
I will tell you what I am doing; perhaps you can understand and go over this with YOUR Vet.

I am doing daily sub-q's ~~ helps keep him hydrated with enough fluid to poop

Cerenia 3 times a day

Lactulose, as needed.. This is important: I have to adjust the amount daily as to what I find the day before and the day of; it took me a long time to realize this and understand it.. My New Vet was a tremendous help with this. If my guy does not poop, then I increase the dose by one ml... if the poop is soft, then I cut back. I made a chart and can look back a day or two to see a pattern. You have to go by size and consistency of poop.. Yes, we are obsessed with poop.

Miralax, again dosing to effect.. usually from 1/2 to 3/4 tsp daily, mixed with water and added to wet food

My Internal Medicine Vet, swears by Hill's Science Diet W/D (prescription food)... it does not have as much fiber as RC Fiber Response, but it does work.. any my guy is eating it.. both the wet and dry..

I do not know if this helps, but this is what I had to do...

One year ago, on Christmas Day, I thought I was about to put my guy down.. he is still with us. I changed Specialists... and the rest is history.

My Artie has IBD along with MegaColon..
I have a huge thread going on about Artie's issues. It has been a long road..

I am not prescribing, but just telling you what I am doing..fingers crossed...

Good Luck...You really do need a specialist to help you along this journey..

 

[Steph83Ga]

I cannot think of a wet food just off the top of my head, but since he doesn't like any FLAVOR added to his food, have you checked with your Vet about adding something else that is a fiber, like psyllium fiber? Or else using Miralax, which is totally odorless and tasteless. (my old girl also would not allow anything to be added to her food, and she could NOT detect the Miralax ).

Batting the addition of ANYTHING in his food, you might just try looking at different cans of food to check the % of fiber in them. Just look for things that are higher than Fancy Feast. I'm sure there are some out there, just don't know what they are. But fiber is one of the things usually listed on the cans under Guaranteed Analysis.

He has a follow up appointment Monday and I am going to ask about Miralax. I've been reading a lot about it and it sounds like it may be a good option. I haven't compared the fiber content in other foods- that's a great idea, though!

 

[Steph83Ga]

Oh man... this sounds so familiar to me...
Ok.. I finally went to a Specialist Internal Med Vet, who has been a tremendous help, and a Godsend..

My guy also, ended up refusing the RC Fiber Response food. I was stuck..
I will tell you what I am doing; perhaps you can understand and go over this with YOUR Vet.

I am doing daily sub-q's ~~ helps keep him hydrated with enough fluid to poop

Cerenia 3 times a day

Lactulose, as needed.. This is important: I have to adjust the amount daily as to what I find the day before and the day of; it took me a long time to realize this and understand it.. My New Vet was a tremendous help with this. If my guy does not poop, then I increase the dose by one ml... if the poop is soft, then I cut back. I made a chart and can look back a day or two to see a pattern. You have to go by size and consistency of poop.. Yes, we are obsessed with poop.

Miralax, again dosing to effect.. usually from 1/2 to 3/4 tsp daily, mixed with water and added to wet food

My Internal Medicine Vet, swears by Hill's Science Diet W/D (prescription food)... it does not have as much fiber as RC Fiber Response, but it does work.. any my guy is eating it.. both the wet and dry..

I do not know if this helps, but this is what I had to do...

One year ago, on Christmas Day, I thought I was about to put my guy down.. he is still with us. I changed Specialists... and the rest is history.

My Artie has IBD along with MegaColon..
I have a huge thread going on about Artie's issues. It has been a long road..

I am not prescribing, but just telling you what I am doing..fingers crossed...

Good Luck...You really do need a specialist to help you along this journey..

Thank you so much for your reply-definitely very helpful! I am going to go over all of it with my vet. My guy seems to have good days and bad (poop-wise) and adjusting the dosages daily or as needed makes sense. I am so glad Artie is doing well :-D

 

[artiemom]

Thank you so much for your reply-definitely very helpful! I am going to go over all of it with my vet. My guy seems to have good days and bad (poop-wise) and adjusting the dosages daily or as needed makes sense. I am so glad Artie is doing well :-D

S Steph83Ga I made a huge mistake in my post.
I do NOT give Cerenia three times a day.. I got the "C" meds confused..
I do give CISAPRIDE, three times a day..

Too late to edit my post. I picked up on the mistake during the night...

Sorry

 

[Steph83Ga]

S Steph83Ga I made a huge mistake in my post.
I do NOT give Cerenia three times a day.. I got the "C" meds confused..
I do give CISAPRIDE, three times a day..

Too late to edit my post. I picked up on the mistake during the night...

Sorry

Got it!

 

[Steph83Ga]

After looking at the nutritional information for Fancy Feast and Friskies indoor dry (both of which my cat eats daily), I am a little confused. Both of those foods have more fiber in them than the Royal Canin fiber response. If they have more fiber in them, wouldn't they be better than the fiber response? I thought the main idea was to get more fiber and water in to their diets.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Hmmm, well now I don't know what to tell you . It must be the different type of fiber in the Fiber Response . There is definitely a difference between soluble and insoluble fiber.

Maybe Cindy (Artiemom) will be of assistance here. All I can tell you for sure is that I've had seniors with chronic constipation who responded very well to Miralax. They were never diagnosed with Megacolon however.

 

[artiemom]

After looking at the nutritional information for Fancy Feast and Friskies indoor dry (both of which my cat eats daily), I am a little confused. Both of those foods have more fiber in them than the Royal Canin fiber response. If they have more fiber in them, wouldn't they be better than the fiber response? I thought the main idea was to get more fiber and water in to their diets.

My understanding is that the Fiber Response food has psyllium in it. I believe it also has other sources of fiber. I think it is the combination of these ingredients which makes it successful. The nuggets also appear to have an oily residue on them. I forget what the ingredients are. I just threw the rest of the bag away.. it was old, sitting around for several months, open and uneaten.

I tried to replicate it by using some plain psyllium mixed in the wet food. It turned into a gloppy mess, and was immediately refused.

I also tried adding water to the Fiber Response, to get it into a wet-type of mix~~ Turned into a disaster. I think that is the reason why FR is only produced in the dry version.

I do not know if this is helping you...
Please keep us updated..

Yes, definitely try the Miralax.. start with 1/4 tsp mixed with water once a day for several days, if nothing helps, try it twice a day. There are so many cats taking Miralax.

 

[adrianne259]

Hi all! I hope you guys still get notifications about this post I've read everything and it was more than helpful, but I have one question. My kitty has problems with constipation, but she was never actually diagnosed with megacolon. However, she does have a "widening" at the very end of her colon, in the rectum. The vet said she has lazy bowels, so she poops, but not always successfully and feces sometimes (and this "sometimes" is killing me) stays in the rectum, in this wider part. It can be felt from the outside and sometimes if the stool is hard, it can even be seen as a "bump" on her bum. So she obviously has weak intestinal muscles, but things are not as serious as megacolon. Yet. Has anyone ever had similar problems or heard of such a thing? My main issue is - should I put her on a high fiber diet or not? She ate Royal Canin's Fiber Response for a few months and it worked well (I soaked the kibble, so she got more water this way than she normally would with dry food). Her stool was incredibly bulky and soft and she pooped twice a day, but this seemed to be good for her. However, at one point, she stopped wanting to eat this food and her stools became dry and hard to pass once more. Now she is eating canned food. It still seems that it is easier for her to pass bulkier stools, but it sometimes happens that a small chunk is left in the rectum. But, if the stool is too small, she strains a lot and can't really get everything out. I was considering feeding her psyllium, or rather, adding it to her canned food, and I'd GREATLY appreciate it if anyone can get me out of this doomed-if-I-do,-doomed-if-I-don't-situation.
Thank you!

 

[artiemom]

Hey There, I am still getting notifications...

Sorry to hear about your baby.

My guy, ate the RC Fiber Response for for about 3 months, and then just flat out refused it!
I know where you are coming from.

My Vet suggested we try Science Diet W/D food, wet and dry.. It is a lower calorie food, but has a fair amount of fiber in it.. We also began using daily lactulose, dose dependent on the poop situation.

You can order some psylium from Amazon or get some at the health food store, or perhaps Whole Foods..

Have you discussed using a bit of Cisapride for her? a small dose to help push out that clump? Are you adding water to her canned food? and are you using Miralax?
The Miralax is great.. try 1/4 tsp mixed with water, added to her wet food, once or twice a day.. this could help get that clump out, easier..

Good Luck...

 

[adrianne259]

artiemom It's amazing, a number of people told me the same thing about Fiber Response!So, you think psyllium could be beneficial? I think the first reply to this post states that it shouldn't be used with cats with megacolon, which is what confused me
One other issue that I have is access to pet supplies - my country is in Europe, but not in the European Union, so I can't order any food online and I'm left to the will of suppliers when it comes to what food they choose to import. Currently, for example, Hill's can be found only here and there. She is also allergic to chicken and w/d contains it, so I figured my best bet is canned food and home-cooked food. This is why I asked about psyllium.
Cisapride didn't come up yet, though I will ask the vet next time I talk to her. The problem with the "pocket" in my kitty's rectum has only just been discovered and the vet wanted to see if she can avoid meds (the kitty is on Xanax for anxiety and had multiple shots of corticosteroids when her allergies became unbearable, so the vet is - with my blessing - trying to figure out a way to help her without pumping her full of meds). However, if Cisapride helps us avoid megacolon, I say let's do it She is on lactulose though, but I'd like to avoid giving it to her by a syringe every day because she is super anxious - frequent vet visits, daily "tortures" with meds and enemas will do that to a kitty. I'm anxious as well This is why I'd like to find something she can take on her own and that will have a similar effect like lactulose.
Thank you for reading through my posts and for your support I find other people's experiences to be more useful sometimes than the vet's (and I've consulted a number of them).

 

[artiemom]

Have you tried adding the miralax to the food.. mix it with water, and then add.

 

[adrianne259]

Have you tried adding the miralax to the food.. mix it with water, and then add.

I can't get Miralax here, unfortunately will try it with lactulose, though.

 

[artiemom]

Where do you live? I think the generic substitute is PEG.. I think there is a form of miralax everywhere. It is pretty much universal. Miralax is the 'Brand" name, however there are many generic ones... I will see if I can look it up..

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Also, what about using pumpkin? Might that help? I just don't know, but artiemom might! I do completely agree, though, about using Miralax, or a derivative thereof (PEG). I would rather use that than Lactulose any day of the week.

 

[artiemom]

Oh, mrsgreenjeens I feel honored that you are queuing me!! thank you..

Yes, Plain pumpkin would be great if your kitty will eat it. Make sure you get the plain pumpkin in the can.. not the kind for pumpkin pie.. or you could even try baby food squash. Again, make sure there are no additives in there. It is a more natural source of fiber...

My guy refuses all food with pumpkin.. and I have not been feeling well the past few days, so I completely forgot about it.. sorry.. not on top of my game form...