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- Apr 18, 2014
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My 11 year old cat has had waves of issues with constipation (I believe). Two years ago, she was howling and rolling around so much that we took her to an emergency clinic in the middle of the night and that's what they believed the problem was. Since then, I will notice that maybe 3 times a year, she struggles to go to the bathroom, and the stool is quite hard. Sometimes hard enough, that only part of it comes out and the rest will fall out around the house. I'm only assuming this is constipation. If somebody thinks something else may be going on, please chime in! I haven't witnessed her howling in discomfort again, until today.
I would actually venture to say that it's possible that she is always slightly constipated. She has regular bowel movements (for her, that's every other day), and doesn't seem to struggle most of the time, but her stool is almost always hard. Usually there is one longer one, with a few marble sized ones.
I've been thinking I need to try a new food to remedy this? I don't want to take her to the vet again. She recently had teeth extracted and didn't recover quickly. Which meant she went to the vet upwards of 6 times. The vet is an extremely stressful event for her. If it seems like something beyond constipation is going on, obviously she will need to go again, I'm just reluctant to keep taking her in.
She has been eating (for the past 4 years - since I rescued her), wellness canned turkey, pate. I also give her about a tablespoon of canned pumpkin every day (which she loves). I'm not sure that it helps, but since she likes it, I just give it to her. I also add water to her food. But perhaps I'm not adding enough? I couldn't really say how much. I just make it slightly soupy. Maybe like a pretty thick smoothy? I've looked at some charts, and I'm considering switching to a higher protein food... and looking for food without guar gum and carraggeean.
What do you guys think? Does it sound like she's just perpetually mildly constipated, and every so often it worsens? If so, what can I try with food to remedy this? I'm not huge on medication if I don't have to. She seems to have a very sensitive system when it comes to medications. She didn't do well on anything they have give me. diarrhea on antibiotics, takes a full day to snap out of mild sedatives.. etc.. When I took her to the ER, they told me to give her restoralax (Miralax in the US). Which caused severe diarrhea.
I know similar threads have been posted about constipation, but most people seem to be feeding dry when this occurs. Or believe the cause to be a certain wet food. However, given that I rescued her, I have no clue what her bowel function was prior, and I've had her on the same food the whole time. So nothing to compare to. It never really occurred to me that she might always be slightly constipated until I started reading about it today. I've read that I can give her psyllium fiber, but that some cats have allergic reactions. Anybody use this with success?
I would actually venture to say that it's possible that she is always slightly constipated. She has regular bowel movements (for her, that's every other day), and doesn't seem to struggle most of the time, but her stool is almost always hard. Usually there is one longer one, with a few marble sized ones.
I've been thinking I need to try a new food to remedy this? I don't want to take her to the vet again. She recently had teeth extracted and didn't recover quickly. Which meant she went to the vet upwards of 6 times. The vet is an extremely stressful event for her. If it seems like something beyond constipation is going on, obviously she will need to go again, I'm just reluctant to keep taking her in.
She has been eating (for the past 4 years - since I rescued her), wellness canned turkey, pate. I also give her about a tablespoon of canned pumpkin every day (which she loves). I'm not sure that it helps, but since she likes it, I just give it to her. I also add water to her food. But perhaps I'm not adding enough? I couldn't really say how much. I just make it slightly soupy. Maybe like a pretty thick smoothy? I've looked at some charts, and I'm considering switching to a higher protein food... and looking for food without guar gum and carraggeean.
What do you guys think? Does it sound like she's just perpetually mildly constipated, and every so often it worsens? If so, what can I try with food to remedy this? I'm not huge on medication if I don't have to. She seems to have a very sensitive system when it comes to medications. She didn't do well on anything they have give me. diarrhea on antibiotics, takes a full day to snap out of mild sedatives.. etc.. When I took her to the ER, they told me to give her restoralax (Miralax in the US). Which caused severe diarrhea.
I know similar threads have been posted about constipation, but most people seem to be feeding dry when this occurs. Or believe the cause to be a certain wet food. However, given that I rescued her, I have no clue what her bowel function was prior, and I've had her on the same food the whole time. So nothing to compare to. It never really occurred to me that she might always be slightly constipated until I started reading about it today. I've read that I can give her psyllium fiber, but that some cats have allergic reactions. Anybody use this with success?