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Hello hello! So, my cat Topaz has had chronic constipation ever since a surgery for hip dysplasia back in January - vets haven't been able to find any structural problems that could have caused it, they've done clinical exams to try and assess whether he's in pain, and nothing has resulted in anything that could explain what's causing this. I've been working under the assumption that the meds he had to take following the procedure have made his dysbiosis (diagnosed as "moderate" through AnimalBiome testing last year) exponentially worse.
I'm still working on a diet change - I did do a trial with a home cooked recipe (supposed to be properly balanced, with supplements), which was ideal since he has presumptive IBD and needs novel protein anyway, but the stool remained the exact same (with a slight color change, likely due to the zucchini in the recipe). For now, though, he is back on his Royal Canin Kitten sachet, because I'm still chasing a nutritionist to help me with a new recipe that targets the constipation specifically.
A couple of weeks ago, I started giving him egg yolk powder. He was shedding a lot, so I wanted to use it to help prevent hairballs, too (it's been working, for all I know). I increased the amount slowly. After 10 days giving him just the tip of a teaspoon, I increased the amount a bit last Friday, and he has since been pooping everyday (for the first time since January). On Saturday and on Sunday it was very little of it and very hard, but today it looked almost completely normal - in terms of quantity and consistency. I say "almost", though, because I'm pretty sure I saw a little bit of blood on top of it, which threw me off - it was like a drop, but it has to have been blood. This brings me to my question - could the blood be an indicative that he doesn't tolerate egg yolk? Or could this be something he's getting used to, that could eventually go away?
I did order egg yolk lecithin too, but haven't given that to him.
His behavior is great. He plays, eats, pees and grooms normally. I've had an acupuncture/osteopathy session scheduled for him for a month now, with a specialist, and it will take place tomorrow, so I'm curious as to whether that would help with the constipation too. Ideally I wouldn't do both things that could happen simultaneously, but it seems the egg yolk might have beat the holistic vet by a few days... we'll see. I'm focusing on helping him with this issue while he's young, because I don't want him to be predisposed to megacolon or have to take medication for the rest of his life if I can avoid it. And since he was doing well up until the day of the surgery, I'm sure it caused it somehow, and want to offer him a good chance of treating it before it becomes irreversible. I hope that's still doable.
I'm still working on a diet change - I did do a trial with a home cooked recipe (supposed to be properly balanced, with supplements), which was ideal since he has presumptive IBD and needs novel protein anyway, but the stool remained the exact same (with a slight color change, likely due to the zucchini in the recipe). For now, though, he is back on his Royal Canin Kitten sachet, because I'm still chasing a nutritionist to help me with a new recipe that targets the constipation specifically.
A couple of weeks ago, I started giving him egg yolk powder. He was shedding a lot, so I wanted to use it to help prevent hairballs, too (it's been working, for all I know). I increased the amount slowly. After 10 days giving him just the tip of a teaspoon, I increased the amount a bit last Friday, and he has since been pooping everyday (for the first time since January). On Saturday and on Sunday it was very little of it and very hard, but today it looked almost completely normal - in terms of quantity and consistency. I say "almost", though, because I'm pretty sure I saw a little bit of blood on top of it, which threw me off - it was like a drop, but it has to have been blood. This brings me to my question - could the blood be an indicative that he doesn't tolerate egg yolk? Or could this be something he's getting used to, that could eventually go away?
I did order egg yolk lecithin too, but haven't given that to him.
His behavior is great. He plays, eats, pees and grooms normally. I've had an acupuncture/osteopathy session scheduled for him for a month now, with a specialist, and it will take place tomorrow, so I'm curious as to whether that would help with the constipation too. Ideally I wouldn't do both things that could happen simultaneously, but it seems the egg yolk might have beat the holistic vet by a few days... we'll see. I'm focusing on helping him with this issue while he's young, because I don't want him to be predisposed to megacolon or have to take medication for the rest of his life if I can avoid it. And since he was doing well up until the day of the surgery, I'm sure it caused it somehow, and want to offer him a good chance of treating it before it becomes irreversible. I hope that's still doable.