Lactulose For Life???

so after a very serious bout of constipation (2 wks and a very extensive vet bill), we finally have our 10 yr old male regularily going to the litter box again. But...even though he gets only wet food with added water and a 1/4 tsp of Miralax with each meal, he still only goes if he gets a dose of Lactulose. It’s a cheap fix if this is our new normal, but does anyone else have experience with long term use? Will it stop working eventually? Be too hard on the rest of his system?

I don't think that giving lactulose on a daily basis is healthy.
The lactulose calls water from the system to work in the bowels, I would think that in the long term the cat may get dehydrated.

Have you tried with the psyllium seeds? The cat in my avatar had frequent episodes of constipation, but since I started giving her a few seeds in her morning food, she never missed a day.

Does the psyllium work differently than the Miralax? My understanding is that it is essentially just fiber.
It almost seems like he needs the softening effect of the Lactulose more than the bulking effect of fiber?

Our pet store suggested trying a kitty probiotic? Anyone use them successfully to treat irregularity?

The psyllium seeds, as far as I know, draw water from the system and become a jelly that helps the stools getting softer and moving better.
Alternatively, you can put a few seeds in a small cup with a little water in it and let them rest for a night and then, on the following morning, you add that jelly the seeds have turned into to the cat's food, same effect.

I had to give my cat lactulose and/or paraffin oil regularly, but I forgot them since I gave her those seeds.

Well that sounds like it’s worth a try definitely. Thanks

Probiotics won't help with constipation. All it does is add good bacteria to the gut to help break down food.

Maybe you can try pumpkin puree to help things move along?

Is prescription food an option? There are some for constipation issues. artiemom 's previous cat had constipation issues and a prescription food helped. I think lactulose was tried for awhile but it wasn't good for the heart issues.

My Rupert suffered from extreme constipation in '09 had 7 enamas and used lactulose daily until vet suggested colon surgery...I researched Miralax and started him on that. It took some adjusting, sometimes a bit more than 1/4 tsp. sometimes a bit less. But the lactulose he was on had to keep being increased more and more. I found that the extra bulk from any type of fiber, psyllium or other was causing the problem. They have found that sometimes more fiber is not better. We did not have to have the surgery, he is on wet food twice a day but gets a few (10) crunchies(dry cat food with low fiber) at bedtime. You can also add a little pumpkin or baby food squash to wet food. But if you can get off lactulose that would be what I would do. It is a trial and error but Rupert just celebrated his 15th birthday and is "going" strong, only give Miralax when I see his poop is getting dry....hope this helps.

Guess my cat is different, he had serious constipation twice from lack of fiber in his kibble very recently and also costed me 300 bucks

He was on lactulose and I cut that crap out and raised his fiber with hairball kibble 8.5% mixed with 3% crude fiber...He poops regular now with nice moisture in his stools and still eats no wet food

We are still very new to this whole chronic constipation issue do don’t know if his problem will be too much fiber or too little. We did try a couple of days with extra Miralax and no lactulose and then ended up at 48 hrs again with no poo.
He won’t touch anything that might be classified as human food and seems to have a remarkable ability to detect it as a mix in. So pumpkin is out.

Any idea how long it took for the psyllium to kick in? Is it an overnight kind of thing like lactulose? Do I need to *try* and be patient and give it a couple of days before I hit the panic button and go back to lactulose?

I went straight to his underlying issue, guess I got lucky...You should find his underlying issue too

He spent over a week at the vet being manipulated, poked, prodded, sedated, enemaed and scanned. His bloodwork has all come back within normal ranges, organ functions are showing normal, and they found no evidence on the scans of any lumps or bumps that shouldn’t be there.
The vet first blamed it on the fact that half his diet was kibble, but now after a month of all wet we have seen no improvement. She also said that his weight (he was 4 lbs heavier than she would like) was part of the problem. He’s down just over a pound now, still no improvement. Her last suggestion was age- he’s about 10, though there’s not much I can do about that. So it seems that maybe this is his new norm and we will just have to try and find a management strategy. Sigh.
After a lot of reading it seems to be pretty individualized as to what works and what doesn’t. Perhaps we will just have to keep experimenting

Why not manipulate the fiber, what do you have to lose? But everything to gain? Im no vet but the vet didnt help me either and I aint no expert im just suggesting what fixed my cat

I really hope you find a solution soon

orangie said:

Any idea how long it took for the psyllium to kick in? Is it an overnight kind of thing like lactulose? Do I need to *try* and be patient and give it a couple of days before I hit the panic button and go back to lactulose?

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In my case it was effective in a day or two. But first of all you need to "unblock" your cat.
My cat had an enema, if I remember it well, or had a dose of lactulose first (it was in 2014, can't remember it right).
From the next day I started with the psyllium seed (found them in a herb shop, €1.00 kept me going for at least 6 months), and the situation changed for good, permanently!

The good news is that he’s not currently blocked. The vet (& the helpful people on this site that suggested egg yolk) managed to get things cleared out. It’s just been the struggle since then to try and wean him off the lactulose.

So I did not have psyllium in the house but I did have chia seeds which I believe are meant to work in the same way. we have them because it’s actually how we managed my kiddos constipation when he was little and just never stopped using them because they are quite healthy for you. A quarter teaspoon along with lots of extra water in his wet food last night and this morning we had output. Not as much as I would see with lactulose, but still it’s a start.

Thank you very much for all the input everyone! It’s reassuring to be able to get feedback from all different perspectives

Yes, my last guy had Megacolon/constipation issues.

You can start by using the miralax daily, added to his wet food, mixed with water... and add some extra water to his food.

The Lactulose can be used daily; however, the dose needs adjusting. It is so messy to give.
Also, at high doses it can cause hypercalcemia... so something to keep an eye on to watch. I am talking at a level of 3-5 cc per day..

If your cat will take pumpkin, psyllium husks, or even the chia seeds, or egg, it would be more natural. I would try a little and then go up in dose.

Sometimes the fiber is what is helpful. Each cat is different. My guy ended up needed a ton of meds. He was too fussy with his food, for any additives. He could sense it, and would refuse the food.

Sorry, for the vagueness of this.. I am am still 'fuzzy'~~ recovering from pneumonia.

orangie said:

A quarter teaspoon along with lots of extra water in his wet food last night and this morning we had output. Not as much as I would see with lactulose, but still it’s a start.

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I don't know about chia seeds, but with psyllium seeds I just added 12-15 tiny seeds in the wet food and a couple of spoons of extra water.
I was told that too many seeds would have given the opposite result.

If I let them rest overnight and let them turn into a jelly, I would prepare a bit more to be used on the following days.