Constipation tips

[BellaBlue82]

Hi folks, it has been some time since I posted!
Unfortunately we're having some issues with our newest family member Julian.

To give some background, we adopted Julian in May of last year. He's about two years old now, and is very vocal/active but is a sweetheart. He has a great appetite and uses the litter box regularly.

I noticed on Saturday he threw up a hairball, but seemed fine afterwards. But I noticed on Sunday he hadn't pooed. Since I had experience with my GA cat who had poo issues, I knew to start him on Miralax. Well fast forward to today, still no BM. We did go to the vets, and after X-rays they said there is no obstruction, no foreign objects, food in the stomach and everything looks fine other than his colon is a little distended. He has been playing, eating, and peeing just fine this entire time. The poo in his colons is very mushy due to the Miralax so they did not give him an enema. They did give me an Rx probiotic to add to his regimen and took some blood work, I should have results by Friday.

I feel bad as this just doesn't seem normal for him and I'm not sure what else I can do to help him go #2. Does anyone else have any suggestions? I did ask about motility drugs, but vet didn't want to try those and said to call back if he doesn't produce poo in another 48 hours. It just seems like a very long time to me!
I appreciate any other suggestions, and so does Julian!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi, I would go with what your vet has suggested. You did the right thing to take him in, and I think you got good advice from them.

 

[BellaBlue82]

Hi, I would go with what your vet has suggested. You did the right thing to take him in, and I think you got good advice from them.

Thank you!! I think I was literally on high alert after losing Casper and dealing with years of his GI issues.

But good news!! I watched a vet video on massaging the hind end to help motivate a bowel movement and ... Ta-da!!! We have poop!! I've never been so happy in my life to get skunked out of the room.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Wonderful news on the poop


I was going to suggest massaging his tummy, but you didn't even need that suggestion. Keep it mind if there is ever a next time though.

 

[BellaBlue82]

Well it seems we're on the aftermath of the constipation... His last #2 was a bit runny from the miralax (I've since stopped dosing.) The x-ray showed he was very gassy too, I'm sure due to a combination of everything. He's still eating, maybe about 3/4 to 1/2 of his normal diet. I'm not that concerned yet, but he keeps bothering me for food then licking his lips when I put his wet food down sniffing and walking away. I rhink he's a little nauseous after everything he's been through; luckily I have cerenia and mirtaz on deck. I just gave him a small dose of cerenia this morning to see if that will help, and if he still needs some assistance with appetite later I'll give him a little dose of mirtaz in the ear. From other posts I'm reading on here it seems quite common for kitties to go through this after such an experience. Poor guy can't catch a break.
On a good note, he is still coming around, playing, and being his squirley little self.

 

[2ketzels]

may i also suggest pet store Omega-3 oil? i use Miralax too - on the advice of my Vet - on every meal (twice a day, once at 8:30 morns and then 5 PM, small-ish portions). The Vet advised pate only. however, my cat is now 18 years old & never had had poo probs until these latter years. good luck!

 

[BellaBlue82]

I just wanted to post an update for any future pet parents that might encounter a sudden bout of constipation in their kitties.

I spoke with the vet the Friday following Julian's visit. All his lab work was unremarkable; her only concern was the little somewhat unidentifiable spot in his lower tummy near the start of his colon that she thought may be a hairball. Keep in mind, Julian had thrown up a big chunk of a hairball right before the constipation started.

Saturday morning he still hadn't gone #2 since Wednesday night, after our return from the vet hospital. I was really starting to suspect (my original intuition) he had a hairball stuck in there. Looking in my pet parent toolbox, I still had some fresh slippery elm bark. So, I gave a few prepared doses over the course of Saturday. Some time between Saturday night and Sunday morning, he passed a nice HUGE solid poo! Inspection gloves went on, and upon breaking the poo apart - aha! A HUGE hairball! Lol

Monitoring him daily since then, he's had normal poos. So my Mama's intuition was right, and it seems the slippery elm bark did its job. This is definitely a great item to have on hand for kitties who have trouble with constipation and/or hairballs!!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Good information to know, and so glad Julian is back on track.