Crf Cat Constipation Remedy???

[kadaashi]

18 y/o girl with CRF is very constipated, she will barely eat and all she's been doing is sleeping and won't drink much. i gave her some subQ fluids to help with hydration but she's making horribly sad "i need to poo" meows. im very worried about her.

it's snowing and our car has no chains so we can't get her safely to a vet

i tried adding a few drops of olive oil to food but like i said she will barely eat

 

[Antonio65]

You could give your cat a teaspoon of lactulose. This will draw fluids from the system to the bowels and soften her stools. This should help her.
Then, if you want to keep her going, you could add a teaspoon of liquid paraffin in her wet food (or straight into her mouth) for a couple of days.
A good advice could be to add a dozen of psyllium seeds into her wet food daily.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

With our kidney cats, we gave them Miralax (or the generic version) everyday, twice daily actually, to keep them regular. Worked like a charm. If we ever missed a dose, they would start to plug up . And, naturally, when they are constipated, they certainly don't want to eat, which is already an issue with CRF cats.

If you HAVE Lactulose on hand, and if it works for her, that would be great, but I worry you may not have it on hand. Using olive oil or some sort of oily product (even some unsalted butter) is ok to try to help her along. Even some hairball stuff in the tube might help. It's oily and might help move things along, IF she'll lick it up.

 

[white shadow]

...you could add a teaspoon of liquid paraffin...straight into her mouth

I need to 'jump in' about that straight away.

"Liquid paraffin" is another term for mineral oil. That's not something that should ever be given to a cat 'straight up' by oral administration ! Lactulose falls under this rule as well.

If the cat should breathe in - "aspirate" - the oil, it's almost certain to cause "aspiration pneumonia", a condition that's most often fatal. That accidental breathing in/aspirating often happens in the invariable struggle to administer any liquid into a cat's mouth. And, just to finish this off, the rule when putting any liquid into a cat's mouth is to be abundantly careful. Never squirt any liquid directly down the cat's throat. If possible, use only a few drops at a time - into the side pocket of the mouth - and allow the cat to swallow. Repeat, with breaks, as needed.

The "Oracle" of all-things-kidney-cats (an amazing resource for you) speaks specifically about giving mineral oil here: Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kiney Disease - Contstipation - Mineral_Oil

You can't go wrong with giving her fluids. Are you warming them up first?

Interesting....the chains on the car in winter. Growing up in the 40's-50's, repairing and maintaining the chains was almost a part-time job for one or another of my older brothers - it's been years since I've heard of using them!
.

 

[Antonio65]

I need to 'jump in' about that straight away.

"Liquid paraffin" is another term for mineral oil. That's not something that should ever be given to a cat 'straight up' by oral administration ! Lactulose falls under this rule as well.

If the cat should breathe in - "aspirate" - the oil, it's almost certain to cause "aspiration pneumonia", a condition that's most often fatal. .

Straight does not mean "in line with the cat's mouth", but was meaning directly, without any food to conceal it, plain.
And of course it means to administer it on the side of the cat's mouth, in small quantity and slowly.
My thouight was: give some lactulose and some liquid paraffin to your cat. You can mix it in their wet food, OR you can give it to them without food, by just opening their mouth and put the liquid in, of course from the mouth side.

My mistake, maybe, was that I was thinking that everybody knows this rule well, and that nearly nobody has to struggle and fight with their cats to administer pills or liquids.
My cat is a warrior when it comes to taking some meds, but I have never failed and she always got her med.
So I always think that if I can do it to my cat, anybody can do the same with their cats