I found out a few months back that my boy has arthritis that has caused significant muscle wasting in his back legs. I could tell he'd been in pain for a while but I was trying not to overreact because we'd just gone through a whole ordeal with our other cat and her seizures and hyperthyroidism, etc.
Anyway, we promptly started giving them both 4 soft chews each (over 10 lb that was the starting dose for a month). After just two days, they both stopped pooping. I stopped giving them the chews and it took THREE days for there to be even one poop in the litter box. So then we gave them each just 1 chew and there was poop but less than normal. It's like we can only give them 1 chew a couple times a week, anything more and they are constipated.
I've been trying to replace one of their meals with wet food to offset the effects but it's not helping. They are both overweight despite being on very strictly measured diets for years so that doesn't help. And they are less active because they are both around 10 and he is of course in pain more and more. He was doing really well with Gabapentin every other day but now I can't get him to take it anymore so he's not getting much relief anymore.
They are both on a high fiber diet (royal canin prescription) to help keep them full longer and also because our other cat was having trouble with regularity after her I131 treatment back in November.
Has anyone else had trouble with the glucosamine supplements causing constipation? I can't seem to find anything else online...if anything, it seems cats seem to have the opposite issue. Is it possible the high fiber diet is making it worse? Should we try to take them off that food and see if that helps? It's breaking my heart to see him in pain. I know that the arthritis is only going to get worse, and from what I've been told, the glucosamine is kind of the only hope we stop it's progression or slow it down.
Any tips or insight on the Dausaquin or arthritis in general would be helpful.
Anyway, we promptly started giving them both 4 soft chews each (over 10 lb that was the starting dose for a month). After just two days, they both stopped pooping. I stopped giving them the chews and it took THREE days for there to be even one poop in the litter box. So then we gave them each just 1 chew and there was poop but less than normal. It's like we can only give them 1 chew a couple times a week, anything more and they are constipated.
I've been trying to replace one of their meals with wet food to offset the effects but it's not helping. They are both overweight despite being on very strictly measured diets for years so that doesn't help. And they are less active because they are both around 10 and he is of course in pain more and more. He was doing really well with Gabapentin every other day but now I can't get him to take it anymore so he's not getting much relief anymore.
They are both on a high fiber diet (royal canin prescription) to help keep them full longer and also because our other cat was having trouble with regularity after her I131 treatment back in November.
Has anyone else had trouble with the glucosamine supplements causing constipation? I can't seem to find anything else online...if anything, it seems cats seem to have the opposite issue. Is it possible the high fiber diet is making it worse? Should we try to take them off that food and see if that helps? It's breaking my heart to see him in pain. I know that the arthritis is only going to get worse, and from what I've been told, the glucosamine is kind of the only hope we stop it's progression or slow it down.
Any tips or insight on the Dausaquin or arthritis in general would be helpful.