General Advice On Constipation Like Poop Habit

[Somebody]

Hi there,
I'm asking on general advice for our situation. Findus is very old. she has arthritis and is half blind but still gets around the house, although slow and hobbling about two years ago she had a bad constipation that was treated with enema, the doc said from the XRay "poop is small and just sitting there".
Since then I have treating her with lots of pumpkin and Benefiber, petromalt 2-3 times a week and mostly managed to keep her regular. Over the past half year or so I had to add Miralax up to a degree of 1-2 a week. I can see a pattern in her toilet result, after the Miralax it tends to be big and large dark parts and then they get smaller and harder and yellow.
I am concerned that the Miralax might be habit forming, I'm not in favor of giving too much medicine and make her dependent, but when I have give it, I have to. After all it's more important that she goes. Last winter she had a couple of diarrhea streaks, doc gave her special antibiotics and Budesonide which is a steroid against inflamed guts. It helped. Later I tried to get her off that steroid but was of the impression that it made the constipation worse, but that may be subjective because if she really had inflammatory bowel disease she would get back to having diarrhea, which she didn't when I left it off for a while. I know now not to just stop giving it to her because of withdrawal symptoms and got her back on it but was wondering if anybody knows of this medicine contributing to constipation?
She's also on a small dose of Gabapentin for the athritis but I doubt it has any positive effect and consider dropping it. The recommended dose made her very sluggish and she was just stumbling around which I understand are sideeffects that can happen, but since I don't even know if it makes her painfree I dont see the benefit of drugging her to a degree where she may have muscle coordination problems.

I know there's a medicine given to cats with enlarged colon that helps make the colon contract etc., forgot the name. It was given to my other cat who was diagnosed with it, but I am scared of it, because I read that it was discontinued in humans because of several cases of sudden death, but should be safe for cats. However my other cat died within 2 months or so, suddenly. The emergency vet said probably something in her brain, tumor or stroke that killed her, but didn't know exactly, so I am asking myself if maybe that medicine did her in, but then it may have been a coincidence because she also had other eating problems, violent throwing up after hardfood mostly. Still if there's a chance that it was only coincidence and that medicine might help her, perhaps I should try.

I should add that she has gained quite some wight over the past year. She had a bad streak of low appetite last year and had bad teeth but after a teethcleaning she ate more and has gained quite some weight.

And then I know that Findus won't live forever, she is very old and I am willing to let her go when I feel that she would otherwise just be suffering, the problem is however that other than the arthritis walking problem she seem OK and the constipation problem was so far well under control and I didn't get the impression she suffered from any discomfort there, even today she doesn't show any bad signs.

Like I said it's no immediate emergency, but I would like some advice if anybody has experience with such a situation.

Thanks all

 

[OwnedByScout]

I'm really sorry that Findus is going through this. However, from personal experience you should not take her on and off medicines on your own without professional medical directives. Also take a second opinion on her condition. Her muscles that exert when she has to go may have become weak and that might be the root cause for everything. Also gabapentin is a muscle relaxer and makes them very sluggish. My cat hates going to the vet and she recommended I give her a quarter tablet to make him manageable during the vet visit.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Constipation in older cats is quite common. How old is she? Also, what does she eat? Is she on all wet food, or dry food, or a combination of both? AND, perhaps my final question for right now, has she been diagnosed with IBD, since you mentioned it?

I have had three cats so far that have been on Miralax long term, with blessings from our Vet. Basically it has been a lifesaver for them. Sometimes I need to adjust the amount, but I gave (give) it to them at least once a day, and for the two that have now passed,I gave it to them twice a day, every day. If I ever missed a day with the two that are no longer with us, they would immediately have issues. As long as I was consistent, they didn't have any problems. But if I missed even one dose, they would get plugged up. I should mentioned, both of them had kidney disease, and chronic constipation is one of the side effects of that. BUT, if I gave them too much, or too little, the outcome would change. Too little andI could see them straining too much, and too much and their poop would start to get soft. It's a balancing act though, because my guys like(d) to have their food switch3d up, so depending on how much fiber they were eating, etc. they might need a little more of a little less Miralax.

I don't think either of the drugs she's on is causing the constipation, BUT that Budesonide could definitely be the cause of her weight gain. (and the reason I asked about IBD) Opiod type pain killers can definitely cause constipation, but I don't think Gabapentin falls into that category, although I could be wrong. For her arthritis, have you tried a warming bed and giving her any type of Omega 3s? Or Cosequin or Dasaquin. It may be too far gone for those OTC products to work, but they might. But a warming bed could be very helpful, as could any time of warming light. And that extra weight is not good for an arthritic cat. Do you notice her favoring her hips more now? Of course, if she is of advanced years, you probably don't want to deny her anything, like her favorite foods

 

[Somebody]

Hi and thanks for the answer, that's what I was hoping for, mostly I was concerned I was doing the wrong thing and was alone with it. Currently it seems I need to give Miralax every 4-5 days or so, I try to stretch it but whenever I see her poop turn hard and small I give her 1/4 teaspoon. sometimes twice a day and then it comes the next day or so and is good for a few days.
I stopped the painkiller now because I dont see a difference in her behavior and she lies down most of the time anyway, so I don't think it makes much of a difference, except that she was really wobbly when I was on the recommended dosage, I believe it was just too much for her condition.
I'm also trying to reduce the steroid and see how that influences her toilet habit. In January the doc talked about IBD but then it was more a general diagnosis without any biopsy or so, he said it was likely, so I see how it goes because she also has elevated glucose values and the steroid makes that worse from the information sheet plus with her worsening kidney values, the fewer medication, the better. But if she goes back to diarrhea I will reapply it.
I agree that at this age it's more important to make her feel good than to look out for some dubious health benefits which may not even result in longer life, especially with the food since cats are so picky. She also has food allergies and I am very restricted with the choice of food I can buy, so I wont start with any special diet.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Just be careful trying to reduce her steroid. Are you working with the Vet on that? It should be gradual from what I've heard. But I do understand why you want to, especially if her glucose is rising. If it isn't one thing, it's another, right

 

[Somebody]

Yea, doc said if she has IBS it would make her poop gooey again but so far it's all fine. I went down to half the size and keep it up for a while now. The steroid can rise the glucose too.
But like you said, one thing or another will get her. She is about 17 or 18 I estimate, so I just take any time we have and when it's time to go, it's time, nothing you can do. My main intention is to make her feel as good as possible for the remaining time