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Hey, fellow cat people. I'm at my wit's end. Percy's backed up, and we need help.
Please bear with me as I fill in some background...
Percy is a 12-year-old neutered male; he's a former feral, heavy on the Siamese genes. Unfortunately, he seems prone to all the... let's call them "Siamese challenges." He's almost certainly allergic to chicken, shellfish, and some types of fish (but apparently not salmon?). He also deals with feline hyperesthesia, which has been controlled well by phenobarbital for the past 5ish years (and hasn't damaged his sweet disposition).
He's been treated for strongly suspected IBD for the past year, likely triggered by chicken allergy. I really thought we were going to lose him, but a little budesonide + Vitamin B12 + plus a diet protein change, and he gained back all his lost weight & energy and stopped vomiting. (He was in such poor health at the time, he was never diagnosed by a biopsy, but an abdominal ultrasound showed classic early stage IBD signs and the internist later suggested that his swift recovery with minimal meds made gastro cancer unlikely at this time. A year later, he's still going strong with minimal flare-ups, so I'm inclined to relax a tiny bit and believe her.)
Except, of course, his poop problems.
The underyling problem here is... Percy is a very picky eater. He's like a kid who only wants to eat the same PB&J sandwich with the crusts cut off exactly the same way, every meal, every day. I've had cats my whole life, and I've never seen a pickier eater. He will not touch pate of any flavor and hates dry food. The only non-fish, non-chicken cat food I've found that he'll eat is Lotus Just Juicy Pork... and I think this new low-fiber food is backing him up.
Since we switched to Lotus after his dramatic initial flare-up, both my cats developed constipation issues! Removing my other cat (Henry) from the Lotus food resolved his constipation, but I can't find anything else Percy can + will eat! I've tried every psychological food-introduction trick in the book (mixing, changing ratios, offering a teaspoon of new food and then taking it away, etc. etc.) and every protein I can get my hands on.
We've tried Miralax and Lactulose and pumpkin powder mixed with his food; none of them have solved the problem. I've tried blending the food and adding water and pumpkin, serving it as a disgusting meat smoothie. And my poor guy is still horribly backed up, straining hard, producing either tiny hard feces or alarmingly large logs. (Urination is normal; bloodwork is perfect; weight is stable. It's just the hard, dense feces giving him trouble, and nothing seems to help.)
At the end of the post, I'm asking for advice from anyone who has been through something like this. Food suggestions? Laxative lineups that worked wonders for you? Probiotics? Supplements? Hyponsis tricks that work on cats??? I'll take any advice I haven't tried! I'm terrified the straining is going to irritate his entire system again and throw us into another vomiting flare-up or turn into megacolon.
Thanks so much for reading this super long post from a newbie! I'll attach a picture of Percy for the forum tax. He is truly a good boy. He takes medicine like an absolute champ; he just won't try any new foods!
Please bear with me as I fill in some background...
Percy is a 12-year-old neutered male; he's a former feral, heavy on the Siamese genes. Unfortunately, he seems prone to all the... let's call them "Siamese challenges." He's almost certainly allergic to chicken, shellfish, and some types of fish (but apparently not salmon?). He also deals with feline hyperesthesia, which has been controlled well by phenobarbital for the past 5ish years (and hasn't damaged his sweet disposition).
He's been treated for strongly suspected IBD for the past year, likely triggered by chicken allergy. I really thought we were going to lose him, but a little budesonide + Vitamin B12 + plus a diet protein change, and he gained back all his lost weight & energy and stopped vomiting. (He was in such poor health at the time, he was never diagnosed by a biopsy, but an abdominal ultrasound showed classic early stage IBD signs and the internist later suggested that his swift recovery with minimal meds made gastro cancer unlikely at this time. A year later, he's still going strong with minimal flare-ups, so I'm inclined to relax a tiny bit and believe her.)
Except, of course, his poop problems.
The underyling problem here is... Percy is a very picky eater. He's like a kid who only wants to eat the same PB&J sandwich with the crusts cut off exactly the same way, every meal, every day. I've had cats my whole life, and I've never seen a pickier eater. He will not touch pate of any flavor and hates dry food. The only non-fish, non-chicken cat food I've found that he'll eat is Lotus Just Juicy Pork... and I think this new low-fiber food is backing him up.
Since we switched to Lotus after his dramatic initial flare-up, both my cats developed constipation issues! Removing my other cat (Henry) from the Lotus food resolved his constipation, but I can't find anything else Percy can + will eat! I've tried every psychological food-introduction trick in the book (mixing, changing ratios, offering a teaspoon of new food and then taking it away, etc. etc.) and every protein I can get my hands on.
We've tried Miralax and Lactulose and pumpkin powder mixed with his food; none of them have solved the problem. I've tried blending the food and adding water and pumpkin, serving it as a disgusting meat smoothie. And my poor guy is still horribly backed up, straining hard, producing either tiny hard feces or alarmingly large logs. (Urination is normal; bloodwork is perfect; weight is stable. It's just the hard, dense feces giving him trouble, and nothing seems to help.)
At the end of the post, I'm asking for advice from anyone who has been through something like this. Food suggestions? Laxative lineups that worked wonders for you? Probiotics? Supplements? Hyponsis tricks that work on cats??? I'll take any advice I haven't tried! I'm terrified the straining is going to irritate his entire system again and throw us into another vomiting flare-up or turn into megacolon.
Thanks so much for reading this super long post from a newbie! I'll attach a picture of Percy for the forum tax. He is truly a good boy. He takes medicine like an absolute champ; he just won't try any new foods!
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