Help - Desperate Can Miralax Make Your Cat Really Ill?

jwhite

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hi there
my cat scoobie doo has been on lactalose for five years now but she was needing more of it to go number two's (specialist said this is because her small intestine issues will be getting worse). then it suddenly seemed to make her feel yuck and not herself. so i started giving it to her every THIRD day (9 mls over a couple of hours - yes i know this is a lot) so at least she had a couple of days feeling happy. i wasn't though very happy with this situation though and decided to try miralax instead. i started last thursday and while it has made her go number two's every day (started to go after 3 doses - poo is like a little hard nugget) .. she has really gone down hill. today she will not even eat or walk or drink water. she seems really under the weather and so unhappy. i have been giving her 1/4 of a teaspoon twice a day. am i giving her too much? i think i am just going to stop it for a couple of days and see if she becomes happier????? or go back to a big dose of lactalose every third day as she was never THIS down while on the lactalose..... DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEAS OR INFO - has miralax made your cat sick???? thanks jw
 
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jwhite

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thanks for responding..
it is a public holiday here in new zealand... i have emailed the internal medicine specialist scoobie went and saw on monday.. and i am sure that she will get back to me tomorrow asap... miralax isn't available in nz... i got it from amazon in america.. so not a lot is known about it here...
i also have my normal vet appointment tomorrow at 9am for a b12 test... and her sub cut fluids that i now get twice a week... so will talk to them too..
i gave her cerenia incase she was feeling sick .. but it has done nothing... :(
she had an ultrasound for high calcuim.. it did show up inflammed intestines... which i knew she had when another cat made her sick five years ago...
 
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jwhite

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Call up your vet and ask them. They will answer your question and it won’t cost anything.
thanks lacy... but my normal vet had never heard of miralax so wouldn't know as it is an american product and i am in new zealand :)
 

lacy2000

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I found this thread:
Miralax dosing and response time

It looks like you are giving a good amount, but many in the thread suggested cutting back to 1/8 teaspoon twice a day if there are negative results.

The fact that she isn’t eating or drinking is concerning. I can’t find anything about those side affects of miralax in cats. Perhaps ask your vet about the active ingredient in Miralax instead of the overall product.
 

Furballsmom

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Some things to consider in the meantime to try and get her eating or drinking might be; tuna, tuna juice, unsalted no onion no garlic broth, sardines, kitten food, goat milk, there's a homemade Pedialyte recipe, I'll find that for you.maybe heat her food a little bit. She really needs to eat something.
 

Furballsmom

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Oh I just read Pedialyte or in the UK dioralyte might have too much salt and is not s help for a dehydrated cat. In any case, hang in there! Sending tons of good thoughts your way!!
 
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jwhite

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I found this thread:
Miralax dosing and response time

It looks like you are giving a good amount, but many in the thread suggested cutting back to 1/8 teaspoon twice a day if there are negative results.

The fact that she isn’t eating or drinking is concerning. I can’t find anything about those side affects of miralax in cats. Perhaps ask your vet about the active ingredient in Miralax instead of the overall product.
thank you so much for your help!
the specialist got my email and rang me!!!
she said if she worsens to take scoobie in tonight.. they are 24/7 which is good to know..
i have managed to force feed her 20 kidney care biscuits..
she said she had never heard of laxatives really making cats sick.. other than having diarrhoea.. BUT i really feel like it is the miralax.. so i am going to stop it... will see what happens...
 
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jwhite

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Oh I just read Pedialyte or in the UK dioralyte might have too much salt and is not s help for a dehydrated cat. In any case, hang in there! Sending tons of good thoughts your way!!
thank you so much... she is making me not eat with worry... she's my only family :)
 

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How fantastic your specialist contacted you!! Good for you, it sounds to me that you are doing everything you can for her, she is lucky to have you!!
 

laura mae

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I doubt it is the Miralax. If her poo was hard, she's still constipated. Miralax at the most will make the stool too soft. Depending on the weight and size of your cat, 1/4 teaspoon can be a good dose. Even though Miralax brand name is not an NZ product (by the way Happy Waitangi Day!) there is probably a similar product you have. It is just Polyethylene glycol 3350, shorthand is PEG 3350. However that is ALL Miralax is. You may have products that are similar and have additional ingredients.

It could be that she doesn't feel super great because she is constipated. Cats won't eat if there is no room for the new food.
 
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jwhite

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oh wow thank you for being so informative!! and thank you for waitangi day!!
it is weird as when she was on LACTALOSE she only went every third day when i gave her the laxative.. 3mls 7.00pm 3mls 7.30pm and then 3mls 9.30pm.. it would like sloppy poo and then runny.. but the vet (as she goes twice a week to the vet always has a feel lately).. always said she had a little bit in there.. but it was always "soft"..
since the MIRALAX (2 x a day) ... she goes every 24 hours... 3cm quite hard poo.. (not rock hard) but the vet now says .. shes got a little in there... which is "hard"...
SO... i think you are right!!!!
she is only 2.6 kg... so 1/4 twice a day is a lot for her size i would think.. so it probably isn't working very well... :( she has lost a lot of weight... she used to be 3.5kg...
specialist says now.. we need xrays... then a biopsy... to test her inflammed intestines to try and figure out why it stopped working 5 years ago... (she never went after getting sick without laxative assistance).. or it could be the high calcium that is causing it... they say it is a complicated case....
i can get cisapride made to order (as they don't make it for humans anymore)... it's $500.00 a month.. i will do anything for scoobs... is any one using cisapride without lactalose or miralax as assistance?
 

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Hello,

My cats all get Miralax on a daily basis. It helps prevent constipation but none of them need high doses of it. Pounce gets it twice a day, everyone else gets it once a day. I believe it is a problem with the cat food and they are all on different brands. Pounce is on Natures Instinct, Taz and Tru are on Purina one urinary, Izzy gets canned food mixed with urinary, and Caspian gets either Purina one kitten chow or another high protein food. I add water to everyones food to ensure they drink plenty of water. And yes, I have to feed urinary. Nearly lost Taz to a urinary blockage so it is not an option to feed something else.

So no, miralax should not cause problems unless you do not give it with enough water. I always make their food like soup.

My suspicion is your cat is severely constipated and that is why he is not feeling well.

Cisapride is no longer recommended for people due to causing sudden death due to heart attack and QT elongation. So I'm not sure you want to go that route. There is another drug called prucalopride that works better than cisapride without the risk of heart attack, but I do not know if that is being used in veterinary medicine or if it is safe for cats. I know it does work well in people. I use it as a backup medication, as it is expensive. If it wasn't so expensive i would probably use it on a 3x weekly basis, as it is one of the better drugs available. Just beware, you would want to start with extremely low doses if you did decide to try it. Cisapride, about killed me, back before they took it off the market. I tried it once and never touched it again. Prucalopride works at 1/4th a dose for me. Take too much and it causes severe cramping. So for a cat, I would start with as small a dose as you can chop it into.

Another suggestion would be to treat with miralax or lactolose first before trying something like cisapride or prucalopride. You want to start the cisapride or prucalopride once the cat is no longer constipated. If they are extremely constipated, those drugs can cause severe cramps and abdominal pain. Day 1 treat with miralax or lactolose, day 2 treat with prucalopride, and then you can either treat once daily with prucalopride or every other day and adjust the dosage accordingly.

This site does say prucalopride can be used in cats:
Constipation, Colectomy, and Perineal Hernia - The Cat Clinic
 
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jwhite

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oh wow thank you for being so informative!! and thank you for waitangi day!!
it is weird as when she was on LACTALOSE she only went every third day when i gave her the laxative.. 3mls 7.00pm 3mls 7.30pm and then 3mls 9.30pm.. it would like sloppy poo and then runny.. but the vet (as she goes twice a week to the vet always has a feel lately).. always said she had a little bit in there.. but it was always "soft"..
since the MIRALAX (2 x a day) ... she goes every 24 hours... 3cm quite hard poo.. (not rock hard) but the vet now says .. shes got a little in there... which is "hard"...
SO... i think you are right!!!!
she is only 2.6 kg... so 1/4 twice a day is a lot for her size i would think.. so it probably isn't working very well... :( she has lost a lot of weight... she used to be 3.5kg...
specialist says now.. we need xrays... then a biopsy... to test her inflammed intestines to try and figure out why it stopped working 5 years ago... (she never went after getting sick without laxative assistance).. or it could be the high calcium that is causing it... they say it is a complicated case....
i can get cisapride made to order (as they don't make it for humans anymore)... it's $500.00 a month.. i will do anything for scoobs... is any one using cisapride without lactalose or miralax as assistance?
Hello,

My cats all get Miralax on a daily basis. It helps prevent constipation but none of them need high doses of it. Pounce gets it twice a day, everyone else gets it once a day. I believe it is a problem with the cat food and they are all on different brands. Pounce is on Natures Instinct, Taz and Tru are on Purina one urinary, Izzy gets canned food mixed with urinary, and Caspian gets either Purina one kitten chow or another high protein food. I add water to everyones food to ensure they drink plenty of water. And yes, I have to feed urinary. Nearly lost Taz to a urinary blockage so it is not an option to feed something else.

So no, miralax should not cause problems unless you do not give it with enough water. I always make their food like soup.

My suspicion is your cat is severely constipated and that is why he is not feeling well.

Cisapride is no longer recommended for people due to causing sudden death due to heart attack and QT elongation. So I'm not sure you want to go that route. There is another drug called prucalopride that works better than cisapride without the risk of heart attack, but I do not know if that is being used in veterinary medicine or if it is safe for cats. I know it does work well in people. I use it as a backup medication, as it is expensive. If it wasn't so expensive i would probably use it on a 3x weekly basis, as it is one of the better drugs available. Just beware, you would want to start with extremely low doses if you did decide to try it. Cisapride, about killed me, back before they took it off the market. I tried it once and never touched it again. Prucalopride works at 1/4th a dose for me. Take too much and it causes severe cramping. So for a cat, I would start with as small a dose as you can chop it into.

Another suggestion would be to treat with miralax or lactolose first before trying something like cisapride or prucalopride. You want to start the cisapride or prucalopride once the cat is no longer constipated. If they are extremely constipated, those drugs can cause severe cramps and abdominal pain. Day 1 treat with miralax or lactolose, day 2 treat with prucalopride, and then you can either treat once daily with prucalopride or every other day and adjust the dosage accordingly.

This site does say prucalopride can be used in cats:
Constipation, Colectomy, and Perineal Hernia - The Cat Clinic
thanks for furballs mom for bumping this.. and thanks to pounce cat for responding...

GOOD NEWS FOR NOW.. scoobie started slowly feeling better last night ... 10 hours after the miralax.. she walked around.. drank water and ate 200 biscuits!!! so after this.. i didn't give her the miralax last night (her second dose of the day) so i could wait and see how she is this morning..

this am.. she is back to her normal self.. lots of cuddles .. lots of purring and raced outside to sit on the balcony!!!! a different cat by all accounts compared to yesterday..

SO.. i figure the miralax for some odd reason makes her really ill... if she was really constipated she wouldn't have eaten 200 biscuits...

BUT now... she didn't go poo overnight... since she didn't have the miralax.. catch 22...

i am going back to lactalose this afternoon... a big amount to clean her out hopefully... i know this also makes her sick... but if i can get away with giving it to her every second to third day.. at least she has a day or two when she is happy and not ill...

GOSH IF ONLY YOUR GORGEOUS PET COULD TALK TO YOU... AND TELL YOU WHAT IS GOING ON..

what do you think of the plan?

jw :)
 
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jwhite

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Hello,

My cats all get Miralax on a daily basis. It helps prevent constipation but none of them need high doses of it. Pounce gets it twice a day, everyone else gets it once a day. I believe it is a problem with the cat food and they are all on different brands. Pounce is on Natures Instinct, Taz and Tru are on Purina one urinary, Izzy gets canned food mixed with urinary, and Caspian gets either Purina one kitten chow or another high protein food. I add water to everyones food to ensure they drink plenty of water. And yes, I have to feed urinary. Nearly lost Taz to a urinary blockage so it is not an option to feed something else.

So no, miralax should not cause problems unless you do not give it with enough water. I always make their food like soup.

ohh.. one question.. i was giving 1/4 teaspoon of miralax in 6mls of water... is that enough water? also.... yesterday when she got really ill.. i gave it to her in food.. about a tablespoon of wet pasty special kidney care food with 1ml of water... maybe that is what made her so sick?? not enough water?



My suspicion is your cat is severely constipated and that is why he is not feeling well.

Cisapride is no longer recommended for people due to causing sudden death due to heart attack and QT elongation. So I'm not sure you want to go that route. There is another drug called prucalopride that works better than cisapride without the risk of heart attack, but I do not know if that is being used in veterinary medicine or if it is safe for cats. I know it does work well in people. I use it as a backup medication, as it is expensive. If it wasn't so expensive i would probably use it on a 3x weekly basis, as it is one of the better drugs available. Just beware, you would want to start with extremely low doses if you did decide to try it. Cisapride, about killed me, back before they took it off the market. I tried it once and never touched it again. Prucalopride works at 1/4th a dose for me. Take too much and it causes severe cramping. So for a cat, I would start with as small a dose as you can chop it into.

Another suggestion would be to treat with miralax or lactolose first before trying something like cisapride or prucalopride. You want to start the cisapride or prucalopride once the cat is no longer constipated. If they are extremely constipated, those drugs can cause severe cramps and abdominal pain. Day 1 treat with miralax or lactolose, day 2 treat with prucalopride, and then you can either treat once daily with prucalopride or every other day and adjust the dosage accordingly.

This site does say prucalopride can be used in cats:
Constipation, Colectomy, and Perineal Hernia - The Cat Clinic
 

Furballsmom

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YES!!! Awesome to hear she's doing better!
My only thought is that she doesn't have a whole lot in her system that would cause her to have to poo yet (?), so I guess I'm thinking what would happen if you waited to see what happens overnight tonight? I'm not a vet and you know your cat better than anybody, but I have read about members who's cats don't poo on a daily basis - what do you think?
 
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jwhite

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oops.. i put a question re how much water should you mix with miralax.. in the middle of your answer so i hope you see it pounce cat1... thanks
 
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jwhite

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hi there
she has never gone without assistance from a laxative in five years... a stray cat i was trying to save made her really sick .. she had a huge amount of antibiotics.. and that was that.. her intestines were stuffed... :( i will take her to the vet.. and they can feel her tummy to see how much is in there.. and i will go from there in think ...

it could be on reflection.. that she didn't have enough water with the miralax.. after reading the last post???
 
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