How can I get my elderly cat to like his pine pellets box? Has chronic constipation

[dianajune]

My senior kitty, who I posted about not long ago because of his chronic constipation issues, has two boxes available to him. One is clay litter (non clumping only) and pine pellets. I noticed that a couple of times he tried using pine pellets because he must have felt uncomfortable in the other one. But it's rare and I'm wondering if it's because of how hard the pellets are?

I had an idea about how to fix this and wanted to run it by everyone. I took his pine pellet box and added water to it and let the pellets soak and turn into sawdust. There are still plenty of pellets left but it is much softer than before I did this.

Can my cat use soft pine litter that is dampened with water? Or does it have to completely dry first? I'm desperately grasping at straws, trying to help him as much as possible. Btw, he's been known to eat his clay litter from time to time. He's been like that ever since I adopted him over 11 years ago. That's why he's on non-clumping only.

Thank you.

Edit: Since this post I found that the pine sawdust is practically dry. I scooped out as many solid pellets as possible and am hoping he will like this much better. I could use a relatively small amount of pine pellets every day, add water and let it sit until it turns to sawdust. I would have to scrub that box out completely every day but I don't mind.

 

[maggie101]

Of my 3 cats,only one will use pin. Maybe mix the 2? I am curious if the kind of litter makes a difference with constipation.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

I tried pine pellets and my two wouldn't use them - I presume they were painful to walk on. Gave up on that and use tofu litter instead, it's much softer.

 

[dianajune]

Of my 3 cats,only one will use pin. Maybe mix the 2? I am curious if the kind of litter makes a difference with constipation.

I will find out when he gets up from his nap!

 

[dianajune]

I tried pine pellets and my two wouldn't use them - I presume they were painful to walk on. Gave up on that and use tofu litter instead, it's much softer.

Do they have non clumping tofu litter? Thanks!

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Do they have non clumping tofu litter? Thanks!

No, I use clumping stuff. I'm in Australia, so all our brands will be different, too.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Are you thinking his constipation is due to him avoiding the litter boxes, or is he avoiding the litter boxes due to the discomfort he feels when trying to defecate? Are you treating the constipation in other ways?

You could always try a litter box with pee pads in it and see what he does. Since he is senior, he may have some arthritis that is impacting his desire to poop, regardless of the litter.

What does he do when he has to pee?

 

[dianajune]

No, I use clumping stuff. I'm in Australia, so all our brands will be different, too.

Ok. Thanks!

 

[dianajune]

Are you thinking his constipation is due to him avoiding the litter boxes, or is he avoiding the litter boxes due to the discomfort he feels when trying to defecate? Are you treating the constipation in other ways?

You could always try a litter box with pee pads in it and see what he does. Since he is senior, he may have some arthritis that is impacting his desire to poop, regardless of the litter.

What does he do when he has to pee?

Pumpkin never seems to have an issue with peeing. As for pooping, he recently had his Miralax increased but it's getting harder for get him to take his meds. I am at a loss. He won't even take his antacid pill in one of those pocket treats. It worked a couple of times and that's it. I thought that changing the way his pine pellet box is set up might help him.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

As for pooping, he recently had his Miralax increased but it's getting harder for get him to take his meds. I am at a loss. He won't even take his antacid pill in one of those pocket treats. It worked a couple of times and that's it.

I cannot comments on his litter, but I would like to ask a question about his food. I have looked at your other threads, and don't see where you have ever mentioned what you feed him, other than a little bit of light cream once in awhile. Does he eat dry food or wet? You recall we advised you mix his Miralax dissolved in water then added to one or two tablespoons of wet food to ensure he get it all? Did you try that? HOW are you administering it, and is he getting that 1/3 teas. twice daily, along with the Laxatone, even though he doesn't like it anymore? There are different brands and flavors of Laxatone you might try. Does he like FortiFlora? With one of mine, I use a pill pocket, actually I use 1/2 a pill pocket because they are so big, then once I have the pill completely wrapped up in it, I dampen the little ball with the pill inside and roll it in FortiFlora. My furbaby gobbles it right up. You might try this with his antacid.

 

[dianajune]

I cannot comments on his litter, but I would like to ask a question about his food. I have looked at your other threads, and don't see where you have ever mentioned what you feed him, other than a little bit of light cream once in awhile. Does he eat dry food or wet? You recall we advised you mix his Miralax dissolved in water then added to one or two tablespoons of wet food to ensure he get it all? Did you try that? HOW are you administering it, and is he getting that 1/3 teas. twice daily, along with the Laxatone, even though he doesn't like it anymore? There are different brands and flavors of Laxatone you might try. Does he like FortiFlora? With one of mine, I use a pill pocket, actually I use 1/2 a pill pocket because they are so big, then once I have the pill completely wrapped up in it, I dampen the little ball with the pill inside and roll it in FortiFlora. My furbaby gobbles it right up. You might try this with his antacid.

Pumpkin eats a combination of wet and dry food but he prefers dry. He has senior cat chow, indoor cat chow (supposedly good for hairballs) and his favorite is kitten chow, which I started to feed him a couple of years ago to help him gain weight

I have pill pockets but he stopped liking them after I used them a couple of times. I tried putting his Miralax in cream, which he liked. Temporarily, of course. A few hours ago I gave him Miralax and his antacid in Nutrical, which he prefers over Laxatone but he didn't take all of it. I am stumped, stressed and running out of options.[

If I try to force him to take Laxatone again he might have another one of his stress spells.

I tried rolling some of his new favorite treat (greenies, not the pill pockets) that are slightly dampened and rolled in Miralax. He usually gobbles that right up.

I never heard of Fortiflora. I will look it up.

I want to scream, this is so hard to keep up with, especially with my health problems. I just got up from a short nap and my AHI was more than twice what it usually is, probably due to an anxiety pill I took earlier today. I have sleep apnea and use a CPAP machine.

At the moment my life is unbearable, especially because of his health issues. Nothing I try seems to work, I want to cry all the time and have no support system whatsoever, other than everyone here.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Does Pumpkin like water? Would he drink from a spoon? I ask because Daisy is on Osmolax (different brand name, same stuff) and she likes drinking it dissolved in a little water, say a teaspoon full for her 1/4 teaspoon of Osmolax. Laps it up, most times, and she has it twice a day.

 

[dianajune]

Does Pumpkin like water? Would he drink from a spoon? I ask because Daisy is on Osmolax (different brand name, same stuff) and she likes drinking it dissolved in a little water, say a teaspoon full for her 1/4 teaspoon of Osmolax. Laps it up, most times, and she has it twice a day.

He is drinking very well, this is what gets me. I am stumped. I doubt that I can get him to take water by the spoon but I can try that. The only other option at this point is to feed him all wet food. Absolutely no crunchy stuff at all. He will get upset with me but I don't know what else to do. I will have to put his Miralax in that and hope for the best.

I never thought I'd see the day where he'd turn down his Laxatone. He used to LOVE that stuff. He couldn't get enough of it. I could try just plain Vaseline, which I have on hand, but he most likely will refuse that too.

His new litter box arrangement didn't help. If I try to force him to take his Laxatone he will have another weird stress spell. I can't risk it.

At one point last night he was under our big bed, not sure why. Then he went to his office chair. Our bedroom did get quite warm last night. It's hard to regulate the heat here.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I would suggest dissolving the Miralax in water, add it to a little bit (maybe one Tablespoon) of wet food, crush some of either kibble or greenies and put that on top of the Miralax/wet food and give it to him. He should eat that no problem. Do this twice a day if the Vet said to give Miralax twice per day, and then let him eat his kibble the rest of the time if it will relieve both of your stress (yours and his). Try a different flavor or brand of Laxatone (hairball gel) and see if he'll take to it.

 

[iPappy]

I am so sorry you feel so alone in all this, and I'm glad the people on this site have been able to offer you a support system. It's sometimes very difficult to find "cat people" IRL.
If he absolutely refuses his medications, egg yolk can help with constipation and/or hairballs, or a slow moving digestive tract. I have a female who has occasionally had this problem (on a very random basis), and lately I've found out giving her some egg yolk really can do the trick. That is of course, if Pumpkin likes egg yolks!

 

[orangie]

Totally second the egg yolk suggestion by iPappy - it was a game changer for us when we were at our wits end with constipation/medications. It’s such a struggle you can (often) only get the meds in through food, but because they feel yucky they don’t want to eat.
If you can afford it and your bud will eat it, switching away from kibble to only wet food made a big difference in poop management at our house. Yep he was grumpy at first but I stuck to my position and now he’s better off for it. But I also know you have to pick your battles and when life is feeling overwhelming adding to the pile might feel undoable.

Can I ask why you’d like to stick with the pine versus trying a different litter?

 

[Alldara]

The pellets can be uncomfortable on the feet. I used to add a bit of corn or wheat litter on to it to for my cat and thay splved the issue.

If it is NOT litter specific for cats, then the litter might be causing him issues and that's why he wont use it. Pine litter must be treated differently for cats than for horses, rabbits and other small pets to ensure its safety. Nobel developed urinary issues when we were using pine rabbit litter and we had to switch to different pellet type.

 

[orangie]

The pellets can be uncomfortable on the feet. I used to add a bit of corn or wheat litter on to it to for my cat and thay splved the issue.

We are HUGE fans of the Fresh For Life Eco-Litter (we're in Canada, that's the Pet Valu Brand). It's an all-grass litter so it's nice and soft. It is a clumping litter but at our house that's ok since he has zero interest in the litter except for what it's meant for. And the odor control has been great! Biggest downsides: a bit pricey and it tracks. Not more than any of the other litters we've tried, but I'm sure WAY more than something like a pellet litter.

 

[Alldara]

We are HUGE fans of the Fresh For Life Eco-Litter (we're in Canada, that's the Pet Valu Brand). It's an all-grass litter so it's nice and soft. It is a clumping litter but at our house that's ok since he has zero interest in the litter except for what it's meant for. And the odor control has been great! Biggest downsides: a bit pricey and it tracks. Not more than any of the other litters we've tried, but I'm sure WAY more than something like a pellet litter.

Thanks for the tip! That might help the OP. Unfortunately, Magnus cant use grass litter. Im also allergic to grass pollen so im not sure if the dust would effect my athsma.

But, weve been happily using OkoCat for years now. Once i switched from pine to other pellets, my cats used everything well and i didnt have to buy the second litter type anymore . I've tested a few other litters with our cats in our spare boxes, but they always prefer the Okocat boxes.

Ps. Everything tracks in pur house because Cal binkies out of thr box like a rabbit

 

[Furballsmom]

Cal binkies out of thr box like a rabbit

lol

I tried a couple of pine litter brands lately, and one in particular tracked from the basement all the way up the stairs. Pine pellets are a no go in this house.