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- Apr 3, 2013
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Hi all! (This will be long! Just a warning!
) I am writing this about my parents kitty, not one of my own. His name is Wonka and I think he may have megacolon caused by a (very) old hip fracture he got when he was about 6 months old. He is 15 years old now.
My parents and I have gone to the vet twice for this so far. His symptoms are occasional bloody stool (that is sometimes bright red blood, sometimes black and tarry), occasional diarrhea, occasional constipation, occasional defecating outside of his litter box and crying (that is what my mom calls it, I have not heard it myself) downstairs where his litter box is. The "crying" is heard about 2 or 3 times a week. He is acting normal and is eating and drinking normally. Urinating normally. Still having bowl movements at least once a day. No vomiting. He eats only low carb, grain free canned food. (He has been on this diet for a long time, he used to be diabetic and on insulin, but he is not diabetic anymore!
).
Another important thing to note is, the "crying" in the basement where the litter box is located has been going on for a long time, probably since two years ago. We had taken him to the vet for that specific reason before, about a year and a half or so ago, and the vet did not think anything was wrong with him. At that time we did not notice any blood, diarrhea or constipation.
So...on our first recent trip to the vet he gave us weeks worth of metronidazole and it did not help (still blood/diarrhea/constipation). Also, we brought a stool sample to check for parasites and there were none. On the second trip to the vet he seemed stumped and had no idea what to do, so I had to suggest to him to do a complete blood test and urinalysis. We got the results back from that and he said Wonka's blood work looked fantastic and looked like it was from a much younger cat. While we were there on that second visit I also suggested to him the fact that he had had a pelvic fracture when he was younger and could that possibly have narrowed certain passages making it harder for him to defecate. His answer was "No, that wouldn't be an issue unless he was going to have kittens". ... I guess he was trying to be funny but I didn't really appreciate the way he automatically dismissed what I had suggested. (He has arthritis from his old injury and is taking a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement which helps him a lot). The hip fracture healed on its own and was not corrected by surgery.
That's where we left of with the vet and no x-rays or ultrasounds have been done. He just told us to call him if anything changes. (I'm thinking it's time for my parents to get a new vet). From doing some research on my own it really does sound like megacolon is a real possibility. What do you guys think?
I am going to instruct my parents to add extra water to his canned food and also have them stir in a probiotic/digestive enzyme supplement. I am keeping an eye on the amount of fiber in his canned food, currently he is eating one that is 1.5%. I'll see how he does on that and then if there is no positive changes switch it down to a 1% or .5% fiber. Or, do any of you suggest starting out low, at .5% and then working up from there? Also, I'm going to be switching him to a canned food with no fruits or veggies in it, (but still low carb and grain free), so hopefully it will be more digestible. (I am a huge fan of raw feeding and feed my own kitties that way, but my mom is ill and has a weakened immune system so raw food for Wonka is not an option unfortunately).
From looking around on here, and other sites, I see Miralax works very well for some megacolon kitties. If all of the above doesn't work than I may try adding some to his food.
Sorry for such a long post! Any advice is greatly appreciated!
My parents and I have gone to the vet twice for this so far. His symptoms are occasional bloody stool (that is sometimes bright red blood, sometimes black and tarry), occasional diarrhea, occasional constipation, occasional defecating outside of his litter box and crying (that is what my mom calls it, I have not heard it myself) downstairs where his litter box is. The "crying" is heard about 2 or 3 times a week. He is acting normal and is eating and drinking normally. Urinating normally. Still having bowl movements at least once a day. No vomiting. He eats only low carb, grain free canned food. (He has been on this diet for a long time, he used to be diabetic and on insulin, but he is not diabetic anymore!
Another important thing to note is, the "crying" in the basement where the litter box is located has been going on for a long time, probably since two years ago. We had taken him to the vet for that specific reason before, about a year and a half or so ago, and the vet did not think anything was wrong with him. At that time we did not notice any blood, diarrhea or constipation.
So...on our first recent trip to the vet he gave us weeks worth of metronidazole and it did not help (still blood/diarrhea/constipation). Also, we brought a stool sample to check for parasites and there were none. On the second trip to the vet he seemed stumped and had no idea what to do, so I had to suggest to him to do a complete blood test and urinalysis. We got the results back from that and he said Wonka's blood work looked fantastic and looked like it was from a much younger cat. While we were there on that second visit I also suggested to him the fact that he had had a pelvic fracture when he was younger and could that possibly have narrowed certain passages making it harder for him to defecate. His answer was "No, that wouldn't be an issue unless he was going to have kittens". ... I guess he was trying to be funny but I didn't really appreciate the way he automatically dismissed what I had suggested. (He has arthritis from his old injury and is taking a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement which helps him a lot). The hip fracture healed on its own and was not corrected by surgery.
That's where we left of with the vet and no x-rays or ultrasounds have been done. He just told us to call him if anything changes. (I'm thinking it's time for my parents to get a new vet). From doing some research on my own it really does sound like megacolon is a real possibility. What do you guys think?
I am going to instruct my parents to add extra water to his canned food and also have them stir in a probiotic/digestive enzyme supplement. I am keeping an eye on the amount of fiber in his canned food, currently he is eating one that is 1.5%. I'll see how he does on that and then if there is no positive changes switch it down to a 1% or .5% fiber. Or, do any of you suggest starting out low, at .5% and then working up from there? Also, I'm going to be switching him to a canned food with no fruits or veggies in it, (but still low carb and grain free), so hopefully it will be more digestible. (I am a huge fan of raw feeding and feed my own kitties that way, but my mom is ill and has a weakened immune system so raw food for Wonka is not an option unfortunately).
From looking around on here, and other sites, I see Miralax works very well for some megacolon kitties. If all of the above doesn't work than I may try adding some to his food.
Sorry for such a long post! Any advice is greatly appreciated!