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Hi All - Sorry about the long post, but I want to give as much information as possible in the hopes that it will give those of you with background with megacolon in cats a better chance to respond.
I have a cat who has become severely obstructed 3 times now. This is a colony cat my husband and I took in about 7 years ago. While not a true feral, he has feral tendencies, if that make any sense. I have taken him to 2 different vets. The first vet called it megacolon and put him on a Royal Canin Fiber Response diet. This vet forcibly cleared his system under sedation which resulted in a shorter stay in the clinic but significantly higher bill and what seemed to be a longer recovery time. He seemed to do OK afterwards but, I felt he continued to be constipated. I give him access to water and different boxes to choose from. At this time I researched megacolon and read that this tends to be progressive. I tried talking to the vet about this but she seemed to discount my concerns. As I look back on it, I think he has had a level of constipation ever since we first brought him inside (we did so because he had developed sever conjunctivitis and was a risk of becoming coyote food). He would scoot his butt across the floor. I thought it was a sign of inflamed anal glands, but now I am wondering if it wasn't in fact a sign of his constipation.
When he became obstructed again, I could not get into the first vet so I had to take him to a different clinic. The second clinic did a series of anemias until his system had cleared. This resulted in a longer clinic stay, a significantly lower bill and a cat with a shiny coat and a very quick transition back home. She then recommended a normal diet with lactulose three times a day. Nate is not a cat you can walk up to, pick up and give medicine to. Actually, he is not one who you can simply walk up to. I tried explaining this to the vet and she discounted my concerns saying I just need to rearrange the furniture so that there is nothing for him to get under. I also explained that I think this is a chronic, and again felt discounted.
I put him back on the Royal Canin Fiber Response food, gave him the lactulose when I could and he did very well for awhile. In fact, he seemed to be doing better then I have seen him do in a long time. He was more active and his coat was shinier. However, I ran into a problem with buying the exact same food from PetsMart. They did not consistently carry the Fiber Response food, but instead had another version by Royal Canin called Gastro-Intestinal. I questioned it and was assured that it was the same food, only different packaging. However, the kibble itself did not look the same.
Within a few weeks he was completely obstructed again. Back to the second vet for another 4 day stay and 12 anemias to clear his system. When I picked him up I asked could he poo on his own. She could only say that his system was clear and keep him on the lactulose. I asked about a low residue diet and she emphatically said no. However, they also gave us the wrong cat to take home, an error thanks to COVID protocols and a very thick towel in the carrier, we did not discover until we got home....so my confidence in this vet is somewhat shaken.
My question here are; If this is truly megacolon, is it progressive? Should I be thinking about a low residue diet and if so, where do I get information on it? Should I try a raw food diet? Should I be looking into surgical options for him? When I asked about surgery at our last vet visit, I was told the cost of surgery runs between $2,000 and $10,000. I have read that the prognosis after surgery is excellent, but I would like to confirm that. $2,000 for surgery we would probably do, but $10,000 is a lot of money in these uncertain COVID times. Are there other treatment options I should investigate or ask a vet about?
Oh, and when I compare the two Royal Canin foods, the Fiber Response food is 4.7% fiber and the Gastro-Intestinal is 7.4% fiber. Unless there is a misprint on the label he was doing better on a food with less fiber.
I am struggling with navigating the right course for this cat, any information will help. Thank you so much.
I have a cat who has become severely obstructed 3 times now. This is a colony cat my husband and I took in about 7 years ago. While not a true feral, he has feral tendencies, if that make any sense. I have taken him to 2 different vets. The first vet called it megacolon and put him on a Royal Canin Fiber Response diet. This vet forcibly cleared his system under sedation which resulted in a shorter stay in the clinic but significantly higher bill and what seemed to be a longer recovery time. He seemed to do OK afterwards but, I felt he continued to be constipated. I give him access to water and different boxes to choose from. At this time I researched megacolon and read that this tends to be progressive. I tried talking to the vet about this but she seemed to discount my concerns. As I look back on it, I think he has had a level of constipation ever since we first brought him inside (we did so because he had developed sever conjunctivitis and was a risk of becoming coyote food). He would scoot his butt across the floor. I thought it was a sign of inflamed anal glands, but now I am wondering if it wasn't in fact a sign of his constipation.
When he became obstructed again, I could not get into the first vet so I had to take him to a different clinic. The second clinic did a series of anemias until his system had cleared. This resulted in a longer clinic stay, a significantly lower bill and a cat with a shiny coat and a very quick transition back home. She then recommended a normal diet with lactulose three times a day. Nate is not a cat you can walk up to, pick up and give medicine to. Actually, he is not one who you can simply walk up to. I tried explaining this to the vet and she discounted my concerns saying I just need to rearrange the furniture so that there is nothing for him to get under. I also explained that I think this is a chronic, and again felt discounted.
I put him back on the Royal Canin Fiber Response food, gave him the lactulose when I could and he did very well for awhile. In fact, he seemed to be doing better then I have seen him do in a long time. He was more active and his coat was shinier. However, I ran into a problem with buying the exact same food from PetsMart. They did not consistently carry the Fiber Response food, but instead had another version by Royal Canin called Gastro-Intestinal. I questioned it and was assured that it was the same food, only different packaging. However, the kibble itself did not look the same.
Within a few weeks he was completely obstructed again. Back to the second vet for another 4 day stay and 12 anemias to clear his system. When I picked him up I asked could he poo on his own. She could only say that his system was clear and keep him on the lactulose. I asked about a low residue diet and she emphatically said no. However, they also gave us the wrong cat to take home, an error thanks to COVID protocols and a very thick towel in the carrier, we did not discover until we got home....so my confidence in this vet is somewhat shaken.
My question here are; If this is truly megacolon, is it progressive? Should I be thinking about a low residue diet and if so, where do I get information on it? Should I try a raw food diet? Should I be looking into surgical options for him? When I asked about surgery at our last vet visit, I was told the cost of surgery runs between $2,000 and $10,000. I have read that the prognosis after surgery is excellent, but I would like to confirm that. $2,000 for surgery we would probably do, but $10,000 is a lot of money in these uncertain COVID times. Are there other treatment options I should investigate or ask a vet about?
Oh, and when I compare the two Royal Canin foods, the Fiber Response food is 4.7% fiber and the Gastro-Intestinal is 7.4% fiber. Unless there is a misprint on the label he was doing better on a food with less fiber.
I am struggling with navigating the right course for this cat, any information will help. Thank you so much.
