Megacolon in cats - Need information

[TiggerTonks]

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 9yr old cat that has megacolon here's what I know lactulose is a daily med for my cat and was a game changer she gets 2ml a day twice a day via syringe mixed with 3ml water and cisapride although that didn't do much except increase her appetite, lactulose is adjustable meaning hard poo give more too runny less as for diet many in my group rave about RC fibre response saying their cats no longer need meds or have reduced meds because of that particular food I can't try it as it's unavailable in my country so I go for a wet diet and meds, I feed raw mince with a sprinkle of wd dry 20 mils of water a sprinkle of metamucil and place in the fridge until the dry expands then meds and feed, in my experience if they've had mega colon for more than 6mths it's irreversible and has two courses of action surgery the only real cure but very expensive and more so if your animal experiences complications which can in themselves be life threatening or medicating which will unfortunately become less and less effective as your cats colon function decreases, I have decided to medicate as surgery in my rural town isn't an option having said that a year on and her meds are working she toilets every 3rd day and is pain free although I've decided if she becomes enema relient or unresponsive to meds that I will let her go peacefully at home, I'm sorry to be barer of such bad news but it's a horrible illness that can see your animal happy and healthy one day and in dire distress only days later although many in my group have medicated for years without problems my cats condition it very advanced.

 

[KSRS]

Hi, sorry about your cat! I have been going through the same thin with my cat Mojo...2 different vets, lots of money and I found two thing that have corrected the problem. I found a liquid called Bowel~Digestive Care for pets. Put out by Newton Homeopathics at newtonlabs.net. It is formulated for associated symptoms such as loose stools,constipation, flatulence, vomiting and poor appetite. I got the bottle I have at a health food store but one can get it online also. It is a liquid without flavor (I tasted it myself) and you only give 3 drops 15 minutes before each meal and it works. YEA IT WORKS and the cat feels better and is more active. He was all stressed out when I was taking him to the vet.
I had been giving him Metamucil and Lactalose but it did not work so well, then I found this and also gave the Lactalose but the stool got loose so I haven't been using the Lactalose and the drops seem to be working great.

I'm gonna try the drops. I ordered them this weekend. I can't afford anymore vet visits for zero answers and no help. I managed my cat before naturally and the meds aren't working. I'll keep using them but I'm consulting with a holistic vet this week. I'm fed up...

 

[Andrea_Lucky]

KSRS -- Did the drops work (or if not, did you find a plan that did work)? My 7-month old kitten Lucky (who was a very sick rescue and almost died a few months ago, and has had health problems ever since), now has constipation and may be on his way to developing megacolon. We have just started the journey on figuring out a plan that works for him, but I am pre-emptively wondering if I should consider the Newton drops if the other plans that our vet suggests end up failing. I am really hoping to normalize him quickly so he doesn't progress to mega-colon. Thanks!

 

[KSRS]

KSRS -- Did the drops work (or if not, did you find a plan that did work)? My 7-month old kitten Lucky (who was a very sick rescue and almost died a few months ago, and has had health problems ever since), now has constipation and may be on his way to developing megacolon. We have just started the journey on figuring out a plan that works for him, but I am pre-emptively wondering if I should consider the Newton drops if the other plans that our vet suggests end up failing. I am really hoping to normalize him quickly so he doesn't progress to mega-colon. Thanks!

Hi! I did use the drops in the beginning but I was also using the cisapride because it took a week for the cisapride to fully kick in, then I stopped using the drops, so I couldn't say if they would work on their own but I do think they helped while waiting for the cisapride to begin to help. My cat takes 1ml of cisapride in the evening and 1 teaspoon of miralax (I divide it 1/2 teaspoon daily). This is all he needs to stay regular which is quite minimal. I also started feeding him a raw diet, Lotus brand, not really for the megacolon but his allergies. It helped so much. He stopped licking the fur off his legs. Hope you find a solution!

 

[Andrea_Lucky]

Thank you KSRS ! I'm so glad you found a resolution for your cat! That gives me hope!