Miralax dosing and response time

young again

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First, I saw on another post that Moonbeam has passed.  I'm so sorry.

I'm glad I found this conversation because I'm having issues with my Betsy Jo and constipation since December.  She had lost 4-5 pounds and stopped eating her wet food.  She started crying and had what I thought was diarrhea.   X-rays at the emergency vet proved constipation. We got the first blockage out with subq fluids and lactulose.  At the end of January it was back.  I took her to my regular vet for more x-rays and an enema.  The vet was concerned about a blockage or perhaps cancer.  The internist did an ultrasound, found nothing of note, except a possible issue with lymph nodes?  (I don't have the paperwork with me) but she said that could also have been elevated due to the enema and general trauma the area was experiencing.  She had me start Miralax to see if that worked.  The appointment was Monday and by Friday night Betsy Jo had an epic poop that cleared her out.  But now, about 3 weeks later, she is straining, howling, and leaking poop droplets after dinner.

The vet has me give her 1/8 tsp Miralax twice a day with canned food.  I am not sure what to do next.  I do wonder if I have not been getting the Miralax mixed up enough in her food, as I didn't know to mix it with water first.  Could that be it?  I will start doing that with tonight's feeding.  I maxed out my credit cards taking care of these issues up until now, and I will have to find more funds to take her back to the vet, but if there is anything I can do in the meantime to see what the issue is, I would love the advice.  
Hi Katherine,

How is Betsey Jo doing, have you had any better luck with solving the constipation? I have usually found that crude fiber does not work nearly as well as soluble fiber for constipation in difficult cats. The best source of soluble fiber that I have used is psyllium fiber, which is branded under the name of Metamucil. Unfortunately this brand contains either sugar or artificial sweeteners but will work in a pinch.Your best bet would be to purchase just the raw psyllium husk powder without the flavorings. It is unlikely that you could use too much, however I would start with 1/4-1/2 teaspoon twice a day. It would also be important to add water to the wet food once you add the psyllium otherwise it will dry the food out and make it more difficult to digest. A good way to do the mixing is to measure the psyllium out onto the plate and then add enough water that the psyllium forms a syrup type consistency and then mix the canned food into that syrup mixture thoroughly.

I hope this helps.
 

white shadow

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 Miralax that isn't dissolved in water before ingestion will absorb a lot of water from inside the body which can make constipation even worse and cause dehdyration.

............Always dissolve Miralax in some water first and then mix it into food. Vets often don't know this.
That isn't the case.......which is why you won't hear it from Vets.

The 'Oracle on Feline Constipation' - a must-read IMO - speaks to this common misconception:
 Osmotic Laxatives

Concerns are often expressed about cats with chronic constipation, such as cats with kidney disease, that use of an osmotic laxative will dehydrate the cat because these products draw water to the bowel or hold it in the stool. If producing a normal stool puts a cat at risk of dehydration, more is wrong than constipation and sometimes what is wrong is the human reasoning. Dehydration is not a recommended treatment for constipation! The amount of water needed to normalize the stool in response to an osmotic laxative is the same amount of water by any other method including diet and dietary fiber. This does not mean that these osmotic laxatives should not be treated with respect, of course they should be used conservatively and appropriately. But producing a normal stool by use of an osmotic laxative should not dehydrate a cat.

http://www.felineconstipation.org/prevention.html#OsmoticLaxativesPrevent
For a fuller understanding of 'what goes wrong', this covers all the bases: http://www.felineconstipation.org/whatgoeswrong.html
 

LTS3

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Dissolving a dose of Miralax in some water will cause no harm to the cat or affect how the Miralax works. It's also a way to get some water into cat, especially one who only eats dry food and may not drink from a bowl often.
 

AbbysMom

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Just a reminder to all -

Dosing advice can be very dangerous and only the vet who has seen the cat can make valid recommendations
 

katherine cobb

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We did start mixing the Miralax with water before putting it in Betsy's food and squirting some extra water into her food and we haven't had an incident of constipation since.

There seems to be some disagreement as to whether or not this could have been the cause, but for now we are stable with the mix of food and Miralax.  

Thanks!
 

spazzie933

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I've been dealing with chronic constipation with my Spazzie now for over 2 years and have tried everything in every possible combo ! So frustrating especially when I have a vet that doesn't ever seem to take it seriously ( I live in an isolated town so no options). He had 8 enemas within 18 months, lactulose, laxatone, Restoralax (same as Miralax only Canadian version) and just recently Zantac shots. I may have finally found the combo that works for him, fingers crossed ! Restoralax 1/4tsp. twice daily...I used to mix it with water and give it by syringe but that didn't work too well so now mix in his wet food until it dissolves and he gets a very little bit, maybe 1/2 tsp., of evaporated milk and that has worked so far. He only eats wet food (low residue) with a couple of the Royal Canin gastro sprinkled on top. Every cat is different and we just have to treat by trial and error ! All the best to everyone with their kitties ! I keep a journal too, it helps !!

  He eats Ultra grain free chicken stew and chicken pate or Wellness brand chicken pate, all low residue. High fiber food bulks up the food in their colon adding to the problem.

   Good Luck
 
 

janemulhall

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I agree that the vets don't seem to think this is a problem.  When my cat went to the cat box, he would scream to get something out that looked like little hard nuggets.  He too had enemas.  I used the Miralax and that worked great, but I still needed more.  So, I changed his diet to dry and wet "Royal Canin Veterinary Diet" Gastrointestinal food.

I don't have to use the Miralax now as the new food is working miracles.  All my cats can eat it and wow, you should see the cat box.  Hugh poohs!  Healthy too.  And they like the taste.  I get it at Chewy and it is cheaper.  Good luck!
 

vickync

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My 13 year old special needs cat (formerly feral, deaf; chronic Herpes infection of eyes) began crying with pain during the night.  I would go to see what the problem was and she would be by herself close to her litter box or a few feet away in a walk-in shower.  At first it occurred only once a night; then it increased to twice a night and when she used the litter box the small amount of feces was hard as a rock--so I began mixing 1/4 t. of Miralax into Fancy Feast wet food and gave it to her daily for five days---no change.   She then began eating very little--I could tell she was hungry but she would go to her food dish, eat a few kibbles or a little of the wet food and then return to her bed; she was drinking water each day and urinating.  Finally, one night she kept waking me up crying with pain and again always by herself, close to her litter box or standing in the walk-in shower.    The next a.m. I took her to her Vet and on examination he found that her anal glands were full and one was about to burst and that was what was causing her pain; why she wasn't eliminating feces or eating very much.  The Vet expressed the anal glands and told me he was very glad I had brought her in that day since it would have been a real problem had that anal gland burst.

The Vet told me that 90% of all domestic cats never have problems with their anal glands or need to have them expressed but my cat was one of the 10% that did.  I took her home and thought that had solved the problem---wrong!  She cried with pain the next day and I thought she was probably sore from having the anal glands expressed but that night she still hadn't eliminated feces and still wasn't eating well.  I took her back to her Vet and he said there was still a lot of redness and inflammation at her anal glands; he took an x-ray of her abdomen and it showed that her entire large colon was completely full of feces---the blocked anal glands caused pain when she tried to evacuate the feces consequently she held it and became constipated and then the colon became full---a vicious cycle and causing her to cry with pain.  I asked if it looked as if she had developed Mega-Colon or had become impacted but he said no, the Miralax had kept the feces soft and the colon was still normal in size.  The Vet gave her an injection to decrease inflammation and an injection for pain to help the anal glands return to normal and started her on a stronger stool softener---he ordered Lactulose 1 ml. every 12 hours for the next four days.   I administered the Lactulose by mouth in a syringe and after 6 doses feces were in her litter box and the anal glands no longer looked red and inflamed.   She resumed eating normally, expelled several large amounts of feces which were formed but soft.

I am posting this for owners of cats with chronic constipation; who cry with pain and the Miralax doesn't seem to be solving the problem and may need the anal glands checked to see if that is the cause of the problem.   My cat's anal glands will be checked regularly from now on---this was a week of pain and misery for my little female cat and the Vet bills totaled $1,000. 
 

janemulhall

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I'm so sorry!  At least your mind is at ease knowing what the problem is.  So, now your cat can relax and be so much happier.  

I have to budget to include yearly vet bills now forever for my beasties.  You are a wonderful person to suffer and put out a thousand bucks. Bless you and your little feline!
 

ocs mommy

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OC was diagnosed with megacolon. I searched the internet, found Miralax, called the vet; she said she heard of Miralax for humans not cats. Said she would have her resident research and get back to me. She did and gave me the dosage. OC has been on it for four years, thank goodness as there was no way he was going to let me give thim that awful lactulose that burned away his fur.
 

ocs mommy

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Mix it in their wet food with the littlest amount of whater. Voila!
 

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Dissolving a dose of Miralax in some water will cause no harm to the cat or affect how the Miralax works. It's also a way to get some water into cat, especially one who only eats dry food and may not drink from a bowl often.
This is purely anecdotal, but dissolving Miralax in water has made all the difference in the world for us.

The first few times I gave Buddy some Miralax, I didn't really think I needed to dissolve it in water first because the baby food I mix it with is pretty runny. Plus, he only eats canned food with extra water added, so I thought I already had all of my bases covered. Big mistake.

Buddy has a history of FLUTD, so I'm very conscientious about monitoring the size of urine clumps in his litter box. His urine output decreased by about about 50% right off the bat. Then after a few days when the connection finally dawned on me, I started dissolving the Miralax in water as you had suggested before adding it to his food. Now his urine output is completely back to normal. His poop, on the other hand...well, we're still working on that. ;-)
 

mistahollie

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Hi, all. My boy has not pooped since Saturday morning. (It's now monday night.) We deal with constipation often, but none of the usual tricks are working. I just got some miralax and hope this works, but there are some issues:

- he will not eat anything with a detectable amount of liquid in it. so if I mix some water in this, he will turn up his nose even if it's tuna. I've read here that dissolving the miralax in water is ideal. what is the least amount of water I could get away with using while still having it work how it should?

- since he has not gone in 2 days, I really want it to work overnight ideally, by the morning. I plan ongiving him 1/4 tsp especially since he's a big maine coon. How long does it usually take in this situation?

Thank you so much in advance for any help.
 

fleur4

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I know a lot of people say Miralax should be mixed with water, but I don't normally do that. I just sprinkle it into my cat's food every day. She doesn't even know it's there. It usually works within 12 hours, and for my cat, it works very well. If she's very constipated and the Miralax doesn't work, I give her one Dulcolax. You probably should call the vet, though, just to be safe.
Good luck, and keep us posted!
 

mistahollie

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I know a lot of people say Miralax should be mixed with water, but I don't normally do that. I just sprinkle it into my cat's food every day. She doesn't even know it's there. It usually works within 12 hours, and for my cat, it works very well. If she's very constipated and the Miralax doesn't work, I give her one Dulcolax. You probably should call the vet, though, just to be safe.
Good luck, and keep us posted!
Thank you so much! He pooped right when I was about to give him the food with Miralax, of course. ;) I did still give it to him and he ate about half, so he got about 1/8 tsp. Hoping for more productive poops since he's been backed up for days. Thank you again!
 

mrsgreenjeens

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When I was giving it on a daily basis, I gave 1/8 teas. dissolved in 1/4 teas. water and mixed that into her food. Did that twice a day, every day to ensure regularity. But my old girl was chronically constipated if not. Your guy may not be as bad.
 

scoochmom

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My cat just ended up at the er with a bad case of constipation. They gave him an enema and told me to keep on Miralax, possibly for life. I've been giving him 1/4 tsp 2-3 times daily but it's causing diarrhea. How can I get him back to normal stools? Will decreasing the dosage help? He is on only wet food with a little water mixed in. I seriously can't afford another vet visit!
 

maggiedemi

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scoochmom- 1/4 tsp three times a day sounds like way too much. I probably wouldn't use more than 1/4 tsp per day.
 

scoochmom

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That's what I thought too. The hospital's discharge instructions said three times a day. I think I am going to try 1/4 tsp every other day.
 
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