My Cat Peach With Constant Constipation & Possible Obstruction

[Romsoccer126333]

My cat Peach has been having constant constipation and a possible obstruction of some sort. SHe is about 2 and 1/2 - 3 years old. Such a great cat but always gets into trouble. I have never known how vigilant one has to been on watching litter box use until the past year because of this, but it is also hard because she is indoor/outdoor and goes outside most of the time. She has had a couple enemas with lactulose, passes, than goes right back to being constipated again. I have always tried hard to get the right food, getting blue wilderness or no grain and adding water or giving them meat. Now adays I super liquify her food and give her semi cooked meat a lot of the times such as chicken and turkey occasional fish and beef as a treat. I always mix it with water.

She is constipated again.. Any suggestions on what my next steps are? Obviously my vet is going to be re-contacted today or tomorrow after talking to my other. Is there anything I can be giving her to help her if she has an obstruction?? How do I know if its to much fiber v.s. not enough? And she had her tail degloved last halloween and had to get it amputated. That alone cost me around 3k partly because a cat neuro-surgeon had to do the job. I have told that to 2 vets but they say it is not the cause of the problem. The neuro surgeon also said it was one vertebrae away from causing her bathroom problems. This cat does not deserve all these problems and this stress from all this is partly ruining my life. I am still in debt from the last incident and am really hoping/praying an expensive surgery will not be needed in the future. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[maggiedemi]

What brands of food is she eating now? Wet or dry food? How much of each? Do you treat for hairballs once or twice a week?

 

[Graceful-Lily]

The first thing that comes to mind for me is hairball problems. Does your cat pass them normally? And how frequently? Hair that isn't brought up that passes into the intestinal track can cause a lot of issues.

 

[Romsoccer126333]

Never seen her have a hairball

 

[Romsoccer126333]

I always feed her wet food (if its kibble I add a lot of water and make it soupy). She eats about a bowl a day. The two I have been switching off with the past year is blue wilderness and Merricks Limited Ingredient Diet Grain Free (Turkey and Duck). I have never treated her for hairballs as I did not know that was a thing

 

[Graceful-Lily]

I always feed her wet food (if its kibble I add a lot of water and make it soupy). She eats about a bowl a day. The two I have been switching off with the past year is blue wilderness and Merricks Limited Ingredient Diet Grain Free (Turkey and Duck). I have never treated her for hairballs as I did not know that was a thing

Oh, yes. I check all my animals stool often. Especially my cats. It can give you a lot of information about what's going on inside and it can also be the first warning signs if something serious is present. Before I knew my Felix had a hairball problem, I thought he might have had parasites or something. He was extremely constipated and his anus was swollen. One check of his stool and I found an abnormal amount of fur in it. Enough to cause an obstruction maybe but in his case, it was discomfort. The next warning sign was the constant hairballs. Every single day. Please, check your cats stool to see if any clumps of fur is present. If not, then is most likely isn't the cause of your kitties issues.

 

[maggiedemi]

You can try hairball treats or paste and see what happens. Most don't have Petroleum in them anymore, so they are a little bit healthier than they used to be. I only use them twice a week.

 

[Romsoccer126333]

She is not having any hairballs and she is not passing stool that I can tell so I can not get anything.

 

[Graceful-Lily]

Really only your vet would know at this point then. Hopefully you'll have an answer and solution soon.

 

[IndyJones]

@artiemom Has far more experience with this than I do. Hopefully she can chime in.

 

[Romsoccer126333]

I talked to my vet a couple times today. I asked him if he recalled a mega colon from previous xrays and the good news is he says no. He recommends high fiber, metamucil, lactulose, possibly maralax. Where can I get lactulose? I think I recall a certain type you want to be getting for your cat. And any suggestions on a type of food or fiber supplement? Pumpkin is hard because you cant save the canned stuff to long after you open it. Should I be getting a blood test to rule out any other possibilities? Thanks for the help again.

 

[Romsoccer126333]

Bump. Can anyone help and chime in?

 

[merlotandasti]

I'm not sure if you've tried giving canned pumpkin yet, but you could try that. I actually get the pouches that you can buy in pet stores. My cat Asti doesn't like to drink water so he was getting constipated all the time & had to have an edema done. We switched him to a canned food diet (3/4s wet, 1/4 dry instead of 100% dry) & I give him canned pumpkin & let him lick off some hairball remedy gel every so often. When I notice his poop starting to get small, hard, or dry, I'll usually switch him to patè only food. It seems to help more than the canned food with chunks in it. Also to promote water intake, I bought my Asti a cheap fountain. He seems to enjoy it better than a plain water bowl.

Has your kitty been checked for kidney disease? I know when they get kidney disease they can get dehydrated easily & thay can cause constipation. I hope that isnt the case though, of course.

I hope your baby gets everything resolved soon & starts feeling great again!

 

[Graceful-Lily]

I'm not sure about fibre but I usually mix coconut oil into my cats raw meat to keep things "moving along" since their poop comes out dry. I also use to add rabbit fur when I had a rabbit and it seemed to help.

 

[Romsoccer126333]

Thank you for the replies. I actually bought a petsafe fountain as well a couple months ago the first time this happened. I see her and my other cat use it now and than so I am happy about that. I was using canned pumpkin but its hard because you cant save the canned stuff for long. I have not seen any of my pet stores sell packs but I will keep my eyes open. How often do you add pumpkin (or any other recommended food for extra fiber)? And what is pate? The food I give her is pellet form, but I add enough water to make it soup and when it absorbs I normally add more water. I just started giving her miralax today. Does anyone know about the lactulose though? I remember reading in a past thread that there is a type to avoid. And do I mix miralax and lactulose, or just one? Maybe a question for the vet. He also recommended metamucil. I have not gotten a blood test though. I will call and ask my vet about it on Tuesday. She has always looked skinnier than most cats even though she eats well and has been given food better than most people get. Any other recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Romsoccer126333]

Do you think raw meat diet would help more? She was mainly on raw meat a year ago for a while. Right now I probably do 50/50 if not leaning on more of the meat products. I cook them halfway now.

 

[Romsoccer126333]

Good and bad news. The miralax worked! She just went number 2 a couple days ago. Bad news is I saw a tapeworm on her butt today.. Fixxing one problem comes with another. Any suggestions? Should I make a new thread? And Should i be being careful with drontal and preziquantol because she was just constipated?
Thanks

 

[maggiedemi]

I would definitely have the vet de-worm her with Drontal. The worms might have caused the constipation.

 

[cindycrna]

1/4 teaspoon a day of Miralax will keep kitty going smoothly. If you find her stool a little loose, cut it to 1/8th teaspoon. But it is easier to prevent constipation with low dose Miralax than stop it and she becomes constipated again. Miralax is safe for long term use.

 

[merlotandasti]

I only give him pumpkin when I notice his poop starting to get harder or more segmented. Patè is just a type of wet food. Some wet food has chunks & gravy in it, some are shreds & gravy, some are patè, ect. You can search online for patè cat food. It's packed with lots of water. Plus if you need to, you can add a little more water without it getting all soupy & gross. I feed Asti the science diet digestive patè occasionally. He has to be on a bladder stone preventive diet because he gets calcium oxolate stones.