NEW FOOD (+ Supplements?)

[siruh]

Hey! After going through a lot these past couple months w/ Quorra - visiting multiple vets (emergency exploratory surgery, constipation), I’m trying to switch her to a high quality food that’ll agree with her.

After her surgery I cut out dry food completely. Her entire life she’s been on Friskies Indoor Turkey/Chicken, Friskies Savory Shreds. Concerned the vet said her intestine was “highly inflamed,” I blame her diet.

For a while she tried a subscription called “Smalls” cat food (human-grade ingredients). I was supplementing w/ pure pumpkin. By time she was exclusively on Smalls wet food, she had rock hard stools and eventually was constipated for a week.
Then I re-added Friskies, and took her to a vet who prescribed lactulose and suggested miralax. Those laxatives helped her poo. I only want to use laxatives in the short term.
That vet also prescribed high fiber Hills w/d canned food, but I do NOT want to do that as it has carrageenan in it!

Quorra wasn’t diagnosed with IBD/IBS/cancer as I didn’t do biopsy, but now I’m paranoid and am going to adjust her diet. She’s vomited lots of hair the past few weeks which proves impaired digestion.

So now we’re going to try Rawz Pate (Rabbit, Chicken, Turkey, Beef, Duck). The ingredients in these foods look great (no gums).

A holistic vet recommended slippery elm for constipation - I’ve made the syrup. Not sure if this helps her but the internet approves of its benefits.

I’ve also ordered Probiotics to try (Nature’s Farmacy Catzymes Daily Balance).

Any suggestions on diet, supplements, constipation remedies, long term digestive aids would be helpful. Thanks!!!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

My cat his constipation issues, and our Vet suggested extra fiber from pumpkin as she knows I feed raw (how much more healthy can you get in cat food?) Haven't tried it yet as he currently has an infection and is being medicated, so that's stressful to him already. I just don't want to add something else that's new.

I know you have already tried the pumpkin route, and didn't have success. Were you adding extra water to her diet as well. I add water to Darko's food to make sure he is well hydrated since I know he has issues. I also do keep a tube of Laxatone handy to help him pass those rock hard stools when I see him really struggling. AND we do use Miralax. I hate that we have to do that, but it's better than seeing them suffer so. It turns out I wasn't using enough. He just had a vet visit last week and our Vet increased the amount to 1/4 teaspoon twice a day until he "emptied out" and then said to taper it down to whatever amount seems to work. BTW, I have now used Miralax on three cats for chronic constipation. Two of them were chronically ill before we started using it and it made them so much more comfortable.

 

[siruh]

My cat his constipation issues, and our Vet suggested extra fiber from pumpkin as she knows I feed raw (how much more healthy can you get in cat food?) Haven't tried it yet as he currently has an infection and is being medicated, so that's stressful to him already. I just don't want to add something else that's new.

I know you have already tried the pumpkin route, and didn't have success. Were you adding extra water to her diet as well. I add water to Darko's food to make sure he is well hydrated since I know he has issues. I also do keep a tube of Laxatone handy to help him pass those rock hard stools when I see him really struggling. AND we do use Miralax. I hate that we have to do that, but it's better than seeing them suffer so. It turns out I wasn't using enough. He just had a vet visit last week and our Vet increased the amount to 1/4 teaspoon twice a day until he "emptied out" and then said to taper it down to whatever amount seems to work. BTW, I have now used Miralax on three cats for chronic constipation. Two of them were chronically ill before we started using it and it made them so much more comfortable.

Yes - extra water in food definitely helps!! I think pumpkin helped Quorra poo at first, but along the way I think it lost its effectiveness. I was adding about 1/4 teaspoon in each meal.

I’m curious if Miralax is safe for long term use. I’m not comfortable regularly feeding chemicals. (If I suffered constipation myself I wouldn’t want to take it everyday)

This is a great website:
Prevention

I’ve followed that website’s recipe for the slippery elm syrup! I like the idea of natural remedies for preventing constipation.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

With the pumpkin, my Vet said to use 1 Tablespoon, split up between his meals, so for us, that's 1 full teaspoon per meal.

Yes, I like natural remedies as much as possible too, but if they don't work, then I will go with the next best thing . I already give my guys some SEB every day (just a tiny bit) for their digestive system.