I wish that headline was a joke but, unfortunately, it's no laughing matter. I hope someone has some advice on where to go next. A little background so this makes sense.
Our boy Skidd was a very gassy kitten who became a gassy juvenile, then a gassy adult; he started developing problems with recurrent constipation a few years ago, give or take. We're on our third vet and have tried countless medicinal, dietary, and 'etc' treatments. To list a few:
Skidd is an indoor-only kitty with only one non-human housemate - our senior cat, Goldie. She's over eleven years old, over sixteen pounds of pudge, pride, and poofiness, she's terribly bossy and jealous, and she bounces between cuddling with Skidd and wanting to chew on him because he's too clingy. As soon as Skidd was switched to a special diet, yep, she had to have a 'special diet' too; mixing canned food with kibble is expensive on top of Skidd's treatment and prescription food, but it's either that or she sprays. (Yes. This spayed female cat sprays. We love her anyway. They probably broke the mold when she was born.)
Currently, we have four litterboxes available and in use - two electric ones in the hallway, a large traditional box in the bedroom, and a small one in the kennel. (The kennel is for feeding Skidd where Goldie can't get to his food, 'time out' when the two are fighting too much, and when necessary, confinement when someone's vomiting or Skidd has been messing on the floor again. It's a little under 3' x 3' x 4'; we line with accident pads and keep the litterbox clean, there's always a fresh bowl of water in it, and unless time-out is in progress, there's a folded up towel or blanket for comfort. It's pretty comfy, bars aside.) Skidd is the only one who has regular access to the bedroom litterbox because he sleeps with us every chance he can get; he gets locked in there with us overnight with his food, water, and box because he's so clingy. Water is always available. We have a pet fountain in the hallway and are looking into purchasing another. There are bowls of regularly-replaced water in the bedroom and kennel, and we have no qualms about turning on the tub faucet for someone to drink from. Water also gets mixed in with the cats' daily food.
The current treatment is a mouthful and very expensive. Skidd gets one to one-and-a-half cans of Science Diet canned "hairball" food every day, split into breakfast, dinner, and 'snacks' in between if he gets hungry. This is actually over-feeding according to the guidelines - 1.5 cans per 10 lbs of cat - because he's dropped to just over eight pounds. When he first started getting constipation problems, he was pushing 16 lbs; now, he gets cold easily, his fur has gotten thin, we can feel part of his spine through his skin, and I can carry him around for an hour without my shoulder getting stiff. He's finally at a healthy weight, but the way he got there is NOT good. Skidd's breakfast and dinner both have these doses of medicine mixed in: 1 ml of Cipraside, about 1/2 tbsp of Laxatone, and about 1/8 cup water. This food and medicine combination was directly ordered by our current vet, and until recently, it was helping a little.
...until recently being the keywords there. The week before last, Skidd started a new "Mom, I don't feel good" habit - peeing in places that have never been 'a peeing place.' We're talking right in front of the front door, on a plastic bag while I was putting away groceries, on the floor underneath a nightlight, on one of our good bathmats - all these places are within 3 yards of a clean litterbox, have been the site of found "Skidd bombs," and have been repeatedly thoroughly cleaned after incidents. This new development prompted yet another vet visit, during which Skidd wouldn't stop panicking. The vet literally brought a toe-breaker of a reference book into the room to see what options we had left, and couldn't find anything new. He gave Skidd most of a bag of sub-cu fluids and sent the rest home with us for dosing a few days after. (It did NOT go well. It took us four tries, and even with my partner holding him still and me distracting him, the little guy managed to get loose before he could finish off the bag. Yes. I got to clean that stuff off the wall because I couldn't get the line 'blocked' quickly enough with Skidd's teeth in my wrist.)
We've gone through several vets by this point trying to find an effective treatment for Skidd. We've tried all the medications and diet changes we've been suggested, we're following the dosing instructions to a T, and Skidd is just getting worse. It's starting to feel like surgery is the only option we have left, but the vet has stated several times that he'd "rather avoid it." I can't say I blame him if what I've read about it is accurate, but what can we do? Our vet has admitted that Skidd's run out of options and that he's lost on how to proceed. Meanwhile, my furbaby is suffering and it feels like I can't do anything to help him. This entire post, I've written with him curled up in my arms on the tabletop, and half of the time he's been bodily wrapped around one of those arms; he always needs more cuddling like that when he's feeling awful. Does anyone here have any new ideas or any advice?
...and now he's snoring. At least the poor little guy is comfortable.
Our boy Skidd was a very gassy kitten who became a gassy juvenile, then a gassy adult; he started developing problems with recurrent constipation a few years ago, give or take. We're on our third vet and have tried countless medicinal, dietary, and 'etc' treatments. To list a few:
- Canned pumpkin had no positive effect and occasionally made him more constipated.
- Lactulose couldn't soften what he already had "waiting in the wings" and gave him diarrhea on top of it; it left him plastered to the floor crying, messing himself, and sometimes even bleeding once he finally passed the plug. We tried several doses but even daily dosing didn't fix the problem.
- Hill's prescription diet dry kibble (Gastro-Biome) blocked him up HORRIBLY.
- The equivalent "Royal Canin" dry kibble blocked him up even worse than Hill's; instead of plugs, he started passing giant conglomerate chunks while crying and wailing.
- Psyllium husk, in the form of supplements, chews, and mixed into food, blocked him up worse.
- 'Feeding' him water by mouth (using a syringe or baster) is generally ineffective because we can't get him to take in enough to make a difference. A few tablespoons and he's scratching, biting, growling, and fighting, and I'm bleeding.
- We've tried coaxing him into drinking cat broth to get more fluids in him. Nope. He tries to bury it. Even diluted with water he thinks it stinks too badly to drink. If we mix it in with his canned food, he refuses to eat it.
Skidd is an indoor-only kitty with only one non-human housemate - our senior cat, Goldie. She's over eleven years old, over sixteen pounds of pudge, pride, and poofiness, she's terribly bossy and jealous, and she bounces between cuddling with Skidd and wanting to chew on him because he's too clingy. As soon as Skidd was switched to a special diet, yep, she had to have a 'special diet' too; mixing canned food with kibble is expensive on top of Skidd's treatment and prescription food, but it's either that or she sprays. (Yes. This spayed female cat sprays. We love her anyway. They probably broke the mold when she was born.)
Currently, we have four litterboxes available and in use - two electric ones in the hallway, a large traditional box in the bedroom, and a small one in the kennel. (The kennel is for feeding Skidd where Goldie can't get to his food, 'time out' when the two are fighting too much, and when necessary, confinement when someone's vomiting or Skidd has been messing on the floor again. It's a little under 3' x 3' x 4'; we line with accident pads and keep the litterbox clean, there's always a fresh bowl of water in it, and unless time-out is in progress, there's a folded up towel or blanket for comfort. It's pretty comfy, bars aside.) Skidd is the only one who has regular access to the bedroom litterbox because he sleeps with us every chance he can get; he gets locked in there with us overnight with his food, water, and box because he's so clingy. Water is always available. We have a pet fountain in the hallway and are looking into purchasing another. There are bowls of regularly-replaced water in the bedroom and kennel, and we have no qualms about turning on the tub faucet for someone to drink from. Water also gets mixed in with the cats' daily food.
The current treatment is a mouthful and very expensive. Skidd gets one to one-and-a-half cans of Science Diet canned "hairball" food every day, split into breakfast, dinner, and 'snacks' in between if he gets hungry. This is actually over-feeding according to the guidelines - 1.5 cans per 10 lbs of cat - because he's dropped to just over eight pounds. When he first started getting constipation problems, he was pushing 16 lbs; now, he gets cold easily, his fur has gotten thin, we can feel part of his spine through his skin, and I can carry him around for an hour without my shoulder getting stiff. He's finally at a healthy weight, but the way he got there is NOT good. Skidd's breakfast and dinner both have these doses of medicine mixed in: 1 ml of Cipraside, about 1/2 tbsp of Laxatone, and about 1/8 cup water. This food and medicine combination was directly ordered by our current vet, and until recently, it was helping a little.
...until recently being the keywords there. The week before last, Skidd started a new "Mom, I don't feel good" habit - peeing in places that have never been 'a peeing place.' We're talking right in front of the front door, on a plastic bag while I was putting away groceries, on the floor underneath a nightlight, on one of our good bathmats - all these places are within 3 yards of a clean litterbox, have been the site of found "Skidd bombs," and have been repeatedly thoroughly cleaned after incidents. This new development prompted yet another vet visit, during which Skidd wouldn't stop panicking. The vet literally brought a toe-breaker of a reference book into the room to see what options we had left, and couldn't find anything new. He gave Skidd most of a bag of sub-cu fluids and sent the rest home with us for dosing a few days after. (It did NOT go well. It took us four tries, and even with my partner holding him still and me distracting him, the little guy managed to get loose before he could finish off the bag. Yes. I got to clean that stuff off the wall because I couldn't get the line 'blocked' quickly enough with Skidd's teeth in my wrist.)
We've gone through several vets by this point trying to find an effective treatment for Skidd. We've tried all the medications and diet changes we've been suggested, we're following the dosing instructions to a T, and Skidd is just getting worse. It's starting to feel like surgery is the only option we have left, but the vet has stated several times that he'd "rather avoid it." I can't say I blame him if what I've read about it is accurate, but what can we do? Our vet has admitted that Skidd's run out of options and that he's lost on how to proceed. Meanwhile, my furbaby is suffering and it feels like I can't do anything to help him. This entire post, I've written with him curled up in my arms on the tabletop, and half of the time he's been bodily wrapped around one of those arms; he always needs more cuddling like that when he's feeling awful. Does anyone here have any new ideas or any advice?
...and now he's snoring. At least the poor little guy is comfortable.
Anyway, I realize megacolon is a motility issue, but it sounds to me as if one if Skidd's issues is large and hard stools. That hairball formula food I believe is higher fiber food that increases the bulkiness of the stool. Have you tried a different food one that does NOT include more fiber? I think some people say with Megacolon extra fiber is good, and others say No! 
