Repeating Rectal Prolapse

[Jabzilla]

Thanks Fionasmom! I wondered about that too with the food and the lack of stool change or vomiting. All of the posts on here that I've seen about food allergies or intolerance have had very clear signs of the food in question being a problem. Rofl, it makes me feel like if I need to search for signs with a magnifying glass then maybe that means the food is fine.

 

[Jabzilla]

I am tentatively hopeful that a solution for Cosmos's prolapsing has been found. I ordered that Fera Pro/prebiotic powder and since giving it to him (started this week), Cosmos has had two prolapse free poops. I'm experimenting now with leaving psyllium husk out of his food and only using the Fera for its soluble fiber content. I spoke to someone on their website and they told me 1tsp of it has 2.33g of fiber. Cosmos gets 1/2 tsp of it for his weight, which is 1.165g of fiber. That's more fiber than the psyllium husk was providing and doesn't have the bulking effect that psyllium possesses. So fingers crossed that this at long last might be the answer for prolapse free poops!

 

[fionasmom]

Please let us know. That would be wonderful if the days of prolapsing were coming to an end.

 

[Jabzilla]

Once again, I was too hopeful and spoke too soon. Cosmos's prolapses have gone from resolving in 20 seconds and sometimes not happening at all, to now taking anywhere from 4-15 min to resolve. I think thats from multiple factors that have piled up on top of one another. The large bag of whole psyllium seed husks I'd been using ran out and when I bought a new one, Cosmos rejected it. The husks in the new bag are darker brown than previous and have a cereal-esq smell. I saw some comments on Amazon also noting the change in color. Cosmos's rejection of the psyllium also meant refusing to drink any of the water that I'd added to his food, since thats where the psyllium was.

I ordered a bottle of powdered psyllum husk, since thats what I'd used prior to having the large bag of whole husks. While waiting for that to arrive, I tried increasing the amount of Fera pro/prebiotic to a full scoop, which is what he should be getting based on his weight, to see if that would help make up for the missing psyllium husk. It didn't help and instead made his prolapses take longer to resolve. So the lack of psyllium and the refusal to drink any of the water added to his food has affected Cosmos's prolapsing. I now have the powdered psyllium husk and have sprinkled that in the water with his food, but he still refuses to drink it. At this point, he refuses to even eat food from his plate entirely, let alone drink any of the juice from his food (I now have to place the food on the floor, one piece at a time for him to eat it). I dont know how much, if any, of the psyllium he's getting now due to this refusal.

The consistency of his poop hasn't changed though. It's still firm and segmented. Sometimes it's narrower in diameter from the lack of psyllium's bulking and if he does take a sip of water and gets a little psyllium, the poop is a bit bulkier. Cosmos's pooping habits have also been thrown off due to all of this, having gone from pooping once, if not twice a day to sometimes not pooping at all for a day. He's also gone from peeing twice a day to once a day since he refuses to drink his water/juice from his food. Sometimes he sits in the litter box and meows and thumps his tail before finally pooping. He clearly needs to have some psyllium and the amount of it is so small, about 1/4th a capsule of it a day. Yet that's enough to make him not want to drink his water/juice and refuse to eat from his plate to avoid even accidentally drinking any of it while eating.

At this point I think I'll have to try something else. The psyllium was added to his food as a whole when I made it on Sunday, so we'll just have to get through the week. Next Sunday though, I can try not adding the psyllium to his containers of food & water. Instead, I can mix the 1/4tsp amount with a small amount of water and just syringe it into his mouth. I dont like having to add another thing to syringe into his mouth, he still gets fish oil twice a day via that method, but mixing it into his food is clearly no longer working and is resulting in him not getting much, if any of it, and not drinking any water/juice on top of that.

 

[Jabzilla]

Thankfully, the prolapses themselves are still small. This is most recent one I got a photo of for reference. Some part of me still hopes that this will somehow resolve and stop happening. It feels ridiculous for it to not stop and for there to not be a solution when they’re also ready so small. Yet none of the medications, diet changes, or supplements have led to a consistent resolution.
Please excuse the litter and tiny piece of poop in the pictures, lol. Litter getting on it also makes the prolapse take longer to resolve. I included the second picture for a better sense of scale.

 

[fionasmom]

I am sorry to read this. The pic, especially the second one, does put what is happening into perspective and while it is not a huge prolapse, I certainly understand your disappointment.

I think that this all hangs on the change in the psyllium product. Cats especially are so odd about anything like this. Over the years I have had my cats refuse the exact same food because there was a slight change in the formulation. Certainly nothing harmful, but just different. Did anyone who mentioned the change on Amazon, or possibly the distributor himself, explain exactly what is different and if it might be temporary?

 

[Jabzilla]

I am sorry to read this. The pic, especially the second one, does put what is happening into perspective and while it is not a huge prolapse, I certainly understand your disappointment.

I think that this all hangs on the change in the psyllium product. Cats especially are so odd about anything like this. Over the years I have had my cats refuse the exact same food because there was a slight change in the formulation. Certainly nothing harmful, but just different. Did anyone who mentioned the change on Amazon, or possibly the distributor himself, explain exactly what is different and if it might be temporary?

Thanks Fionasmom. It's very disappointing. I hope you're right and that things will go back to improving once this psyllium issue is worked out!

As for the psyllium, I dont know what caused the change in it. It's NOW brand and their stuff is usually very good. There are two people who have left reviews about the color change. One says the dark color doesn't work very well. They said it doesn't absorb water very well and gave them indigestion, which never happened with the light colored psyllium. I have noticed since using the new psyllium, I can see tiny dark granules of it floating around in the water instead of turning into the clear, water filled globules. The other person who noted the color change just mentioned it being different. There hasn't been anything from the manufacturer as far as I know. The color change is very visible too. This photo is from one of the reviews.

Wow, after looking at that photo, I took out one of the powdered capsules and held it up to the bag. The contents is very similar in color, which makes me think the powder was made with the same darker psyllium. If that's the case, that would explain why Cosmos is still rejecting it despite being powder rather than whole. I just left a review on Amazon and I wont be buying NOW psyllium husk anymore.

 

[fionasmom]

There is a clear difference in the two bags. If they have had a formulation change, it might be a good idea to look elsewhere. But I am surprised at NOW as I have used their products for animals as well.

 

[Jabzilla]

There is a clear difference in the two bags. If they have had a formulation change, it might be a good idea to look elsewhere. But I am surprised at NOW as I have used their products for animals as well.

Definitely! I went to a local vitamin shop after calling to find out if they had any psyllium husk. Immediately there was a clear difference in color and once I got home and mixed 1/16tsp (I figured I’d use a smaller amount since I didn’t know if Cosmos would accept it) with 1 tbsp of water a very clear difference in absorption. This new psyllium immediately began absorbing the water and turned into gel globules similar to slippery elm powder.

But most importantly, I offered the mixture to Cosmos with some freeze dried kangaroo on top as a bribe and he drank it! I used his lickimat too instead of his plate since he’s been avoiding it, and he enjoyed licking the water and kangaroo mixture out of the little squares. I even offered him the remainder of his breakfast that he’d walked away from and he ate that too.

As for the rest of his food for the week, I can try sitting the container in water to defrost the frozen water/juice to the point where I can scoop/break the meat out of it, then put the meat in a new container that’s free of the NOW powder. It sucks to have bought both a bag and bottle of capsules that can’t be used. But I am ecstatic that this organic psyllium husk has the Cosmos seal of approval.

 

[Sarthur2]

Try adding a few drops of Extra Virgin olive oil to each of his wet food feedings. This usually works like a charm to soften poop and keep it moving. Add it without adding anything else other than perhaps a teaspoon of water. See if this helps.

 

[Jabzilla]

Try adding a few drops of Extra Virgin olive oil to each of his wet food feedings. This usually works like a charm to soften poop and keep it moving. Add it without adding anything else other than perhaps a teaspoon of water. See if this helps.

Thanks Sarthur! Does olive oil function as a lubricant for the outside of the poop or does it make it soft as a whole? With Cosmos's prolapse, soft poop isn't what we want since that makes his prolapse stay out longer. Good poops for fast prolapse resolution for him are firm but not dry on the outside.

 

[Jabzilla]

We're back in business with the organic psyllium! Cosmos's prolapses are now resolving in about 40 seconds.

 

[Jabzilla]

Hey folks,
I have an update on Cosmos. His prolapses have gotten much better. So much so, that I haven't seen one in two days now. When they do happen, it doesn't even look like tissue that goes past the anus. Instead, it's like the anus is open and then closes 30-60 seconds later after he leaves the box. After many months free of issue, Cosmos went to the ER at 3am after he vomited stinky brown liquid and was painful in his abdomen. On Monday night, he suddenly started obsessively grooming his bottom over and over and over. Yesterday morning he was normal, but then started that grooming again around 11am, so I put his cone on. He only ate a little more than half of his food for the day but peed and pooped without issue. Cosmos very rarely vomits, and hasn't ever thrown up brown liquid before, so that concerned me last night. His painful abdomen was also concerning, so I took him in.

As usual, his exam was normal along with the blood work results and pancreatitis test that they did. He only vomited the one time and didn't have diarrhea. Cosmos had also gained weight since he was there last, despite having reduced his calories. They did an xray during the night and saw one part of his small intestine was normal, while the other part was distended. The vet who saw him at the time said it could have been an obstruction, so Cosmos stayed there and had an ultrasound this afternoon. Thankfully, the ultrasound didn't know any obstructions at all. The only thing it showed was some inflammation in the section that had been distended in the x ray. His colon, stomach, and lymph nodes were normal.

Cosmos was given some food and the vet said he can come home in the morning. They just want to make sure the food goes through his system without issue. As for the inflammation, the cause is unknown again. I thought it was going to be a hairball since his sudden obsessive grooming resulted in a completely bald patch above his anus. The vet said they could do a fine needle aspiration of the inflamed area and send it in for testing. I decided to instead have them send all of the results of the x ray, blood work, and ultrasound to Cosmos's internal med specialist, since he has a follow up/6 month recheck with her next week. I figure she can decide what to do since this is her area of expertise.

I am relived that he doesn't have an obstruction! It wouldn't have made sense since Cosmos doesn't eat random things. I am also frustrated that inflammation is back again. It shows up, goes away, shows up, and then goes away. His small intestine hasn't been inflamed since he was a year old and was told he was dying of FIP (he's 7 now). And back then, it was only one side of one section that was inflamed. The vet didn't say today if it was one side of one section, but he did say it was only one part of the small intestine that was inflamed, not the entire thing.

I also still dont know what caused his sudden need to over groom his bottom. I sent photos of it to his specialist as well and told the people at the ER about it too. They weren't concerned about it though and focused on his abdominal pain, which makes sense. A friend said maybe his bottom feels weird since this grooming started on day 1 of not having a prolapse and then continued on day 2 of also not having a prolapse. Hopefully its just itchy since the prolapses are finally healing/stopping? Cosmos's specialist is going to contact me once she receives the results and report about last night and today, so I'll ask about the over grooming when she calls. I really hope he isn't suddenly allergic to another protein, as he already cant have chicken, beef, lamb, bison, or goat.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Gosh, quite an update. Glad his prolapses are improved (gone?), but sorry for the other. Keep us posted on what the internist says next week.

 

[fionasmom]

Hopefully its just itchy since the prolapses are finally healing/stopping?

Pets and humans can have more than one medical issue at at time, unrelated. I think that we all tend to think that if there has been one big condition that everything else has to be related to it. The opposite is that if something major has already happened that nothing else can follow. I really hope that he does have nothing more than an itch on his rear, maybe related to nothing in particular.

I am sure that you are both upset that anything else popped up out of nowhere. Let us know what you find out.

 

[Jabzilla]

Will do, I'll post here after his visit w/ the specialist. Cosmos is home now and doing well. He ate some food and used the litter box. Unfortunately, I had to put his cone on again since he went back to licking his bottom. The scabs that developed during his hospital stay were licked off. So the cone is back on and I'm spraying it with Microcyn to help it heal. Cosmos was sent home with Cerenia tablets and some Omeprazole for 7 days. They were going to include Metro, but I told them that always gives him diarrhea.

Are there any ideas on what could be causing him to desperately want to repeatedly groom his bottom? More specifically, a spot above the anus, towards the underside of the base of the tail? It's frustrating to have spent thousands of dollars for a hospital stay and not have anything at all about this issue. I asked while he was there if he had been trying to groom, but he was wearing a cone the whole time and in a cage, so the doctor said no. I'll try to get some pictures and post them here.

 

[Jabzilla]

Ok, these are from Tuesday morning.

And these are from today, after he’s torn the scabs off.

And a belly rub.

 

[fionasmom]

He looks so cute getting his belly rubbed. Your friend could be right...an odd sensation will make an animal lick in almost all cases as they don't know how else to stop it. As for what is causing the sensation, that is another question. Nothing in that area or on the tail that looks suspicious? Compensation to try to relieve or distract from pain elsewhere? I don't doubt that the hospital kept the cone on him. At this point, I would leave it on until you figure this out.

 

[Sarthur2]

It looks raw. Is there anything you could apply to soothe it, such as coconut oil, which is non-toxic?

 

[Jabzilla]

I really hope it isn't going to be another serious issue. Sadly for him, you're right and the cone needs to stay on. There isn't anything unusual on his tail or around his anus. It's just been licked raw and now has bit of scabs around the edges.