Slippery Elm Bark, Wet food, Managing Constipation

[oneandahalfcats]

 
Whew.  Josie had a normal BM on Saturday and Dory had one this morning.  Crossing fingers that the drama was just some food that had gone off or hairballs that eventually moved along.  Their normal BMs were actually quite dry (and I could feel hair mass) so I'll slowly re-introduce a bit of generic Miralax into their food.

Glad to hear this! .. So, the hair must have been causing some slow down by the sounds of it. I am currently giving Max both SEB and a bit a psyllium at this time, as he is dealing with some hair at this time. Too early to tell, but so far so good in that he hasn't hawked up any huge hairballs yet, this week.

 

[donna m smith]

I give slippery elm daily to my almost- long-haired cat. It is fromulated by a vet. I get it in tablet form at the pet shop, and, though it is dry and unappetizing in appearance, he thinks it a real treat!  No more hairballs, but no worries if I forget to brush him often enough!

 

[4cats1parrot]

Re slippery elm bark  I have been told that slippery elm bark can worsen constipation by bulking the stool, yet in my experience its the only thing that works for my cat who is hyperthyroid and CKD  my Holistic Vet suggested it. 

Here is a link     http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/slippery-elm/

I was giving Wellness Chicken and Sardine with the dreaded carageenan simply cause its the only one they all eat.  One cat started vomiting for 5 days suddenly right at the time they recently  had a recall but the recall was on the big cans not the small ones I give, I also try to give Natures Variety Instincts because it is limited ingredients and no carageenan but they wont always eat it.  I found a IBD cat facebook page that explains the symptoms of an IBD kitty and she had most symptems but she also just got in for her teeth so that could have been it hopefully.  

What they suggested is that Feral cats eat many meals a day and it is best to feed your cat 3 times a day rather than two and never free feed.

A cat waiting to eat...hungry can build up acids that they then puke up, they can puke up bile or their food often eating too fast can do that too, then that causes Nausea which causes vomiting...and so the cycle goes.  I had to go in and get her a shot that helped the nausea.

The facebook site suggests Slippery Elm Bark for IBD cats for the nausea, mixed with Aloe Vera  *important* the wrong Aloe is deadly to cats you only want Lily of the Valey "INNER LEAF" only watch out cause they sell whole leaf too! or Georges which has no taste bonus. Georges is distilled and prepared in a way that removes the dreaded latex.  Soothes the GI tract and mixed with the SEB to make a Gruel and syringed in about half hour before they eat.  Feeding 3 times a day can help too, when you go to work when you get back "supper time is" and later in the evening so there is no long stretch between food.  Also Raise all their dishes about 2 - 3 " and use plates or extra large low bowls that wont cause whisker stress, yes its a thing.

I am trying to stay away from carageenan but some days they will only eat wellness.  Another Note, allot of IBD limited Ingredients use pea fibre unfortunately that can cause upset in IBD.  I pick the peas out of the natures variety canned but then that's not the only food they eat if it is you'd have to supplement somehow to replace it so it is balanced.  I just had luck with ROO carageenan free, I picked u chicken and kangaroo and turkey and kangaroo and all ate it!!!  wow that's unusual here!  

I have just ordered EZ Complete online to start making my own food cooked....hopefully I can convert and save $$$ and then try to convert them to raw from there using the same EZ Complete.  I suggest going to their site http://foodfurlife.com   They have all kinds of awesome suggestions including he slippery elm bark.  Also dried egg yolk for hair ball issues.  Making homeaid kefir etc

Hope this helps someone.

There are fb pages for IBD kitty's/ hyperthyroid kitty's etc check them out if you need.

By the way I also find Distilled really helped my cats, cut down on any UTI's other than the hyperthyroid one but that is expected. 

Anyone wanting to avoid problems when your cats get older as they hide these things when they're younger should consider a fountain especially if you feed kibble which takes away water from kitty and they don't drink enough to make up for it.  If your like me and HATE Fountains! Cause they smell get slimy made of plastic or some dangerous ceramics known to cause other issues if you are a multi-cat household you may want to bite the bullet and invest yes invest in a Glacier Point Pet Fountain, it looks a bit like a science experiment but it is top notch quality and the pump is easy to clean and the tube you clean too is easy order the replacement kit with your fountain, it lasts a long time.   ALL of my cats love it but its upstairs where my CKD cat is and they all sneak in to use it, it has been a godsend for my Senior Hyperthyroid now CKD kitty I believe she would have had issues allot sooner without it.  Had I only known not to feed kibble all those years ago and make feed Raw.   I have one cat converted to Red Dog Blue Kat raw if only I could get my seniors converted.

 

[Bbydoll]

Can i use slippery elm bark if im giving my cat 1/4 tsp miralax?

 

[Ironwinged1]

Yes, I saw the 3.0% fiber content .. Not so concerned about this at this point .. It was the absence of the carageenan in this food that attracted me to it, plus its a pretty good quality food for the trial that I am doing. We will see how Max does in the coming days, and will let everyone know. I agree that this issue is so very individualized .. Wouldn't it be so nice if there was one fix for all. Less wear and tear on kitties and worry and uncertainty for pet owners.

My goal for this year is to transition all my cats away from dry food to a good all wet or raw diet. These latest adjustments are the first phase

EXCELLENT! No animal should be fed kibble - if people knew what is in it, no one would buy it. Commercial meat packing businesses throw bones, hooves, and offal in a pile outdoors and after a time of rotting out there they sell it to a pet food distributor who puts it, decomposing bacteria and mold and all, in a vat, cook it at very high temperatures and extrude it into kibble or form it into fake rubbery flakes or chunks for wet food. 60% of dogs and over 30% of cats in this country die of cancer, and a large contributor to that is kibble and low-grade food containing by-products and grain fillers.

 

[Ironwinged1]

I don't really think the fiber response food is helping all that much. She does not really care for it and that's why it takes 2 days to finish an 1/8 cup. I too have noticed she is very bloated since she started it and when I just recently took her to the vet for constipation she had gained a little weight. She went poop for the vet when her anal glands were being expressed and the vet told me a lot came out but it was not dry. Peaches also came home and kept crying for hours and going to her litter box and trying to go again. She finally went and it was a lot for having just went at the vet office. She continued to run around and cry and going in and out of the litter box. She finally went again but this time it was very runny, she has never had that happen after coming from the vet for constipation issues.

I talked with the vet about this and that is when she told me that maybe something is wrong with her colon and that it probably isn't IBD. I have had x-rays done and nothing showed up abnormal. The vet wants to try Cisapride and see if that helps but I was told it's very expensive. She would also like to have a test done where they can watch the food going through her colon but again it's very expensive. I just don't know what to do anymore. Peaches is so picky when it comes to canned food and she is allergic to anything with fish in it. She does not like chicken and will only eat turkey canned foods. It takes her a couple of hours to eat the canned food she gets twice a day. I can't find a food that will excite her and want to eat it.

Since the Fiber Response food seems to make her bloated do you think I should stop that? She has hardly put a dent in the bag and I could return it to get my money back. She still only goes every 2 or 3 days even with this food and runs around crying. She stared it December 11 and we have already been back to the vet for constipation since she started that food. I think I will look into the Slippery Elm Bark, what have I got to lose at this point.

You can't tell a lot about what is happening in a cat's colon with an x-ray. You should at least get an ultrasound; it will show any gallstones, inflammation in the colon, etc. Expensive, but really necessary.

 

[jdnature]

Some of you may have read my posts about Max, my nine year old Tabby who has been having problems with constipation on and off for the past two years. Well, I have been trying some different things lately to see what works best for Max in terms of managing and preventing his occasional constipation, but I also wanted to try and get to the bottom if possible as to why or what is making him constipated in the first place. I thought to post about this subject now as Max left a very nice present in the litterbox this morning.

I mentioned recently that this year I was going to start transitioning the cats off of dry food, and got started in the last week to lessen the amount of dry food from twice daily to once daily, replacing the meal of dry for wet food. Given that there is now less dry I thought to add a bit of pumpkin in case Max still needed some extra fiber, only with the pumpkin he's getting more moisture. After 3-4 days, no real change in volume or texture of poop.

Another thing I changed is the cats now get distilled (reverse osmosis) water rather than our well water which is quite hard. We have great well water that is clear of everything except calcium which makes it hard. Reading one day about how some cats can have a malabsorption problem with calcium, made me question whether our hard water could be contributing to Max's constipation. The other reason for the switch was in anticipation of using the distilled water for the cat's new drinking fountain.

I thought with the decrease in dry and increase of wet food that this would if anything surely change the texture of Max's bowel movements to something softer, but it didn't really or maybe I was expecting too much too soon. Next up, I purchased some slippery elm bark to try, hoping that this would help to lubricate Max's intestinal tract which in turn should help make his bowel movements move along more smoothly. Max has been getting about 1/4 tsp diluted in his food once per day since last Thursday.

The other thing that has occurred to me is the wet food that I have been serving which is Wellness grain-free. Wellness is one of the better quality foods but I noticed after it has been in the fridge it takes on a very gummy consistency. I know that Wellness contains the dreaded carageenan and have read that carageenan can instigate IBD in cats and could this be a contributing factor to Max's constipation, I wondered? So, I tried another experiment .. Yesterday I picked up some Nature's Variety canned which contains no carageenan, is grain-free and 90% meat protein. I selected chicken and duck varieties and found the aroma of the chicken to closely resemble cooked chicken which was a positive. Both Thomas and Max had some yesterday and again this morning. Maggie also had a bit this morning but no surprise that she didn't like it that much. She seems to prefer the cheaper, grocery store stuff such as Fancy Feast?

Max's bowel movement this morning was simply quite amazing and unlike anything he has produced in some time. It was substantial, well formed but looked like it was moist whereas his past bowel movements have seemed not sufficient given his size and always a bit on the gummy side looking suggesting to me that they lacked moisture and therefore not optimum.

Its a bit early yet to break out the champagne I realize but I am just so pleased and cautiously optimistic that some or all of the above things in combination may be the key to finally resolving the issue of Max's constipation once and for all. Its been quite a journey from a situation that was once thought to be megacolon.

Where can I buy slippery elm?

 

[white shadow]

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Hi jdnature and welcome to the forum !

Here's a reliable coverage of SEB from a most reputable source: Tanya's Comprehensive Guide....Slippery Elm Bark with a list of suppliers.

Hope that helps.
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