Some Constipation Questions

missmindy

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Hi everyone,

I've read through a bunch of the threads on here about constipated kitties, and I think mine is experiencing a combo of all the issues discussed.

Long story short, she started throwing up a few weekends ago. I took her to the ER vet and they didn't find much. X-rays were good, blood was perfect, gave her fluids and sent us home. Fast forward a week and the same thing happened again. I also noticed a decrease in the size of her poops. Back to the ER vet, but this time they saw a lot of "material" on the X-ray and gave her an enema and sent us home with lactulose.

Now 3 weeks later, the lactulose helped some and i saw an increase in poop, but the vomitting came back. So this time I went to regular vet ( who I had been in constant contact with throughout the ER visits). She upped the lactulose dose, kitty took several BIG poops, and I thought we were good. The vomitting has now returned and she appears to be backing up again. We are now looking at adding cipraside. She is using her box to pee, but not to poop. She isn't pooping elsewhere, but either is choosing to hold it, or is having physical issues getting everything out. I gave her a 2nd litter box and put cat attract in it. If I physically put her in the box, she will poop. She's totally ignored it otherwise. we are trying to up her wet food, but she is a hard core kibble addict and this transition hasn't worked fully. I know all wet is best, but we aren't there yet.

I guess my question is, is it time for cipraside? I don't doubt my vet, but if you've seen my old thread, my kitty has had a number of major health problems and her vet bills have been in the 5 figures. I'm also open to any other tips and tricks anyone might have. I think we are going to repeat X-rays this week as she's still not acting quite right and isn't the voracious eater she usually is. Also to look at anything that might be causing her pain. I'm afraid I've totally stressed her out about using her box and am kind of at a loss. I feel terrible I haven't been able to help her feel better yet!

Edited to add I wouldn't not treat her due to $$,but just want to make the best decisions for both of us. I have care credit but her last issue ate up most of it.
 
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maggiedemi

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I was going to suggest upping her canned food. Have you tried a dry food with more fiber? Some forum members have had good luck with the Fiber Response dry food.
 
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missmindy

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Thank you! Diet change is definitely being considered. Her vet was going to check out some diets for me this week. She is pretty calorie restricted and only takes in about 120 a day, but does not lose weight, so further restriction was being considered. Right now she will tolerate about 1oz of wet a day. She has chosen to not eat at all rather than just wet in the past. I add water to the wet she will eat. Her diet struggle would be another giant post :)
 

Timmer

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I hear very good things about the Royal Canin Gastrointestial food. You need a prescription for it. There are people on here that sing it's praises and I am tempted to try it on my cat. I have a female who tends to run constipated and I put her on Royal Canin Hairball formula food. You can get it at the regular pet store. It has worked very well for her and she likes the dry. It's got a lot of fiber in it. I had to "jump start" her with a little Lactulose and she did very well. She also gets half a can of Fancy Feast a day (she is a small cat and doesn't like canned so well but she will eat it). I have sometimes put psyllium husk in her wet food. Just broke open a capsule and mixed it in. She goes a lot when I do that. She has always been good about drinking water so that's not an issue.
Another thing I've used on my cats is Miralax. Good stuff. Mix it in with the food, or mix in with a little water and syringe it into their mouths.

You didn't say what you are feeding your cat...
 
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missmindy

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She is eating mostly a dry prescription food-I believe it is hills. I know people don't care for that brand, but she has been a nightmare to figure out a diet for.

She is taking miralax now instead of the lactulose. She has vomitted 4 times so far today and will be going to the vet tomorrow am. She still won't poop. I'm at my wits end with her and am afraid I'm going to have to make some tough decisions.
 

Timmer

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Maybe the vet can give her an enema and fluids. Something is going on and it might take something like an ultrasound to find out.
I lost my Timmer to IBD/GI lymphoma back in January. He couldn't poop. His GI tract had swollen shut and nothing I gave him would work. It was terrible for us. I loved that cat to death and still cry about losing him. But if you are eating, you have to be able to poop. Your cat needs to go. Have you seen her try to poop? Is she straining at all.
 

duckpond

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120 calories per day is not much for a cat. Why is she so restricted, and im afraid i would be afraid to feed less.
 
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missmindy

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Timmer Timmer she is currently spending the day at the vet for an enema-more than if needed. She's chock full if poop despite going twice yesterday. Poor thing! She will be starting cipraside after she's cleaned out. Hopefully this will keep it from happening again so we don't end up with worse problems! I'm sorry for the loss of your kitty :(

duckpond duckpond she's on such a low calorie because she packs on the pounds at anything much higher. It's probably actually closer to 135 calories if I do the math better. We pre-measure her food into multiple feelings throughout the day. She's not super active and seems to have a super sluggish metabolism. I was uncomfortable with that amount too, but it has kept her from gaining. She's close to 15 pounds and is a roly poly shaped kitty-cute but not healthy. Keeping her from gaining has been a struggle for the few years I've owned her. My goal is to get her on all wet food, but we just aren't there yet.
 

duckpond

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Timmer Timmer she is currently spending the day at the vet for an enema-more than if needed. She's chock full if poop despite going twice yesterday. Poor thing! She will be starting cipraside after she's cleaned out. Hopefully this will keep it from happening again so we don't end up with worse problems! I'm sorry for the loss of your kitty :(

duckpond duckpond she's on such a low calorie because she packs on the pounds at anything much higher. It's probably actually closer to 135 calories if I do the math better. We pre-measure her food into multiple feelings throughout the day. She's not super active and seems to have a super sluggish metabolism. I was uncomfortable with that amount too, but it has kept her from gaining. She's close to 15 pounds and is a roly poly shaped kitty-cute but not healthy. Keeping her from gaining has been a struggle for the few years I've owned her. My goal is to get her on all wet food, but we just aren't there yet.
ok, just seems like so little, but different cats and all. Does she eat any wet? i would think that would be better for all of her issues? Best of luck
 
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missmindy

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Thanks! She will eat some wet-we are at probably 20% wet and 80% dry.

She had 2 enemas today. The first one didn't produce anything but the 2nd one got things going a little. We had a poop puddle a little while ago. She started cisapride and will continue miralax. Her X-rays looked ok except for her being filled to the brim. Her vet didn't see anything else of concern there or on physical exam thank goodness. Kitty is fast asleep right now. Had to be such a traumatic day for her :(
 

duckpond

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Thanks! She will eat some wet-we are at probably 20% wet and 80% dry.

She had 2 enemas today. The first one didn't produce anything but the 2nd one got things going a little. We had a poop puddle a little while ago. She started cisapride and will continue miralax. Her X-rays looked ok except for her being filled to the brim. Her vet didn't see anything else of concern there or on physical exam thank goodness. Kitty is fast asleep right now. Had to be such a traumatic day for her :(
great. maybe continue to up the wet? hope she rest well, and feels better tomorrow!
 
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missmindy

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Enema question-should we be seeing multiple BM's? My vet indicated she should be producing a lot of poops tonight, but we only had the big puddle a few hours ago (shortly after the enema). I'm supposed to call the vet in the AM to see if they feel a 3rd enema is needed-my poor kitty!!
 

duckpond

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wishing you guys the best tonight! And lot of poo! keep us updated.
 
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missmindy

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Thank you! We haven't had any poop today at all :( Maybe she is too cleaned out. Her appetite is great and she seems perky. She has been napping a lot, but she seems much more relaxed than over the past week. Maybe she can finally get some good rest. Her vet decided not to stress her out by bringing her in since she did go yesterday.
 
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missmindy

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:(And now the vomitting is back overnight as well as another hairball vomit that preceded the over night episodes. She wasn't too interested in her breakfast. I had to physically place her in her litter box to try and get her to poop-which she did. It will be back to the vet on Monday if she doesn't improve. The vet I spoke to today is concerned there is a motility issue throughout her entire gut. I'm so scared for her
 
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missmindy

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Thanks! Still not doing great :(. Going to start another thread with a specific med question.
 
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missmindy

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Still vomiting-dosed her with more miralax and her new zofran. This poor kitty :(
 

Jojo&Tutu

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Still vomiting-dosed her with more miralax and her new zofran. This poor kitty :(
Zofran really helped my kitty who used to vomit a couple times a week with inflammatory bowel disease. I add organic pumpkin beechnut baby food a little less than one tablespoon per 5 ounce (larger) can. Miralax dried her out too much and made her even more constipated and I think the Med you mentioned cisapride (?) was pulled off market for people as it causes heart problems. The smooth muscle of the bowel is the same as the heart so you might not want to cause contractions that can affect the heart muscle. Just try adding no more than a tablespoon pumpkin per larger can as recommended by my kitty's internal medicine vet. It sounds like your kitty might have inflammatory bowel disease. A very low. Dose budesonide steroid helps a lot. My kitty is on .4 mg one capsule per day compounded by a compound pharmacy. My kitty also takes 1/4 of the low dose Pepsid ac twice a day. My kitty is on a unique protein diet with no pea no chick pea no guar gum no other gums added no or few carbohydrates. She is on Lotus just juicy venison now. The pumpkin did the trick after trying many other things. The zofran is a miracle drug too. My kitty also had to go on a long term antibiotic to control pancreatitis. You might want to see an internal medicine vet. These specialists have a better handle on care for kitties. Check for pancreatitis which can also cause vomiting and weight loss. Check her liver values too. They are simple blood tests. Might want to get vet insurance before going. Another good thing: I comb and brush my kitty daily. I use a small soft plastic child's brush and a flee comb used on an angle so it doesn't pull her hair. Hope this helps you as it helped my kitty.
 
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