Some Constipation Questions

[missmindy]

Thanks for the update on KeKe. Let's hope that it was just from stress and nothing serious. Let us know what happens at cardiology when you get the chance.

Thank you! We go tomorrow. She's dodged so many health scares I hope this isn't "the one." I'll update either way (and start a new thread if we get news of something wrong with her heart).

 

[missmindy]

Good news! Normal heart structure and function. The Cardiologist heard the "Gallop" rhythm, but only when my kitty was growling at her. Despite this, she saw no indication on the ultrasound of any heart disease. She said it could just be related to normal aging. I'm supposed to watch for any signs that she's having issues breathing, etc, but otherwise she doesn't even have to go back for a heart recheck!

 

[maggiedemi]

Yay KeKe! This is great news. Yeah, that makes sense that her heart rate would go up while growling at the vet.

 

[missmindy]

Thank you!! Ironically her heart rate was low until she started growling! She finally gets a break now from going to the vet as she's pooping regularly, her lumps and bumps are stable and she seems to be feeling good! Her next recheck will be in February. Fingers crossed we are good until then-she needs some downtime!

 

[missmindy]

Unfortunately we've had regression with our poop issue. We had a change in diet prescribed for weight loss by a nutritionist due to obesity. We went a couple days without poop a couple of weeks ago, so I upped her lactulose and got daily poop. Now today though we are back to vomiting every 5ish hours just like when this started. The nutritionist was concerned this might happen, but we can't connect with her until Monday. She prescribed psyllium husk powder, but that led to total refusal of all wet food so we scrapped it. We are in between a rock and a hard place-she needs lower cal food, but it seems to bind her up. I'll run her to the kitty ER if it keeps up, but it cost over a thousand last time for tests, X-rays and one enema, and her regular vet ended up being who got her bowels regulated. This poor girl!!

 

[maggiedemi]

Aww man. Poor KeKe. Sorry to hear this. What about an Indoor food? I know sometimes they have stuff in them that help constipation and they are lower calorie.

 

[Jojo&Tutu]

Have you tried Lotus just juicy. They have different meats like venison and turkey and the food has a lot of juice. It looks like pulled pork - like real people food. You can easily remove the fat in it. I add a half tablespoon of baby food pumpkin to each 5 ounce can and that helps my kitty's constipation. If the stool is too hard I add a bit more pumpkin. I also heard that miralax -a tiny amount can help hold water in the stools without irritating the bowels. Hope your kitty is better soon.

 

[di and bob]

Ask your vet about Miralax, 1/4 -1/2 tsp. It was the only thing that worked for my cat. I pray your sweet little one gets through this!

 

[Timmer]

Miralax is usually the go to. You can mix it in the cat's wet food or else make a slurry and syringe it into the mouth.
But what is working for my cat right now is Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Response food. You can get wet or canned. It's prescription. It's been a godsend for us. She loves it and she has big poops nearly every day. Run that by your vet. You can even mix it with whatever your cat is eating now, half and half.

It's one thing to have an overweight cat but a cat that does not poop does not last long. I think that's a priority over weight loss. At least right now.

 

[missmindy]

Aww man. Poor KeKe. Sorry to hear this. What about an Indoor food? I know sometimes they have stuff in them that help constipation and they are lower calorie.

Have you tried Lotus just juicy. They have different meats like venison and turkey and the food has a lot of juice. It looks like pulled pork - like real people food. You can easily remove the fat in it. I add a half tablespoon of baby food pumpkin to each 5 ounce can and that helps my kitty's constipation. If the stool is too hard I add a bit more pumpkin. I also heard that miralax -a tiny amount can help hold water in the stools without irritating the bowels. Hope your kitty is better soon.

Ask your vet about Miralax, 1/4 -1/2 tsp. It was the only thing that worked for my cat. I pray your sweet little one gets through this!

Miralax is usually the go to. You can mix it in the cat's wet food or else make a slurry and syringe it into the mouth.
But what is working for my cat right now is Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Response food. You can get wet or canned. It's prescription. It's been a godsend for us. She loves it and she has big poops nearly every day. Run that by your vet. You can even mix it with whatever your cat is eating now, half and half.

It's one thing to have an overweight cat but a cat that does not poop does not last long. I think that's a priority over weight loss. At least right now.

Thank you everyone!! We used Miralax when this first started a few months ago, but didn't get any response from it. We were up to close to a full tablespoon daily. So, we switched back to Lactulose and were doing well. She was in crisis mode at that point though, so I wonder if it's worth exploring again once she is regulated again. She was eating the RC Fiber Response Food that Timmer suggested, but packed on a pound in a month from it (even though she wasn't getting the full reccomended serving). She loved eating it though and we got 2 big poops a day. You are absolutely right though that we may just have to let the weight issue go so that she can stay around!

I will ask about the pumpkin baby food, indoor food and the Lotus food-good suggestions! Thank you all for your support and suggestions! She is spending the day at the vet getting fluids and hopefully will get all emptied out!

 

[missmindy]

She came home last night and is all cleaned out. We are back on the RC Fiber Response dry and also wet food which I can add pumpkin too. We have free choice for what to feed canned wise as long as it stays within her calorie plan, so I will check out some of the suggested brands. She's still on a restricted calorie plan, but hopefully getting her back on this Fiber dry food will help get her back on track. She's over 16 pounds at this point and it's definitely impacting her ability to groom and her activity level. I help her groom her hind end when she needs it of course. I worry about diabetes too :/
THANK YOU ALL as always for the suggestions and support!!

 

[maggiedemi]

What are you feeding for canned food? I switched over to pate this week and things are going really well.

 

[missmindy]

Right now the short list of "approved" by KeKe kinds are:
Muse, Sheba and IAMS-Pate only. She won't eat the shreds, chunks etc. For a chunky girl she's a picky eater!
Spoke with the vet earlier and if she doesn't poop today, she has to go back tomorrow. I figured we wouldn't see anything Tuesday after Monday's enemas, so fingers crossed she will go today!

 

[missmindy]

We are finally back on track-back to 2 poops every 24-ish hours. That seems to be the magic timeframe for her. Now to work on increasing her activity level to maintain her weight!

 

[maggiedemi]

Oh, that's good to hear. It's hard to find a balance, but glad you seem to have found it for KeKe.

 

[missmindy]

Well, this week we had a rough weekend. Thought we had things under control Several episodes of vomiting and diarrhea which is a new one. One time she couldn't even make it to the litter box on time poor thing (and my poor couch). That has never ever happened before. She seems totally fine though and eating and drinking normally. I'm taking her to the vet as precaution later this morning as this is a new issue :/

 

[maggiedemi]

Sorry this happened. What do you think caused it? Is she on any stool softeners for constipation that might need to be reduced? Good luck at the vet today.

 

[missmindy]

Thank you! She's on Lactulose, but has been for a while now without any diarrhea. They actually recommended upping it slightly too. The vet was thinking her gut bacteria may be out of whack due to all of her recent GI issues and the diet change and subsequent switchback, so she wants her to do an antibiotic for a bit. We also did bloodwork to rule out anything more sinister. It appears she may have dropped closed to a pound in 6 weeks, but there's some concern her weight may have been entered incorrectly at some point. That's very frustrating as that's a pretty big drop. Visually I see no change in her appearance. If she did drop weight while still being hungry, I wonder if her thyroid is out of whack. Her vitals and outward appearance were all normal and she doesn't "seem" sick. Blood should be back tomorrow. Fingers crossed...

 

[missmindy]

Just an update since I haven't posted in a long time-things are going well on the poop front. I have to adjust meds when I see things starting to back up, but for the most part things are moving along and KeKe is happy and healthy.

All of her testing was good AND she managed to lose 1/2 a pound from about the middle of October to the middle of November. (had a nutrition consult and a change to low cal food). I wasn't a huge fan of the diet change, but the nutritionist said she's one of the most challenging clients she's ever had as she puts on weight so easily. I have her trot up 2 flights of stairs everyday and she's started taking walks which is helping.

Fingers crossed we will stay on a steady course of good for a while. She will have a recheck of her duodenum growth in February.

 

[maggiedemi]

Thanks for the KeKe update! Glad to hear the poop problems are under control.