cat constipation remedies?

[sarasara]

My cancer cat has constipation and I have been using liquid parrafin as recommended by the vet. Unfortunatly it is not working and I wonder if anyone knows a surefire remedy which is preferably tastless and odorless and can be added to her food?

I already have to give her prednisone and norocalv tablets (ground with a little marge so she can take them in without cutting her tumour which is where the windpipe meets the stomach pipe) twice a day and dont want to further stress her.

Hope someone has experience in this,
Thanks,
Sara.

[dinahsmum]

Hi Sara - welcome to Catsy. Very sorry to hear of your poor baby and hope she is coping as well as possible with her tumour.
What do you feed her and what does she like?
If she only eats dry food you have a lot more of a problem sneaking something into her food than if she eats wet and/or tasty food into which things can be mushed.

I'll assume wet for now but if you come back and say dry then I'll have to put my thinking cap back on! Actually, if you are feeding dry and she will eat wet, then that is a simple thing to try.

OK - back to wet. First, you could try adding water to her normal food. Hide a teaspoon or more of warm water in every meal. Mush it up. Warming it makes the food smell more and become more appetising.
Second. Does she like tinned fish in oil? Sild or sardines often tempt ill kitties and they're nice and greasy and do well in the 'clearing gut' category.
Third. You might be able to hide a little wheat or oat bran mashed up in her food. Get it at Holland & Barratt etc.
Fourth. Anything to make her drink more. Milk, cat milk, chicken or fish broth (the water you have cooked chicken or fish in)
Fifth. Don't suppose she'd fancy raw food? A chicken wing or a lump of rough shin of beef?
Sixth - somebody else will be along with more *brilliant* ideas soon, I'm sure.

Good luck - please stay around and let us know how she gets on

[sarasara]

Hi Sara - welcome to Catsy. Very sorry to hear of your poor baby and hope she is coping as well as possible with her tumour.
What do you feed her and what does she like?
If she only eats dry food you have a lot more of a problem sneaking something into her food than if she eats wet and/or tasty food into which things can be mushed.

I'll assume wet for now but if you come back and say dry then I'll have to put my thinking cap back on! Actually, if you are feeding dry and she will eat wet, then that is a simple thing to try.

OK - back to wet. First, you could try adding water to her normal food. Hide a teaspoon or more of warm water in every meal. Mush it up. Warming it makes the food smell more and become more appetising.
Second. Does she like tinned fish in oil? Sild or sardines often tempt ill kitties and they're nice and greasy and do well in the 'clearing gut' category.
Third. You might be able to hide a little wheat or oat bran mashed up in her food. Get it at Holland & Barratt etc.
Fourth. Anything to make her drink more. Milk, cat milk, chicken or fish broth (the water you have cooked chicken or fish in)
Fifth. Don't suppose she'd fancy raw food? A chicken wing or a lump of rough shin of beef?
Sixth - somebody else will be along with more *brilliant* ideas soon, I'm sure.

Good luck - please stay around and let us know how she gets onKind of you but I have adressed all those issues. A cat with internal tumour, ulcer or abcess cannot be fed chicken, beef, fish because unprocessed food is too stringy.

It has to have good quality processed catfood chopped up fine with water added as it cannot usually drink milk or water alone. More than likely it cannot drink milk anymore.

No cat with any internal problems such as tumour, ulcer or abcess should be fed hard food or cat biscuits.

Raw food may cause secondary infections and is indigestable to a sick cat.

warming the food means it goes off sooner and best to leave it as it is for the cat to eat when it chooses and is able.

[dinahsmum]

I hope my suggestions may help someone else who looks through the forums in the future. It might have been helpful to give more details in your original post, as you are looking for a very precise answer.
Have you tried bran or is there a reason that is impractical?

[Mags]

Hi Sara, welcome to Catsey!

I'm very sorry to hear about your cat and her illness, it must be very difficult for you.

Can I ask how long your cat has been taking liquid parrafin? My previous cat was given liquid parrafin when he broke his pelvis and was badly constipated .......... it didn't work until 3 or 4 days later.

Is it possible to increase the dose slightly for your cat?

[Elaine]

Some excellent suggestions Hilary shame they cannt be applied in this case.
Sorry to hear about your sick cat, it might be worth looking into the bran though or even slippery elm bark.

[Fran]

Hi, I'm sorry to hear about your cat :( One of my cats had horrendous constipation following being seriously ill, she needed enemas initially to sort her out and then was put on a small dose of lactulose twice a day until her guts sorted themselves out. It worked a treat but I'd consult your vet before trying anything new. Good luck do let us know how she gets on

[sarasara]

Hi Sara, welcome to Catsey!

I'm very sorry to hear about your cat and her illness, it must be very difficult for you.

Can I ask how long your cat has been taking liquid parrafin? My previous cat was given liquid parrafin when he broke his pelvis and was badly constipated .......... it didn't work until 3 or 4 days later.

Is it possible to increase the dose slightly for your cat?I have now been recommended lactulose and physillium husk powder which I will get from the chemist and try. She does not mind the liquid Paraffin but it is not working well and she only goes to the toilet every few days, I do give her a lot of the paraffin.

[sarasara]

Hi, I'm sorry to hear about your cat :( One of my cats had horrendous constipation following being seriously ill, she needed enemas initially to sort her out and then was put on a small dose of lactulose twice a day until her guts sorted themselves out. It worked a treat but I'd consult your vet before trying anything new. Good luck do let us know how she gets onWhat sort of enemas are you using? The vet suggested pushing one up her bottom but she would die of horror if you did that!

[sarasara]

Some excellent suggestions Hilary shame they cannt be applied in this case.
Sorry to hear about your sick cat, it might be worth looking into the bran though or even slippery elm bark.I tried a natural cereal made from powdered oats without added sugar or salt called Readybrek but she would'nt touch it so I don't think she'd respond to bran. Slippery Elm Bark I'll explore if the Lactulate and Physillium husk powder dont work. Thanks.

[Fran]

What sort of enemas are you using? The vet suggested pushing one up her bottom but she would die of horror if you did that!

They were ones the vet prescribed - microlax I think. She had no choice, whether she liked them or not she had to have them and no she didn't like them! and I still bear the scars :roll: but she had to have them as she was extremely ill being so constipated and the next step for her was being put under anaesthetic for manual removal which obviously having been so ill she would not have coped well with. She only needed three or four over a couple of days and then a few days of lactulose to get her moving quite normally again and luckily no problems since.

[Fran]

The only thing I would say r.e lactulose is don't go over the top with the dose as it can send them the other way :roll: After being so very constipated, Mildred then had the runs following a few days of lactulose, it sorted itself out but just something to bear in mind. If you buy your Lactulose at the chemist be mindful that the does on the bottle will be a human dose ;)

[angieh]

Hi - so sorry to hear about your cat. Just to say I use lactulose for Merlin. The vet gave me a dosage syringe and said I should give 0.3 X 2 a day which could be increased to 1.5 if necessary. I found that actually 0.4 X 2 a day worked after 2 days of dosing and after a day of no dosing, I have started with 0.3 again x 1 per day to see if that keeps him "moving" but not too much! He does not object to it in his food.

Wishing you good luck with it - hope your cat is more comfortable soon.

[TomJerry]

I have lactulose for my cat Jerry too. 1ml x2 a day at the moment but still working out what his major problem is. Just added Zantac syrup to try and resolve him beig sick almost daily seems to be doing the trick so far