Constipated Cat????

[LoriC]

My cat did not have a bowel movement yesterday and today I saw her trying to, but she was unable to do so. She is urinating normally and has been eating. I gave her some Petromalt hairball remedy as I suspect that
might be the problem. Is there anything else I can give her to help her out?

[Traci]

Personally, I would use laxatone rather than petromalt....you can also try adding a tablespoon of canned pumpkin (not pie filling) to her food, once daily. Another option is sprinkling a 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of dry metamucil over her food, twice a day. If she doesn't produce a stool by tomorrow, or, if she seems to be straining much too hard, produces blood but no stool, feels painful in her abdominal area, seems in distress at all, don't hesitate to call your vet or ER vet immediately to opt for a kitty enema.

[LoriC]

Tracy, thanks for your reply. I will go get some laxatone tonight and try that. My plan was to take her to the vet tomorrow if there are no "results" by then. BTW she is 12 1/2 yrs old and currently on Atenolol. Are you aware of any problems giving laxatone and/or metamucil with that.

[Traci]

No, the meds will not be affected with the use of laxatone or petromalt. Thanks for mentioning the heart condition, if she seems stressed or painful in the least, I wouldn't even wait til tomorrow......but if she is not stressed, give the laxatone or pumpkin or metamucil a try and see what happens by tomorrow morning. (don't use any of them in combination, just one or the other)

If she is prone to hairballs, talk to your vet about that. With age, and coupled with a primary health condtion, sometimes constipation episodes can worsen in time, or become more frequent due to poor digestion, etc....just run that by your vet if you feel hairballs might be a problem.

[LoriC]

She does not seeemed stressed at all right now. She did not appear to be in any pain when I saw her trying to relieve herself. She's not extremely active given her age and the fact that she's taking atenolol, but she is acting normally in all other respects. BTW, she just had a complete blood work-up (Chem Panel, CBC, Thyroid, Urinalysis) when she went for her annual cardiac ultrasound at the end of July.

Which of the three options (Metamucil, Laxatone or Pumpkin) do you think will get the fastest and best results?

Thanks again for your input!

[Traci]

Laxatone first choice....metamucil second choice....pumpkin third choice...(but each kitty responds differently). I'd start with at least a one or two inch ribbon of the laxatone, and maybe follow it with some warm broth or warm liquid of some sort to help get things moving along. Given the time of day right now, I'd only use it once tonite, maybe once in the morning before her appointment.

Hope this helps. She will probably be ok for tonite, but given her age and length of time to produce, I would definately take her in tomorrow if she doesn't produce by then.

[LoriC]

Thanks very much. I'm going to the store right now.

[Traci]

I should probably ammend the broth advice...given the heart condition, you don't want added sodium, so if you have any salt-free or sodium free broth, that would be better....or you can just try giving her a couple cc's of lukewarm water following the laxatone (I do this for my own for such problems, I simply use a syringe to give the warm water orally after the laxatone)

[LoriC]

She did have a small bowel movement around 5:00am. Not as much as I would like, but at least it's something. Gave her some more Laxatone
this morning followed by some warm water.

[Traci]

Good to know, Lori, but I would still get her in to see your vet. If there is a hairball obstruction, she may be constipated, and there could be a fecal impaction that the laxatone may not take care of. An obstruction could also be in the stomach or intestine.....a quick x-ray may help rule this out. (or your vet may be able to determine simply based on palpation, distended abdomen, etc)