Cassiopaean Sandbox > Our 2D Friends

Mega Bowel/Colon in Cats

<< < (2/2)

NewOrleans:
My sweet old black cat died about a week ago from heart failure. My friend who is a doctor said he'd heard irregular heart beat for several weeks and there was nothing to be done. Died sleeping next to me which is probably the gentlest way to go for his advanced age. His diet his whole life was meat-centered, no rice or grains or vegetables. I was always reading the sides of cat food cans and there have been some new brands on the market. Authority Brand was our recent discovery. But I've returned all the unopened cans now to the pet store and with the refund I've sent that off to my old friends at the Louisiana SPCA, being a rescue cat from there. He would have liked that.

I would suggest you have a meeting with your vet and go over strategies for helping your feline. Not sure about enemas for cats. Possible though. But maybe research on foods that are more gentle on the digestive system. Years ago, I had one cat with impacted bowel syndrome and immediate help from her doctor saved her life. Lived to a ripe old age.

Best wishes to you and your little buddy, Lara4unow.

SAO:

--- Quote from: Megan on March 29, 2012, 02:38:37 PM ---That didn't sound too good to me either. We have given organic pumpkin to our Cassie, and it appeared to help, but bran is abrasive and has caused me personally a lot of trouble in the past (I am still healing after eliminating it a year ago) and I wouldn't think of giving it to my cats!

--- End quote ---
Interesting that the brans were listed after the low-fiber discussion I noticed on some sites, though if I look it up specifically it seems to contain quite a bit of fiber. They do seem to be a popular suggestion for cat constipation, but I suppose it's the same idea for humans - that fiber is commonly recommended for "good bowel movement", and we know it's not necessary. Since cats are carnivores they don't really need it. Pumpkin also has some fiber, but overall it does seem less evil. I'd still look into vitamin C and magnesium, since this is the only thing I know of that is healthy and works for humans. But also nothing happens for no reason - no one gets constipated "just because", so I guess switching up the diet is a good place to test what might be at the root.

suelarue:
Hi lara4unow,
This is a very timely subject as my 20 year old cat Puck has the same condition so I can very much sympathize with what you are going through.  It is not fun and it is incredibly hard to watch him go through this.  He has trouble passing any stool, and when he does, it is hard as a rock.  The impaction got so bad a couple of times that we had to take him to the vet to have it manually extracted.  :(  Like Herr Eisenheim said, the condition is irreversible, but I can tell you what we are doing which seems to have helped "move things along" for Puck.

He is on a grain free, low fiber diet of mostly meat and we try to keep the moisture content high in the food we give him.  I make bone broth and mix a bit of that in with his canned food (Wellness brand).  He likes most meat so we give him some from our meals and also some deli chicken/roast beef.  One of the other things he likes is tuna mixed well with a lot of water (like tuna soup). Whatever we give him, we try to keep the fat/moisture content high.  He has got to be the most finicky eater of all the cats I have ever had so it really is whatever works at the time (as long as it is low fiber/grain free).

However, the diet alone was not helping to move the stool along well enough and he was still becoming impacted so out of desperation we resorted to giving him a laxative (at the vet's direction).  We give him a small amount (about 20 - 30cc) of Docusate Sodium liquid (liquid Colace) and it has definitely worked. He was able to pass a LARGE blockage of stool that was lodged really high in his colon and once that was passed (NOT a happy cat when that happened!) he started passing stool daily again.  We only have to give it to him occassionally when we see that his bowel movements are slowing/stopping again.  I would have preferred to find a more natural way to ease the problem, but this is really the only thing that has worked for us.

I hope this is helpful and that Dust starts seeing some relief!


--- Quote ---My sweet old black cat died about a week ago from heart failure. My friend who is a doctor said he'd heard irregular heart beat for several weeks and there was nothing to be done. Died sleeping next to me which is probably the gentlest way to go for his advanced age. His diet his whole life was meat-centered, no rice or grains or vegetables. I was always reading the sides of cat food cans and there have been some new brands on the market. Authority Brand was our recent discovery. But I've returned all the unopened cans now to the pet store and with the refund I've sent that off to my old friends at the Louisiana SPCA, being a rescue cat from there. He would have liked that.
--- End quote ---

So sorry to hear that NewOrleans.    :hug2:  It sounds like his passing was peaceful and also comforting that he was lying next to you at the time.  I don't know if that is your cat in your profile picture, but my cat Puck looks JUST like him!  He also likes to sleep next to me so I can only hope that when the time comes, his passing will be just as peaceful. 

Duke palatine:
Your cat is quite old and it's metabolism will have slowed down, I'd suggest cutting out the dried food if your little creature can be persuaded to eat high quality protein.
Some plain boiled white fish each day will help the stomach create a bacterial balance.
I have no experience with enemas on cats, does your cat show signs of stress as a result of an enema treatment. Pissing in the house, scratching for example.
Kittens can be induced to crap by gently rubbing their anus, doing this with some ph neutral cream may help your cat.
Good luck I hope it goes well, im very fond of all animals especially cats.

lara4unow:
Hi all,
Just returned from a trip.  Dusty is Ok for now.  He seems to do better on the high protein diet that Herr Eisenheim suggests.  Kibble (Taste of the Wild lamb or trout) and Wellness chicken pate with a little pro-biotic powder for animals by Jarrow.  He has lots of good water and because he is 14, this condition is irreversible.  Dr. Pitcairn's recipe for enemas would be great when you have a moment Herr Eisenheim.
thanks for all your input.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page