Cat question

[Gardening with Rabbits]

My cat Blinky has been constipated on and off lately. He is 8-1/2 years old now. A few months ago I decided to add tuna to see if it would help the constipation. He refuses to eat wet cat food. I have 3 cats and they are all different. One drinks water without a problem in the house. Mister the in and outdoor cat does not really like water in the house and drinks from rain, melting snow, watering the garden. The cat that likes the water inside I found out LOVES muddy or rain water. Blinky you hardly ever see drink water. He loves his dry food, but he loves tuna and it has not helped. He does seem to show more interest in the water outside, but with this snow, they have not been out in their pen in months. So, Blinky got constipated about 2 weeks ago, but with us giving pumpkin and fur ball medicine he kind of went some in the litter box and he was eating and drinking. Three days ago he quit eating and I was syringe feeding chicken baby food mixed with water, pumpkin and water and I could tell, he is not going to get over this, so last night we took our hard earned money and ourselves to the vet. He had an x-ray and pretty full, so they gave him an enema. They eventually gave him 4 enemas and not much coming out, so he was sedated and they manually took out feces. He came home and he still has some in him. I am to give him lactulose every 8 hours and go to vet in 3 days. He did have a bowel movement in box this morning, but he is not eating and not happy and I can tell still trying to go. They said he might have megacolon, but not sure how bad, low long. I am looking for ideas of food or any experience someone might have with this. It is not lack of exercise, he is very active all day. It is not a litterbox issue. Not stress, but a dry food diet, which the water drinking cats are not constipated. Any ideas?

 

[Just-Moxie]

I have been making the chicken broth lately, as I ended up with 3 sick cats. Not sure what they actually had...but no eating or drinking, and sleeping alot. They resisted my attempts to give them water with a syringe. But I guess the broth smelled good enough.
What did the vet say? Just constipated?

 

[ducks4you]

Dunno...first hit:
Metamucil is a source of fiber. Mix one to four teaspoons with your cat's food every 12 to 24 hours. - Miralax is another laxative and stool softener. Mix 1/4 tsp once a day with wet cat food.

 

[so lucky]

I would go with a liquid that a cat will like, such as chicken broth. Or water from the tuna can, plus a little of the tuna.
If you mix in a powder like Metamucil, and they don't drink enough liquid, this may add to the problem.

 

[thistlebloom]

It sounds like you are doing everything you can to help him Mary. I wonder if his not liking tap water has something to do with a chloriney odor?

Will he eat his dry food if you let it soak up tuna water?

I just looked up megacolon. The majority of cases have an unknown cause, but the treatment is a laxative inducing diet.
Most commonly occurs in cats that are:
*male
*Domestic Short Hair
* 6 years old or older
* Some Siamese in their background

I know you are aware of all that Mary, I just included it as general information for those of us that have no experience with it.

I wish you well, I hope he improves. He's a very pretty cat.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I have been making the chicken broth lately, as I ended up with 3 sick cats. Not sure what they actually had...but no eating or drinking, and sleeping alot. They resisted my attempts to give them water with a syringe. But I guess the broth smelled good enough.
What did the vet say? Just constipated?

Constipated. How are you making the chicken broth? Just boiling a whole chicken, any seasoning? He still is constipated even after the manual evacuation. They said there was still some in there. He went this morning, but he has been sitting odd like uncomfortable. He is now just kind of sitting like normal, but breathing with his mouth open slightly.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

It sounds like you are doing everything you can to help him Mary. I wonder if his not liking tap water has something to do with a chloriney odor?

Will he eat his dry food if you let it soak up tuna water?

I just looked up megacolon. The majority of cases have an unknown cause, but the treatment is a laxative inducing diet.
Most commonly occurs in cats that are:
*male
*Domestic Short Hair
* 6 years old or older
* Some Siamese in their background

I know you are aware of all that Mary, I just included it as general information for those of us that have no experience with it.

I wish you well, I hope he improves. He's a very pretty cat.

Yes, and he fits every one of those. He is a flame point, so he has Siamese too. He does the talking sound like Siamese. I will try the tuna water in his food. There is no chlorine in the water, only a couple times a year, but I can try bottled water. He still is not out of trouble I called the vet and made an appointment for tomorrow instead of Friday, but he is breathing with his mouth slightly open and uncomfortable. He may have to go back to the emergency vet tonight. We have had him since about 6 weeks old and he is such a baby and a charatcter. This picture shows him younger and can see more of the Siamese in him.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I would go with a liquid that a cat will like, such as chicken broth. Or water from the tuna can, plus a little of the tuna.
If you mix in a powder like Metamucil, and they don't drink enough liquid, this may add to the problem.

Yes, Mtamucil would be a disaster.

 

[thistlebloom]

You don't need to buy bottled water IMO. Just let tap water sit in an open container for 24 hours, the chlorine will dissipate.

I'm pretty sure that all tap water that comes from a municipal source is always chlorinated.

You could also collect snow and let it melt.

 

[canesisters]

He is probably uncomfortable from them digging out the stools - so he's going to act a little off and sit funny for a couple of days.

Does he like the hairball med? It's basically a lubricant to move things along. My cats go NUTS for coconut oil - the solid kind. I give them a glop once a week or so. Mayo is another oily 'treat' that he might like. Anything that he can eat every day - maybe with his food - to keep things moving. Like others have suggested, will he eat his dry food if it's soaked in something like broth or tuna juice? What about scrambled, or raw egg?
Have you tried bits of chicken? Maybe a 'real food' diet for a couple of weeks - or as a daily supplement to his dry food - until he gets this out of his system?

He's gorgeous! I hope he is feeling better soon.