? Constipation again (Tosca), worried and discouraged

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Tosca

Tosca

Member Since 2022
My lovely cat I got constipated 4 times since last September, to the point of getting enemas at the vet, one time with full anesthesia.
I am feeding her only wet food, add pumpkin to her meals, give Miralax around 1 teaspoon a day, a little bit in each meal, and Cisapride 2 times a day.
And now again, it is a second day she goes to the litter, and nothing happens. She pees ok though. At least she didn't start to cry or vomit (yet), as she usually does in the 3rd day of constipation.
Her blood tests and xray I am told came out good, no kidney issues, no other issues that diabetes, which I think is well controlled.
I am told that is because she is a little fat, and we are working on it. I am counting the calories to not overfeed and I try to exercise her, though she is not a very active cat indeed.
What else I can do? I feel like I do everything and still cannot manage this.
Any thoughts from people in similar situations?
 
what wet food are you feeding, what is it's nutritional breakdown?

One thing I learned is that fat content can make a huge difference in terms of alleviating constipation. What is the fat% in their diet?
 
Hendrick Cuddleclaw said:
what wet food are you feeding, what is it's nutritional breakdown?

One thing I learned is that fat content can make a huge difference in terms of alleviating constipation. What is the fat% in their diet?
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Indeed the fat balance is not too high, on most food is 0.2- 2% as we try to make her lose weight. I will add food with more fat. What is the recommended fat percentage? Also, is there any fat I can add today to cope with the acute constipation now? Some type of oil to add to food?
Thank you!
 
Tosca said:
Indeed the fat balance is not too high, on most food is 0.2- 2% as we try to make her lose weight. I will add food with more fat. What is the recommended fat percentage? Also, is there any fat I can add today to cope with the acute constipation now? Some type of oil to add to food?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
You could consider omegas as in fish oil, it will give him omegas which is always good and may help a bit you could also consider giving SEB (slippery elm bark) in addition to the Miralax, it can sometimes help with constipation

In case of extreme emergency, kind of to avoid an enema at the vet you could give him 5-10 drops of olive oil once or twice in a day but this would only be in an emergency since cats cat not really process olive oil and it can cause liver and other problems if they eat too much or frequently so is not a long term solution just in case of a crisis and to try and avoid an enema it really works to unclog them
 
Tosca said:
Indeed the fat balance is not too high, on most food is 0.2- 2% as we try to make her lose weight. I will add food with more fat. What is the recommended fat percentage? Also, is there any fat I can add today to cope with the acute constipation now? Some type of oil to add to food?
Thank you!
Click to expand...

tricky situation indeed, as most diets to help control or reduce a cat's weight will be lower in fat

but the AAFCO minimum for fat in all cat foods is 9%, and most experts say it should be 20-24% -- approximately the same fat % as a small rodent body like a mouse.

I noticed the sugar kitty and one or two of our civvy cats have issues with constipation when fed a lower fat food. We feed all 7 of them low-carb, wet/canned or homemade raw (E-Z Complete) and so this involves varieties of Weruva and Tiki -- many of which are very low fat. So we have learned to pay close attention to the fat in their diets.

As far as an additive or something you could give to pump up the fat % in the diet quickly, I am afraid I don't have any suggestions.
 
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