diabetes + megacolon --- diet?

[roisin and fax]

Hi all,

I have not posted in a long while. Fax had been doing pretty well for a stretch but then last week I had to take him in to the vet for constipation. The poor guy was so backed up they had to put him under and help get everything out, twice! He had to spend 3 nights in hospital and finally came home yesterday. He seems to be doing ok considering all he's been through this week. Happy to report a MASSIVE BM in the litter tray this morning.

I have started him on lactulose 2-3 times a day (he thankfully will eat it). I am in Canada - does anyone use anything other than lactulose here? I have read about Miralax in the US but can't seem to find it here.

The vet wants me to change his food over to high fibre. I have concerns about this - first of all - a cat's digestive system is designed for the exact opposite of high fibre, so how does this work? Also, it took me months to find a food that worked with his diabetes (after trying numerous kinds - Fancy Feast pate varieties seem to work well). I will be honest and say that I don't trust the food sold by the vet clinic. The diabetes canned food they had him on was the worst I tried when it came to his blood glucose levels. I did voice these concerns to the vet but like always the response was mild annoyance and disregard. It seemed to me they didn't seem too worried about his diabetes, only his backed up colon. My logic and heart tells me I have to be sensitive to both conditions.

Is there anyone here that has experience with both conditions? How are you managing it?

Thank you for your time

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

I am sorry you haven't gotten any responses. I know we have members with megacolon and diabetes but they aren't around today. Be sure to check back for responses.

I did see a yahoo group on megacolon which might be helpful: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline_Megacolon/

 

[Karen & Angus(GA)]

I have a cat with chronic constipation from IBD. She is not diabetic, but I feed her a low carb, grain-free, low fiber wet diet anyway because she is on steriods for the IBD. What has worked for us is a combination of Miralax (generic name is polyethylene glycol, I believe it is sold in Canada as Lax-a-Day) and cisapride. Cisapride is a motility drug. It has been withdrawn for human use in many countries (including the US) because of side effects when combined with common antibiotics, but is available compounded for veterinary use here. If you cannot get cisapride, you could try ranitidine (Zantac). It is not quite as effective, but works for both acid reduction and motility.

 

[KSAkitties]

I have two IBD kitties; one has IBD and diabetes. It's a balanced act to keep both IBD and diabetes under control. Many people use pumpkin to help with digestion and as as source of fibre but because of my cat's diabetic condition, I do not use pumpkin. I have been using MiraLax (Trade name in the US) or also known as RestoraLax in Canada. I bought mine at PharmaPrix in Montreal a few months ago while I was visiting there. The packaging is exactly the same as MiraLax - fuchsia coloured cap and purplish label.

I add 1/8 teaspoon of MiraLax/RestorLax upto twice a day. This has been working very well for my kitties.

All my cats are on raw diet (except one is on canned food). I do add some butter squash, pumpkin, or zucchini for my non-diabetic kitties.

Here's a very informative website on feline digestive issues, particularly on constipation.
Feline Constipation Website:http://www.felineconstipation.org/introduction.html

 

[Lisa dvm]

I would not feed a constipated cat a high fiber diet. This tact has fallen out of favor with most of the knowledgeable feline vets that I correspond with.

Low fiber and miralax- equivalent is a better answer than a high fiber diet.

 

[roisin and fax]

Thank you everyone for your responses.
Any reading I have done supports the low fibre diet. My logic is telling me this makes the most sense as well.
Does the Fancy Feast Pate fall under 'low fibre' at 1.5% fibre? The high fibre stuff from the vet is 3.5%.

The lactulose is definitely doing its job for Fax. Since arriving home he has had a few giant BMs and is acting more himself than he has in a few weeks.
I am going to go and look for the miralax equivalent today - a tasteless, odourless powder seems much nicer to me than the sticky goop that is lactulose!