Lactulose

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Shenandoah

Shenandoah

Member Since 2015
At our vet appointment yesterday we got a bottle of Lactulose to help with constipation.

I gave her a dose of Lactulose last night and that went fine. But this morning when I gave her a dose she immediately threw up, and then wouldn't touch breakfast until much later.

Are there benefits to Lactulose over Miralax? felineconstipation.org seems to be uncertain about Lactulose with "I have read that it is for cats, I have read that it is not."
From a search, it seems most people here prefer Miralax over Lactulose.

What do you think? Should we give Lactulose a try for a bit, even after her throwing it up? Or try Miralax first and see if it helps?
 
I have never used lactulose for constipation. Many articles say that it may raise glucose levels in diabetic cats so I didn't want to chance it. I use regular pure pumpkin about 1 tsp split with meals and it seems to keep my guy pretty regular.

I am sure others will weigh in the lactulose.
 
She already gets an almost 50/50 split between pumpkin and FFC plus some added water, for every meal.

She's mostly regular, but has had issues about once/month for the past 3 months. We think she might have some pain/difficulty staying in the squatting position, which causes things to back up. She does have arthritis in her knees (we initially thought she didn't have arthritis because past x-rays of spine and hips were clear - but this time her knees got imaged and they have pretty significant arthritis). Beyond that, the x-rays looked good, so it doesn't seem to be any other issue causing it.
 
I was doing some reading on lactulose and it is not advised for people who are lactose intolerant. Many kitties are lactose intolerant so that could be part of the problem with your kitty. The miralax might be gentler on the system. Hope you get some feedback from people who have used both types.


ETA The arthritis would definitely make it harder for her to do her business. Poor thing :(
 
Shenandoah said:
But this morning when I gave her a dose she immediately threw up, and then wouldn't touch breakfast until much later.
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Has the vet examined Shenandoah very recently? If not, it might be a very good idea to get the vet to do an exam to make sure there's no obstruction.


Mogs
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Yes, yesterday when she prescribed the Lactulose she did a full exam, including x-rays.
She had some poo in there, on the large side, but they came out later in the day yesterday without a problem (I watched).
The last constipation episode was Friday, but she did eventually get them out and has had a bowel movement about once/day since then. But since it's been happening about once/month, I wanted to get her looked at to make sure nothing more significant was going on.
 
Lactalose is a sugar solution so use in a diabetic cat isn't the best option. It also tastes really bad to most cats. Miralax has no sugars in it and is tasteless so that is why many people prefer it.

When we started giving our old lady with arthritis Adaquan it really helped her constipation.
 
We were also started on Cosequin yesterday, so we'll see how that helps with arthritis. Laser therapy was also mentioned as a possibility.

Vet mentioned to make sure she can get to everything she needs without jumping or high stepping - which she can. But she WANTS to jump, she is always getting herself up on things, even places I don't want her :D So I don't know how much the pain is really bothering her, but I am trying to make sure everything is as easy as possible anyway.
 
Hi:)
I use miralax for my kitties, 1/4 tsp 1x to 2x a day. I sprinkle it right on the food. It works great & doesn't cause an upset stomach.
 
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