Megacolon diagnosis for 13 year old kitty

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Ann & Maggie11 (GA)

Ann & Maggie11 (GA)

Member Since 2010
My 13 year old precious kitty, Maggie, was recently diagnosed with Megacolon. She's a Manx, and I've read where some Manx are more prone to it, not all by any means. This just seemed to come on out of the blue with the constipation, as she's always been regular. She was at the Vet this past Monday and Tuesday getting enemas and fluids which did help with two bm's. The Vet has her on Cisapride, Lactulose and also Miralax. She's also a diabetic kitty, diagnosed January 2010. Her bowels still aren't moving as they should, but she just started the Cisapride this past Friday. Any thoughts, or does anyone here have a kitty with Megacolon, and what treatments worked best for your kitty. Thanks so much.
 
Hi Ann -

Grayson has Mega Colon, as evidenced in the litter box, and in his ultrasound. No blockage problems, however, there are a LOT of kitties, both on PZI and the Lev boards who use the same treatments you mentioned. You may want to post there as well, if you don't get much response here. But the board has been very quiet today... well, except for TR!

Lu-Ann
 
Hi Lu-Ann,
Thank you so much for responding. I do remember you saying Grayson has Megacolon, too. Does he seem to be doing okay, and is he on any meds? Thanks for telling me about kitties with Megacolon on the PZI and Lev forums. That's a big help just knowing some other kitties with it, and I'll head over there, too. I also just reached Gayle & Shadoe & Oliver. Oliver has it, too, and is on silmilar meds. Take care.
 
Hi, Ann ~

Our 14-year-old cat, Bob, also has megacolon. He was first diagnosed in January of 2008 with such severe constipation that surgery was recommended. My husband and I felt that surgery was an extreme option, and we were fortunate to find an internal medicine vet who was able to deobstipate Bob when two of our regular vets couldn't.

For a year and a half after Bob's diagnosis, we had him on Cisapride and Lactulose along with regular home enemas. To call it a challenging time is a bit of an understatement, but we did what we needed to do. As we were doing more internet research about chronic constipation and megacolon in cats, we found this very helpful web site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline_Megacolon/

There, we learned about the use of MiraLAX (often called MiracleLAX by members) to treat constipation and megacolon in cats. In early 2009, we started Bob on MiraLAX, along with guar gum and psyllium powder, sprinkled on his canned food. We were gradually able to discontinue the Cisapride, Lactulose, and, best of all, the enemas. For the past three years, we’ve had Bob well regulated on just the MiraLAX and fibers, a much easier process for Bob and ourselves.

Since MiraLAX is a dose-to-effect medicine, we kept upping Bob's dose until he was having very soft BMs, almost diarrhea. And then we started gradually adding the fibers to his canned food to firm up his stools. Bob is a large cat, weighing almost 16 pounds, so our doses of both MiraLAX and fibers are fairly high doses.

Ann, this dosing routine has worked well for Bob and us. If I can be of any more help, please let me know.

Take care,
Eva
 
Hi Eva,
Thank you so very much for responding and for posting of your experience with Bob. Yes, I agree with the surgery being an extreme option. That is so encouraging that you were able to get Bob down from the other meds to just Miralax and fiber. And I'm sure Bob is grateful for no more enemas! :-D

By fiber, do you mean the psyllium husk? Thank you so much for the Yahoo Megacolon link. Gayle (Shadoe & Oliver) also highly recommends it. What amazes me is how many days Maggie can hold it in before having a bowel movement. This is the 4th day, and finally Maggie this morning just had a very long bowel movement, thank goodness and what a relief! She came out from her lb area to the living room quite vocal, and I thought she was hungry. Here she was telling me to look in the lb, and she was proud of her accomplishment. I was thinking if there were no bm today, that tomorrow she would be heading back to the Vet.

I have Maggie on both the Cisapride and Lactulose and also Miralax. I was almost feeling as if the Miralax wasn't helping, but after hearing of Bob's experience, I will keep at the Miralax. I've been mixing the Miralax with a little water and syringing to make sure it gets in her and also sprinkling on her food and adding water. She's not fond of it on her food, and I don't know how she can tell it's there, as I do add water.

Thank you so much, Eva, for sharing Bob's experience with me. This gives me a lot of hope. I wish Bob and you many years of success with his regimen. What a lucky kitty to have you as his Mom.

Ann & Maggie
 
Hi, Ann ~

Bob's fiber supplements are an equal mix (50/50) of NOW Psyllium Husk Powder and Harvest Moon ClearFiber Guar Gum. We purchase our NOW Psyllium Husk Powder at http://www.amazon.com/Foods-Psyllium-Husk-Powder-Ounces/dp/B001F0R70A/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20 and Harvest Moon ClearFiber Guar Gum at http://www.harvestmoonhealthfoods.com/sunfiber.html Ann, you can find many different brands of psyllium husk powder that would work...just be sure it's the powder form and plain, not orange flavored.

I mentioned that our 16-pound cat Bob is on high doses of both MiraLAX and the fibers, psyllium powder/guar gum. Bob gets 1 1/2 teaspoons of MiraLAX every day spread over several feedings. He also gets 2 1/2 teaspoons of the fiber mix spread over the same feedings as the MiraLAX. If Bob doesn't have a BM in 48 hours (something rare for Bob), we increase his MiraLAX by 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon that day. We're fortunate that Bob will eat his canned food with the MiraLAX and fibers mixed in (and Bob's a picky eater).

Ann, I know a lot of members of the Megacolon forum, as well as members here, are opposed to using fiber for cats with chronic constipation or megacolon. Guess I have a different take on that from our experience with Bob and a few other cats we've helped. First of all, I'd never recommend fiber for a cat that's currently constipated/impacted, only once the cat is having soft-to-diarrhea movements. Our pet sitter, who also works at a shelter, told us that psyllium powder is used there to treat both constipation and diarrhea in cats. Following her advice over the years, we've treated both constipation and diarrhea successfully with psyllium powder.

I'll tell you more about why we added the guar gum later. Gotta run for now.

Hang in there, Ann! You will get your precious Maggie back on the poop train :-D .

Eva
 
Hi Eva,
Thanks so much for the info on the psyllium powder and the guar gum and the links. I added them to my Favorites files for the future. I am so impressed with how hard you've worked with Bob getting to know what worked. Even if not everyone agrees with adding the fiber, it's what works and Each Cat is Different. Were you also giving him fluids at home, by the way?

Bob is a wonderful and good eater to not be bothered with both the Miralax and fiber on his food. I try and sneak the Miralax in Maggie's food as much as I can. She sucks the living dylights out of the Wellness Turkey and leaves the bulk. I have a call in to the Vet asking about giving fluids at home. She's also Stage 2 renal disease, so I need to give canned food with lower phosphorus, Maggie loves the FF line but they're too high in phosphorus.

So far Maggie is tolerating the Lactulose and also the Cisapride. Thanks again, Eva, and give Bob some chin scritches from me.

Ann
 
My Speedy suffered with chronic constipation, went through several enemas, but at one point nothing helped her to move her bowels. My vet felt it necessary to do exploratory surgery because Speedy was passing absolutely nothing....she was sure that there must be a blockage somewhere. We agreed to the surgery, and amazingly my vet found NO blockage at all....but she did find the cause for Speedy's lack of bms. Gut stasis....for some unknown reason, Speedy's intestines had lost all motility...they simply weren't moving any feces through. We started her on cisapride, miralax, pepcid (for acid reflux), and believe it or not, a feline specialist recommended olive oil, 1 cc three times a day. They said that that's what they recommend for all cats that have constipation issues.

Speedy doesn't have megacolon, but despite her intestinal tract not moving things through, with the help of all those meds she has once again gained regularity.
 
Hi Debra, thanks for telling me of your Speedy's story. That's amazing that it took exploratory surgery to find the real cause of why Speedy could not move her bowels. And olive oil of all things worked. I'm so glad she's now regular. Is she still taking the Cisapride and Miralax or just when needed?

I'm beginning to think I should take Maggie to an Internal Medicine Vet just for a second opinion and u/s perhaps.
 
Hi, Ann ~

Since Maggie won't eat her food well with MiraLax added, then adding fiber probably won't work for her either. Have you tried sprinkling FortiFlora on her food with the MiraLax to see if that will entice her to eat it better? Sometimes works with our six cats.

How much MiraLax are you giving Maggie each day, Ann? The reason I'm asking is that cats with megacolon often require a higher dose than the typical 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon twice a day for cats with "normal" constipation. Here's an older posting I saved from the Feline Megacolon board about higher doses of MiraLax. If you do a search there, you can probably find more recent postings on the subject. ~Eva

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline_Megacolon/message/34091

higher dose of miralax

Posted By:
baywatchcats

Mon Apr 19, 2010 2:58 pm |

My boy gets up to 1.5 tsp of Miralax, once or twice/day. Sometimes I give it
with 2 caps of Cisapride, sometimes not.

I asked my vet this (who is an AAFP vet that I've had for 15 years ) and she
said there is no standard maximum dosage. You just have to go by the
results and raise it up or down.

Karen
Baywatch Maine Coons

----------
 
P.S. Forgot to mention that we were giving Bob fluids for the first year after his megacolon diagnosis. We stopped after that. We're fortunate that Bob likes to drink water on his own plus the water we add to his canned food.

Take care,
Eva
 
Speedy will most likely remain on these meds the rest of her life. We don't know what caused her intestines to lose motility, could be age, genetics, or an injury that she suffered as a baby when someone abandoned her here. Speedy won't touch food that has miralax or olive oil added to it, which is what my vet suggested we do, so instead I place her daily dose (1/8th teaspoon) of miralax in a small pill bottle, and 3 times a day I mix (as close as possible) 1/3 of that dose with a small amount of water and syringe that into her mouth. The olive oil she also gets 3 times a day, about 1 ml each time. At first it was rough, trying to remember what med to give when, and how much, but we've got it worked out into our routine now.

It's great to know that the 1/8th teaspoon isn't a hard and fast rule! But, for now, Speedy seems to be doing very well on her med regiment. :^)
 
Hi, Debra ~

Bless your kind heart for taking in little Speedy and giving her such a good home! So glad you've found a regimen with her meds that works so well for the two of you.

And it's great that the 1/8th teaspoon of MiraLax is all Speedy needs, Debra. The least amount of meds that do the job, the better in my opinion. We've tried reducing both Bob's MiraLax and his fibers from time to time, but his movements start slowing down so we go back up to the doses that are working. Treating chronic constipation in our dear kitties seems to take some experimenting, some trial and error, to find the right meds and best doses to help get our cats regular.

Take care,
Eva
 
Hi Ann,

I'm sorry to see Maggie has developed megacolon. I suspect Weezer has it based on the size of her LB deposits, but it hasn't been diagnosed. I give her miralax twice a day, along with some unrelated supplements and other meds. I use multiple layers of Weezer’s favorite yummies to make medicine appetizers that she loves. I crush the meds into some baby food, roll the baby food ball around in some FD dust (chicken, fish, whatever) and put it on a layer of something to keep it from sticking to the plate. Right now I’m using some shredded deli turkey, sometimes I use bonito flakes as this base. A pinch of whatever the base is can be sprinkled on top. By the time her tongue encounters the first morsel of medicine, she’s already munching full speed ahead.

Good luck!
 
Hi Eva, Debra and Linda, and thanks for all the info and your support.
Eva, I think I'm giving Maggie close to 1/2 tsp. Miralax a day, but apparently she needs more. One way I get into her is with some Beechnut baby food mixed with Miralax. The other way is that she free feeds overnight, so I leave her a nice portion of the wet Wellness Turkey food and mix in Miralax. I also have tried mixing the Miralax with water and syringing, which also works. She's easy to syringe, so I'm lucky there.
Eva, no I have not tried Fortiflora yet on her. So far it's been the Lactulose 1ml twice a day, Cisapride 1ml twice a day and the generour Miralax. She drinks water, and sometimes I syringe a little water in her, too.

Debra, that's sweet of you to take Speedy into your home, and I bet she is ever so grateful. Maggie was a feral living in a ravine for a year before we met and she adopted me when she was approximately a year old. She's a Manx, and X-rays show she has some spinal deformities with part of it fusing. I don't know what caused it, and this is the first time in her 13 years she's been constipated, never had a problem earlier years. I bet Maggie would take olive oil with no problem, I just wasn't sure how it would interact with her other meds.

Linda, I sure hope Weezer does not have megacolon. Maggie's started very quickly, just a little constipation but then it was to many days she didn't go and then the X-rays and enemas last week.
 
Although Grayson's poops are as big as my thumb, he seems to have no problem in the pooping dept. They're just big. Therefore, he's not on any meds. All the ones I've heard used, have already been mentioned here, so I think you're in good hands.
 
Although Grayson's poops are as big as my thumb, he seems to have no problem in the pooping dept. They're just big. Therefore, he's not on any meds. All the ones I've heard used, have already been mentioned here, so I think you're in good hands.
Click to expand...

Hi Lu, I think that is great with Grayson having no problem on the pooping dept. and no meds. You don't even need to add Miralax either? Yes, thanks to everyone's support and all the helpful info, I feel like I'm starting to get a handle on her meds and what's helping. The syringing method with Miralax and water suggested by Debra is working really well with Maggie. If I sprinkle the Miralax on food, she doesn't always clean the plate, so mixing with water and syringing, I'm assured she's getting it. Yay for Grayson doing so well!
 
Hi, Ann ~

So glad to hear things are moving right along for you and Maggie :-D . It just takes a little while to work out a dosing regimen to get the best poop results.

I have to tell you a funny story about myself. Not the funny part yet...when Bob was first diagnosed with megacolon, he spent four days in an emergency hospital being deobstipated (a new word for me at the time). Surgery was still a possibility until we were sure the internal medicine vets could get Bob cleared out. Fortunately that worked so surgery wasn't needed. But when we brought Bob home, I was so paranoid that I wouldn't be able to tell if Bob pooped because we had five other cats. I had my husband install a "poop cam" at the litter boxes. For many months, I'd view the poop cam results to see if Bob had a BM. Call me crazy, but I became a real poop detective. It was a real celebration here each time Bob "laid" one..."engaged in commerce" as my husband so delicately puts it :-D . After we got Bob well regulated on a higher dose of MiraLax, I was able to discontinue the poop cam because Bob's movements on MiraLax are quite large and definitely identifiable as his.

Ann, wishing you continued success and many wonderful litter box "presents" from Maggie.

Take care,
Eva
 
Hi Eva, thanks so much for all your help on the Megacolon issue with Maggie and for telling me Bob's story and his experience with the meds. Yes, it just takes a while with the dosing regimen and especially with the Miralax and using it dose to effect. I have heard the term, deobstipated, too. So glad the IM Vets were able to get Bob cleared out! Oh how funny, and also unique, with the"poop cam"! :lol: With five cats, I don't blame you for coming up with an idea like the "poop cam"! That's amazing. There is a definite difference in the Megacolon poop. It's quite large, to say the least, especially because Maggie goes just every other day. I was also keeping a close watch on Maggie, getting up and looking numerous times a day, and checking when I heard scratching in the LB. Maggie had a poo last night, and I guess she didn't quite make it from the living room to her lb, so she left me a small prezzie in the hallway. I didn't mind at all; I was just so happy when I saw it, as it meant she had a poo. I'm over on the Lantus TR group also, and they all cheer when Maggie has a poo and are so supportive. And there is a Detective Poo who regularly checks up on Maggie, too! :-D

I wish you and Bob continued success and am so glad to hear how well he's come along since the diagnosis.

Take care,
Ann
 
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