Pumpkin for constipation, red/brown eye gunk

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Howiesmom

Howiesmom

Member Since 2020
Two questions for Howie today:
1. With his Ondansetron for buprenorphine for pancreatitis, I know he would get constipated. He gets 1/4 tsp Miralax at each meal, but it hadn’t really been helping (he doesn’t drink much water and I do mix some water in his food). His bowel movements have been infrequent and just small bits. So I have him 3-4 tsp of plain pumpkin in his afternoon mini meals today and it seemed to do the trick! So now my question is whether to take him off Miralax and just give pumpkin daily, give both, or just give pumpkin when I notice he hasn’t gone for a while? If I give daily, how much do people give? I know ECID.

2. In the last 2 weeks, he has started getting yucky red/brown eye gunk. Of course the fur around his eyes is white, so it’s staining his fur. The only thing I read was an upper respiratory virus but he seems to have no other symptoms like abnormal amount of sneezing, breathing funny, etc. Any thoughts? Do cats get seasonal allergies? Do I need to take him in?

thanks!
 
Regarding the constipation, I think trying to stay away from medicines is a good approach , at least as long as possible but there comes a point when meds are necessary so if pumpkin is working maybe you could try and keep him just with pumpkin but probably is matter of try and error try if things work just with the pumpkin ok and if not go back tu using both

On the eye issue cats can have seasonal allergies but I don't think those would cause the red/brown gunk, that is usually related to some eye virus but a vet would have to see him and maybe send a sample to a lab and I do suggest you do not try and use any of those comercial substances that say that they will eliminate the staining, those don't work very well and may cause the problem to get worse
 
Veronica & Babu-chiri said:
Regarding the constipation, I think trying to stay away from medicines is a good approach , at least as long as possible but there comes a point when meds are necessary so if pumpkin is working maybe you could try and keep him just with pumpkin but probably is matter of try and error try if things work just with the pumpkin ok and if not go back tu using both

On the eye issue cats can have seasonal allergies but I don't think those would cause the red/brown gunk, that is usually related to some eye virus but a vet would have to see him and maybe send a sample to a lab and I do suggest you do not try and use any of those comercial substances that say that they will eliminate the staining, those don't work very well and may cause the problem to get worse
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Thank you so much! Interestingly, his eyes got bad tonight when he was eating. But he’s been eating the same Weruva food for almost a year. Strange!
 
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Howiesmom said:
Two questions for Howie today:
1. With his Ondansetron for buprenorphine for pancreatitis, I know he would get constipated. He gets 1/4 tsp Miralax at each meal, but it hadn’t really been helping (he doesn’t drink much water and I do mix some water in his food). His bowel movements have been infrequent and just small bits. So I have him 3-4 tsp of plain pumpkin in his afternoon mini meals today and it seemed to do the trick! So now my question is whether to take him off Miralax and just give pumpkin daily, give both, or just give pumpkin when I notice he hasn’t gone for a while? If I give daily, how much do people give? I know ECID.

2. In the last 2 weeks, he has started getting yucky red/brown eye gunk. Of course the fur around his eyes is white, so it’s staining his fur. The only thing I read was an upper respiratory virus but he seems to have no other symptoms like abnormal amount of sneezing, breathing funny, etc. Any thoughts? Do cats get seasonal allergies? Do I need to take him in?

thanks!
Click to expand...
I have given rounded 1/4 tsp. or so (twice a day) of freeze dried pumpkin to my cats - but I don’t know how much that would equate in canned pumpkin. I would not stop the Miralax unless his stool starts to get too soft and then you can just cut back a little. You don’t want to mess around with constipation. I’m glad to hear the pumpkin helped!

For his eyes — as long as there’s no inflammation or third eyelid showing, I would not go to the vet for that. I would try Viralys L-Lysine supplement to see if this can help. I use one scoop mixed into food twice a day if the eyes are pretty gunky and reduce to 1 scoop one time per day when it clears up. I have pretty good luck with this helping to clear up eyes. Of course, if he has a bacterial infection or something then it probably won’t help. It’s to help inhibit herpes virus replication. Herpes virus can cause these eye problems as well as upper respiratory infections.
 
Larry and Kitties said:
My aero MurrFee had same gunky eye problem. Eye meds would clear it yo but it would return when the meds stopped. L-Lysine twice daily eliminated the problem. I just added L-Lysine powder to his food.
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Any particular brand and store/company you get it from? I’ll just add it to the pumpkin, cabergoline, and fish oil that gets added to his daily meals on top of 3 other meds and insulin! I should buy stock in a pet pharmacy! Thank you so much!
 
Howiesmom said:
Any particular brand and store/company you get it from? I’ll just add it to the pumpkin, cabergoline, and fish oil that gets added to his daily meals on top of 3 other meds and insulin! I should buy stock in a pet pharmacy! Thank you so much!
Click to expand...
See above. I buy the Viralys tub of Lysine from Chewy. I use it in feral kittens, mama cats, my own cats. It really helps their eyes.
 
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