? Recurrant Bowel blockage

[Minnig]

Huey has now for the 3rd time (consecutive years) had serious, life threatening bouts with bowel blockage due to "megacolon". He is a drinker and wet food only cat who in fact went into remission only 6 months after diabetes diagnosis , I believe, only due to food change. (Alas, it only lasted a few months). But, some times his bgl gets all wacky, up to 425, down to 70, while nothing has changed. Has anyone experienced such a problem.

It ends up requiring several overnight stays at the emergency hospital for enemas and IV fluids until he can expell all the "poo-poo". We are going to try the Vet's recommendation (not our usual vet ), to try new canned food high in fiber. It's a pate and I know he won't eat it. Hates the consistency.

Can anyone think of the correlation between his occasional wildly fluctuating bgl into harmful territory, and then meanwhile trying to stabilize him, this bowel blockage occurs. It is costing us over $3,000 each time to pull him through this. He is now 11yrs and I'm disabled. We can't afford to do this again for him. Any additional suggestions beside trying to find a canned food THAT HE WILL EAT - NO PATE- with higher fiber?

 

[Kris & Teasel]

Huey has now for the 3rd time (consecutive years) had serious, life threatening bouts with bowel blockage due to "megacolon". He is a drinker and wet food only cat who in fact went into remission only 6 months after diabetes diagnosis , I believe, only due to food change. (Alas, it only lasted a few months). But, some times his bgl gets all wacky, up to 425, down to 70, while nothing has changed. Has anyone experienced such a problem.

It ends up requiring several overnight stays at the emergency hospital for enemas and IV fluids until he can expell all the "poo-poo". We are going to try the Vet's recommendation (not our usual vet ), to try new canned food high in fiber. It's a pate and I know he won't eat it. Hates the consistency.

Can anyone think of the correlation between his occasional wildly fluctuating bgl into harmful territory, and then meanwhile trying to stabilize him, this bowel blockage occurs. It is costing us over $3,000 each time to pull him through this. He is now 11yrs and I'm disabled. We can't afford to do this again for him. Any additional suggestions beside trying to find a canned food THAT HE WILL EAT - NO PATE- with higher fiber?

The pain of these blockages can certainly cause erratic BG numbers. Has your vet ever mentioned surgery for mega colon? No doubt it’s expensive but so are the blockage episodes. The surgery involves removing the enlarged section of colon.

 

[cmonmiracle]

My civvie, Hugo, has megacolon. He went to the ER once to get cleared out before we knew his issue. I think fiber would actually make it worse. You don't want to add bulk, you want to make sure it stays soft and easy to move. I have been treating him with Restoralax (Miralax) daily to keep him regular (usually once every 3 days for him). Every cat is different, but we haven't been to the ER since.

 

[Squalliesmom]

My civvie Vinnie gets 1/8 tsp Miralax + 2 tbsp. water added to breakfast and dinner. If you use something like Miralax just make sure you do add extra water; these products work by pulling moisture out of the system, which then needs to be replaced or supplemented.

 

[Dusty Bones]

My civvie Vinnie gets 1/8 tsp Miralax + 2 tbsp. water added to breakfast and dinner. If you use something like Miralax just make sure you do add extra water; these products work by pulling moisture out of the system, which then needs to be replaced or supplemented.

That's what I give Dusty otherwise he gets clogged up. When he gets clogged up he'll throw up from forcing too hard then he'll eat again, force, throw up over and over. One day was terrible and I don't ever want to see that again. Miralax and a little water mixed in with his wet food has kept him regular for years now.

 

[Phoebes (GA)]

Phoebe could not take miralax, it gave her runny blk stools. So we switched to benefiber, and I give her 1/8 of tsp of pumpkin in her food.

 

[Squalliesmom]

That's what I give Dusty otherwise he gets clogged up. When he gets clogged up he'll throw up from forcing too hard then he'll eat again, force, throw up over and over. One day was terrible and I don't ever want to see that again. Miralax and a little water mixed in with his wet food has kept him regular for years now.

That's what happens with my civvie, Vinnie, too. That's why he's on Miralax. I have never actually seen Vinnie straining because he is extremely private about his toileting, but he'll vomit right next to the litter pan - took me quite a while to figure out what was going on. Miralax = no vomit!