Sugar free constipation remedy?

[Teddycaregiver]

My cat has been constipated for more than 2 days. Vet suggested canned pumpkin to add fiber to his diet, but it contains sugar. And hairball relief has sugary syrup in it. Miralax contains sugar also. I'm afraid to give him psyllium husk because of its thickening action and if he doesn't get enough water. He needs some relief ....fast!

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

If the pumpkin you found has sugar, it's likely it's pumpkin pie filling -- not pureed pumpkin. This time of year, there's a lot of pumpkin pie filling on the store shelves. An alternative is squash baby food.

Another alternative is Miralax. You use about 1/8 of a teaspoon mixed into canned food.

 

[Teddycaregiver]

If the pumpkin you found has sugar, it's likely it's pumpkin pie filling -- not pureed pumpkin. This time of year, there's a lot of pumpkin pie filling on the store shelves. An alternative is squash baby food.

Another alternative is Miralax. You use about 1/8 of a teaspoon mixed into canned food.

Is it 1/8 tsp. of Miralax ONCE daily or twice? Is there a sugar-free Miralax?

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

There is no sugar in Miralax. I'd start with 1/8 teaspoon once a day. If it's not doing the trick after a day or two, go to twice a day.

Miralax is a gentle laxative. It pulls water from other areas and add it to the gut. You'll want to make sure to add water to your cat's food or make sure there's a good supply of fresh water available.

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

The few times I had to give my cats pumpkin, I did not see a significant rise in their glucose levels. You need to make sure it is pureed pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling. The only ingredient will be pumpkin.

 

[Sandi and Toby]

We've used pumpkin for Whisper w/o noticable impact on BG as well, but he doesn't really like it. In a couple of our non-diabetics we have also used mineral oil or petroleum jelly (which I think is pretty much all that is in commercial hairball remedies other than malt or molasses/sugar), but I've also heard of people introducing olive oil to help things slide through.

For Whisper we've used Coconut oil as well, although some people say it isn't recommended (info is kind of mixed), but we are only using it very very short term until we see results, and the advantage is that he will readily eat it for us. If you can't get it in the cat, it can't work, right?

Good luck

 

[Teddycaregiver]

I got my kitty to poop last night! I haven't been able to buy anything yet, but what I did was massage his belly a little (yes, he lets me, believe it or not!). Plus, I added water to his wet food to give him even more moisture to help things along. He went pretty quickly after doing these. I'll still buy pure pumpkin to have on hand and maybe some Miralax.

 

[Sandi and Toby]

Hooray for poop!!

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

I got my kitty to poop last night! I haven't been able to buy anything yet, but what I did was massage his belly a little (yes, he lets me, believe it or not!). Plus, I added water to his wet food to give him even more moisture to help things along. He went pretty quickly after doing these. I'll still buy pure pumpkin to have on hand and maybe some Miralax.

If you buy pumpkin, freeze the extra in ice cube trays. Then you will have it if you need it again.

 

[Teddycaregiver]

Soupy diarrhea last night! My kitty's system is sure screwed up since starting insulin. He's on 1.5 units of Prozinc, but the amt. of pee in the litter box is the same as before his diagnosis, no decrease, no change. He hasn't been himself either some of the time. I'm wondering how I will know when the insulin isn't working for him. Maybe a dose increase? I'll get his numbers at mid day and nighttime today for his SS.

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

You need to be patient for him to get regulated is going to take time and dose adjustments both increases and decreases, once he starts seeing lower numbers he will start acting a bit more like himself but it will take time.

Are you testing before shooting? I'm asking because in your spreasheet you do not put any test results in the AMPS (am-morning preshot) and PMPS (pm-night preshot) spaces

 

[Teddycaregiver]

You need to be patient for him to get regulated is going to take time and dose adjustments both increases and decreases, once he starts seeing lower numbers he will start acting a bit more like himself but it will take time.

Are you testing before shooting? I'm asking because in your spreasheet you do not put any test results in the AMPS (am-morning preshot) and PMPS (pm-night preshot) spaces

Yes, there are recent numbers. He's a very difficult cat to get to keep still for testing. He's even begun scratching and biting. For both AMPS and PMPS he's extremely hungry and wants his food NOW! When he's like this, there's no way to calm him down to get the test, and he gets mad that I don't feed him immediately. Do you have any suggestions how I can do this with him so the stress level doesn't go up so much and show up in his number? His number the other night was 390 after about 10 minutes of trying to test.