What to Use for Stool Softener?

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Is he constipated or just large stools? There is a good page in the Pet Diabetes Wiki on Constipation, with each "remedy" and cautions, which I found very helpful.

A caution on pumpkin - if you have a cat with an actual blockage, it can make things worse. I watched Gandalf lying flat out on the floor, his poor belly heaving as he was trying to push out poop he couldn't because of a blockage. I had given him pumpkin in his food the afternoon before. No the pumpkin didn't cause the problem, but it probably aggravated an already dire problem. No, I had not read this wiki page first!

The best site online for feline constipation is http://www.felineconstipation.org
 
Vicky & Gandalf said:
Is he constipated or just large stools?
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Actually neither. Poop is very, very hard small nuggets about the size of a cherry tomato. They don't always fall all the way out of him so they sometimes don't make it into the litter box and and I find them around the house. Vet says it is because he is dehydrated and his poop has no water in it. I am having to give him fluids now and I'm not really sure what I am doing at this point.

Pumpkin would add some water and some bulky fiber. How much to feed and did Gandolf eat it on his own or did you have to disguise some way?

Lana
 
Lana & Yoyo said:
Vicky & Gandalf said:
Is he constipated or just large stools?
Click to expand...

Actually neither. Poop is very, very hard small nuggets about the size of a cherry tomato. They don't always fall all the way out of him so they sometimes don't make it into the litter box and and I find them around the house. Vet says it is because he is dehydrated and his poop has no water in it. I am having to give him fluids now and I'm not really sure what I am doing at this point.

Pumpkin would add some water and some bulky fiber. How much to feed and did Gandolf eat it on his own or did you have to disguise some way?

Lana
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I am not sure how much other people give, I probably used too much, I blended a Tablespoon of plain, canned organic pumpkin with 3 heaping Tablespoons of food. I syringed it to him since he wasn't eating and he did not get it all at once, so it wasn't as much as it sounds. I am told most cats like pumpkin, so you could just try it in the food.

The stool softener my vet recommended was Colace, 50 mg capsule, but you have to be careful and make sure it is just the ingredient Docusate Sodium, no stimulants! I found it at Walgreens in that size and type. Colace is the brand name. Do not open the casing to put on food - it will make them foam! Just pill it.
 
Larry, I looked up Miralax and it softens the stool by drawing water into the colon. I have just started administering sub-q fluids this week and have had lots of problems. Once I get the sub-q down pat, Miralax sounds like a very good option. Right now, since I am not sure how much fluid he has available in his body to draw into his bowel, I am going to try the pumpkin suggested by Jennifer and Vicky. Hopefully, it will carry water into his bowel and add some bulk as well.

Thanks all,
Lana
 
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