I’m Trying Everything the Vet Says and Nothing Seems to Work. Why?
My cat is 13 years old, male, has already had two surgeries a year apart to clean out his packed colon, which apparently isn’t working anymore. He eats only wet food, laxatone, drinks plenty of water and still can’t go. The vet says he is old and nothing more can be done. Any more suggestions besides pumpkin, benefiber, cooked chicken breast. I feel bad for him. I’m hoping the Cisapride will work.
If you feel your vet is giving up too soon seek a second opinion. If your kitty is suffering you need to take into consideration his quality of life. I recently had to put down my 17 year old kitty..I am 19 so I had her almost my whole life. It was extremely hard and upsetting but I know there was nothing more we could do for her. I still miss my best friend dearly and am lucky to have my other 2 cats to comfort me when I get really upset about it.
If your kitty still isn’t suffering take him to a different vet, have his records faxed over and get a second opinion as soon as you can
Hi
I am sorry you are going through this, Your cat is not old so that is not a good answer.You can add a touch of mineral or vegetable oil to the food which may help ease things.
I think you should also get a second opinion on the colon.
Best of luck
Awe, I’m so sorry.
I don’t think there really is much that you can do for him, except do what you’ve been doing, and keep on loving him… Remember he’s lived a full and happy life, and you are doing the best you can for him.
Good luck!
im sorry but thats the circle of life
tha best thing to do now is to hug him and enjoy the rest of his moments with you :’(
hold on my eyes are getting watery…i think I am about to cry
He might freak out on you, but a warm bath will ease it out of him.
Well your cat is at the end of his years. His body might be shutting down. One thing to consider is to put him down and save him from discomfort and pain, Average age for a cat is between 10 and 15. Of course there are some that live longer if they are still healthy,
Look your cat has lived a long life. I do not like to see any animal suffer and it sounds like your cat is. I think it is time to start thinking about what to do. If the vet said nothing more can be done then they are right. I had to have my kitty put down when he was 10 because of the gut problems. He was suffering with all of the vommiting and such. I think it is a much more cruel thing to do to let your animal live in pain and agony then to have them quietly put to sleep.
try a teaspoon of mineral oil twice a day and once he starts going regularly you can reduce it to once a day…my cat gets constipated all the time and I give him the little suppositories and the mineral oil as well….
idiopathic megacolon– Apparently you are on the right path. Your cat is hanging in there so hang in there, too. I noticed the most helpful info in the second site I provided… excerpt from site mentioned follows:
Removing the stool of a severely impacted cat takes time and patience. Once a cat has been cleaned out, most veterinarians immediately put the cat on a program of medical management.
Medical management for cats with chronic constipation typically has both a dietary and medical component. The dietary component usually involves putting the cat on a higher fiber diet. Fiber absorbs water thereby creating looser, bulkier stools. That shortens the transit time in the gastrointestinal tract and keeps things moving. While you want to increase the amount of fiber in your cat’s diet, you don’t want to overdo it. Initially, don’t be tempted to switch to the highest-fiber diet you can find. And you should introduce the dietary change gradually, over five to seven days. If you switch your cat too quickly onto a high-fiber diet, your poor feline chum will likely become very uncomfortable with gas pains.
Sources of supplementary fiber include bran, psyllium (Metamucil), and canned pumpkin. Some cats will eat these products, others won’t. If your cat will eat them, mix the fiber-rich supplement in with quality canned cat food. However, before you implement any dietary changes, consult your veterinarian to make sure the changes you propose meet your cat’s dietary and health needs. (Increased dietary fiber doesn’t help every cat.)
Another newer approach along with the above has met with some success. This includes use of two prescription medications lactulose, a medications that softens the stool, and propulcid, a motility modifier. Another medication now used is ranitidine, again with some success.
We, in our practice, have also begun to use acupuncture to treat this disease. This procedure has only been performed in two cases at this time (2-00) and has been successful.
Water consumption is also very important, for the constipation-prone cat. Find out what your cat’s water preferences are and accommodate them. Know that canned food has a higher water content than dried food and that milk an have a laxative effect in some (but not all) cats.
If medical management is ineffective, there is another approach-surgery…
A 13 year old cat is an older cat, but not an OLD cat! It sounds like idiopathic megacolon – and a surgery called a colonectomy is often done when the medicine no longer works. Try the cisapride, and if that doesn’t work discuss surgery with your vet. I had it done on a 12 year old cat, and my only regret was that I didn’t have it done sooner.
Maybe you can massage his bladder or something to stimulate him?