#31
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Thanks for sharing your advice. We just got back from visiting Mr Miyagi at the clinic. He's definitely more energetic and all about being loved on.. I'm just sad he has another night to stay there. |
#32
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Glad to hear that Mr Miyagi is feeling better.
Lactulose does require a prescription from your vet. Many people have used slippery elm bark that you can get at your health food store. There is some information about constipated cats on this website .... http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...onstipatedcats And, the link to slippery elm bark .... http://www.littlebigcat.com/?action=...em=slipperyelm |
#33
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I can always tell by the way Herbie walks or goes up stairs if he is getting constipated.......I've had a lot of experience with him |
#34
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No prescription needed Rainbow.
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#35
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When looking at the xray yesterday, his colon was quite distended. Not sure if that means it will ever come back down to regular size (this is the only time he's ever been this massively constipated). We will be picking him up tomorrow and will hopefully have more answers then. |
#36
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Loki Love - he has been constipated before?...Did he need Vet intervention before?.....I don't quite understand how his Vet can't come up with a definite answer. From what I understand the symptoms would be different.
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#37
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Fast forward to about a month or so ago - vomitting started again. Just with the dry food though (or so it seemed). We changed the food to EVO Herring and Salmon formula and problems ceased - we didn't take him to the vet the last time as once we changed the dry food everything seemed ok, until now. So based on the April experience - I think this is where the vet is trying to diagnose the IBD? |
#38
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Herbie rarely vomits....I know very little about IBD. Constipation is the only ailment that Herbie has had to endure.
I know SCM commented earlier in your thread maybe she has some other opinions that might be helpful..........I'll pm her. |
#39
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I believe he vomits because he's constipated (this is what I've been reading anyway).
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#40
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Oooops , didn't know that for sure so I googled and the 1-800 petmeds site said that a prescription was required .....guess it is in the USA.
I will leave the diet to the kitty gurus here but would consider giving him some slippery elm bark until you get a correct diagnosis. |
#41
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__________________
Cat maid to: Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs) Jasper RIP (2001-2018) Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014) Puddles RIP (1996-2014) Snowball RIP (1991-2005) In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb “While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey |
#42
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Mr Miyagi is home. He's clean as a whistle - literally! The third enema took care of the rest and xray showed he's empty.
I wasn't there when hubby went to pick him up, but he did speak to the vet about our choice of going with a LID canned food, as opposed to the HP dry food she was suggesting. He also mentioned the use of olive oil, slippery elm bark, etc to help with any future constipation - she said a lot of that stuff is really a myth (which is ridiculous in my opinion, but whatever). At the end of the day, she said it's completely our decision but to just let her know what we've decided so she can make a note of it in his file. We'll go back in 2 weeks so she can re-examine him and make sure he's still doing alright. |
#43
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I'm glad he's home and feeling better! I hope Mr Miyagi responds well to whatever regimen you decide on
__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference." "It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!" "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle." |
#44
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__________________
Cat maid to: Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs) Jasper RIP (2001-2018) Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014) Puddles RIP (1996-2014) Snowball RIP (1991-2005) In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb “While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey |
#45
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Hi Loki Love, I'm happy to hear your kitty is doing much better!
I'm far from any sort of cat nutrition expert, and I would be one of the last to ever recommend a vet diet, but have you considered trying an exclusive Hill's Z/D canned diet? Then in a couple weeks when he is used to this, he is consistent and he is doing ok you can start introducing some better brands that you would prefer to feed him. Try one brand, one flavor at a time so you know if you come across one that doesn't sit well with him, and always going back to the Z/D. You could use each new food for a few days, then back to Z/D exclusively for a few days to "flush" him before trying another new one. Once you have a list of several better brands/flavors that DO work well for him you can slowly cut out the Z/D, and see how he adjusts. If you find none of the canned foods work (including the Z/D maybe?), then you can look at using slippery elm, pumpkin, or maybe even some prescription. It would be a long process of several weeks, but you should be able to get some answers by way of elimination. Maybe the vet can show you how to do enemas so you can do it yourself at the first sign of constipation? If you do it that way you are following the vet's advice by trying the hydrolyzed protein diet, but you are still feeding a canned food. It could be that none of these foods help because it is neurological. I have heard many cat nutritionists say that any canned food is better than any dry food though so you shouldn't feel too guilty about feeding the Hill's Z/D canned food temporarily, right? It may just be that he needs exclusively canned foods, and it really doesn't matter which ones. It could be that he needs the hydrolyzed protein. It could be that he needs exclusively canned foods, but is also allgeric/sensitive to some protein sources. By way of elimination you can figure this all out. That Z/D diet is essentially nothing so there is likely very little in there that could possibly bother him, so it would be like starting with a clean slate. Just a thought since no one else suggested this tactical approach. |
#46
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Sorry, LID meaning Limited Ingredients Diet. We are going to stick with the Duck and Green Pea because both cats really enjoy it, plus it's going somewhat in the train of thought that may be there are allergies/IBD at play here and this protein will work.
If it doesn't work, then we'll go with what the vet suggests - the z/d food but in canned form only (I refuse to go all dry food - it makes no sense, period). I'm still going to be a stressed kitty mommy for the next while, watching Mr Miyagi like a hawk. I had no idea how badly constipated he was when we took him in and my fear is that he will get that way again and we won't notice - besides the vomiting and not wanting to eat (which was when he was at the worst) I truly don't remember any other signs :/ We've bought a nifty kitty water fountain to entice even more water drinking, plus I'm going to buy a few more cat toys to keep him moving and exercising to help things move along. So these things, along with the canned diet only, plus a few suggestions from the other members re: lactulose, slippery elm bark, pumpkin, olive oil - I really hope we're on our way to a healthier kitty |
#47
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I would stay away from the Z/D canned. It's an extremely poor quality food with a ridiculous price-tag. Here are the main ingredients:
Hydrolyzed Chicken Liver, Water, Corn Starch, Soybean Oil, Powdered Cellulose,No muscle meat, only organ meat. Corn starch??? Come on. And that powdered cellulose is basically sawdust. For a canned food, this one has a stupidly high amount of carbs (34% from calories). Good luck convincing a cat to eat this for any length of time. As well, I don't personally see IBD here, I see a constipated cat that needs to eat quality wet food. IBD is an extremely difficult diagnosis to make, even with a biopsy. Unfortunately vets tend to throw the term around far too liberally when they don't have anything else to offer up. Glad to hear that Mr. Miyagi is home and doing better. Perhaps if you kept a log-book () that kept track of his pooping habits (like the size, frequency, texture), it could help you notice if something goes off before it gets serious.
__________________
"To close your eyes will not ease another's pain." ~ Chinese Proverb “We must not refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies.” ~ Gretchen Wyler |
#48
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This is actually a great idea - but we have two cats. I think the trick will be to watch for less maybe? Whenever we see him going into the box we'll be keeping an eye on him (watch for straining, see the results) - he gets no privacy for a while!
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#49
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If you get a second litter box, is it possible they would each use one so you could monitor the poops?
When I was growing up we had two sibling cats. They lived 18 years on Alley Cat dry "food". One was hit by a car at that time, and the other disappeared just a few days later...who knows how long they would have lived otherwise...? Using the Z/D diet is the cheapest and simplest way to figure out if your cat has an inability to digest proteins properly. I'm sure not one to say the food is good, but I highly doubt it would be harmful when used temporarily. Following the vet's advice seems like a good place to start imo. Oh well, we will see what you accomplish in the next few weeks. Hopefully your plan works for you. |
#50
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I would stick to a watered down quality canned. It will produce a smaller stool which is extremely important for any cat who has a constipation issue and Hills Z/D is full of crap that the cat will just poop out.
__________________
Cat maid to: Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs) Jasper RIP (2001-2018) Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014) Puddles RIP (1996-2014) Snowball RIP (1991-2005) In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb “While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey Last edited by Love4himies; October 25th, 2010 at 06:19 PM. |
#51
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I hope the quality wet food works - seriously. My only concern is that he was on quality wet food (along with dry food) previously and he still became constipated. I'm really really hoping that eliminating the dry food altogether does the trick
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#52
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Yes!! Great news, Loki Love!
__________________
"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." -Will Durant |
#53
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Glad Mr Miyago is back home and hope the all canned diet works for him.
Is the water fountain enticing him to drink more water? |
#54
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Loki Love - I'm happy to hear that Mr Miyagi is home and feeling so much better....even though you have bought a water fountain for him, I find that by mixing water with Herbie's food ensures that he is getting adequate water. |
#55
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Yeah, we've been mixing water into the canned food for a while now. They actually eat it better that way anyway
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