? Hard poops more and more often! :/ Constipation advice / stories?

Hello everyone! It has been ages since I have been here. <3 I miss this site a lot.

My parents, who take care of our 17 year old sugar kitty Fluffy (whom I discovered is very deaf and possibly has a bit of dementia), left me in charge for about a week when they went on vacation. I apologize, none of his current BG levels are documented on here, but for the most part, Fluffy has been staying pretty regulated on his Lantus, with bad days like 150-200 being quite rare. He mostly stays within the 70-120 ish range, and has a bit o Gravy Lovers to slow down the depot drops.

Fluffy's constipation is becoming quite bad. He every so couple of days seems like he is pooping hard poops. He is yeowling a lot at night when it is bad (but he doesn't when my parents around to take care of him, he knows I'm very responsive!!) The poops recently are not that bad in size, it used to be bigger and cause him a lot of pain... but now they are small and decent, and not that hard like they used to be.

I tried Miralax, that quarter of a teaspoon with meal (twice a day), but I don't think my mom kept up with it, and she doesn't want to :/ I know my Fluffy is old, but I just want to make him as comfortable as possible. I might be able to talk to my parents about just going to the vet and seeing what they can do, maybe run a panel of tests to see if it isn't anything else serious.

I recently changed his diet from "Purina Pro Grain Free Chicken and Turkey", to the "Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Funk In The Trunk Chicken in Pumpkin Consomme Grain-Free Canned Cat Food" I was hoping the pumpkin in the new diet would help. It seems to have because he had a normal softish poop the other day after being maybe less than a week on it! I heat his food up a little and a little more water to make it even easier. But I am wondering if he needs more help or if I am being paranoid because of the yeowling because he is deaf, or just wants attention, the neediness of old age, or the pain of poop. D:

Sometimes he will also have random small BG spikes, and I notice that's when he's in pain from constipation and he gets very meowy!

I would love to hear what you do for your sugar kitties in terms of constipation, especially for the geriatric ones. I'm currently reading about digestive enzymes or probiotics that might help. Any insight would be wonderful!

 

Also, has anyone tried this? http://www.allergicpet.com/products/lax-eze-full-treatment-pack.html

I saw it floating on one board, but I would like some more reviews from you FDMB!

 

At that age his kidneys are most probably not functioning at full capacity anymore. They get dehydrated and constipated. I always used Miralax which always worked if used consistently, along with fluids. If his kidneys are not functioning well and he is dehydrated he will have a very hard time passing stool and it can be very painful for them. Geriatric cats commonly yowl at night, especially if they are hard of hearing. Many feel they get confused and maybe even frightened sometimes. My elderly cat (20 yrs) would do this every single night and I would have to get up, go downstairs and bring her up to my bed. She was ok then and calmed down.

 

My cat yoweled every night until we started him on blood pressure pills. He still did it once in awhile but mostly he was quiet after that.

 

Thanks you guys. How much extra fluids do you give him? I might start with the Miralax tomorrow.

This morning is NOT good. He didn't want to eat and strained to go pee, and he was drinking a lot of water. He's never really done this before. I am taking him to the vet in an hour please keep Fluffy in your thoughts.

 

Oh if he's straining to go it's probably a UTI. Diabetic cats are prone to them. Feel better fluffy!

 

Thank you I am always afraid of maybe some megacolon or CKD or pancreatitis diagnosis but it sounds like a UTI. We will find out soon

 

I'm glad you're taking him to the vet. Drinking lots of water is also a sign of kidney dysfunction when they age.

 

Mira Lax has worked wonders for Goof, and I thank God for that as those kitty enemas were NO FUN for anyone involved! I hope it's good news for Fluffy.

 

Thank you guys for your experience!

I took Fluffy to the vet and turns out he had a UTI! He was so stressed out and even had a nice soft stress poop on the vet floor

He's got antibiotics. He had NO problem eating the whole dang pill when I dumped Fortiflora on it. I syringed him some tuna water and gave him treats as a reward.

 

@Mogmom and Goofus Oh gosh I bet!!! Fluffy has never experienced an enema... that sounds very invasive and @Lillie true

Fluff says hi to all the beans and fur babies here. Here's to a good recovery!

 

I'm glad it's nothing super serious.... Hope he's feeling better soon!

 

Me too... I say that now though, but I also had a blood panel done on him as well and I hope the results are okay. If it was an emergency, I would know pretty soon, otherwise, they'll give me a call monday morning <3 Fluffy has setbacks, but he is incredibly resilient!

I saw you have medications for CC for arthritis, do they seem to work?

 

I started the adequan about a month ago because the cosequine wasnt enough. This morning for the first time in six months she got to the top of her cat tree all by herself!!! We were all so proud of her! So yes, I would say it's helping. I continue to also add cosequine to her food.

 

That's fantastic!!! YAY CC That sounds like a wonderful treatment. I might have to look into it