Miralax/Constipation Questions

Hi everyone...

So Mego is having issues with constipation. He will make several trips to the LB without producing anything and usually on the 4th or 5th try he manages to squeeze out either just a very small nugget, or he'll give a nice #2 but it's very dense and hard. I am already mixing water with his LC pate food, but it doesn't seem to be helping. Mego will bolt from the LB after the attempt which I have read can mean that it's painful to pass a #2. I have seen many people here mention using Miralax.

Can anyone tell me how much they give their kitties, how do you give it to them (mix with food?), how often is it given? Also, is there another product anyone would recommend. I've also heard about giving canned pumpkin (not pie filling) to help with this. Are there carbs in the canned pumpkin that would elevate Mego's BG?
Thanks for any help.

 

I give my cat 1/8 teaspoon twice a day. I've seen people go as high a 1/4 teaspoon twice a day. My vet was fine with either of those doses. It works very gently so you might see poop right away or in a day. Dilute it in a little water first and pour it on the food. My cat never finishes a whole plate of food at once, so I give it to him in the juice and then slip the food in.

The other successful product was Beechnut Squash mixed with food, or right out of the jar. My picky cat liked it from the jar. it's 6g of carbs, but they are maybe eating a teaspoon of it. it didn't jolt his sugar at all.

 

Miralax - I give 1/4 t BID to my cat Wink. Tasteless so simply mix into canned food. I portion out only about a tablespoon of the wet food, mix in the 1/4 teaspoon of miralax, add a little water and feed.

I do only the little bit of food so I am sure he will eat it.

After a day or so, the poo will be a little soft and that is when I need to back it down to 1/8 teaspoon BID. My vet told me on Tuesday this week, that she even advised upping the dose from the 1/4 t BID to 1/2 t or until the poo gets runny.

I have also tried the plain canned pumpkin or the Beechnut babyfood squash. Both also work but it is a struggle to get my cat Wink to eat the pumpkin, either plan or mixed in with the food. "I don't like that wierd taste in my food. Bring me something else to eat." is the attitude I get from Wink. No BG impact because you will be using the plain pumpkin.

I like having the pumpkin option because I can also use it to help firm up the poo if he has a bout of diarrhea as well as help with the constipation.

Your cat may be impacted and unable to pass the stool on his own. This may require a vet visit for an enema.

 

And you can use mirilax for long term use as well.

Sneakers gets it BID with her other meds.

 

More reading on Feline Constipation

Lots of good info there.

It is possible he is partially obstructed and needs an enema to loosen up the partial blockage. Pushing from the mouth side may generate too much internal pressure and cause a problem.

 

Hi Katie,

I give my Jibber (my avatar cat in the picture) one quarter teaspoon at least twice a day in his wet food.

I give him Friskies pate food, and sometimes put a little Hill's A/D in the center where I put the Miralax, and mix in about a teaspoon of water to make it really soupy where the A/D is. I don't always use the A/D, it is so expensive, but he really loves it. It is good mixed into baby food meats also once in a while, just make sure not to use any with onion or garlic.

Tried the pumpkin, but he didn't fall for that.

He has really been going pretty good once a day, but there is something that my brother uses for his cat with the same constipation problems. He and his wife had to order it online, but my sil says it is fantastic, even compared to the Miralax. I will try to find out what it is, and post tomorrow if I can.

Otherwise, I wanted to say that I have been giving Miralax to Jibber for 2 years now. The Lactulose the vet prescribed did not help him at all.

One thing I learned, is that at first I was being very scant with the Miralax, but then he still wasn't going well enough. Once I decided to give him an even quarter of a teaspoon morning and night, that made all the difference in the world.

Hugs,
Jean and Charcoal (GA)

 

Miralax is an osmotic, so you will need to make sure the food is soupy. It draws water from the body into the intestines to soften the stool. It will not really help the hard bits already in there, that's why sometimes having the vet do an enema to get started with a clean slate so to speak helps.

Many people mention pumpkin/psyllium.. and I really think people should be careful advising to use that. It really depends on whether there is an underlying reason for the constipation. If a cat has motility issues due to megacolon, the last thing that cat needs is adding BULK/FIBER to the stool to make it bigger. A cat that has arthritis and doesn't want to/hurts to squat for a long time may put off going to the litterbox and it gets hard. There again, if its BIGGER, its not necessarily going to come out any faster or easier. It will just be a bigger piece of hard poo that the cats arthritis is making more difficult to come out.

 

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm going to do some research on megacolon because I know very little about it. He did have a poo yesterday and this morning so I don't think he's stopped up, he just has really hard and dense stool. This morning he jetted from the LB again afterwards. Mego used to do this when he was on the dry food and when I switched him to the wet, he was doing fine... apparently we're up to old tricks again.

 

Hi Katie, and Everyone,

Okay, just called and asked my brother what they are using for their Mega colon black cat named Patch. He said it is working great, and they had been using the Miralax and Laxatone before this stuff.

Anyway, it is called Lax-Eze and here is the website I looked it up on:
http://www.allergicpet.com/products/lax_eze.html

Sure seems to have great reviews, so I have been thinking on trying to get some for my Jibber and see how he does with it.

Lisa and the others are right though about your kitty maybe being impacted or needing an enema, but you should ask your vet about that. My brother had to have his cat get 2 enemas last year he was so impacted, but once they started the Miralax after he was cleaned out, he seemed much better and now they say this stuff is great!

Take care!
Jean and Charcoal (GA) cat_pet_icon

 

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I have started Mego on a small dose of Miralax (1/8 tsp BID) just to see how he responds. He did leave me a surprise in the LB when I got up this morning, but I don't know if it was Miralax induced. We'll see what happens over the next few days and if changes need to be made, we'll go from there. I was able to get a $3 off coupon for the Miralax on their website. And if it doesn't work for him... well I guess momma bean will at least be regular. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Thanks for the info on the Lax-Eze. I'll have to check that out too.

 

watch him closely for signs of abdominal distention, since you did not take him to a vet and ensure he was not partially obstructed anywhere.

Also, it can be very painful pushing out rocks that have built upand may cause tearing internally or externally. An enema at the vet office will reduce or eliminate (pun intended) this issue.

Note: Painful elimination may cause litterbox avoidance.

 

I will definitely keep an eye on him and feel his belly often... or at least as often as he'll let me. :smile:

 

My Oliver has megacolon and you do not want to let the issue get that bad.

Nothing like pumpkin ever worked for Oliver. What did help him earlier was to give miralax twice a day, in his shot meals, at least a 1/2 tsp, and lots of water in the food. All of his meals were 1part food, 1part water. He has never been a once a day cat for stool, but rather every 2-3 days.

His current meds are miralax, lactulose, cisapride, and sennakot, plus fluids every 2nd day.
Even with all that, he still has the occasional issue.

Keep upping the miralax and adding more water to the foods, then adjust the miralax down as the stool becomes looser. If it gets too firm again, play around with the amount of miralax and water in the food.
Don't ever rely on a cat to drink enough from a bowl because they just don't.

Gayle