? Severe constipation lactulose

Pudden has been having numbers in the 170s when she is usually under 100. I took her to the vet and they discovered she was severely constipated which has caused inflammation in her small intestines. I was given an enema to do at home for her and a bottle of lactulose and some flortiflora.

I already gave her the enema and she has gone several times. She is resting now, but was very ill and vomiting after the enema. I feel terrible for her.

She has been getting miralax 1/4 teaspoon every day for the past year and a half. I put it in her food, but she might not always be eating all of it since she does leave a lot of her food uneaten.

I am afraid that the green syrupy lactulose will raise her BG even more. However it appears that the miralax isn't working. This is concerning since it is my understanding that miralax is far superior to lactulose.

Is the lactulose safe, or will it destroy her remission that has already been terribly compromised? I am thinking maybe I should dissolve the miralax in water and syringe it to her so she gets all of it as well as the water she needs for it to work. I would also increase her to 1/4 teaspoon twice daily.

I am afraid to mess with the vets instructions though as I don't want Pudden to suffer anymore. She was so uncomfortable and obviously in distress. I need some advice on what to do.

Just to be sure, I also wanted to ask if flortiflora is safe for diabetics?

Thank you so much everyone! Pudden and I really appreciate it.

 

You could try putting a ? mark in front of your thread title or even a 911 if you feel this is an emergency situation. You may get more responses that way. Do you have a vet nearby you can get her to if you need to? I'll see if I can tag a few people for you. @Kris & Teasel, @Chris & China, @Critter Mom, @MrWorfMen's Mom, @Larry and Kitties, can anyone help?

 

Thank you Lisa! I will do that. I have an emergency vet less then 5 min away, but she is doing fine and eating now. She was just having really bad cramps which was causing the vomiting.

 

Let us know how she's doing. Don't know your time zone but it will repopulate here in about 8 hours. I've never been on the board through the night so I don't know how many people are here and I don't know enough about this.

 

Just seeing this. I'm glad she seems better.

 

Does Pudden have a history of constipation? I ask because you are already giving miralax. I have used lactulose, and it's sweet. But, if the miralax isn't working well enough, you may need to use it and compensate with a slightly higher insulin dose. Especially in the short term while Pudden is blocked.

Others have used pumpkin (mine won't touch it) and slippery elm bark (which I've never tried) for constipation. Some people add fiber but that can sometimes aggrevate the problem rather than helping it. Probiotics can help and I don't think it affects blood glucose.

 

I'm glad to hear that Pudden is feeling better now.

 

You might want to try increasing her Miralax to twice a day and giving it by syringe so you know she's getting the full dose.....the extra water she'd get in the syringe will help a little too...Miralax needs lots of water to work it's best

Lactulose isn't supposed to effect blood glucose numbers.....it's supposed to be a sugar that's "indigestible"......but as we all know, cats write their own rules when it comes to this dance, so if the Miralax isn't working, it's worth a try....you'll know if it's causing her numbers to go up when you test for a few days using it

Glad to hear Pudden is feeling better now!! Hopefully now that she's cleaned out some, you'll be able to control her stools without going to such extremes as doing enemas....they irritate the whole digestive system so it's not really uncommon for them to cause vomiting, especially if she had to strain hard to get the poop out.

Fortiflora is perfectly safe for diabetics, but as far as it's usefulness, that's a highly debated topic.....it's supposed to be a probiotic, but there's actually not much in the way of probiotic in it...there are better ones out there, but for a "topper" to get kitties to eat something they're not too fond of eating, it can really be a lifesaver!! A little sprinkle will get China to eat almost anything!!

 

Thank you for the replies everyone! Yes, Pudden has been having a hard time with constipation for over a year and gets miralax for it. She is currently on an antihistamine which has been known to cause constipation. The miralax was doing it's job until she was started on the antihistamine. It has been a struggle since then. Thankfully spring is coming and once the furnace is off, I will be able to stop giving it to her.

I think what you suggested Chris about giving the miralax in a syringe twice daily would be a good thing to try. I gave lactulose to my other kitty Jubie when she was on buprenex and she hated it. It took several days to work and when it finally did, she had bad diarrhea for a few days after that. I like that the miralax is tasteless and gentle, which is why I prefer it. If it doesn't work though, I will have no choice but to give the lactulose a try. I think though now that she is cleaned out and if I stay on top of it with the miralax, she should be ok. Lets hope!