Constipated from eating raw only

Hello
My diabetic cat boy Zorro has been on only raw food for a few weeks now and constipation has been a problem for the past few days.
I've asked for the last batch of raw food that I ordered to be ground finely as Zorro recently had six dental extractions. I don't know if that made a difference to his digestion and bowel movements.
A light laxative paste (a local commercial product) that I tried isn't helping.
Last night I actually gave him some Classic Fancy Feast Salmon instead of his normal raw just to see if it improves things by this morning but no luck - and his bg number shot up from the sudden spike in carbs.

The manufacturer of the raw food that I buy has recommended mixing 2 tsp of olive oil into Zorro's raw food whenever I notice constipation. However I'm hesitant to do it without some more input from here as our vet said I should be careful with oils as Zorro's pancreas will be under strain already from the diabetes (he is not diagnosed with pancreatitis). However the raw food manufacturer is of the opinion that 2 tsp of olive oil as a once-off every now and then will be alright.
I will appreciate any suggestions from those who also feed raw and have had to deal with this problem.
Thank you so much.

 

You could try giving him some plain boiled mashed pumpkin. It is great for constipation and diarrhoea. A teaspoon three times a day mixed in with food. I’m not sure I would give 2 teaspoon of olive oil at once.
I feed my cats raw. I haven’t had any problems with constipation unless they are getting too much bone. Do you know how much bone is in the mix you are feeding?

 

Hi Bron, thank you for assisting. I will go out and buy some pumpkin right now to boil a bit later today. I will feel more comfortable with that than with all of the oil. However, since the constipation is quite bad right now, do you reckon I could mix just one tsp of olive oil, together with one tsp of boiled mashed pumpkin, with his next raw meal - just to really get things going for him? Or rather just the pumpkin? I will then maintain it with only the pumpkin from there on.
Lastly, are we talking a flat, medicine measure tsp quantity or a casual, slightly heaped tsp?
Thank you again

 

Oh, I meant to add: I don't know the ratio of bone to organs/meat in his raw food but there is quite a bit of bone/beak/claw in the food - that's why I asked for it to be ground finer. His poop is currently coming out in small bits at a time and is basically just dry crumble.

 

Dry crumble and constipation sounds like a bit too much bone to me. If my cats poop is white and crumbly I ease back on the bone.
I would try and add plenty of water to the food to moisten the poops.
I sometimes cook a bit of food for them in olive oil (rarely as most is raw) and the olive oil doesn’t hurt them at all.
You may need to get something from the vet to help with the constipation.
I would definitely ask what the ratio of bone is in the food. It shouldn’t be more than 10%. If he can’t answer you, then I think I would find another source for the food.
I do my own raw diet with no problems at all. And it is not expensive and I use human grade food.
With the pumpkin.. just an ordinary teaspoon. I am never exact. My cats quite like it when I feed it. If you mash it up finely it will disappear into the food.

 

I just noticed you say in your signature that you are feeding a low phosphorus diet to Zorro so I am wondering why there is bone in it.

 

I fed Zorro his lunch time meal half an hour ago: 2 oz raw chicken with about 1/2 tsp of olive oil and one slightly heaped tsp of mashed, boiled pumpkin cubes. Paws crossed for some action for him!
I hope the fresh but pre-cut pumpkin cubes from a local veg shop will do the trick. I wasn't sure if one requires a lot of those pumpkin "threads" which are already gone with the pre-cut pieces.

I am waiting on the supplier to advise me as to the bone ratio of their renal health cat food recipe. I didn't know that bone should be excluded from such a recipe.

 

To get a lower phosphorus level in the food you would replace the bone with egg shell
Powder. It is very easy to make, if you are interested I can give you more information about a low phosphorus diet

 

If he has not pooped within 24 hours you may consider a 1/4 teaspoon of Miralax or Walmart brand Clearlax in his wet food to help get him going. Then keep him on a daily regimen of pumpkin to hopefully keep him regular. If necessary, the Miralax can be given once a day.

 

Bron, info on a simple homemade raw diet will be great, thanks.
There actually are pieces of egg shell in the renal diet food but there are definitely very hard pieces too which I am certain is bone - unless it is just cartilage...would that count as bone? Anyway let me hear what the supplier says.

Jan, thank you I will definitely look into something from the vet if the constipation persists. I am in South Africa so might have to look at different brands from the ones you've suggested.

 

My cat has problems with constipation and was on a dry food for it (big no no for a diabetic) I removed the dry food and replaced it with plain mashed pumpkin and a quarter spoon of Miralax. I mix bothin with his wet food in his morning and evening meal and it is working. He doesn't seem to be having any problems. It's something to consider adding to the cat's diet to help him with his BM's. Best of luck, I know how difficult it is to watch them struggle with not being able to go.

 

Maritsa I’m just heading to bed. I’ll get back to you tomorrow with the raw diet. Hope Zorro has success with his poop.

 

I Wish you well! Just in case, to help you find something similar, the ingredient in Miralax is Polyethylene Glycol and is safe for humans and pets. I hope this helps get your baby back to feeling better.

 

Thank you all very much Will keep you updated as to how things "went"

 

tempted to say don't worry about olive oil, use extra virgin OO if you can, Catcat gets about half a teaspoon mixed in with his main meals twice a day, in his case it's for coat conditioning and help with passing hairballs

with things that dry, any way you could add more water (or moisture) to his food? easy to get canned organic pumpkin here, not sure if you have any available there

 

Candy, luckily I did use extra virgin olive oil and I will consider adding half a tsp to his food once a day - thank you
It's no trouble boiling a bit of pre-peeled and cut pumpkin cubes so I'll do that every couple of days and keep it in a Tupperware in the fridge to spoon into his food as needed.
I was wondering: Does the pumpkin add much carbs to their meals? Should I calculate it into his food weight ie. if Zorro normally gets 2 oz of raw food should I lessen the amount to allow for the pumpkin and olive oil?

 

LOL -- haven't had any problems with constipation nor diarrhea with Catcat, so I've never used pumpkin for him, just read about others using it, so I got several cans of the pumpkin from the food bank (no one else wanted it, same deal with lentils), keeping those if I ever need them

will have to look up the Glycemic Index for pumpkin, just a guess but I expect it's fairly low, since when you use it in cooking for humans, you add a LOT of sweetener to make it palatable, it's the fiber content and the water-holding capacity that does the trick

 

@Zorro's mom
Maritsa, have a look at the link below. This is what I used to do for Sheba who was early stage CRD. I cooked some of her food but you don't need to. You can have it all raw. I now feed a frankenprey diet to my current cats, which is all raw and includes bone. One of the cats can't eat bone because she doesn't have many teeth so I use egg shell powder for calcium for her instead.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/home-prepared-diet-of-crd-cats.150441/

 

@Bron and Sheba and the other ladies who assisted above: Zorro produced 2 much healthier-looking, larger pieces of poop this morning
I appreciate the help. The tsp pumpkin with occasional half tsp of olive oil will now be a staple for him.

 

@Bron and Sheba we posted simultaneously above Thank you so much for the link. I will peruse it properly during the day.

 

I’m glad you have found a solution for the constipation!

 

Constipation for a raw diet is discussed a little before the halfway point of the following:
https://catinfo.org/making-cat-food/

 

Thank you Larry!