Question:
We have a female 12-year-old dark-gray cat with white boots and the darkest green eyes I've ever seen. She weighs around eight pounds and seems in general good health. However, for the past two to three years, she has become chronically constipated, and her vet has prescribed 2 to 2-1/2 mg of lactulose USP 10g/5ml that she takes every other day to get a bowel movement. She will not have a bowel movement without it.
She is not a heavy eater, but will eat a Little Friskies Chicken/Tuna and some dry Evo -- a little of both. We did try to feed her the natural diet from your website about two years ago, but she turned up her nose at all efforts to ease her into it. Do you have any other suggestions?
R.D.R., Winston-Salem, NC Jun 26, 2011
Answer:
Cats can be finicky. One of my own refuses to eat my home-prepared diet and prefers dry food to canned or raw and he was a feral cat, so go figure! He at least drinks plenty of water. (If he did not, I would, of course, moisten his dry food.)
Chronic constipation and megacolon (where feces accumulate and require periodic enemas to remove) are common feline afflictions. These conditions are aggravated, if not caused, by high starch and fiber dry cat foods -- and a lack of physical activity.
An exercise program for your cat is called for. Purchase various interactive toys like a wand, fishing pole, dangling lures and laser lights to get your cat to play, especially early in the evening before her last meal.
Feed her three to four small meals a day, adding a drop of fish oil or olive oil, gradually working up to 1 teaspoon daily. Get her used to a daily abdominal massage. Several readers have told me this helps cats that are constipated or have megacolon. Another cat to play with is probably the best medicine for a variety of maladies.
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