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 about 8 pounds and seems in general good health. However, for the last two to three years, she has become chronically constipated. Her vet has prescribed 2 to 2 1/2 milligrams of Lactulose
that she takes every other day to get a bowel movement. She will not have a bowel movement without it.
Lately, her dosage has increased to 2 1/2 milligrams, and even then it may not work and another dosage is given the next day. This usually does the trick. She hates the medication and we must hold her paws to give it to her.
She is not a heavy eater, but she will eat a little Friskies Chicken/Tuna
and a little dry EVO
-- just 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 Sep 13, 2011
Answer:
Cats can be finicky. One of my own refuses to eat my home-prepared diet (as detailed on my website) and prefers dry food over 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 pile up in an enlarged colon and require periodic enemas to remove) are common feline afflictions. These conditions are aggravated, if not caused, by high starch and fiber in dry cat foods and by a lack of physical activity.
An exercise program for your cat is called for. Purchase various interactive toys such as 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 or four small meals a day, adding a drop of fish oil or olive oil and gradually working up to 1 teaspoon daily. Get her used to a daily abdominal massage -- several readers have told me this helps cats who are constipated or suffer megacolon. Another cat to play with is probably the best medicine for a variety of maladies.
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