My cat has megacolon. What's the best food to manage her constipation?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Galaxy! I recommend cisapride, lactulose and Royal canine fiber response for constipated cats. Sometimes with the prescription diet it eliminates the need for most medications. If she isn't eating I would have her seen today and deobstipated (sedate and remove all feces) before the weekend. Then get the cisaride and food started. Sometimes refractory cases need partial removal of their colons. I wish you the best!

Here are two good options: Royal Canin Veterinary Diet® Feline Gastrointestinal Fiber Response dry cat food Royal Canin Veterinary Diet® Feline Calorie Control CC™ High Fiber canned cat food You can also add small amounts of bran or canned pumpkin to your kitty's wet food...start with very small amounts and increase slowly.

There are many different diets to try for constipation. Hill's i/d is a highly digestible food that might result in less stool produced and help with constipation. Other foods like Royal Canin fiber response help increase the fiber in the stool, and sometimes canned high protein diets are recommended. Constipation generally occurs secondary to another disease process in cats like renal disease or megacolon, so the ultimate diagnosis might also influence what food was recommended. It would be a good idea to get full medical records and talk to your veterinarian at home about long term management once you are back in the country.

In my clinical experience high fibre food is most effective in managing chronic constipation in cats. You will find many brands of high-fiber food for cats on the market. You could try Royal Canine Gastrointestinal Fibre Response, Iams Proactive Health or Hill's Indoor With High Fiber. You would have to wait about 4-8 weeks on high-fiber food to see improvement. Good luck.

Megacolon can be very difficult to treat. I've had good results with Royal Canin's FIber Response diet so you could ask your vet about this prescription diet as an option for Bobi for long term management. It sounds like Bobi may be severely constipated now, and she may need to be hospitalized for IV fluids and multiple medications, or even manual deobstipation under anesthesia. There is also a surgery (subtotal colectomy) that can be performed that might help, so you could ask your vet about referral to a specialist.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would recommend switching to a different food such as Science Diet or Royal Canin and see if a diet change makes a difference. You may even consider adding in a fiber supplement to help bulk up her stool so that it passes without getting stuck. A probiotic such as Purina Fortiflora may also be a good idea, which can be found online quite easily. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hello, and thanks for your question on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. For now, I wouldn't stress about knowing exactly which medication has helped Kiki - in truth, it's probably been a combination of all the different interventions. Cats who are prone to constipation often need constant adjustments in their management, so for now, if she's doing well, continue the miralax as your vet advised and touch base with them if her stools become hard or less frequent again. Sometimes cats may need to be on both meds for a time, or even switch foods entirely to a diet formulated for cats with constipation issues. So, there's probably not one "right" medication for her, and a therapy that worked this time might still need to be adjusted in the future. I have found the Royal Canin GI Fiber Response food to help immensely - you could ask your vet if that's an appropriate option if Kiki continues having bouts of constipation. Hope this helps!