My cat is constipated. Can I give her orange-flavored lactulose?

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Yes, you can give lactulose orally. If he is a medium-sized cat, he can likely get 2 mL by mouth twice daily until his stools are softer. If he does not defecate for longer than 48 hours, he should be seen by a veterinarian right away. Constipation can progress to obstipation, meaning a cat is completely unable to pass the feces. This can lead to rupture of the colon and/or irreversible problems with the colon. I hope this is helpful.

Stick with the dose that your veterinarian recommends. Constipation can kill. The type of diarrhea he gets from lactulose likely will not impair him. Do not feed him dry food, but stick to good quality tinned cat food, or low residue tinned cat food. You can ask your vet if you can reduce the amount of the individual dose, however, please do not do this on your own without consulting with your vet. Unfortunately the broken pelvis has possibly caused the passage through the pelvis to get smaller and the constipation may have expanded the colon before the pelvis so that feces collect there and do not fit through the pelvical opening. So it is much better if the feces are soft, or even fairly liquid provided that is caused by the lactulose.

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!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Shadow! If he is straining and not producing stool he needs to be rechecked by your Vet. He may need another enema. I am glad he is eating. Tuna and tuna juice is just good for a treat it is not nutritionally balanced to be the primary diet for cats as it is lacking in very important amino acids. I recommend Royal Canin Fiber Response for constipated cat. The lactulose can be decreased on increased based on stool. I wish you and Shadow the best!

Unfortunately human laxatives are toxic to cats, so that is not a good idea. Depending on how constipated Martin is, sometimes your vet will have to do an enema to resolve the constipation. If the constipation is mild, you may be able to give a stool softener to help resolve the problem. There are some over the counter and some prescription medications for this. I am attaching a handout below that discusses constipation including medications that we use. https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951509 Good luck! I hope that was helpful and answered your question. Thanks for using PetCoach.

While lactulose is a type of sugar, it will not make your cat overweight and it will also not damage your cat's teeth. Your kitty actually should lose some weight which will help with the constipation as well. If lactulose is working resolving the constipation then I would keep using it. Also make sure her water bowl is at least 5 feet away from the food bowl as cats do not like to drink water near their food.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I am sorry that Mama is having these issues. Constipation is really a disease of prevention. If she is straining then at this point she likely needs another enema. In the future you will need to prevent the constipation from occurring by getting her on a high-fibre diet. Sometimes adding canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling, just pure pumpkin) to the diet can help. Discuss with your vet about adding other products, like lactulose, to her diet daily. There are other products as well that can be added depending on how severe Mama's issues are. Increasing the fluid intake is another very useful tool. Feeding canned food and adding water to the food is a good preventative measure as well. Best of luck with Mama.