My cat is constipated despite treatments. Will fiber food help?

Instead of switching food I would first start with adding a tablespoon of plain canned pumpkin to each meal. That is natural fiber and most cats like it and eat it readily. Adjust the amount so the stool is larger, softer and he goes to the bathroom at least once daily. You can also open a capsule of plain Metamucil and sprinkle it on the food to increase fiber. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Oliver.

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.

Since constipation issues are directed at increasing water content and fiber, I would recommend sticking with the canned Purina urinary food and then adding in fiber daily with 1-2 tsp of canned pumpkin or Metamucil. Also have him checked with your vet if there is ever a time he can't go at all because he may have a condition called megacolon (enlarged colon) which would require medicaiton to treat. You can also try Laxatone over the counter. Here is a website link with more information for you.http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=634 I hope your fur baby gets well soon.

I feed my cat diet canned canned food which has added fiber. Most any brand will work. In addition I add a tablespoon of plain pumpkin to each feeding. The pumpkin adds more fiber and most cats like it. It works well to bulk up the stool and prevent constipation. You’ll be adding additional water also when you feed the canned food instead of dry. Use a brand that you like and that she likes too. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Juicy.

Poor Angel! This can be such a problem in older cats. You can add in some canned pumpkin (1 teaspoon a day) to help increase her fiber intake. Also, if you haven't already, I would talk to your vet about doing some abdominal x-rays. These will help the vet see how large the colon is and how much stool is present. Cats can get something called megacolon where the muscles in their colon don't work well and they get easily constipated. These cats usually need to be sedated and manually have some of the stool removed and then put on a drug called cisapride. Some cats will have to stay on this drug long term, but I have personally had good success with putting them on a food called Royal Canin GI Fiber Response and eventually getting them off cisapride and stool softeners. It is a prescription food so I would talk to your vet about it. Also, . Every cat is different and your vet will need to help guide you through this process. If your vet doesn't think she has megacolon then cisapride may not be needed but if she is REALLY backed up then she may still need to be sedated and have some feces removed to help her out. I hope this helps!

There's not perfect answer there, but if he's not really eating the prescription food anyways AND the food would only help if he was drinking enough water to have dilute urine, which I'm guessing he isn't because he's constipated, then changing foods is unlikely to cause problems. With what you're describing, he could even need subcutaneous fluids at home to get enough water in him. I'm assuming he's had general bloodwork done to try to figure out what's going on, because I would be concerned about some underlying organ dysfunction being involved here. If blood work is normal, I'd experiment with diets, water fountains, and even the fluids under the skin to see if any of that helps. Wishing you and Flash the best of luck

This could be due to a mild constipation, possibly due to hairballs. Mild constipation that lasts no more than two days can usually be resolved at home with increased fiber and hydration. Canned pumpkin (not pie filling, just the straight-up pumpkin) or liquid paraffin can be used, and should work straight away in the following 8 hours from administration. DO NOT TRY to give an enema as it could be dangerous and cause electrolyte imbalances and colon perforation. If constipation lasts more than 24 hours from administration of those or 48 hours in general, a check up at your local vet is required. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!