My cat is constipated. How can I ease her discomfort tonight?

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.

Hi, and thanks for your question. 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!

It sounds very likely that Tink could be constipated. I would advise the following tactics to help relieve her constipation; increased water intake Wet or tinned food Pureed pumpkin Mineral oil- Mineral oil can be given at 1 teaspoon per 10 pounds body weight once or twice daily, and coconut oil and vegetable oil can be similarly dosed A high fiber food- http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=32074 If Tink does not improve in the next 24 hours, I would advise taking her to the veterinarian in case she has an underlying medical condition. Here are some links to help you; https://www.petcoach.co/article/the-big-no-go-constipation-in-cats-101/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/best-home-made-remedies-for-your-constipated-pet/

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.

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!

Poor Samson! I'm sorry to hear that he's having this problem. By impacted, I'm assuming you mean that he's severely constipated and isn't able to poop - if you mean that he can't urinate, please post again because this is a very different situation! If he's severely constipated, odds are that he will need to have a manual enema under anesthesia at the vet's office. I would NOT recommend trying to do this at home, as it would be very painful and uncomfortable for him, and you could also accidentally cause damage to his colon. If he is vomiting, painful, or seems very distressed, then I would recommend taking him to an emergency clinic tonight to be seen. If he's acting fairly normal other than having difficulty having a bowel movement (eating and drinking, no vomiting, etc.) then you could opt to monitor him tonight and take him to your regular veterinarian first thing in the morning. If he's willing to eat and drink, you can try offering some canned pumpkin, regular canned cat food, or even low-sodium chicken or beef broth - these are all good ways of increasing the moisture in his GI tract, which can help with constipation. Since he's had this problem twice now in a short period of time, I would recommend talking to your veterinarian about starting him on medication to help prevent additional episodes in the future, such as lactulose or Miralax, once his current impaction has been relieved.

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.