My cat is constipated. Can I safely give sennosides to help her?

Poor Marshmellow! It would not be safe to give her an enema at home. You can give her some canned pumpkin to see if this helps soften her stool but it really sounds like she needs to see a veterinarian for care. Your veterinarian can also discuss medication options like Lactulose or Miralax to soften her stool in the future and prevent constipation. In older cats constipation often occurs secondary to some other issue like kidney disease or inflammatory bowel disease so blood work would be a good idea for Marshmellow.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Instead of an enema, I would recommend you first try something that is less involved and likely to help which is giving him about 1 teaspoon of canned pumpkin with his meals. This usually helps with constipation in cats. Good luck and have a great day!

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.

Poor Baby! If you are not comfortable giving the enema, I recommend to call your veterinarian and discuss your concerns. At this point, she may need more care than an enema. She may need fluids or a sedated enema. I also recommend to discuss a specific food made by Royal Canin called Fiber Response. It is formulated for cats with constipation and many cats will get relief within a few days. This diet baby needed lifelong. I hope Baby starts feeling better quickly and please feel free to post any additional questions.

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!

It should be okay to give her a teaspoon of plain canned pumpkin twice a day. Just make sure it doesn't have any added flavoring or sugars. If that doesn't help, talk to your vet about trying Miralax.

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.