My cat had constipation. Is wet or dry food better for recovery?

If your cat has mild constipation but is still pooping, I would consider a product like laxatone. It is labeled as a hairball remedy and is a flavored petroleum. You can put it on the food or on your cats foot and he will lick it off when he grooms. If, however, your cat hasn't pooped in days, he needs to see the vet for an exam and more intensive treatment.

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.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! What you describe is actually a common issue. There are a few things you can try. This is likely to resolve just by increasing the amount of liquid he consumes and an easy way of doing this is by increasing the amount of wet food and decreasing the amount of dry food or just switching to a wet food diet. You could consider feeding him canned Science Diet metabolic weight management to achieve weight loss. Good luck!

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.

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.

High fiber diets can be beneficial for anal gland and constipation issues. There is some evidence that pets with chronic anal gland disease could have underlying allergies and by treating the allergies the anal gland issues resolve. You can discuss with your local veterinarian what allergies are most common in your area and if they think Misty could have allergies.

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.