My dog has megacolon. What are the most effective treatment options?

I am so sorry for your loss. Megacolon is not particularly common in dogs. There is usually an underlying disease process that causes the colon to become larger than normal, making it difficult to impossible for pets to have a bowel movement. Some of the possible underlying causes include Myasthenia Gravis, severe chronic constipation, disease of the rectum or anus, and injury to the spinal cord or pelvic bones. If a pet is very young with megacolon, it can be a congenital deformity. Occasionally, we never discover the underlying cause; this would be an idiopathic case of megacolon. There are several different treatment options that can help manage mild-to-moderate megacolon, including enemas, medications to stimulate colon contraction, or laxatives or stool softeners, as well as directly treating the underlying cause if known. I am a veterinary acupuncturist and have had moderate success in treating megacolon cats with acupuncture as it is another modality that can cause colon contraction and decrease pain. Abdominal massage can also aid in comfort and stimulating the colon. Occasionally, you have to physically express the stool from the colon if the pet will allow. As I mentioned above, megacolon is not common in dogs. It can be much harder to manage than megacolon in cats simply due to size of the pet. I hope this information has answered your question. If there is anything more we can discuss about megacolon or problems specific to your pet, or tips on handling grief after the loss of a pet, please choose a consult and we can discuss things further.

I am afraid more information would be required as to the underlying cause of the megacolon and any previous injuries or surgeries he has undergone in order to assess fully. Diet manipulation, acupuncture and chiropractic care may all help in improving lower bowel function and the addition of laxatives can all ease symptoms

Megacolon can be very difficult to treat. I've had good results with Royal Canin's FIber Response diet so you could ask your vet about this prescription diet as an option for Bobi for long term management. It sounds like Bobi may be severely constipated now, and she may need to be hospitalized for IV fluids and multiple medications, or even manual deobstipation under anesthesia. There is also a surgery (subtotal colectomy) that can be performed that might help, so you could ask your vet about referral to a specialist.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Galaxy! I recommend cisapride, lactulose and Royal canine fiber response for constipated cats. Sometimes with the prescription diet it eliminates the need for most medications. If she isn't eating I would have her seen today and deobstipated (sedate and remove all feces) before the weekend. Then get the cisaride and food started. Sometimes refractory cases need partial removal of their colons. I wish you the best!

Without knowing exactly what diets or medications you have tried it is very difficult to discuss options. I would recommend a probiotic/fibre supplement such as fortiflora/profibre, a hydrolysed or inteststinal diet (royal canin hypoallergenic / gastrointestinal) and a faecal screen to rule out parasites such as giardia if persistent

So sorry to hear that Skylla has this problem. Depending on the location of the cancer in the bladder, surgery would be the best option followed by radiation. Radiation alone is not usually recommended as the bladder tends to get very damaged and non-functional. As far as non-surgical options, your vet is correct to give an NSAID like Previcoxx however, a better NSAID to use would be piroxicam but I do not know if it is available in your country. If an NSAID alone is not working we then go to using NSAID plus chemotherapy (mitoxantrone). A third option is chemotherapy alone with vinblastine or other combinations of drugs. You will need to speak to your vet to see what options are available in your country and the costs involved. Also, it depends on where in the bladder Skylla's cancer is located. You could also refer your vet to this article if they are not used to treating this type of cancer. ( https://www.purdue.edu/vet/pcop/files/docs/CanineUrinaryBladderCancer.pdf ) Hope this helps. Best wishes.

I'm sorry Pooh Bear has cancer. It sounds like your vet is doing a good job of trying to treat as best as possible, and I'm assuming the type of cancer diagnosed was transitional cell carcinoma since piroxicam has been prescribed. If that is the case, I have seen these dogs get many more months of good quality life, as long as clinical signs are controlled. If the type of cancer hasn't been determined and the diagnosis has been made on just the fact that he has an enlarged prostate, then I would caution that dogs can have adenocarcinoma of the prostate, another type of cancer which metastasizes readily and is quite aggressive, and ultimately difficult to treat. It typically does not respond to piroxicam. Straining to defecate and pain on defecation with prostatic cancers is usually due to the colon becoming trapped between the enlarged prostate and the enlarged sublumbar lymph nodes. If the cancer is a TCC, it should respond to piroxicam, and the prostate should shrink a bit, which will hopefully improve the symptoms. If the cancer is another type of cancer, unfortunately it's unlikely that the current treatment plan is going to help. Stool softeners such as lactulose may help to improve the consistency of the stool, and make it easier to pass. Your vet might also consider adding on gabapentin as an additional pain reliever to the current regimen, as that may add some additional relief.