Constipation symptoms but not backed up

Have a 16 year old cat who has a history of constipation. He's on
Lactulose and it's been working for years. Over the last week, he
seems to have constipation again....goes into the litter box multiple
times a day, strains to go and most of the time doesn't...sometimes a
small 1 inch piece will come out. He's urinating fine. He also just
seems uncomfortable...tail almost straight down and very slow to lay
down or sit down...just not acting right. We took him to the vet last
night and he had an xray done...what it showed was that he wasn't
backed up and his colon looked ok (not megacolon). The vet's
suggestion was to give him more lactulose...after thinking about it
though....what's the point if he's not backed up?? We also got blood
work done just in case and will have results tomorrow. But has anyone
experienced this...constantly straining to go but there's nothing to
push out?? We've seen 2 vets about this and no one can give us an
idea of what's going on. Any help or suggestions would be
appreciated.

"The Other Mike" wrote in message

|| Have a 16 year old cat who has a history of constipation. He's on
|| Lactulose and it's been working for years. Over the last week, he
|| seems to have constipation again....goes into the litter box multiple
|| times a day, strains to go and most of the time doesn't...sometimes a
|| small 1 inch piece will come out. He's urinating fine. He also just
|| seems uncomfortable...tail almost straight down and very slow to lay
|| down or sit down...just not acting right. We took him to the vet
|| last night and he had an xray done...what it showed was that he
|| wasn't backed up and his colon looked ok (not megacolon). The vet's
|| suggestion was to give him more lactulose...after thinking about it
|| though....what's the point if he's not backed up?? We also got
|| blood work done just in case and will have results tomorrow. But
|| has anyone experienced this...constantly straining to go but there's
|| nothing to push out?? We've seen 2 vets about this and no one can
|| give us an idea of what's going on. Any help or suggestions would be
|| appreciated.

A good cat pick me up

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakult
A good spoonful of this or *similar* product (should be in the diary section
of your local foodmarket) will clean a cats and your digestive system and
uriny tract(naturally)
Yogurt while not bad does not get through the stomach as Yakults special
strain of the bacteria "Lactobacillus casei Shirota" does

Just one bottle is more than enough for one cat it should cost around 50
cents a bottle (It's intended for human consumption to do much the same
thing)
There are also dried capsule forms of same bacteria Lactobacillus product
but you will probably have to buy a bottle of it

You may wish to try your pet shop for similar specific cat product (I'm told
Yakult is not readily available in USa it's a Japanese product sold
worldwide I'm in Australia)

Googled this
http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs...us% 20cats%22
or http://tinyurl.com/ktpe3
***
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Probiotic strain L acidophilus DSM13241
fed at 2 × 108 CFU/d can alter the balance of gastrointestinal microflora in
healthy cats. Furthermore, administration of this probiotic results in
beneficial systemic and immunomodulatory effects in cats.
***

I'm glad he's had blood work done. He is a geriatric cat and needs to be
evaluated for a serious illness. Do you feed him canned food? He should have
canned food (higher water content) and you can try adding some unflavored
canned pumpkin for fiber.
Gail
"The Other Mike" wrote in message
...
Have a 16 year old cat who has a history of constipation. He's on
Lactulose and it's been working for years. Over the last week, he
seems to have constipation again....goes into the litter box multiple
times a day, strains to go and most of the time doesn't...sometimes a
small 1 inch piece will come out. He's urinating fine. He also just
seems uncomfortable...tail almost straight down and very slow to lay
down or sit down...just not acting right. We took him to the vet last
night and he had an xray done...what it showed was that he wasn't
backed up and his colon looked ok (not megacolon). The vet's
suggestion was to give him more lactulose...after thinking about it
though....what's the point if he's not backed up?? We also got blood
work done just in case and will have results tomorrow. But has anyone
experienced this...constantly straining to go but there's nothing to
push out?? We've seen 2 vets about this and no one can give us an
idea of what's going on. Any help or suggestions would be
appreciated.

On Wed, 06 Sep 2006 23:34:15 GMT, "Gail" wrote:

I'm glad he's had blood work done. He is a geriatric cat and needs to be
evaluated for a serious illness. Do you feed him canned food? He should have
canned food (higher water content) and you can try adding some unflavored
canned pumpkin for fiber.

Yes, he's been eating Fancy Feast but we just got back from a pet
store and got the merrick brand food to see if maybe he just needs
something healthier. My issue though is why would a cat strain to go
if an xray shows nothing is there to push out?

My cat used to do this. She had inflammatory bowel disease and would
alternate between diarrhea and constipation.
Gail
"The Other Mike" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 06 Sep 2006 23:34:15 GMT, "Gail" wrote:

I'm glad he's had blood work done. He is a geriatric cat and needs to be
evaluated for a serious illness. Do you feed him canned food? He should
have
canned food (higher water content) and you can try adding some unflavored
canned pumpkin for fiber.

Yes, he's been eating Fancy Feast but we just got back from a pet
store and got the merrick brand food to see if maybe he just needs
something healthier. My issue though is why would a cat strain to go
if an xray shows nothing is there to push out?

check this out:
Fluffy should be seen by your veterinarian to determine the cause of her
problem. Some problems may be minor, others more serious. Your veterinarian
will question you about your cat's litterbox habits to be sure that she is
urinating normally. (Some cats will appear to be straining to defecate when
actually they are straining to urinate.) Next the veterinarian must
determine whether she is having abnormally large, hard stools, small stools,
or loose stools. Some cats will be straining to pass stools because of
constipation, but some will strain with loose stools due to colitis (when
the colon is inflamed, the cat feels as though stools are present even when
the colon is empty -- similar to the urge to urinate frequently with a
bladder infection even though the bladder is empty.). Your veterinarian may
be able to determine the likely cause of Fluffy's problem by talking with
you about the specifics of her symptoms. Some causes of straining may be
simple and easy to correct -- perhaps a change of food to more or less fiber
in the diet will fix the problem. Other more serious causes of constipation
or colitis may require x-rays, bloodwork, etc. to diagnose. Also, have a
stool sample checked for intestinal parasites that may be causing the
straining. Once your veterinarian determines the cause of Fluffy's problem,
the proper course of treatment (surgery, medications, food trials, etc.) can
be instituted to make her comfortable again.

"Gail" wrote in message
news
My cat used to do this. She had inflammatory bowel disease and would
alternate between diarrhea and constipation.
Gail
"The Other Mike" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 06 Sep 2006 23:34:15 GMT, "Gail" wrote:

I'm glad he's had blood work done. He is a geriatric cat and needs to be
evaluated for a serious illness. Do you feed him canned food? He should
have
canned food (higher water content) and you can try adding some unflavored
canned pumpkin for fiber.

Yes, he's been eating Fancy Feast but we just got back from a pet
store and got the merrick brand food to see if maybe he just needs
something healthier. My issue though is why would a cat strain to go
if an xray shows nothing is there to push out?

On Thu, 07 Sep 2006 00:09:56 GMT, "Gail" wrote:

My cat used to do this. She had inflammatory bowel disease and would
alternate between diarrhea and constipation.

I just found something online called Colitis which includes IBD...I
guess that could be it. I'll wait for the blood work results and then
maybe take him to yet another vet. I read your other post and neither
of the 2 vets asked half of the questions you posted.

That doesn't sound right. If he's eating normally (is he?) and not much
is coming out and he's straining, I don't know how he couldn't be backed up.

Do you trust your vet? If you have any doubts, I would get another
opinion. I know you said you've seen two, are they at the same clinic?
I'd maybe ask for a referral to an internist vet or ask someone, like a
cat rescue organization, for a good vet referral. Someone has to be able
to find out what's wrong.

Our cat strained like you were saying but she had megacolon -- they
could see on an x-ray that she was backed up.

Good luck, let us know what happens.

Rhonda

The Other Mike wrote:
Have a 16 year old cat who has a history of constipation. He's on
Lactulose and it's been working for years. Over the last week, he
seems to have constipation again....goes into the litter box multiple
times a day, strains to go and most of the time doesn't...sometimes a
small 1 inch piece will come out. He's urinating fine. He also just
seems uncomfortable...tail almost straight down and very slow to lay
down or sit down...just not acting right. We took him to the vet last
night and he had an xray done...what it showed was that he wasn't
backed up and his colon looked ok (not megacolon). The vet's
suggestion was to give him more lactulose...after thinking about it
though....what's the point if he's not backed up?? We also got blood
work done just in case and will have results tomorrow. But has anyone
experienced this...constantly straining to go but there's nothing to
push out?? We've seen 2 vets about this and no one can give us an
idea of what's going on. Any help or suggestions would be
appreciated.

On Thu, 07 Sep 2006 04:00:25 GMT, Rhonda
wrote:

That doesn't sound right. If he's eating normally (is he?) and not much
is coming out and he's straining, I don't know how he couldn't be backed up.

Do you trust your vet? If you have any doubts, I would get another
opinion. I know you said you've seen two, are they at the same clinic?
I'd maybe ask for a referral to an internist vet or ask someone, like a
cat rescue organization, for a good vet referral. Someone has to be able
to find out what's wrong.

Our cat strained like you were saying but she had megacolon -- they
could see on an x-ray that she was backed up.

He actually stopped eating...the last time he ate was Tues
night...right after getting home from the vet where they saw on the
xray that he wasn't backed up. They also ruled out megacolon. He's
back at the vet as of this morning for tests...it's a clinic with a
bunch of different vets...we specifically asked for the one he's
seeing today so hopefully they'll find out what's going on.