Miralax for cats.

[Louise]

I have a senior cat, 16 years old. She’s always been a picky eater, and doesn’t much like wet food. This year, she has been to the vet twice, for constipation issues.

She is impossible to pill, mainly because, after you catch her one time, you cannot catch her again.

I have a fountain out, which she loves. I add quite a bit of additional water to her wet food, and she does lick the “gravy” off. In addition, I put out a big bowl of lactose free milk every day, which I often see her drinking from.

Still, her stool is hard and dry. Last week, when I had her in to the vets for her last constipation episode, the vet and I were discussing what to do. There’s a medication, I forget the name now, that you can put cats on, but the pilling thing is a big problem. And, I understand that medication tastes terrible.

The vet was brainstorming and wondered if miralax would work, as it is tasteless and disolved easily in water. She was going to research it, and I will talk to her today, when I take another of my cats in for her annual physical.

I was wondering if anyone else has had a problem like this, and what the pros and cons of using miralax are? I’m sure, if my vet has been researching and found out that miralax isn’t appropriate for cats, I will find out today,

[Zu_Zu]

YES ! I have successfully used Miralax for a senior female cat !

[B]
YES !! YES !!

I have used WITH SUCCESS ! [/B][B]Miralax !!! for Katharine Ann !

Katharine Ann is a barn feral who is now top house cat ~ age 18 +

She periodically has experienced constipation issues ~ checked out = no serious structural problems … issues resolved with subq hydration at vet clinic twice …

then

with occassional

Miralax mixed into her wet food or just the juice off a can

and like a miracle *

Katharine Ann is REGULAR …

easy peasy and a very good thing = Miralax !!!

only warning is ‘allow time’ for it to work … as in don’t give additional dosages too soon :eek:

or

well things can get loosened up QUICKLY !!! :eek::lol:

Highly recommend this method … Katharine rarely needs it but it works when she does :D[/B]

[hopper20]

Yep, my cat takes it twice a day. It works quite well and is pretty cheap too.

[Louise]

Thanks to both of you. Vet gave me the OK. Miralax twice a day - 1/4 teaspoon each time. But, I think I’m going to be a little cautious here and give it to her once a day for a couple of days, then quit and see how she reacts. Sometimes animals react differently to the same medication and I’d rather start off slow and build up,

Now, if this was a horse, I’d add electrolytes.

[tikihorse2]

Just chiming in to say that my senior kitty has 1/4 teaspoon Miralax-- well, Target brand-- twice a day and it works very well. I mix it into her canned food and she eats it with no problems.

Kim

[Kimstar]

I use Lactulose for my 20-will-be-21-year-old-in-July kitty who has been in renal failure for the last several years. Hard stool/constipation issues go along with that. I have no idea if it’s available in the States but here it’s cheap and effective. It’s liquid that is usually citrus flavoured but I mix approximately one cc in with my cat’s tinned food twice daily and add a lot of water to make it soupy. It works very well for her. I also add a very slight sprinkling of Metamucil to her “soup” as well and make sure her kibble is coated in it too, but she doesn’t eat very much kibble per day. It’s more of a snack for her. (Her tinned food is usually a half-tin of Fancy Feast Pate to give you an idea of the amount of food to Lactulose ratio.)

[Louise]

A formula for comparing the protein in wet vs. dry food.

I’m working hard to keep my two quite senior cats healthy as long as possible. I wanted to cut down the protein for my older cats, while keeping it higher for the younger ones. Some of you probably already know this formula, but it’s how you compare the protein in wet vs. dry food. I thought I’d pass it along just in case there might be someone who would find it useful,. The one you convert is the wet.

Look on the can for the moisture content and subtract that from 100. Look for the protein percentage and divide that by the remainder. If the food was dry, that result would be approximately the amount of protein in it,

[CindyCRNA]

My Pooter will be 20 in June and is on a scant 1/4 teaspoon per day. I mix it up with her wet food.

[Simkie]

If the miralax doesn’t work for you, lactulose might. It’s a liquid and you could add it to food. My cat doesn’t mind at all when I syringe it into her–it smell banana flavored, maybe?

Good luck!

[Louise]

I’ve got my fingers crossed on the Miralax because she’s a fey little thing. Good to know that you can put the lactulose in food. I can catch her once. Then, no matter what I’m doing, I can’t catch her again for several weeks, so syringing is probably out.

[In_The_Gate]

I love Miralax for constipated cats. It’s easy to give (most cats will eat it in food) and unlike lactulose rarely seems to cause diarrhea.

[Kachina]

Scant 1/4 teas in canned food am and pm. Works FANTASTIC!

[mvp]

Been there, done that.

OP, you can try switching up Miralax and Lactulose. Sometimes the gut needs a switcheroo in order to get back in business. And canned pumpkin helps, too. Most of 'em eat it gladly. Who knew carnivores would do that?

You can also give a cat an enema. A bad time will be had by all. But they are worth keeping on hand in case you guys get in trouble. That can happen and it’s often cheaper/safer than waiting to take your really plugged up cat to the vet for his version of it. I have seen that done and don’t need to put a cat in that spot.

[macmtn]

King Kamehameha has serious constipation issues, and megacolon. To keep him moving he gets 1/4 cup Royal Canin Feline Fibre Response dry 3 times a day. Over that he gets Lactulose and twice a day 1/4 tsp Miralax. Neither have any taste he objects to. He prefers it to be well mixed together as opposed to just sprinkled on top.
End result (sorry…could not resist) is a stool that is very soft and easy for him to pass. We will avoid another blockage at any cost…the last one dam near killed us both.

[Louise]

Well, I didn’t get to it in time. She’s constipated again. Looks like another trip to the vet,

[macmtn]

Am sorry…that sucks in many Many ways. The King is having sympathetic butt twitches…
Our last vet trip involved 3 days of enemas, nasal drenches, iv feedings and 3 days locked in a cage with a collar. They STILL had to put him to sleep to really clean him out finally. It took a month for my cat to trust me again…

I highly recommend the Royal Canin Feline Fibre dry cat food and Miralax. The emergency vet we ended up after regular vets failure has a feline gastroenterologist specialist on call. (Who knew they existed?) Between the two they set up this feeding program for him with the warning another episode will result in at least a bowel resection and possibly his death. We are on permanent poop watch here…

[Skip_s_Rider]

[QUOTE=macmtn;8110573]

I highly recommend the Royal Canin Feline Fibre dry cat food and Miralax. The emergency vet we ended up after regular vets failure has a feline gastroenterologist specialist on call. (Who knew they existed?) Between the two they set up this feeding program for him with the warning another episode will result in at least a bowel resection and possibly his death. We are on permanent poop watch here…[/QUOTE]

How do you give the Miralax if you’re feeding dry food? My cat absolutely won’t eat canned food.

[Louise]

My cat is not a fan of wet food, either. She was still distressed from the trauma of the vet visit last night and wouldn’t eat. So, this morning was her first dose of Miralax. I just mixed the dry Miralax right in with the dry food (Orijen, which has a slightly greasy feel to it), It stuck to the food, and she ate it with no problem.

She’s a slow and picky eater so she didn’t eat much, which is normal. Because I have other cats, I can’t keep food down all the time, so I give her food whenever she asks. It will take all day for her to eat breakfast. This evening, we’ll start on supper. Fingers crossed.

[macmtn]

Sprinkle it over the dry food and thoroughly mix it in…I just use my fingers. Has no taste. Not gritty. He does not know its there.

[macmtn]

[QUOTE=Louise;8111596]
My cat is not a fan of wet food, either. She was still distressed from the trauma of the vet visit last night and wouldn’t eat. So, this morning was her first dose of Miralax. I just mixed the dry Miralax right in with the dry food (Orijen, which has a slightly greasy feel to it), It stuck to the food, and she ate it with no problem.

She’s a slow and picky eater so she didn’t eat much, which is normal. Because I have other cats, I can’t keep food down all the time, so I give her food whenever she asks. It will take all day for her to eat breakfast. This evening, we’ll start on supper. Fingers crossed.[/QUOTE]

fingers and toes crossed for you. king Kamehameha has his Royal Canin dry, and is forbidden by law to eat regular dry cat food. The rest of the Mafia…get regular dry food and are forbidden to eat his special food. I put the King’s food down periodically during the day, and the regular dry is served in several bowls in the kitchen closet. Kona Mamacat is the designated dry food door cryer. She or someone will sit at the door and look at it. Then quietly ask for it to be opened. If that doesn’t work she gets up and bats the door handle. Then a stream of Siamese go in and out til they are all full.
Kamehameha had a hard time learning he was the only cat NOT allowed in the closet so when they eat he is offered food at his special feeding spot.

being stubborn he learned to teleport in and out of the closet while grabbing a gigantic mouthfull of forbidden dry. Then running far far away with it. And gulping as fast as he can…which is how he got megacolon in the first place…swallowing his dry food whole. So…whomever opens the door must stand there and guard it.