Updated - found a great product instead of Pumpkin for cats

[reefy]

So, I have an elderly cat that recently has started to have some problems with BMs.

I started giving him about a teaspon of canned plain pumpkin puree each day which has helped a ton!

However, I have to make work trips on occasion and while I can get it in him (forcibly - he will not eat the dreaded pumpkin willingly), I’m not sure the pet sitter will be able to find him and administer it daily.

So, my question is - how the heck can I make this palatable for him so he’ll eat it while I’m gone??? He’s at the age where I’m scared every time I go away that he’s going to pass on without me there to comfort him. Weird I know but hopefully you all can understand.

He only eats dry food (a high fiber food mixed with a little grain free dry) and will not eat it if it’s the slightest bit damp and certainly not with pumpkin in it. The trips are usually 4 days total so I’ve not been giving him the pumpkin for the past few days to see how he does. But I’m worried.

Any suggestions??

[mvp]

I hear you. A cat that won’t crap worth a crap is one of those problems that you can’t believe you’d ever have to worry about… and yet you have to when it happens to you.

Some ideas you and your cat won’t like:

Liquify the pumpkin and syringe/violate the cat’s rights/scare the sh!t out of him/make sure he can scratch his perpetrator along the way–it into him orally.

Or you can try Lactulose with the same procedure. It’s an artificial sugar that the gut does not absorb but which draws water into the gut, softening things up in there.

I have a big ol’ bottle of the stuff that I’ll never finish. PM me if you’d like me to send you some to try. I think I have some cat-sized oral syringes lying around, too. You can rinse and reuse these.

In either case, I think your only recourse is to physically make sure the sumbitch gets the stuff into him. If you can develop good technique, it’s not too bad for the cat. You are aiming for an authoritative “quick and sure” approach with trying to syringe stuff into a cat’s mouth. If you teach him that the terror is temporary and that he doesn’t actually die each time, he’ll be better for your cat sitter. But she needs some “quick and sure” technique, too.

PS, the lactulose is sticky and does not mix well with fur. Ideally, you have aim and don’t miss or make a mess with this.

IME, pumpkin and lactulose work better if they are used sporadically. My kitteh (so sample size is 1), seems to adjust to those and they cease to work.

[reefy]

I like the idea of lactulose - wondered if there was some sort of dulcolax for kitties - this sounds kind of like that :winkgrin:

He’s not too hard to ‘medicate’ with medicine or pumpkin. His idea of hiding when he knows it’s coming is on the bed under the covers.

The bigger problem is that he hides from the pet sitter. So, she could get it in him I think if he would come out to visit. He had most of his teeth out last year so a glob on your index finger, open mouth, swipe it off, easy! IF he shows his little puddy face to her.

The other thing I’ll do is leave some laxotone for her to give him. He laps that up no problem so that might help, too.

I was hoping someone had a clever idea to make the pumpkin more palatable for a non-wet food eating cat. It will only be 4 full days and we’re on day 3 of no pumpkin and he’s been going just fine so we should be okay. Hoping!!!

[Simkie]

Well…have you tried Salmon oil? Most kitties find it super palatable. He might like it?

[Kachina]

Had the same problem with my elderly kitty. Read about generic drug store OTC Stool Softener on the net. I top dress 1/4 teaspoon 3 times a day on 1/3 of a 5.5 ounce can of Wellness Turkey and Salmon. She eats it right up and went from severe problem to no problem at all. It hydrates the gut. They also say that if you can get your kitty off of dry onto canned that that helps quite a bit. My cats much prefer dry over canned, but I won’t give them dry at all anymore because of the hydration issue. They adjusted just fine after about a week. This is such a common problem. Glad the pumpkin is working so well for you. Maybe the stool softener, which seems to have no taste, will work for your kitty when you’re away? Good luck!

[reefy]

Got it at Petsmart.

It’s a hairball remedy so like a laxatone type thing except it has psyllium in it and some glycerin.

At first, my cat wouldn’t eat it so same deal forced it in him.

All of a sudden last week he decided he must.have.it.all.the.time :eek:

Obviously, he can only have a little so he eats off the end of the tube, a little in the morning and a little at night. It’s been a miracle worker!!! He’s so regular you could set a clock by him.

He is happy to see the pet sitter because he knows he gets his ‘drug’ fix when she comes twice a day.

So, if you have this problem with an elderly cat, this stuff is great. It’s made by GNC, with the hairball/petromalt stuff. Even if you have to force feed it, it’s worth because it works very, very well!

[paintedtrails]

Good to know there is easier stuff to come by.
Our kidney cat seems to have hard stools so the vet had us to Lactulose for a while - he actually LOVED the taste. He’s see the syringe of it and sit willingly for us to slowly dispense as he licked the end:)

[Simkie]

That reminds me…I used to know a woman who used vaseline to keep her kitty regular. She said her vet recommended it. The cat was CRAZY for it. It worked for her, worked for the cat, and was DIRT cheap!