I just got back into town late yesterday...good to be home....all is fine on the homefront here. Thank God! I am so sorry you are having to deal with this additional problem. Poor Nemo! He doesn't have diabetes, does he? I know people can get gastroparesis which can cause them to have bezores, I think they're called, where the food doesn't completely digest in the stomach but forms hard little balls of partially-digested food, and it makes it very hard to travel through the digestive tract. I don't know if animals can get this or not but I just thought I would mention it.
Glad to hear his PH is way down and there are no more struvite crystals. That certainly is great news! Y'all got a well-deserved break on that front. Give Nemo a hug for me. I hope he starts feeling better real soon.
Well due to the fact all i know about cats is that they meow i have no input into Nemo's troubles. I just hope he will get better and wont need surgery. sara
Oops - I meant "your little Nemo" - I love his name!
Hi Opus,
I hope your little Opus gets to feeling better and with you I know for sure he will soon. I didn't know Miralax was so bad with the chemicals and all. Maggie since being diabetic now in remission) is only able to eat the wet food, so she gets constipated. Her Vet advised Miralax, too, and boy just a little is all we need, like a pinch of salt. The first time I used a little too much. I may give the pumpkin a try.
Thanks Opus. Am writing down lactulose. Can call oncologist for scipt. Dang my r is not working....have to pound on it to get it to show on page...
One more question..ans any time...no rush. When I was at Petco was sooo tempted to get Shadow a cuddly bed...it is a rectangular box like thing, and has holes at each end.
He is enterprising and has managed to wind a bath towel I had rolled in front of door to keep drafts out......into a little nest all his own. He is curled up there now, having dragged his birdie to his lair:).
I am kinda Martha Stewart about my small place. Did give away floor and table vases of botanicals before his arrival, so have compromised somewhat in living room and of course kitchen:) where his things are.
Any advice most welcome.
Hi SG....YES for sure lactulose is a human supplement first and foremost...here in Canada it OTC but in the US you will need a script.....its a well used form.
And yes I did add the probiotic (culturelle..one safe for cats) to his routine just yesterday my order arrived from iherb.com ( good prices even with the shipping to Canada)
He had been getting zucchini or beans in his homemade diet, just this a.m. I attempted pumpkin it would be even better as its a soluble fiber and I agree with you 'some' fiber has to be good....I was surprised, he did eat his food with the pumpkin added, of course I just added the tiniest dab to begin with....so lets wait and see if we get some 'results' cross your fingers!!
Son't let that Shadow poop you out again....lol, at least NOT too much, a little is ok..
have a great day..
♥Opus
Thanks Opus. I feel much better today. Can join Shadow in his play...the zooms were overdue for the sweetie who had a pooped (pun) out mom for couple of day.
Think that prep affected my brain. Meant to suggest a probiotic. I take one daily. Oncologists insists. It is a good thing to add to his diet. Not that it can take the place of things to soften those hard stools. But, it will be a bit of this and a bit of that for awhile before jumping to surgery. I know pumpkin has been discussed. Am thinking of trying for myself. Is lactulous for humans as well as kits? I am in a learning curve here:). I have taken stool softeners ....but as you mentioned I think in first post...they will not help Nemo: he needs to be able to 'push' a soft ..but not soupy stool out with ease.
Forget that you worked in nursing home/aux hospitals. Thanks for letting me use my language and experience in posts re kitty bowel issues. You can't know how much I appreciate you and Jade and Linda...all my friends in this and the anxiety forum. Imagine us living in small town ...getting together for a cuppa to solve all the problems of the world.
thank you all so much for the encouragement. surgery will be a very last resort!!
I am going with the lactulose plus water by syringe and see how that 'results' also I am adding a prebiotic daily for good flora as well as Slippery Elm Bark which is good for soothing mucus membranes......I tried a very small amount (1/16 teas) of pumpkin in with his food last night and he ate it, I know this is fiber but since its soluable I think he will benefit from some of this too.
Yes it could possibly be d/t an internal hemorhoid, most likely my Vet thought scar tissue from a long past history of hard stools.....can also be Ca so will need to watch. nothing that shows on an xray tho, just felt during the manual.
SG....I know you've been thr he!! with your bowels and CA.....I too have a lifetime history of bowel troubles(no CA)..so I can relate both with you and with Nemo....yours of course being the most serious of all and by the sounds of it you still need to endure yearly invasive testing. I feel for you dear!!
Never be concerned about to much info in the bowel language.....remember I worked in a nursing home/aux. hospital for years....bowels were always our daily agenda.......
Lets pray for 'well formed stools' for us all!! lol
All the best SG for today!
♥Opus
Poor little Nemo....and poor you. Most laxatives do contain some fiber, but it is actually less (both in terms of weight and volume) than what is found naturally in food. Could this be some sort of internal hemorhoids? Maybe the tissue has become swollen over time from the waste staying to long in his colon? Could the growth be related to the high pH? Surgery might be the most effective long term solution, but I think you are right to explore other less invasive treatments first.
Hey,
I too am confident Nemo and you will figure out a way to get fluffy stools. BTW: since anal cancer....most my family chats involve poop talk. We get it out of the way before tackling other issues;). With my daughter's Yorkies, it is all about the anal express thing!
Feel like I'm on a rerun of Seinfield when we get going.
Believe it or not, Nemo and I have similar problem. We both live with rigid anal tissue (radiated in my case) and really need to work on controlling. I did have a very minor surgery to release bands that had formed over labia...similar I guess to what Nemo has in anal area. Unless the opening is really small I'm betting you can avoid it.
As usual, you have done your research. I tried Miralax with embarrassing results. Gentle, but couldn't tell when I'd get results or what I'd produce. You wouldn't want to give it to Nemo, believe me.
Congrats on lowering Nemo's crystals. You and others here inspired me to start my new kitten off on a wet food. I had no clue that there was a huge shift in thinking about wet v dry food for cats.
Shadow seems to prefer Wellness which I give him three times a day. Did buy the kibbles, which are meat based and can be left in bowl for snacks.. His food is expensive but as others have mentioned, and I've observed, he eats less at one feeding and just looks so much better than when I adopted him. Everyone remarks on his shiny coat, and back to their body functions, he urinates several times a day.
Hope Nemo is producing those well formed stools soon! I used to draw mine in daily journal: easiest way to remember how I was doing. More info than you needed !
Shadow is resting his head on the 'delete' key, so think we will try for sleep after my very trying barium enema prep yesterday and procedure today. That harsh prep solution is still working; feels like an acid going through system.
Better days ahead for Nemo!
Course you already know I don't have any input on what to do, but I can say Great Job on getting rid of those struvite crystals!! Awesome, Opus. At least you know all that cooking and hard work is paying off.
On the other hand, so sorry for what Nemo is going through. I will stay hopeful surgery can be avoided. If anyone can turn this around, you can. I am thankful for your long post since I had no idea about hard/soft stools or anal glands and everything you said made perfect sense and was a good lesson.
Here's to hoping for 'semi hard stools' for Nemo!