My ziggy is having bowel motility problems

[ziggy009]

Hi,

I mentioned this in the new cat thread so thanks for anyone who answered there. I have a new furbaby boy called Ziggy who had been found dying on the road after being hit by a car. He had internal injuries and had his tail amputated.

He was supposed to be fully recovered but I noticed when I got him home that he didn't use the litter tray as much as my other cats. I took him to the vets and since then I have been giving him Lactalose at 2ml twice a day.

This has softened his stools but he just doesn't seem to get the urge to go. Which according to the vet means he might need to go on motility drugs. But she also said that if we put him on those its likely that they will only work for a short time and then he will need an operation.

We are giving him a few weeks but I'd really like him to go naturally. We don't have pureed pumpkin in the UK and it isn't really normal constipation. Does anyone have any ideas? I have him on a mainly wet food diet - I have now got him on a special high fibre wet food from the vets.

[KozyKitty]

Are you able to get a pumpkin at all? It doesn't take much to puree it. You would just scoop out the seeds, cut the pumpkin in half, flip it upside down on a cooking tray with a bit of a water in the bottom and bake until soft. Then scoop out the inside, put that and some water in a blender and blend until you have a nice puree. If you guys have Rescue Remedy in the UK you can add a bit of that in it and some Supplical/Nutrical/NutraVit in and blend that with it as well.
If you guys absolutely don't have pumpkin, you can do the same with sweet potato/yams and puree that.

You can add a mineral oil to the diet to help lubricate the stool. Use for ONLY one week or the oil will pull the animal's Vitamin A from the animal's body. 1/2 tsp-2tsp

You can add a small amount of bran to the diet 1/2 tsp-1 Tbsp depending on animals weight. You can also use psyllium seed powder 1/4 tsp-2 tsp

I would also check with your vet about nerve impairment. I know with humans we can check nerve functions to determine if there are any problems, I am sure they have the same for animals. I know that incontinence can be due to a nerve dysfunction so I am assuming that constipation can also be a nerve dysfunction, message not being sent to the brain, etc. Just a thought. Hope Ziggy starts to do better. Let us know how it goes.

[spirite]

Maybe probiotics would help? I believe several people here give probiotics for kitties with various GI issues, including diarrhea and constipation. I don't remember what brands though - I know NaturVet makes one. Good luck with Ziggy!