[shlanon]

I noticed Stormy had a really hard stool when I scooped the litterbox this morning. Her stools tend to be on the more firm side but lately they seem to be even harder. Justin's tend to be more soft.
I never see her go, so I don't know if she is straining or not, but I'd imagine that she may be. Can I give her some kind of fiber supplement to help? She eats almost all wet food and has a bowel movement every day to 2 days.

 

[Annissa]

You probably saw in my post about Sabby that my vet recommended 1/4 teaspoon of Metamucil added to Sabby's food every day. Dr. Jean said that regular powdered psyllium would be better (at least for Sabby; I'm not sure about a cat that doesn't have diabetes). My vet also said that Sabby should drink more water. That even when he gets enough fiber, if he doesn't have enough water, it's like trying to pass compacted sawdust. Poor kitty cat.

I suppose you could try to supplement fiber for Stormy. I'm not sure if you would need to feed Stormy and Justin separately. I'll leave the answer to that question up to the pros.

 

[drjean]

A little powdered psyllium or rice bran (start with just a pinch) can definitely be added to the wet food. My "theory" is that cats' digestive systems that have been fed dry food for so long develop a sort of "dependency" on the unnaturally high fiber levels, so occasionally a cat switched to a canned diet will have a little trouble with this. Both psyllium and rice bran are available at health food stores, are very cheap, and have little or no taste. Start with just a pinch, or else you may get an unwanted "roto-rooter" effect!

Cheers,
Dr. Jean