Well...poop!

Or not...my cat is constipated. He manages to go, but it is a really hard consistancy. Any ideas of things I could feed him to help him along?? He's on a special diet and eats only dried food, so I can't really change the type of food he's eating right now. He does like to eat some people food and will drink milk. Does milk help?

I wouldn't give him milk. Cats aren't very good at digesting dairy. This site says to try a little bit of tuna packed in oil. That might help. But I'd phone your vet first and see what he/she has to say.

Oily food is good, as well as hairball remedies.  Our vet sold us Catalax, which is mostly cod liver oil. Plain cod liver oil would be fine if your cat would take it.  My cat, though blind, can apparently read price tags.  She will only take the vet's stuff.

Okay, thanks for your tips! Thanks for not asking how I know about my cat's bowel movements!     

Thanks for not asking how I know about my cat's bowel movements!     

 

I just tried to give my cat some cod liver oil. He's not too excited about it. I was hoping he'd lick it off the spoon and we'd all go on our merry way. Instead I ended up pressing the spoon against his chin (after, unsuccessfully, trying to pour some in his mouth) with the hopes he'd lick it off. I'm gonna be a pretty good mom....

If worse comes to worst, Bmore, clinch your cat's jaws open with one hand, and then give him a big spoonful of cod liver oil with the other. You'll ptobably need to hold him tightly between your legs while doing so. I know it sounds cruel (although I've seen vets do it several times), but if he can't eat wet food (why not, by the way?) and doesn't naturally drink much water (which is a persistent problem with cats), I don't know what else you can do. (Perhaps if he won't eat tuna, you could entice him to eat some sardines or salmon drenched in oil. They're both naturally oily fish to begin with.)

Thanks Suzanne. I did the clenching and he ended up with a faceful of cod liver oil. He still had to lick that off, so I felt I was partially successful. He can't eat any old wet food because he's on a special diet, so I'd have to go to the vet to get him the wet stuff which I can't really afford right now. Regardless, he tends to prefer dry food. He's actually really good about drinking water, so that aspect I'm not too concerned about.

Will he take it sprinkled on his food?  I have a plastic syringe for that type of stuff, seems to work... but hiding drugs/other stuff in the food is the least stress.

As I was pouring I was cursing myself for not getting a syringe. I'll try a bit on his food next time. Hmmm....two hours later and he's STILL trying to get the nasty taste off his face!

Any ... um .... success yet?

Well last night he was nice enough to leave us a little present in the litter box. My housemate goes, smells like that cod liver oil's working! Ha!

Well last night he was nice enough to leave us a little present in the litter box. My housemate goes, smells like that cod liver oil's working! Ha!

Yaye!

My cat had this problem as well. It is not uncommon for older cats to have this. We did have special food for her which helped. They also recommended canned pumpkin which she liked but I guess would be hard to find in the UK. If i can rememebr the name of the medicine they put her on I will let you know.

Good Luck!

One other thing I've read: add some water to your cat's wet food, just to ensure that she/he is hydrated enough.