The Raw Meat Cat Food Cookbook by Holly Ollivander

Author:Holly Ollivander
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Pet Care
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Lazy Bowels

A cat that is used to a grain-based diet can develop “lazy bowels”, meaning that the cat’s bowel function has come to rely on the extra roughage provided by the grain. Deprived of this, the cat can become constipated. Symptoms include going for days without defecating, distress when handled (particularly when applying pressure to the abdomen), loss of appetite and vitality, straining to go – or going – in inappropriate places, and even diarrhea. Extreme cases require veterinary intervention.

Following the switch, it became clear that Mehetabel suffered from lazy bowels. As a short-term cure, our vet recommended oral dosing with food-grade mineral oil; 3ml administered daily with a syringe over a few days did the trick. Vaseline® (100% pure petroleum jelly, as contained in some commercial hairball remedies) has a similar function. To avoid interference with digestion, it’s best not to administer either of these remedies at meal times, or for extended periods.

The vet’s longer-term recommendation was to increase the cats’ water intake, something that was also helpful for their urinary systems and that we accomplished by adding more water to the ground food.

A third option would have been to incorporate roughage such as psyllium husk into the cats’ food, however our vet advised that this would not necessarily help – apparently it can make the problem worse with some cats. Also, we felt that it was excess bulk that had caused the lazy bowels in the first place, so that moving back in that direction would have been more of a palliative than a cure. On the other hand, the option is there for you to explore if you find that extra water isn’t enough to keep your cat’s bowels working smoothly.

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