Desperatly need advice, should I put my cat down?

[Geanine]

My cat is 15 yrs old. He is the best cat, still loving and playful. But he has bathroom issues. He gets backed up every 2 weeks, which is almost near a 100 bucks to clean him out. My grandmom pays for it, and loves him so but cant afford it. I am tryin so hard; using fiber, mineral oil, fish oil, laxatone, lactulose, no dry food. I dont want to cremate him yet, but it has to be so painful for him.I dont want to torture him. Yet yesterday he was running, jumping, purring, playing. sooooo what should i do? what more can i do?
yes i am feeding him nine lives shredded. I will but the pate next doc said that is the best. she also daid there is a surgery for his bottom cuz its stretched, anyone know about that?

last week both vets did say he had a lump near his hiney that maybe cancerous. he drinks tons of water and has no problem peeeing.

[Belles]

Geanine..

There are a few "natural" remedies you can try. If your cats stool seems dry, try adding a 1/2 tsp of bran to each meal. It will help the stools retain additional moisture and might provide some relief. You can also try a bit of milk (not much) because milk is often the cause of loose stools in cats. Using mineral oil for too long will deplete vitamin a, so you don't want that to be a long term solution. Plenty of exercise really helps a cat get things moving.. like games with string, feathers.. where they are pouncing and running. Finally, you can also see if your cat will eat any raw veggies/fruits.. like carrot, apples.. mixed in with food?

I thought your comment about the rectum being stretched was interesting. I looked this up in Dr. Pitcairn's natural remedy book and found something interesting.

Cats can suffer from Aluminum Poisoning (dogs can too btw) and this causes weak rectums. Signs include chronic constipation with straining, stools that are sticky and messy rather than hard. They can't pass because of weak rectal muscles.

If you suspect this problem, stop using aluminum cooking pans or feed bowls for your cat. Also, stop buying wet food in aluminum cans. You can use a raw diet, full of veggies, which your at will probably LOVE. To remove the aluminum, it says to use high levels of vitamin C along with a zinc supplement. For cats, he recommends 500 milligrams of the Vitamin C and for the zinc, 5 milligrams.

He goes onto say that not all animals are affected, but that some animals are extremely sensitive to Aluminum. So, I learned something new today! WOW!! Check with your vet, but it might be worth a try.

Your cat may be a senior, but he sounds like there's alot of life left in that furry little body!

[tbt]

I did not know about the aluminum poisoning. Very interesting.

I've used canned pumpkin for mine when they had loose stools from a bug or antibiotics. It also works for constipation.

http://www.pets.ca/pettips/tips-75.htm
Dog and cat pet tips - on Pets.ca
Cat illness, dog is sick, behavior problems... Once a week Pets.ca will publish a pet tip.

Tip 75 - Pumpkin for cats - pumpkin for dogs - Pumpkin for diarrhea or constipation

If your dog or cat is having the occasional case of constipation or diarrhea, one of the things that might help is canned pumpkin. Yes canned pumpkin in its pureed form (NOT pumpkin pie filling) is a fantastic stool softener which makes it a good natural remedy for constipation. It often helps with upset stomach or indigestion for both cats and dogs. It is very rich in fibre and adding just one or two teaspoonfuls to your pet's food often gets the system moving in no time. Dogs will occasionally want to eat it directly and that's fine too. Sometimes though, finicky cats and dogs won't touch it no matter what you do.

On the opposite end of things is diarrhea. Since the dietary fibre in canned pumpkin absorbs water, it can be a great help to a cat or dog that has diarrhea. Some pet owners report that it firms up their pet's loose stools or diarrhea within a few hours. Again one to two teaspoonfuls is all that is needed.

[Geanine]

wow thank you so much!

[angelica johnson]

if he doesn't get better than I would let him go if you leave him likes this for to long he probbly WILL just get worse and suffer. just remember if you do have to let him go stay with him when it happens. HOPE HE GETS BETTER!!!!!!!

[Cindy Berry]

Hi angelica: I had the same problem with my Cat BOB he is no longer with us, He developed hart problems, I think putting him down at this time would be best

[Belles]

I think it's up to her vet and her to make that decision. Your cat, your experience .. might not be hers.