My 17 year old female cat, Midge, has been very constipated for the last month or so. She was prescribed Vetasyl on January 16, but it had no effect (even after increasing her dose to 2 capsules a day). On January 23, after a week of not pooping, she had an enema at our vet, which produced about a foot of feces. After observing her rapid, ragged breathing, our vet performed an X-ray at that time which indicated some asthma/bronchial scarring on her lungs, but no fluid and her heart was not enlarged. At that time she was prescribed Prednisone to help with her breathing and Lactulose to help with her constipation, in conjunction with her Vetasyl.
After gradually increasing her Lactulose from .3 ml twice a day to 1 ml three times a day, she finally produced a poop on her own on January 27. Since then, she has pooped on her own three more times, about every 2 days. The problem is, her poops are very tarry (not black in color, but just the consistency). There is no blood in her stool, so we're wondering if it could be either the Vetasyl or Vetasyl plus Lactulose making the poops so tacky. Our vet told us her poops should be softer, not stickier, but didn't know if it could be the Vetasyl causing the problem. He suggested upping her Lactulose even more to 1.3 ml three times a day.
Have you ever heard of too much fiber in a diet making poops the consistency of Tootsie Rolls? They are very hard for her to push out (afterward, she collapses panting and exhausted) and we have to pull them out of her butt because they just stick there otherwise.
She is currently on 2 capsules Vetasyl/day and 1 ml Lactulose/3 times a day. Would you reduce or cut out the Vetasyl to possibly make her poop less tarry and more soft?
Thank you so much for your help.