# I love my vet / kitty constipation & metamucil



## ospunkyo (Sep 3, 2003)

I brought my two cats in to my old vet yesterday - we moved out of the "city" almost two years ago, and switched to a local vet, one who does house calls even. Surprisingly, I found having vet services in my home really uncomfortable, and I didn't like this new vet, and, yes, a part of me blames her for overlooking the significance of my sweet boy, Norville's, weight loss, but ANYWAY...

We decided to switch back to our old vet, who is about 40 minutes away, but she's great - I love her and it was *so* nice to be back with someone I trusted, and who really likes my cats. 

She did find that Pfeffa had a LOT of stool in her - and said she's probably suffering from some mild constipation (I did not notice this and felt really bad) and gave us a sample of metamucil to mix into her food. After the initial "you-took-me-to-the-vet" grudge went away, Pfeffa ate all the food I had mixed it into (yay! she can be stubborn and I think she KNEW something different was in there).

I assume it'll take a day or so to see any, er, results? Is that right? 

She said to mix in a 1/4 teaspoon - which seemed like a lot as I measured, so I started with 1/8 teaspoon last night, and will try a little more tonight, slowly working up to the 1/4 teaspoon amount. The vet scared me because she said too much could cause diarrhea.

For those of you who give your cats metamucil or psyllium powder, how much do you give, and which do you give? This is the "regular" flavor metamucil, which has little flavor - and Pfeffa seemed okay with it. Anyone have a preference?


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## Superkitties (Jan 30, 2004)

Sure, I give my kitties regular flavor Metamucil. I put one finger pinch into their food every so often. Dr. Jean pointed out that there's just unnecessary stuff in it, and pure psyllium is better. Unfortunately for me, I bought this gigantor canister, and since it's not toooo bad, I'll keep using it, since I don't do it on a regular basis.


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## Gudewife (Jun 27, 2004)

I use plain psyllium husk powder that I bought at a vitamin store fairly inexpensively, a pretty scant 1/8 tsp per meal, twice a day. The amount really depends on the cat...my vet told me to start with 1/8 tsp per meal and adjust from there.


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## ospunkyo (Sep 3, 2003)

Ohhh...that's right - I remember a discussion here where metamucil was said to have a lot of extra unecessary stuff. 

If I want to use the psyllium powder - should I look for "psyllium HUSK powder"? Are "psyllium powder" and "psyllium husk powder" the same thing? 

I think since she will be having it everyday, I should go for the straight up psyllium powder, and not inadvertantly add anything else into her diet. Although, I've never seen her eat up her food so quickly!


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## Annissa (Dec 9, 2003)

I use psyllium powder. The brand I buy is Konsul and it says "Safe for Diabetics" right on the cap.


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