Feline megacolon is a debilitating condition causing severe, chronic constipation that leads to colonic dilation, straining, and distress, requiring aggressive medical management or surgical intervention.
Feline megacolon causes significant ongoing welfare harm: the straining associated with attempts to defecate is painful and distressing, and complete obstipation causes abdominal discomfort, nausea, and lethargy. Cats requiring repeated manual disimpaction under anaesthesia experience the stress of repeated anaesthetic events and hospitalisation. Medical management with laxatives and prokinetics controls the condition in some cats but requires consistent long-term administration and fails as the disease progresses. Subtotal colectomy, while major surgery, is highly effective — the vast majority of cats achieve dramatically improved quality of life, free from the chronic straining and pain of megacolon. Early surgical referral before severe colonic dilation and muscle loss occurs improves surgical outcomes and welfare.