Cat and Constipation II

Thank you for your reply. Our library has one of the books containing recipes for homemade diets listed in the Q & A section, and I've requested the book. In answer to your other questions about the appearance of Ziggy's stools, I can provide more information. His stools are quite hard, and are made up of round sections about the size of a deer dropping (roughly the size of the last joint of my index finger). They are medium brown with no blood or mucous. On some days, he can manage to evacuate one of these little sections at a time. Roughly once a week, he evacuates a large stool comprised of six or seven of these round sections packed together. This is very difficult for him, and he cries and strains so hard that he throws up. It takes him several tries over the course of perhaps an hour to get the job done. Your question about weak intestinal muscles seems to fit here, although I am not expert enough to know for sure.
The pumpkin I am using now is canned. During pumpkin season, I cooked and froze quite a lot of pumpkin for him, but didn't realize how quickly he would go through it. Would cooked fresh squash do the job as well?

In answer to your description of his stools, it sounds as though a new diet may help immeasureably. In addition, it might be useful to use herbs such as Rumex crispus (Yellow Dock) along with Althaea officinalis (Marshmallow root), Berberis aquifolium (Oregon Grape) and Arctium lappa (Burdock). Start with small doses (drops) as large doses could stimulate his digestive tract too quickly. These herbs should help where weak intestinal muscles are involved.
As for the pumpkin, it would be best if your cat was receiving a variety of fresh vegetables including fresh gated zucchini or other summer squashes, carrots, snap peas or cooked winter squash, green beans, etc. Not all cats like all vegetables. I have seen some who will only take zucchini whilst others love broccoli and red pepper! Best to stay away from canned foods if at all possible.