Constipated and depressed?

My mother's pharmacist always recommends that people eat probiotic yogurt. I ALWAYS hear her going on about it to EVERYONE in the line.

I eat dried apricots daily, regular as rain.

One of the bad things about quitting drinking was going from daily bombastic diarrhea to constipation. I'm eating this now and I'm finally back on a healthy schedule.

It literally saved my marriage.

I like yogurts generally, but I tried Activia once and it gave me the most horrific smelling gas I've ever had.

I have an elder cat that has constipation issues. The vet recommended putting 1/4 tsp of Miralax in her moist food. A friend recommended giving her milk, which you're really not supposed to give to cats, but she likes it and seems to tolerate it well. But neither of these things really seem to help. The one thing that does is carrying her to the sink and washing her bottom with a little gentle soap and warm water. I don't know whether it's the washing, the struggling during the washing, or the running around frantically afterwards but it works.

Poop stool - squatty potty helps too.