Diarrhea, food changes, and getting worse...

So Shami's been having loose stools for a while now (months). I've been keeping in contact with my vet and he attributed to me changing foods all the time. I went from Nutro, to Science Diet, to Blue Spa Select, to Chicken Soup, then back to Nutro now with Chicken soup mixed in (Shami seems to eat whatever I throw at him). Most of it was due to just free food (got a bag of Science Diet from the vet, a bag of Blue Spa from some woman who kept trying to push it onto me). The vet suggested taking him off wet food completely in case of food allergy (I used to feed half a can of either 9lives tuna select or iams once a day), but it hasn't fixed the problem. He was dewormed several times, and just recently too so the vet doesn't think worms is an issue.

Shami still active and romps around like he normally does, just the nasty fecal explosions he leaves me in the litter box and all over the surrounding walls

Shami also has an unusually large tummy sack, especially for his age (less than a year). Like it's a good handful of sack. He's also drinking an unusually large quantity of water lately (probably to replace all the fluids he's loosing), I fill his bowl (about 2 cups of water) twice a day and he still steals water from the kitchen sink.

Anything I can do to help him out while the vet ponders the situation?

do you have access to California Natural or Natural balence
CN has chn and rice( just that) and NB has venison and pea

Both very basic and if it is allergies they are less likely to have them to the ingrediants

DID the VET take a stool sample and or worm the cat???

has the vet tested for things like coccidia or giardia??? basic organ function?>?

Originally Posted by sharky

do you have access to California Natural or Natural balence
CN has chn and rice( just that) and NB has venison and pea

Both very basic and if it is allergies they are less likely to have them to the ingrediants

DID the VET take a stool sample and or worm the cat???

has the vet tested for things like coccidia or giardia??? basic organ function?>?

Click to expand...

Yep, the vet took a stool sample before worming, and then a few weeks after worming to confirm that all the worms were gone. I don't know about coccidia or giardia, though I imagine if protozoans were floating about he'd see them and mention something (he does the fecal floats right there in the office).

Where can I get CN and NB? Will Petco or Petsmart carry them?

Natural balence is at petco

cal natural is usually mom and pop stores

I second a basic recipe food, and both foods sharky recommended are easily found

Hmm, if I remember correctly, when Khan had this issue (ours happened to be due to feeding him entirely wet because he refuses to eat dry.. and combining that with having to change his food constantly..) they did a coccidia test, which wasn't covered in whatever the normal run of tests are. I seem to remember it having been an extra test. It might just simply be that I'm remembering it incorrectly, though.

But anyway.. it is possible to treat and fairly cheaply, although probably more expensive to run the test. As far as I understand it, cats can be treated for it with no harm done if they don't have it. There is a product made for birds called Albon that can be used for cats. It's administered by animal weight. I'd ask your vet about it. If he feels it's safe to treat without doing the test, then I'd consider it.

We've also been treating our kitten, she's been having problems with pooping. We're not sure what it is.. but this relates because...

from our research, sometimes kitties have the runs because of being constipated or due to some other bowel issue. From what I understand.. the runs can happen when they're constipated because there's a blockage and the runny stuff pushes around the blocked stuff. When she gets backed up, her tummy gets bigger, and harder.

There were also another kind of worms that my vet tested for that isn't normally tested for. I don't remember the right name for them, but they're the ones that look like tiny grains of rice, which you only see when they're horrible. I think they might have drawn blood for that. The treatment was also different and not treated by the usually included wormers.

How is his fur? Is it super soft and silky, like it's in good condition or is it dryer, and rougher? If it's affecting his coat, it could be something nutritional, although I imagine the vet would catch that. Worms would affect nutrition.

There are lots of things that could cause poopies. Does he have any other symptoms.. crying in the litter box, issues holding it, blood in the poop..? Has he been tested for FiV and FiP? Feline Leukemia?

~Heather

do you know what dewormer was used??? some dont cover all worms...

The first few times the vet gave him Clavomox (sp?), and then when he found tapeworms, he gave him drontal that last couple times. Those rice shaped things are tapeworms, they're pretty nasty, especially when your cat leaves them EVERYWHERE.

Doesn't have FiV or Feline Leuk since he tested negative for those. Has pretty good coat and health in general.

Are there any other symptoms to food allergy I should be watching out for other than loose stool? I'm not 100% taken that it's food allergy, but just want to make sure.

How fast have you done food changes?> Over two weeks each time???

I dont suspect allergies as much as a truely sensitive system

other signs are scratching and chewing fur , ear infections

If he's feeling rather chipper and appears healthy in all other ways, you might simply try getting the Albon and treating him. I would check with a vet, or at least call a vet assistent and ask them how to go about it. Usually they'll tell you. Barring that, you might ask a Bengal breeder in the area. Bengals are carriers for Coccidia, so, usually they know how to treat for it.

This sounds much like a repeat of Khan.. although Khan wouldn't eat anything, he refused everything,... and so his diet got changed about for almost two years until we found the turkey sticks. But.. until then, his poopies were really really awful bad... we had to leave the room when he pooped. Brought tears to our eyes, it did. And they were horribly runny. It took him getting on a solid food, and staying there for quite some time before his worked out.

If you want to rule out the constipation.. you might get a product called Laxatone, which is used for hairballs and as a laxative (and it's basically mineral oil and petroleum jelly...) but it works to coat their intestinal track. You can get it online easily enough and cheaply enough. One might even find it at a petstore, but I haven't looked there. It's about $6 a tube. They're not actual medications so I don't personally see any harm in giving it to them.

My sister had a cat that always had loose poopies, and it was always really bad. She took him to the vet. They ruled out the normal suspects, much like it sounds like your vet did... and wanted to run another test. She was very financially bound at that point, and thought he was potentially okay, because he was otherwise in perfect health. (btw, I'm telling you this because it might be what yours has..not because I'm lecturing or anything)..but he had an intestinal parasite which she never had him tested for because the test was a bit spendy. She just didn't have the money for it. But it was treatable. I'm sure the vet will probably suggest the test, if that's what it might be. But if not, you might mention it..

I just don't know what else it might be. I'll keep thinking about it. If you hear anything, let me know. And I'll be sending the healthy kitty fairy to stand guard!