Loose Stools, even after being on meds. Questions; Suggestions needed!

Hi all, I have a few questions for everyone. ANY help is appreciated!

Sneak, my youngest (he's about 6 months old now), has had loose stools since I got him back in December. It wasn't too bad though, and he did have round worms, so I figured it was a combo. of that, and stress from leaving his siblings, etc. and coming to a new home. He was wormed with liquid Strongid 3 times, I believe 10 days apart, the last time was on 3/26. Even after that, his stools were still loose, sometimes it was literally similar to water (I know, it's gross, I'm just trying to be descriptive!). So I took him to the vet on 4/17, and they did a culture and whatnot to see if he had worms or something else. No worms were found, but they did see an overgrowth of bacteria (something like that, I can't remember exactly what they said). He was put on 2 different meds., one is amoxicillan (sp?), and at the moment I can't remember the other, but I can post it once I get home and see it. The amoxicillan was for 14 days (so I'll stop that on the May 1st), and the other was for 7 days, so that was stopped on the 24th.

I did notice an improvement for the first week; he wasn't going as much, but his stools were still loose, just not as watery as before. But in the past couple days they've gradually gone downhill (back to watery). I don't know what to do! He's not acting any different, still eats, still drinks fine, still plays, etc.

He's on Chicken Soup for the Kitten Lover's Soul.. maybe that's not agreeing with him? I've tried pumpkin on him, he loves it, but it doesn't help. Tried Bene-Bac, didn't help. Tried probiotics in his food, didn't help.

Any suggestions on what do to? I'm thinking about taking him to a different vet to get a second opinion or something. I just have no clue what I should do.

If the stools went back to watery after the first week, I would suspect it had something to do with finishing off that other med...let us know what that one was.

Chicken Soup does have several different meats in it, perhaps one of them doesn't agree with him. I'm not sure which ingredient is the most likely culprit, but I would suggest maybe looking into a simpler food. Did the vet think a food allergy could be the cause?

When I get home tonight I'll check and see what that med. was. Vet didn't say anything about a food allergy, but I was thinking that could be it.

Chicken soup is a complex food... a good one and usually very well priced but you likely need something like cal natural s chn and rice

Ok, just looked at my invoice from the vet, the other med. was Metronidazole. He was getting .85ml twice a day of that (for a week). He's been getting 1ml of the Amoxidrops twice a day, that'll end on the 1st.

So should I try another food, or take him to the vet (or a different one, I haven't decided) again? I'm not sure if the place I usually get their food at sells Cali. Natural, so I would probably have to get it online. What other foods are there for sensitive stomachs?

Call the vet tomarrow ...


then think about a new food...

Natural choice is also a simple formula thou a bit more complex than Cal natural

Yeah, I think that's what I'll do. I'm going to try to find a place near here that sells to Cali. Naturals too.

Talked with the vet today. He wants to repeat the Metronidazole, do a course of Panacur (liquid wormer), and give some kind of probiotics (not sure of the brand, he said he'd give it to me tomorrow). He also recommended a food change. The clinic pushes Science Diet, so that's what he recommended, that or Pro Plan.

So what does everyone recommend for sensitive stomachs/pets with possible food allergies?

My sensitive girl eat Natural choice kitten

Cal natural gets my first nod as the other one I commonly recommend NB venison is not on the shelf ...

Another one that can work is Solid gold

Thanks for your help . Hopefully I can find a store around here that sells the Cali. Natural, if not, I'll probably just order a small bag online and see how it works.

Metronidazole is another antibiotic. It looks like the vet was trying to cover different kinds of bacteria by giving two different antibiotics. Perhaps Sneak needs a 14 day course of the Metronidazole.

Other things than can cause this sort of digestive upset are Coccidiosis, IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), Colitis and Giardia among others.

I have found Royal Canin Vet Cat Hypo Allergenic, Royal Canin Vet Cat Intestinal (specifically for cats with IBD) and Royal Canin Vet Cat Sensitivity to be very good.

MY STORY - I FEEL YOUR PAIN:

Kady! What you're describing sounds EXACTLY like what happened to me (it just lasted forever and you're not quite at forever yet - so that's good) with my Piccolino when I adopted him back in January. OMG the poor baby.

He was great the first week, but after that his stool became soft and I took him to the vet.

He checked for worms - no worms.
He noticed a lot of bacteria but nothing serious like coccidia or giardia.
He precribed Panacur and Metranidazole.
Loose stool continued.

Then Merlynn had the runs and I took her - the vet prescribed the same just in case Pico had a bacteria that spread.

No improvements.

I told the vet that I had gradually switched Pico from Purina One (which he had been eating at his foster mother's home) to Cal Natural (my Merlynn has a sensitive tummy and Cal Natural was the best premium food for her). So the vet suggested I either get him back to Purina One or try one of his Hill's prescription diets for sensitive tummies.

Um.....how about neither - that's what I thought. So I bought a small portion of the food he suggested b/c it was only for 2-3 days and it was to help get the GI tract back in shape.

Slight improvement but nothing great.

So....then Pico was lethargic. Took him back to vet. He was tested for Bartonella aka Cat Scratch and was found to be positive. So he was given meds for that - Azithromycin. Plus he was given Doxycycline in the mean time while the test was being run since it takes about a week for results to come back.

Still soft stool......Merlynn too.

Long, long story short.

Once I started Probiotics (Fortiflora) in food:

Pico's stool returned to normal.

Meanwhile, Merlynn was positive for Bartonella too and was given Azithromycin. Her stool wasn't improving, even with the Fortiflora.

The more I read about it, the more I learned that:
1) Sooo many cats have this disease.
2) Most cats never show symptoms of the disease.
3) Most cats fight off the disease with or without medication.

So I made an exective decision to take Merlynn off the meds (she never showed signs of the disease and was perfectly healthy) and her stool returned to normal within a day or two.

This whole ordeal went on for about a month and a half if not longer. I was so very frustrated that everything I tried never seemed to help.

Oh, one thing I noticed that helped me decide to take her off the meds (and I do not suggest taking them off meds) was the fact that when I cut her dosage by 75%, she was fine. I just couldn't take seeing her like that.

Plus I consulted with several different people who I consider cat experts and they said my vet seems to be the only one in the city that pushes for that test and finds a lot of positive results.

MY SUGGESTION TO YOU:
1. Talk to another vet - on the phone at a minimum - for a second opinion.
2. Try one thing at a time so you can try to pinpoint the problem.

Also, do you feed the canned food? I noticed that one of the ingredients in the canned food is dried skim milk. That would definitely upset my extremely lactose intolerant Merlyn...

I picked up all of Sneaks meds today.
He wants me to worm him with the Panacur liquid everyday for 5 days (1.8ml). Put him back on .9ml of the Metronidazole for 7 days. He also gave me some Purina FortiFlora, http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com...l.aspx?prod=21, which is a probiotic to put in his food once a day (gave me 30 packs).

He was tested for Giardia and some other things, everything came back negative, just an overgrowth of bacteria.

You need a perscription for the Royal Canin Vet diets right? I know that my vet doesn't carry them, so I'm not sure how I'd get that unless I went to a vet that does.

Merlynn's mom:

Thanks for that info. =] So both of your kitties had the Bartonella? I'm thinking about calling another vet in my area and either making an appt., or talking with them on the phone. I think I might wait a couple days or so to see if the meds. are working this time.
I don't feed Sneak any wet food, my others get it, but not him, it seems to make his stools worse.

No problem, Kady.

Yeah, they both had it but only Pico showed symptoms - gingivitis (and he was only 7 mos), lethargy and something about his inner eyelid not retracting all the way.

But they're both perfect now. (knock on wood).

Good luck with your quest on fixing Sneak. And if you call another vet or emergency animal hospital, just to tell them the problems and get their opinion, it might put your mind at ease or help you figure something out!

Hmm.. Sneak doesn't have any 'weird' symptoms, just the loose stool. He's eating, drinking, playing, and acting completely normal other than that.

What about the Eagle Pack Holistic Select (Chicken & Rice)? My other boy, Toby, eats that mixed with Chicken Soup and does well on it.
I can't seem to find anywhere around here that has the Cali. Natural or Solid Gold (in stock anyway, lots of places say they carry it, but never have it). I'll probably try one other store that's a little further from my house to see though.

the best I have found so far is royal canin sensitive. sold over the counter(I buy from petsmart but have seen it in pet valu and petco)my latest addition Max had pure water..that and fact he like to sleep in litter box i had to figure something out. nice tip with loose stool cats is NO clumping litter makes life so much simpler when its butt.feet cleaning time. good luck with your kitty and hope you find a food soon

Apologies. Where I added Vet Cat after the Royal Canin, that's for Australia. You should be able to just buy the Royal Canin.

Another vote for Royal Canin Sensible here. Really worked for my poor cat when the meds and everything didn't.

Oh cool, I'll go to petsmart today then! Is it the Royal Canin Oral Sensitive, or the Special 33? It says it's for cats 1-10yrs. though, Sneak is only 6 months. Will it still be ok for him?

Originally Posted by kady05

Oh cool, I'll go to petsmart today then! Is it the Royal Canin Oral Sensitive, or the Special 33? It says it's for cats 1-10yrs. though, Sneak is only 6 months. Will it still be ok for him?

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Read the kiten label .. ...