Communicable diseases

prosperity

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I have two cats. Samuel is 2 1/2 and Bob is about 4.

I got Samuel from the Humane Society when he was a kitten. He grew to 14 pounds and had a lush, gorgeous coat.

A year ago, an almost dead Bob crawled onto my porch and he became part of the family. He has doubled his weight since I found him and he now weighs 14 1/2 pounds and is gorgeous.

Shortly after I found Bob, Samuel got diarrhea. He has had it now for a year. My vet has tested his stool and done blood tests. Everything comes back fine. Samuel's eyes have also now been running for the past several months along with the diarrhea. He has lost almost two pounds and his coat is no longer lush. He takes 1-2 Centrine pills a day to control the diarrhea, but there is something just not right.

My vet finally sent a stool sample away to Ohio State for testing. I should find out the results tomorrow.

What I want to know is, is there a communicable disease that Bob could have brought to Samuel and Bob doesn't show symptoms, but Samuel does?

This has been very frustrating.
 

strange_wings

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The weepy eyes would make me think it could possibly be feline herpes, but I'm not sure that would cause diarrhea for months.

Have both cats been tested for feline leukemia and FIV?
Any time you bring a new cat into a home with an existing cat(s) it's a good idea to test the new cat for feline leukemia and FIV.

Good luck, I hope you can get some answers from the results tomorrow.
 

momto3cats

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You've probably already tried these things, but just in case:
Have you tried changing his food, maybe to an allergy formula? Has he been wormed? Parasites don't always show up in the tests. Has your vet tried antibiotics? Have you tried supplementing with probiotics (good bacteria)?

I hope you can find some answers for your poor cat. Good luck.
 
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prosperity

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Both cats have been tested for feline leukemia and FIV.


I have not tried changing foods, yet. He eats Chicken Soup for Cat Lover's Soul. When Samuel is feeling bad, he eats the dog's Chicken Soup instead of his own cat food. I thought perhaps the dog food is less rich and that is why he goes for it.

We have not tried antibiotics.

He has been checked for worms and has not shown that he has any. I suspect that the tests from Ohio State will tell us more about that.

He is on Revolution for flea prevention. I think that kills worms too.

I have not tried probiotics! Can human probiotics be given for a cat or are there cat probiotics? I take human ones. They have worked miracles for me. That may be the route to try first.
 

4meezers3kids

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Sounds like an allergy issue, with eyes AND diarrhea. But then I am the IBD person. (To the extent I feel like Typhoid Mary or something).

But I would try a diet that is a different meat AND grain source for like 6 wks and see what happens. Good luck.

PS I am just now trying human probiotics on my kitty -- I found an article in Medline that bifida sp. may be worth trying, so found a high-bifida probiotic powder at my health food store ... good luck! I think at this point I would make little kitty voodoo dolls if I thought they would WORK.
 
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prosperity

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I use FloraMore. It has totally changed my life for the better.

I wonder if a cat can take a whole one of these?

FloraMore
 

momto3cats

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Originally Posted by Prosperity

I use FloraMore. It has totally changed my life for the better.

I wonder if a cat can take a whole one of these?

FloraMore
I have never heard of that particular product before, but it sounds very good. The L-Glutamine in it would probably help as well. I would try maybe 1/2 a capsule to start, then increase to a whole one.
 

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I give my rescue babies L-lysine for weepy eyes/sneezies and acidophilius sp?(the yogurt bacteria) for tummy probs. Vet said it couldn't hurt them and I do think it helps although one of them is now making me think she's got some allergies as well. I use capsules meant for humans (bought at a natural foods store) and I open them up and mix the powder into wet food.

It is absolutely possible that your new kitty is a carrier of a virus that doesn't sicken him.
 
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prosperity

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I am going to try the Flora More on him.

I still haven't heard from Ohio State. We sent in the sample a week ago.
 
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prosperity

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I got the tests back from Ohio State.

He has no communicable diseases. I am trying the FloraMore.

My vet said that if the FloraMore doesn't work, I need to start looking for a different food in case he has a food allergy. That task looks very frustrating to me. I tried Felidae a long time ago and it was way too rich for him. Does anyone have a suggestion for a high quality food that does not cause as many allergic reactions?
 
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prosperity

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Thank you very much, Anna! I will read that link and also look for the other thread.
 
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prosperity

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Uh, oh!

I clicked on the link and it says page cannot be found.
 
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prosperity

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OK. . . . . . I went to the other thread and I think this article is on "Tritrichomonas foetus infection in cats"

Since I just sent a fecal sample to Ohio State and they did an extended list of tests on Samuel, I think that one was ruled out.

I am back to food allergies . . . . . . . . maybe.
 

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I think you said that Samuel sometimes eats the dog's food. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that cats are not supposed to eat dog food. I think it's because cats need certain vitamins that dogs don't. Therefore, dog food does not contain those vitamins, so if cats are eating significant amounts of dog food, they are not receiving certain nutrients that are required in their diet. I have no idea if that could be related at all to the problems your cat is having, but it may be worth looking into.
 

brightstar

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Is there a possibility that the eyes and the diarrhea are not directly from the same cause. Louie gets bad diarrhea when he gets into the dogs food. you said your cat is eating the dogs food because he feels bad, maybe he feels bad in something in connection with the eyes and not his diarrhea -- the diarrhea just being a result of eating the dogs food.
 

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you can try mixing a teaspoon of canned pumpkin (plain pumpkin not the pumpkin pie already spiced stuff) into his food

also a good choice for a cat who may have food allergies is to try something with a protein source that is not common in most cat foods

i gave my IBD girl venison and green pea food (made by Natural balance, much cheaper and better made then the stuff vets sell)

if you dont want to try venison, you could do duck or any other meat source that you are sure he's never eaten before

do not feed anything with corn or wheat in any form, only brown rice, not white, no kinds of starch at all, no gluten, and probably a good idea to leave out eggs and definately no fish- all of those things are much more likely to cause food allergies/intolerances and worsen IBD

a course of metronidazole (also called flagyl) may help altho it doesnt for all IBD cats

i hope for your sake that its not IBD, its not generally a serious enough illness to be life threatening, like say cancer,
but it can be very frustrating and difficult to treat, with many relapses, often without any apparent cause

stress can trigger it as well.



for the runny eyes, did the vet see that or say anything about it? a very common cause is feline herpes, also called kitty colds or cat flu

L lysine is very helpful for controlling it altho there is no cure

allergies will often cause reddening, or a deep pink color to the tissue around the eyes and can cause runny, tearing eyes as well

an antihistimine may help this. but only a vet can determine that


as a last resort, there are steroids, but because they can cause feline diabetes, its better to use those only if his problems are severe enough that he is losing wt and nothing else has worked,
and to use them for the shortest period possible, at the lowest effective dose


i've had too many sick cats i'm afraid and have had to learn about diabetes, kidney failure, feline asthma, feline herpes, IBD, serious eye issues like uveitis and food intolerances, and environmental allergies

good luck!!
usually trial and error with different treatments is the way to go with chronic diahhrea

the pumpkin may be a big help tho

and it cant hurt
 
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