My Diarrhea story comes to an end I hope

I thought I'd share my story about 2 bengal kittens I adopted who both had bloody diarrhea. When I first adopted them I thought their diarrhea was caused by the food I was feeding, I tried switching them to simple canned foods, no change. I then tried country pet food, which is a pasturized frozen food, the diarrhea went away. I thought I found the solution but I was wrong. I think the country pet and raw food I was feeding them were helping control the problem but it wasn't completely eliminating it. I also tried probiotics, digestive enzymes, and fiber, nothing seemed to help much besides FOS(inulin), I think it was feeding their friendly bacteria which was also helping control the problem. I know I should've taken them to a vet by now but I've had bad experiences with them, couldn't find one I trusted, wanted to save money, and I thought I could solve the problem myself. After reading about what could cause this problem, I concluded it was probably 1 of 4 things, giardia, coccidia, worms, or tritrichomonas foetus. I decided to run fecals on them as well as a test for TF, they all came up negative. From what I've read it's very difficult to detect some of these parasites so I decided to take the approach of try an antibiotic for a few days and if there weren't any positive signs, move on. Since I did worm them with drontal a few weeks prior to this, I decided to try Flagyl first, which is prescribed for giardia, nothing changed. I then decided to try Dr Jeans Enzyme therapy, I tried it for a complete week without any success. I then tried Albon which is prescribed for coccidia, I saw some positive signs right away, so I continued. I then read that folic acid could negate the actions of this med so I eliminated it from their diet, that change seemed to be the last hurdle. I don't think I'm out of the woods yet as I've read coccidia has a tendency to come back, but I'm hopeful. I know many will disagree with the way I did things and I partially do too. I did learn many things going through this without a vet, some of which has helped me with some of my own problems.

Thanks to this forum and all that helped

And yet a single fecal float from your veterinarian could have saved your kittens weeks of diarrhea...

YOU ran fecal floats? Dr. Jeans enzyme therapy? What the heck is that? Quit playing veternarian with your cats being the guinea pigs. Take them to a vet.

I just wanted to share my story and maybe help someone out in some way by doing so, I didn't post it to be judged.

By the way, fecal float aren't very complicated, and Dr Jeans therapy is easy to understand. You might consider trying to solve your own problems before going to a professional in any area, you learn a heck of a lot more. Maybe I took it a bit too far.....

Go see a vet!!! last time my boy have had diarrhea and it was from virus infectons in his stomach! my boy's diarrhea wasn't even bloody!! and having a bloodly diarrhea is something serious !!! it can be FIV, FelV, FIP etc. go and see a vet you cats may need to be dianosed with blood test and/or other test to help. you may be knowledgeable as a pet owner but they do call a vet for a reason. there is a lot of knowledge and equipment that we just don't have it at home!

Originally Posted by river

By the way, fecal float aren't very complicated, and Dr Jeans therapy is easy to understand. You might consider trying to solve your own problems before going to a professional in any area, you learn a heck of a lot more. Maybe I took it a bit too far.....

Click to expand...

Yes, you do learn quite a bit by doing things yourself, but I think in this instance your babies would have been better served if you had learned with the help of a professional instead of trying to stumble your way through it yourself.

When your car is broken, its common to fix it yourself, but lives are not at stake, and the only suffering that occurs when the car is still broken is your own.

The first rule of veterinary medicine is "DO NO HARM" and you would do well to remember that when you play veterinarian in your own home... I do applaud you for trying to learn and do right by your babies, I just think in this instance professional help would have been an appropriate addition to your learning.

From what I read it was very unlikely to be any of the viruses you mentioned.

Well the problem has been solved, please no more go see a vet posts.

Please please please next time there is a problem with them take them to a vet. Learning things through trial and error is all fine and good, but not when it could/did cause major harm. Have you ever had bloody diarrhea? It's no walk in the park, let me tell you, and I didn't have it for that long, thank God, I can't even fathom how awful it would be to have it for weeks on end.

My cat showed signs of being sick last week, so I took her to the vet. Had I waited and "experimented" on my own, she'd be dead, end of story.

Please please please no more experimenting with veterinary care. There's a reason they go to school for as long as they do.

I think I understand what you are doing and why you are doing. I think we have all read accounts in these forums of vets who were less than stellar in treating someone's cat.

BUT, vets do have extensive training and a good one will be able to diagnosis and treat an ailment faster and more effectively than you can by doing the research entirely on your own. I think it is worth a little effort on you part to try to find a good one.

Rather then just assuming that all vets are not to be trusted, why not at least start out working with one. Whatever diagnosis you get you can always research and determine to your own satisfaction it's quality. If after doing the research you think the vet is sub par, go to another. Isn't this what you would do if you became ill? Wouldn't you start out going to a doctor and then learn as much as you can about whatever illness you are told you have? If you decided that diagnosis is questionable, you'd get a second opinion.

Yes, you will "waste" some money if you run across a bad vet. But is the money really wasted? You will have determined that that is not the vet you want to use. What are you going to do in the case of a serious illness that comes on quickly and needs quick diagnosis and treatment? Having found and developed a relationship with a knowledgeable vet may mean the difference between life and an unnecessary death for your cat.

To add to the above, find a vet you like and trust before there is a problem with your cats. I have been going to the same vet for many years after going to a bunch of different ones before that. I found her and started going to her for just general check ups when my pets were healthy. I asked a lot of questions, we talked about lots of different stuff and we've built a great relationship, I absolutely trust her with my pets.

In order to get the most out of a veterinarian you have to build a relationship with them, and make sure that they meet any and all criteria that you have. Make a list of questions and bring it in with you if you have to. Call ahead beforehand and just ask the receptionist some general info about the clinic's usual policies about things that are important to you. Like what their vaccination protocols are, what kind of diets they support, etc.

Yes, of course there are vets out there that are not to be trusted, just as there are people out there in every single profession that fit that same bill. BUT, a good relationship with a good veterinarian is an absolutely invaluable resource to have.

I don't know what I would have done without my vet when Kiwi got so sick. I was able to leave her in the hospital, knowing she was in great hands and going to get the best of care. My vet called me every couple of hours to give me updates, and we would talk for about half an hour each time she called. If I had had to leave her in a strange place with vets I didn't know, my stress and anxiety would have been so much higher.

So find a good vet that you like and trust, one day you will be oh-so very glad you did.

I would also suggest you shouldn't be too quick at labeling a vet as bad. Consider how difficult it is to treat uncooperative, deaf, mute patients who actively do their best to conceal their illness. In some cases it shouldn't be surprising that a vet doesn't get the diagnosis right the first time.

Again, there certainly are bad vets but be fair in your judgment.

Originally Posted by river

I just wanted to share my story and maybe help someone out in some way by doing so, I didn't post it to be judged.

Click to expand...

I can only hope that nobody reading this thread will follow your advice. What you did was like playing Russian Roulette with your cats' lives.

Originally Posted by river

By the way, fecal float aren't very complicated, and Dr Jeans therapy is easy to understand. You might consider trying to solve your own problems before going to a professional in any area, you learn a heck of a lot more. Maybe I took it a bit too far.....

Click to expand...

Unless you are a doctor or lab technician, I doubt very much that you would know exactly what to look for in a fecal float. I also hope nobody here would EVER consider solving their own cat's medical problems before going to a professional. They might learn something - like how wrong they can be and how dead your animal is - not something I'd like to learn.

I'm not going to preach to you that you should take your cat to a vet since I think you already know that. I will however plead with anyone reading this thread and even thinking about diagnosing and treating their cats themselves to please DO NOT DO THIS. When you took on a cat in your life, you committed to caring for that animal and that would include researching and finding a good vet that would care for your pet for routine check-ups, vaccinations and heaven forbid, emergency situations. This commitment also includes ensuring you can afford to pay for the care of your pet and not try to diagnose/medicate your animal yourself because you can't afford a vet or are trying to save money.

First off, I would never do anything to my cats I wouldn't do to myself. And my cats weren't showing any signs of being unhealthy besides the diarrhea, if they looked or acted sickly I would've taken them to the vet.

And in the bigger scheme of things, I guess I need to find a partner to bring the respect and love all you have for life into my home, not to mention get me off these damn fish-biotics and take me to a doctor.

Seriously, I really hope no one decides to do what I did and harms their cat, take care.

And please no go see a doctor posts, I was just kiddding about the fish-biotics.