A health issue, or a behavioral one?

Sorry, this is rather long winded.

Gus is going to the vet this week. I have posted before about both his apparent chicken allergy and also about him going outside of the litter box. We have spoken to the vet more than once over the phone, but he didn't see an urgent need to see him at those times as his symptoms seemed to have disappeared, which was fine with me. Well, they're back, so he's going in. I just wish I had even the slightest idea of what is going on with him. Here's the list that I made to take to the vet with me:

[-Came to live with us at 8 weeks
-Tested negetive for FeLV
-Fully vaccinated UTD
-Used litter box 100% until about 16 weeks]

-Defecating both in and out of the litter box.
-Started in March/April
-Goes outside box both when clean and when dirty, seems to make no difference
-Had loose stool on Innova EVO (chicken based grain-free kibble)
-Seemed to clear up when switched to Taste of the Wild (grain-free dry containing venison, salmon and chicken). Also began replacing one meal daily with Merrick cans
-When given chicken flavored cans, or boiled chicken breasts experienced vomiting and bloody/mucusy diarrhea
-Changed to Nature's Variety Lamb and Oatmeal kibble and eliminated all chicken from diet
-Diarrhea and vomiting cleared up.
-Still defecating outside of the box
-Urinated outside of the box twice
-Gave second litter box
-Blood appeared in stool again, drops of blood around stool on occasion
-Often meows loudly (doesn't sound like a cry, just his normal meow but louder) before defecating outside of the box, but not when he goes in the box
-Appetite normal
-Activity levels normal
-No sign of worms
-Bad breath (thought it was teething, but his last adult teeth have been in for at least 2 weeks now)
-Strange noises when breathing, sounds congested but doesn't otherwise appear to be so


This is not completely in chronological order, but more or less so.

Does anyone have any ideas??? I can't figure out if there's something physically wrong with him, or does he just not want to use his litter box. If it's because he just does not want to use the box sometimes, that does not explain the occasional blood. I will also add that he goes both near the box, and on the other side of the house. His litter boxes get scooped multiple times a day, changed twice a week, and cleaned weekly. And like I said, I've also tried not cleaning so much. I've tried cleaning the boxes with disinfectant, and also just rinsing them with water. None of this seems to make a difference, and there seems to be no pattern (unless I'm missing something). Since he started the NV Lamb nearly 8 weeks ago we have not even given him any treats of any kind.

Thanks in advance!!

I would advice comprehensive allergy testing ... each food trial NEEDS to be 8-12 weeks unless things like bloody stool occur as mild reactions in up to week 8 can be old food related

Have they done IN DEPTH blood work??

Originally Posted by sharky

I would advice comprehensive allergy testing ... each food trial NEEDS to be 8-12 weeks unless things like bloody stool occur as mild reactions in up to week 8 can be old food related

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I'm aware of the 8-12 week rule and we are at 8 weeks now, and he has been doing okay with the NV Lamb, apart from the still going outside of the box. The reoccurrence of the blood has only been in the past week.

Originally Posted by sharky

Have they done IN DEPTH blood work??

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No, but I'm assuming this is something that the vet will want to do this week.

The only thing I can add is about the strange noises when breathing. I have a cat that does this as well, with no sign of congestion. Our vet surmised that perhaps previously he had a URI that went untreated for awhile and ended up "warping" his nasal passages. She said this isn't unusual for cats that are housed "en masse", and since our guy came to us from a hoarder house (via a shelter), it seems like a reasonable explanation. He's a healthy cat, just sometimes he snores, sometimes he wheezes after play, and sometimes he harumphs loudly like a a grumpy old man who really just wishes you would stop bugging him (he's only 3, so he's not an old man!). We keep him on a maintanence dose of L-Lysine because he also has ear polyps, so the warped nasal passages and wax build-up make him more prone to URIs.

As for the other stuff, all I can suggest is that perhaps you try Cat Attract, or some simlar litter. I've never used it, but have heard other people sing its praises when dealing with a problem pooper. Apparently, cats *like* pooping in Cat Attract.

Hmm, looks like I'll have to wait to see what the vet says this week.


Sharky, did you suggest allergy testing because of the bouts of diarrhea/vomiting/blood, or the entire situation?

Originally Posted by whiteforest

Hmm, looks like I'll have to wait to see what the vet says this week.


Sharky, did you suggest allergy testing because of the bouts of diarrhea/vomiting/blood, or the entire situation?

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the whole issue... but IMHO and Humble experience it seems like you have a cat like my yorkie allergic and possibley rotating allegies...

The vet decided that it was most likely food allergies after a few tests. He decided to give us a fresh stool sample on the back seat of the car on the way to the vet. I guess we've been on the right track all along, though. She put him on z/d. I don't know how I feel about that, but if it works that is good. It's also expensive. $21 for 4lbs! She also recommended getting ANOTHER new litter box in case he has associated the other ones with bad things (like cramping, etc). I hope that we can sort this out now. It gets exhausting to be cleaning poo off the floor 3 times a day.

Originally Posted by whiteforest

The vet decided that it was most likely food allergies after a few tests. He decided to give us a fresh stool sample on the back seat of the car on the way to the vet.

I guess we've been on the right track all along, though. She put him on z/d. I don't know how I feel about that, but if it works that is good. It's also expensive. $21 for 4lbs! She also recommended getting ANOTHER new litter box in case he has associated the other ones with bad things (like cramping, etc). I hope that we can sort this out now. It gets exhausting to be cleaning poo off the floor 3 times a day.

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If the Z/D works change very very slowly .... and remember z/d is only designed for up to 12 weeks

I hadn't discussed that far ahead with my vet yet. She just said she wanted to hear from me in about 7 weeks and we'd go from there. If the z/d works, what is typically the next step? Do we slowly introduce one type of protein at a time?

Oh, and she also gave us a prescription for something that will clean his GI tract out.

yeah you intro proteins one at a time

Well it has been less than 2 weeks on the z/d and we thought we were doing well. Gus hadn't gone outside of the box since the incident in the car, and he started going just once a day with no blood or mucus. Well, last night he pooped on the floor, and again soft with bloody mucus. No sooner had I cleaned up the poop and came back with the Nature's Miracle and he was peeing on the floor. I called the vet this morning, but they haven't called me back yet. I really wish I understood what was going on with this cat. It breaks my heart because DH says we'll give it another couple of months to try to get him going in the box, and then we will have to start investigating "other options"