Sprout's poop problems

Sprout has been with us for about a month now. He had some nasty diarrhea the first couple of days that I attributed to the change in food. He did improve afer a few days, but since then he has continued to have large, unformed, very smelly stools that are like a thick liquid consistency and brown color, no sign of blood. I can always tell when he's had a bowel movement because you can smell it through the whole house! My cats all eat regular Innova dry with a wet meal once a day of Innova or Wellness, and the other cats all have normal stool.

He doesn't seem to be dehydrated, and he's gotten a bit chubbier since he's been with us so I don't think he's having an absorption issue. He does eat a lot though, but my understanding is that Sphynx do tend to eat more than other breeds. Some reading I've done indicates that simple overeating can cause issues like this. I suppose I will have to get a fecal done to rule out parasites. Anyone have any other ideas on what might be causing this?

Parasites seem very likely based on what you've described, giardia, coccidia or something else. These can be very dangerous if untreated and he has had this going on for way too long without treatment. Consult a vet asap.

Well, the vet records that came with him show that he had a clean fecal just a few months ago, but I figure that is step one to figuring out what the deal is. I suppose he could've contracted a parasite since then, or whatever it is might not have shown up before. I also think, based on something his previous owner said to me, that this might have been going on off and on for awhile now. I'll call the vet on Monday, and we'll see what he says.

Food allergies? They can cause loose stools.

Fecal is the first step. Second, I'd look into a different food for him if possible....I know it'll be PITA to change foods with a multi-cat household.

Hmmm, I hadn't thought about allergies. I'll have to do some reading on food allergies in cats - I've only experienced that with dogs before.

I like this website....

http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=142

Explains allergies vs. intolerances, symptoms, diagnosis, & treatment.

It sounds like it could be Tritrichomonas, the parasite will not show up on any fecal test other than a special test for that protozoa. I have two with it and before checking for that we ran every test in the book. The classic signs are chronic cow pie like stools and an odor to knock your socks off. Outside the body it is pretty fragile so it has to be handled right. If you want to learn more do a search on Jody Gookin, she is the leading authority and researcher and has all the information on her website. My girls got thier from the breeder and started having trouble right after we got them.Good luck.

Update: So far they've found nothing in the fecal. I guess they had to send samples to a lab for certain tests, so I should get those results tomorrow. In the meantime, they've given me some canned food that is supposed to be a "hypoallergenic diet" - it's lamb and barley, I guess. I will be feeding him that starting tonight, and we'll see if that changes his stool.

This is going to be somewhat of a PITA since I free feed all 7 cats currently, so now I am trying to decide if I am going to try to separate Sprout from the others or switch everybody to portioned meals. I am leaning toward meals right now, since Delilah was showing some URI symptoms this afternoon and I am keeping her seperate for the timebeing. My bedroom/bathroom is my only workable isolation area, and I really don't want to keep one of them confined to just the bathroom if I don't have to. Plus, Sprout will throw a hissy fit if he's stuck in the bedroom alone.

My only concern about portioned meals is that I'm afraid the younger cats (Griffin and Bastian) and skinny Adam may not get enough. I suppose I could try to offer those three a third meal at some point during the day.

I'm going to echo what Laureen already said, try a probiotic. It will not hurt, and if he's been on any medication in the last few months (for parasites or antibiotics) it can actually do a lot of good. The bene-bac only costs $5-6..

If it won't hurt him I suppose it's worth trying. I will try to find some tomorrow. Thanks.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

I'm going to echo what Laureen already said, try a probiotic. It will not hurt, and if he's been on any medication in the last few months (for parasites or antibiotics) it can actually do a lot of good. The bene-bac only costs $5-6..

Click to expand...

The probiotics really turned things around for Joey when he had a similar problem And my vet told me that Manx are prone to stool problems. For awhile, I did switch him to boiled chicken/rice.

Sending prayers and vibes that Sprout gets over this very soon - for his sake, and everyone else's noses

Think of it as how some of the yogurts now have active cultures of good bacteria.

And take it from someone who been through what unbalanced good and bad bacteria in the intestines can do. I was on antibiotics for too long, it killed too much of my good bacteria and allowed the bad to overgrow. The result was horrible diarrhea, toxins from the bacteria building up in my body, and a hospital stay because I was sick. My cat Tomas had a more minor incident with bad bacteria, too - probiotics fixed his diarrhea and stinky gas problems.

Something for people to think about for both their health and their pets. Balance is important.

That you and the vet can get this all under control.

Anyone have an idea of how long it would take to see an improvement using probiotics? (Assuming that would solve the problem.) I am wondering if I should try that before I start messing with the food. Sprout's watery diarrhea with his initial switch to our food when he first came home was really nasty, and I'd rather not go there if I don't have to.

Depends on how bad it is if there is an imbalance.
Hm, I hazard a guess at 2 weeks. I used Eagle Pack holistic solutions for Tomas as it also has a digestive aid - but you'd have to check small pet stores or order that. I can't remember how long it took, but it seemed like a week and a half for the stool to improve, and 3 weeks for the stinky farts to completely go away.

In fact, it helped so much that I can't remember the last time he farted in my face.

Thanks to you both! I will pick some up tomorrow and give it a try.

Kitty says thanks for this thread! She really needed the same help.

Good luck with the probiotics too.

Well, I couldn't find the bene-bac at any of our local petstores. I figured that since I'd have to order that, I might as well give the hypoallergenic food a try. Two days of that food and not one icky poop. I'm not sure if it was the ingredients in the dry Innova that I was feeding him, or if he was just upsetting his stomach by overeating. Maybe it is too early to say that is for sure what the problem was - he may be back to stinky poos tomorrow, I suppose. We shall see. In the meantime, I think I will start a new thread about food sensitivities! Thanks!

Do you have any farm and livestock supply stores in your area? Bene-bac is made by PetAg (I think they also make KMR?) and a lot of their products tend to be carried at farm supply stores.

I'd give it a try, even if the food seems to be helping. The other food was upsetting his GI somehow, so obviously his GI might not be in the best of condition right now.
I've also heard of people getting human probiotics and sprinkling those on their pet's food (I think it was mentioned in one of the Expert forums?), but I don't know what sort of dose that would be - presumably since it's just good bacteria a bit extra would be fine (which I think the person also said), but you have to watch out for other additives.

I've seen several other threads and comments about Innova, both regular and EVO. It seems that for some cats it's just too rich for them - especially the EVO.