Our new cat has what appears to be diarrhea

traveler5 · Oct 13, 2008

As some of you know, we just brought home our new 8 month old kitty from a shelter this past Saturday. He has a pretty good URI going on and we're giving him some medicine the shelter gave to us. It's a liquid med that we inject into his mouth from a non-needled syringe. He gets it once a day.

He also has what looks like diarrhea. Since we've never had a cat before I'm not certain if that's normal -- I suspect not -- that his waste should be more solid.

Is this the result of the medicine or does he have something else going on? We are taking him to his first vet appointment today for a check-up and to give him some shots the shelter did not give to him. I can't remember what they are -- my wife knows.

traveler5 · Oct 13, 2008

Oh, by the way, he's had diarrhea ever since we brought him home -- I don't thinks it's his cat food.

whiteforest · Oct 13, 2008

Was he also on the antibiotics before you brought him home? Meds are likely to be causing the diarrhea. You didn't mention if the shelter where you adopted him from has vaccinated or wormed him. If he was wormed, and he just has loose stools (no blood, not excessive where you're worried about dehydration, etc.) than I would just wait and monitor until he's completed his meds and see if it clears up. If he was not wormed, I would take a fecal sample to your vet ASAP.

white cat lover · Oct 13, 2008

It could be the anti-biotics, it could be from changing food on him, it could be stress from coming home, it could be something like coccidia/giardia (parasite). You might want to get a stool sample to your vet just to check to be sure it's nothing.

pami · Oct 13, 2008

I would boil him some chicken (without bones and without spices of any kind) with some rice that will be bland and help settle his tummy. It could be from his meds, stress or food. You dont want him to get dehydrated, either.

brokenheart · Oct 13, 2008

As always, my vote for cats that have just been brought home from the shelter and have diarrhea is: Tapeworm. If that's it, your vet can easily treat it.

traveler5 · Oct 13, 2008

Originally Posted by whiteforest

Was he also on the antibiotics before you brought him home? Meds are likely to be causing the diarrhea. You didn't mention if the shelter where you adopted him from has vaccinated or wormed him. If he was wormed, and he just has loose stools (no blood, not excessive where you're worried about dehydration, etc.) than I would just wait and monitor until he's completed his meds and see if it clears up. If he was not wormed, I would take a fecal sample to your vet ASAP.

I don't know for sure, but I believe they were giving the meds to him before we picked him up from the shelter.

I suspect it's the medicine. It seems to me that whenever we gave antibiotics to our kids when they were babies they immediately had lose bowels. But that's kids, not cats.

traveler5 · Oct 13, 2008

Originally Posted by Brokenheart

As always, my vote for cats that have just been brought home from the shelter and have diarrhea is: Tapeworm. If that's it, your vet can easily treat it.

Yuck! I hope not.

darlili · Oct 13, 2008

I'd suggest making a little list of whatever you've observed, or are concerned about, no matter how small a detail you think it is, and hand it to the tech to give the vet before the vet even hits the exam room. I do this for my cats and my own internist, because it never fails I forget something if I try to do it from memory. I'd take a fecal sample with me, even if the vet's office didn't say to. Actually, mine always has me bring a sample in at check-up time.

Did you change the cat's food from whatever he was getting at the shelter? I was told to very gradually change over - and I waited a week to even start the transition.

And good for you for getting the early vet appointment and establishing a relationship with them. You're good parents!

Hopefully it's just a combination of being a bit under the weather, the stress of a new home, and just getting used to everything - but at least your new guy has a lot of love in his new home to help him get better!

mrblanche · Oct 13, 2008

Tapeworms are very common in any cat (or dog, for that matter) that goes outside. There is a new topical treatment that will take care of them, and you should get the vet to apply Revolution or Advantage Plus to take care of any fleas, ticks, or other parasites.

Antibiotics almost always give me diarrhea, too. (TMI!) Not uncommon. It disturbs the normal bacteria in the intestine.

brokenheart · Oct 13, 2008

Originally Posted by mrblanche

Antibiotics almost always give me diarrhea, too. (TMI!) Not uncommon. It disturbs the normal bacteria in the intestine.

Me too. My doc got mad when I got complained because, as she said, they are the greatest single health breakthrough of modern times, but the side effects can suck.

Do they make probiotics for cats, the way they do for humans, to try to restore the good bacteria?

darlili · Oct 13, 2008

Originally Posted by Brokenheart

Do they make probiotics for cats, the way they do for humans, to try to restore the good bacteria?

I believe they do, but in this case I'd definitely consult with the vet and make sure everyone is totally aware of everything the cat is ingesting, just like you have to tell human doctors if you're taking herbal supplements, etc.

laureen227 · Oct 13, 2008

Originally Posted by Brokenheart

Me too. My doc got mad when I got complained because, as she said, they are the greatest single health breakthrough of modern times, but the side effects can suck.

Do they make probiotics for cats, the way they do for humans, to try to restore the good bacteria?

yes. once other health issues are ruled out, if the diarrhea continues, i'd try some bene-bac.

traveler5 · Oct 14, 2008

I took Hobbes to his first vet appt. yesterday. They checked him over really pretty well and everything seems to be normal. He did receive 2 booster shots for rabies and leukemia -- I think that's what they were for. They also spent quite a bit of time digging out the ear mites that had accumulated. When we picked him up at the shelter they put some ointment on his back to kill the mites -- hopefully that did the trick. He did very well through the entire examination and traveled well to the vet's office.

traveler5 · Oct 14, 2008

Oh, by the way. They did give a me collection container to provide them with a sample of his of his bowel waste so they can study it.

Our new cat has what appears to be diarrhea

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