Pardon me as I freak out just a little
(even though I know I'm probably overreacting)...
One of my cats is having loose stool. I don't know that it's diarrhea, per se, but it's definitely not well-formed. The two share a litter box and I changed it this evening, went downstairs to grab their clean food and water dishes, and then came back upstairs to a foul smelling bowel movement in the pan. I don't mean to say that it smelled "off," but it was more odiferous than usual (however that can be explained away as it was fresh). And then, later on, when my roommate went into the room to measure something she realized that she stepped in what appeared to be a smear of loose stool on the hardwood floor. And that's when I kind of freaked out.
The cats' food has not been changed and both appear to be healthy. They eat well, drink well, and are playful. Their eyes, nose, and ears seem clean and there is nothing out of the ordinary where their health is concerned. Well, aside from the loose stool. The only thing that has changed is that they received their flea and tick preventative last night (Advantage). They have received that specific preventative in the past, but I honestly cannot remember whether or not either cat had loose stool following the medication being administered. But, really, it's not the loose stool that has me concerned as much as the fact that one of the cats went outside of their litter box. I'm not worried about the floor or my roommate's shoe, but I am just concerned that maybe one of my girls are sick and need medical treatment...
Those are my fears, but there also may be a logical explanation for what happened. For starters, I'm fairly certain that Cassidy is the "culprit." I looked over both girls after cleaning the mess and scooping the litter box and noticed that Cass had some stool on the fur surrounding her anus. For those who do not remember, Cass is a 14 month old orange and white female whose up-to-date on all vaccinations and is spayed. She is also a strictly indoor cat. She is a medium-to-long haired cat and I believe there have been other incidences of stool being stuck to her rear that has then fallen off on the floor. My assumption is that while her stool was loose, the feces on the floor was most likely the product of it having been stuck or matted to her fur and then when she sat down it smeared. Regardless of whether that's the scenario as it played out or not, in the next couple of days I will be doing a trim around her rear so that this doesn't happen again -- for both her comfort and mine.
My question is, does that sound like a logical explanation? The consistency of the stool was loose and not well-formed, but it was not pure liquid either. It was more a "plop." And when does this warrant a visit to the vet? Both girls have had incidences of semi-loose stool in the past, but we've been told it was under the realm of normalcy. And they have both recently been de-wormed and had fecal floats which came back negative. In fact, they even had a more expansive parasitic test which also came back negative (about a month or two ago). I'm not at the point where I think I need to rush Cass or Laney off to the vet as this was one time and they are acting completely normal, but I worry as I love them both so much and would be lost if something were to happen to one (or both -- God forbid!) of them. What should I look for in terms of determining if and when an emergency vet visit in order?
I know I'm likely overreacting and that this is just one of those things cats occasionally do -- much like dogs. But I just want to know whether or not I'm on the right track. I fed them as usual this evening and both were chowing down and they could not have gotten into anything in the house. I made sure they had plenty of fresh water and even fed some extra wet food just in case it does become an issue of diarrhea and dehydration. If it persists over another 24 hours I'll call the vet and if there continues to be "accidents" outside of the box I will make the call sooner, but for those of you with longer-haired cats, does my explanation sound feasible? I don't want to go crazy about all this, but I also don't want to act too slow. So, given what I've described, what would you do?
And some healing vibes sure wouldn't hurt either (even if this just is a simple case of minor loose-stool) . Me, Cass, and Laney thank you in advance!
One of my cats is having loose stool. I don't know that it's diarrhea, per se, but it's definitely not well-formed. The two share a litter box and I changed it this evening, went downstairs to grab their clean food and water dishes, and then came back upstairs to a foul smelling bowel movement in the pan. I don't mean to say that it smelled "off," but it was more odiferous than usual (however that can be explained away as it was fresh). And then, later on, when my roommate went into the room to measure something she realized that she stepped in what appeared to be a smear of loose stool on the hardwood floor. And that's when I kind of freaked out.
The cats' food has not been changed and both appear to be healthy. They eat well, drink well, and are playful. Their eyes, nose, and ears seem clean and there is nothing out of the ordinary where their health is concerned. Well, aside from the loose stool. The only thing that has changed is that they received their flea and tick preventative last night (Advantage). They have received that specific preventative in the past, but I honestly cannot remember whether or not either cat had loose stool following the medication being administered. But, really, it's not the loose stool that has me concerned as much as the fact that one of the cats went outside of their litter box. I'm not worried about the floor or my roommate's shoe, but I am just concerned that maybe one of my girls are sick and need medical treatment...
Those are my fears, but there also may be a logical explanation for what happened. For starters, I'm fairly certain that Cassidy is the "culprit." I looked over both girls after cleaning the mess and scooping the litter box and noticed that Cass had some stool on the fur surrounding her anus. For those who do not remember, Cass is a 14 month old orange and white female whose up-to-date on all vaccinations and is spayed. She is also a strictly indoor cat. She is a medium-to-long haired cat and I believe there have been other incidences of stool being stuck to her rear that has then fallen off on the floor. My assumption is that while her stool was loose, the feces on the floor was most likely the product of it having been stuck or matted to her fur and then when she sat down it smeared. Regardless of whether that's the scenario as it played out or not, in the next couple of days I will be doing a trim around her rear so that this doesn't happen again -- for both her comfort and mine.
My question is, does that sound like a logical explanation? The consistency of the stool was loose and not well-formed, but it was not pure liquid either. It was more a "plop." And when does this warrant a visit to the vet? Both girls have had incidences of semi-loose stool in the past, but we've been told it was under the realm of normalcy. And they have both recently been de-wormed and had fecal floats which came back negative. In fact, they even had a more expansive parasitic test which also came back negative (about a month or two ago). I'm not at the point where I think I need to rush Cass or Laney off to the vet as this was one time and they are acting completely normal, but I worry as I love them both so much and would be lost if something were to happen to one (or both -- God forbid!) of them. What should I look for in terms of determining if and when an emergency vet visit in order?
I know I'm likely overreacting and that this is just one of those things cats occasionally do -- much like dogs. But I just want to know whether or not I'm on the right track. I fed them as usual this evening and both were chowing down and they could not have gotten into anything in the house. I made sure they had plenty of fresh water and even fed some extra wet food just in case it does become an issue of diarrhea and dehydration. If it persists over another 24 hours I'll call the vet and if there continues to be "accidents" outside of the box I will make the call sooner, but for those of you with longer-haired cats, does my explanation sound feasible? I don't want to go crazy about all this, but I also don't want to act too slow. So, given what I've described, what would you do?
And some healing vibes sure wouldn't hurt either (even if this just is a simple case of minor loose-stool) . Me, Cass, and Laney thank you in advance!
