Chronic diarrhea

Hello!

I've noticed that my 5 year old male tabby has been having some on and off diarrhea for about a few months now. I've noticed that maybe once every 2 weeks his poop would be relatively soft and smelly, almost diarrhea like. So Im going to take him to the vet tmr. When i first noticed he had diarrhea, we had changed his food to a new chicken flavor brand 'SOLID GOLD'. We thought it might be caused by the change in food, so we changed it back to what he was eating previously which was flavor Solid Gold. However we're still having some problems.
Im taking him to the vet but Im a bit worried that the vet wont know what to do or where to start looking since this is an ongoing problem. Im hoping that he wont suggest anything to invasive.
I should also mention that he is a relatively large cat who eats dried cat food and i cook chicken for him also (steamed chicken breast- which he eats maybe quater of a piece each day).
Do you think that the fact that he's a relatively heavy and fat cat that this will rule out parasites causing the soft poop?

He had diarrhea yesterday but now its normal poop again. Should i bring a sample to the vet?

If anyone has had this problem before, can you let me know what the vet did or how he examined the problem?

What could be the likly causes of the problem?


tHANKS !

My vet says it can be difficult diagnosing intestinal problems....my boy occasionally has soft stools (in his case, usually when he decides he has to eat everyone's greenies and moves too fast for me).

She suggested I keep a diary of when any changes in the bowel movements - or anything else - along with a record of any dietary changes, or other changes (stress can cause problems too - and sometimes cats get stressed by something as normal as moving furniture around or if we, the parents, are stressed for some reason). The diary can sometimes help in determining if there's any pattern in the problems. Also, the diary helps me write all my questions down so I don't forget anything during the office visit - although I swear the vets spend more time with me than my internist does!

She did mention that fat cats can have issues with bowel movements due to their weight. When I had mine in for their baseline senior blood tests, I did ask for complete fecal checks, including parasites (nothing turned up), just as a baseline.

The problem is a lot of times you have to try treating the symptoms and seeing what happens. For example, with IBD, my understanding is a definitive diagnosis includes a biopsy - poor kitty pretty much gets a colonoscopy - and usually you don't go there until you've ruled everything else out.

Yuu might call the office and ask what they'd like to see as samples - I know I tend to drag in bags of everything, whether they want them or not!

My guess is the vet will start with conservative treatment - maybe something along the lines of a few cans of something like prescription Hills W/D to see what happens, or some doses of bene-bac, but you'll have to wait and see what they think might work with your particular cat and his history. But I'd sit down with the vet and ask what I, as the owner, can try to observe that might help with the diagnosis, and what tests he recommends to try and narrow it down. It is frustrating, for your kitty, you, and the vet. I wish you the best of luck.

A quick suggestion...
there is a search button near the left of this forum's tool bar...
click it and use the word diarrhea in the search box.
You will find a lot of threads related to digestive issues.
You can use what others have experienced with this frustrating problem, to help you communicate better with your vet.

Another thought,
when in doubt, take the poop in...
your vet can always throw it away.