Chronic URI and Soft Stool

Hi Everyone,

My cat has had URI flare-ups and soft stool since I got her 8 months ago from a shelter. She was 8 months old at the time. She is an indoor cat.
She went on one round of antibiotics to clear up the URI for two weeks, and once the treatment was over, her symptoms returned. She still has watery eyes, now with a thick discharge and stuffy nose with occasional discharge. She has seen two vets and neither have suggested anything to help. Two weeks ago I started her on L-Lysine, up to 1000 mg/day in two doses, and a drop of Grapefruit Seed Extract two times a day. The only improvement I have seen is less sneezing.

My second problem is that she has soft stool that is light in colour. She has been on 5 diets, all of which I did a gradual transition. The foods she has had are:
1) Hill's Science Diet Kitten Formula - Dry
2) MediCal Gastro - Dry
3) Before Grain - Tuna - Dry
4) Now! Grain Free - Turkey with Duck - Dry
5) MediCal Gastro High Energy - Dry
with Hills Prescription Diet i/d - Wet
I have also given her 30 days worth of Purina FortiFlora and another vet prescribed probiotic.
She also gets Bee Pollen, which is supposed to help with allergies and runny eyes.

While on Now! she had slight improvement until there was mucusy diarrhea for 3 days in a row. When I took her to the vet she had no parasites and her blood samples didn't show anything abnormal. She was also negative for Feline HIV and FeLV. With diarrhea medication there was great improvement, until the treatment stopped and there has been a gradual return to soft stools. When I told the vet who prescribed the gastro and i/d combo, they told me to reduce the wet food, which is now down to 1/3 can per day. This hasn't improved anything.

Does anyone have any suggestions of other supplements or diets I could try? Your advise is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Welcome to TCS . You have come to the right place and I am sure you will get alot of great suggestions to help you get your cat feeling well again. It sounds to me like there might be a combinations of issues going on. And I am sorry your cat is not feeling well.

I do not know too much about Giardia or Coccidia but I know it won't easily show up in a fecal. Did the vet mention this at all as a possibility to the diarrhea? The L-Lysine will help with the Herpes Virus, but at 1000 mg/day that could be causing or contributing to the loose stool. I have never heard of giving that much to a cat, I have been told to give 500 mg/day at once or you can give 250 mg. twice a day.

I also give my one cat with IBD a supplement by Honest Kitchen - Perfect Form. It has pumpkin and other soothing ingredients to aid in digestion. Diet could also be adding to the problem as you kitty could be having allergies to an particular ingredient. But I think, the URI has to be addressed immediately before you will know if that is the contributing factor to the diarrhea, not just the diet. So I would get that under control right away. And I might even try to find another vet who will help you with getting your cat healthy. I know you said you already went to two vets with no luck. HMMMMMM, there has to be a vet who can help your cat.

I am sure other's will come along soon and offer advice and suggestions to help you. Hope you can get some answers soon for your kitty

You could be dealing with 2 separate issues. It sounds like the recurring URIs are possibly herpes flare ups. You can have your vet test for that using the IDEXX Real PCR URD test. Also ask the vet to do a culture and sensitivity test on some of the discharge from the eye/nose. This will tell the vet what type of infection you're dealing with (bacterial or viral) and the sensitivity test will tell them what medication will most effectively treat it. If she tests positive for herpes, a grain free diet and no steroids will help.

In the meantime, keep giving her Lysine, 1000mg a day (500mg 2X a day). The lysine needs to stay in her system. You can try saline drops in the nose and eyes, but I really think you probably need an eye med such as gentamycin. If she's got a stuffy nose, steam her in the bathroom while you're in the shower. Get the shower nice and steamy, then take her in there and keep her in there until the steam dissipates.

You can give 1/8t-1/4t of pure evening primrose oil daily to help with sneezing. I also give my girl 1/4 to 1/2 of of 10mg Claritin (generic Wal-Mart brand) daily to help with allergies. These two things have helped my herpes girl tremendously.

I really think you need another round of antibiotics and/or a second opinion about this from a different vet.

For the loose stools, you might want to ask the vet about t. foetus. You can read more about it at this site: http://www.highgait.com/page/page/3485008.htm and also search the health forum for more info. I'm assuming that worms have been ruled out and/or treated and a fecal has been done.

Thank you for your responses and suggestions!
Since I'm not sure where to get the Honest Kitchen supplement yet, I have added a teaspoon of canned pumpkin to each wet food feeding. I saw a lot of other posts with 500 mg/day of Lysine, so I have reduced that amount.

I have to say that the poops haven't improved much yet, but I am going to switch her foods again and see what happens with that. As for her URI, maybe I spoke too soon. Her goopy eyes seem to have improved a bit this week, so perhaps the Lysine is still working into her system.

My next vet appointment I will be sure to ask about the other tests, especially if I'm not seeing any changes in her eye condition or poops soon.

Thanks again!