IBS Cat, Please Help!!

Hello, My cat is about 18months old now and has a very sensitive tummy. The vet suspects it may be irritable bowel syndrome, she is just so snesitive and initially she was tried on several different diets... for the past 12 months she has been on a Hypo-allergenic Sensitive Dry food that I buy from the vet. This food is the best for her as it helps her poo to stay firmish, it has never been like normal cat poo. About a month ago I found lots of blood in her litter tray, visit to the vet and it turned out she had a urinary tract infection... she had some medication to help that and 10 days after that she started to have seriously bad diarrhea, only in her litter box though. The odd thing is that just before the bad diarrhea (the morning prior) she expelled some very firm little poop pellets on our bed, and when I came out into our family room there were a few more pellets and many 'streaks' where she had obviously rubbed her butt against the floor. I phoned the vet and she suggested keeping her in the laundry for the day and keeping an eye on her. Well by the end of the day there was cat poo streaked up on walls and all over the floor so I took her to the vet and they kept her for 2 nights and gave her something for the diarrhea. That settled down (back to soft serve consistency - sorry gross) but these pellets are becoming for common for me to find all over our house... it's like she doesn't even know she's passing them, and the poo streaks all over the floor and becoming an everyday occurance. My biggest stress is that I have 2 young children (2 and 4) and they have their cuddly toys that they drag on the floor and take to bed, etc... so my vet suggested turning into her into a cat who can be outdoors in the day, the plan was that Peppa could poo outside and rub herself against trees etc... infortunately the bully cat next door keeps scaring her back in and the joy of being able to eat whatever she finds outside and bought the really really soft poo back!! So I am at my witts end and any suggestions/advice would be so appreciated. She is such a beautiful natured cat with my kids and I love her to bits, it is tearing me up to think about re-homing her but I can't have poo pellets/streaks in the house around the kids... Also if it's a constipated thing why are her kitty litter bowel movements so soft?
Thanks!!

Hi, PeppaCat. Welcome to TCS!

Both kibble and grains cause IBD, with heavy-grain kibble products the worst offenders. Normally, I would just recommend a switch to a grain-free canned, offer tips for the transition, and suggest a look at the CatInfo.org and Feline-Nutrition.org websites (especially the IBD articles in the Feline-Nutrition's "Health" section), however, considering the condition of your cat, I strongly recommend you request a consultation with Dr. Pierson, to whom the CatInfo site belongs. See the Prescription Diet section (almost to the bottom) of her Urinary Tract Health article for her contact info.

What a rough issue to have to deal with, for both you and your kitty! I hope you are able to resolve it quickly!

AC

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

Hi, PeppaCat. Welcome to TCS!

Both kibble and grains cause IBD, with heavy-grain kibble products the worst offenders. Normally, I would just recommend a switch to a grain-free canned, offer tips for the transition, and suggest a look at the CatInfo.org and Feline-Nutrition.org websites (especially the IBD articles in the Feline-Nutrition's "Health" section), however, considering the condition of your cat, I strongly recommend you request a consultation with Dr. Pierson, to whom the CatInfo site belongs. See the Prescription Diet section (almost to the bottom) of her Urinary Tract Health article for her contact info.

What a rough issue to have to deal with, for both you and your kitty!

I hope you are able to resolve it quickly!

AC

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^This.

Due to the complexity of the situation, I can't suggest anything beyond keeping her in a bathroom and not ever outdoors until this is resolved. Either contact Dr Pierson, or if you would like to see a vet in person, find one that is a certified Feline Nutritionist.

Good luck with Peppa!!

Thanks for the advice, I am in Australia and the term kibble is bot used here... does that mean the dry biscuit? That's what she needs to be on... the wet raw diet we tried her on was horrendous, she didn't pass anything dir a week, then it all came up, the wrong end! That was about a year ago and she has been okay on her hypo-allergenic dry since ( but you can totally tell if she eats a bug as it comes right out again!) It was only since she had the urinary tract infection about 5 weeks ago that all this had blown up!

Well, imho, the first thing you need is a new vet- sorry, but the one you got...
Ok... Sounds to me you have a similar situation to what I had with Bugsy, on a lighter scale. Bugsy also has IBD, had an UTI and was given clavamox for it. This was october 10, 2010. Since that day I have been dealing with the diarrhea. It has been a long road, but we are finally ok now- soft, but formed poop.
The #1 thing that made a HUGE difference for Bugsy, was a human probiotic for IBD called Align- he takes 1 capsule a day, first thing in the morning. Align was a turning point for him- this was a kaboom! On his treatment.
He also takes a strong veterinarian probiotic called proviable-dc. These are different strains so we are not ovedosing him ;-)
In addition, he takes a capsule of psilliun fiber (his is Vetasyl) a day, mived into his vet food- 1/2 in the am, and 1/2 in the pm.
And... Not finished yet lol- he tates a natural diarrhea supplement called Runnipoo- 5 drops in the am, 5 drops in the pm.

For food, he eats mostly wet- used to be for a long time Z/D wet, which I would recommend now in the beginning- right now he eats Ziwipeak for wet- it is pretty much limited ingredients, as the ingredients are venison meat, venison heart, venison tripe, venison liver, venison kidney, etc- no grains, no colors... Just pretty much that animal' protein, and organs- + taurine and vitamins.
Anyways, for dry, he nibbles on 1/2 royal canin hypoallergenic hp and 1/2 hills Z/D hypoallergenic.

All this I am telling you of course, was with the approval of my vet. I highly recommend the probiotics, specially the align.
The food: what food exactly are you feeding? There is a different in hypoallergenic foods and foods for sensitive systems.
Imho it is not time to start raw yet- nothing against the diet,but: it seems you might be dealing with a simmilar issue to what I was dealing- the good bacteria of his intestinal tract was killed, there was an overgrown of bad bacteria on the gut, causing inflammation. This is not a healthy condition to fight bacteria that might be in the raw food- his digestive tract needs to be better balanced before you go there imho.
As far as pooping out of the box: for constipation, a bit of pure, not sweetened- canned pumpkin a day will keep things moving nicely- per my vet, the dose is 1Tbsp a day, divided in different meals- you can mix it in the wet food, or feed it with a syringe. You will find it in the baking isle by the pie crusts- just make sure it is the 100% pure!
Also, what litter are you using? Make sure it is a fine litter, not pellets of any kind- not pine, not yesterday news, not any type of pellets. Try using a litter called cat attract litter- they can be found in different pet supplies, including at petsmart, and come in big, red bags.
Clean the spots with a good enzime cleaner.
Hope these tips work.....

Thanks, she is on the royal canin hypo allergenic... I had just read something similar to what you said about bacteria in their tummies and am going to mix some natural Greek yogurt with her food. Fingers crossed. Also not familiar with some of the other foods you mentioned, Australian... no pie crusts in our supermarkets! Lol. I am pretty happy with my vet, she is lovely and even when I call her in tears in the middle of the day she listens. There are 5 vets who practice there and Peppa has seen them all! As for letting her outside it was a last resort... if she can do her diarrhea outside and rub herself against a tree I'll be happy. I can't have that inside. She loves being out there too... I am hoping grass will help!!

Ok... Good that you are happy with your vet... But know that your kitty is doing this because she is in pain and constipated... Not because she wants to do it so rather then putting her outside, the problem should be solved, I think... You don't want the pie crusts- you want the canned pumpkin - here they are found in the baking isle in the supermarket.
I would give her a stronger probiotic rather than yogurt- plus yogurt has lactose, and cats do not digest lactose well. Ask your vet what probiotic they have there- you can also buy acidophillus in the pharmacy (for humans) and give one capsule a day- just make sure it is pure. It works well. Hope she gets better- the probiotics should help a lot...

I do agree that the problem needs to be solved, but that's the off thing, Peppa is otherwise a very happy cat, she is never straining, and no one who had consulted with her believes her to be in any pain... she is just the most relaxed, chilled out cat, even with two little children running around! The only time she's not happy is when I lock her on a room as she will wear herself out jumping to open the door... seriously!!
The little poop balls (only one or two, about the size of a small marble and perfectly round) can happen within a few hours of a very soft bowel movement in her litter.... and that's the weird thing she drops then wherever... she has never gone out of her litter before, its almost like she doesn't know she's dropping them!!
I will get some probiotics and see what happens. Thanks all, will keep this thread updated. Goodnight from Australia.

If you have a bully cat next door you may end up with even bigger problems that a couple balls of kitty poo to pick up. Your cat could be seriously hurt out there. And yes, I do know how much some kitties love being out side. I have one of those too. The problem is, it's just not safe. I hope you find a solution to your kitty's problem. She sounds like a very sweet cat.

Originally Posted by PeppaCat

I do agree that the problem needs to be solved, but that's the off thing, Peppa is otherwise a very happy cat, she is never straining, and no one who had consulted with her believes her to be in any pain... she is just the most relaxed, chilled out cat, even with two little children running around! The only time she's not happy is when I lock her on a room as she will wear herself out jumping to open the door... seriously!!
The little poop balls (only one or two, about the size of a small marble and perfectly round) can happen within a few hours of a very soft bowel movement in her litter.... and that's the weird thing she drops then wherever... she has never gone out of her litter before, its almost like she doesn't know she's dropping them!!
I will get some probiotics and see what happens. Thanks all, will keep this thread updated. Goodnight from Australia.

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Ok...... cats don't necessarily show pain - and when is a litter issue, they usually show discomfort by using the house instead of the box - BUT: See bold, because for me there is something amiss here - Are you positive this is coming from her? Are you 100% sure you are blaming the right culprit? Because the little round balls around the house are a sign of constipation, and would not happen a few hours after the cat had diarrhea Plus, your cat IS using the box for the "very soft bowel movements" - IMHO it makes no sense that in a couple of hours it is dropping perfectly round marbles of poop around.... Furthermore.... My cats poop - sorry for the TMI, even when constipated, are not perfectly round little marble - that does not sound like cat's poop - cat poop is more elongated, and almost always, one side looks like they have "joints", if you will...
That is very very odd..... Are you sure you don't have a rat, a squirrel, raccoon, or some another animal hiding inside of your house?

The balls are definitely from her. I guarantee we have no other critters in the house. No racoons or squirrels in this country and there are no other animals in the house. I have googled this and have come across a few other people who's cat also poops this way. Thanks all though for all the advice, quite a few things to try now. Fingers crossed.

Originally Posted by PeppaCat

The balls are definitely from her. I guarantee we have no other critters in the house. No racoons or squirrels in this country and there are no other animals in the house. I have googled this and have come across a few other people who's cat also poops this way. Thanks all though for all the advice, quite a few things to try now. Fingers crossed.

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All the very best of luck to you, PeppaCat! I hope your little girl feels better very, very soon!

AC