Buddy's not eating and has diarrhea.

Well...Buddy is having a time with eating and has had very soft stools.  He normally has nice, little firm bm's because he eats raw but Saturday morning we had soft, airy bm's followed by watery diarrhea out of the blue. No idea what happened, can't think of anything he ate that would cause this, other than the frost on the medallions of raw when I opened the new bag. Doesn't seem to be any recalls I could find.  He ate a little boiled chicken Saturday and Sunday so his first new bm came Monday but it, too, was very soft.  I am making him eat and drink and he is going to the vet tomorrow so we can figure out what is causing this.  Any ideas here would be great.

The problem is the stool on his bottom, feet and tail.  As you know he is paralyzed so when he has a bm the stool smears on him or he drags himself over it...and this is making him a stinky mess.  I can only get so much off with a rag and water so I have given him a "butt bath" (just the bottom half of him)  in the sink a few times but this stresses him out so much I think it is doing as much harm to him as good.  I simply can't do this to him every day.  Once a week is difficult enough. When he doesn't have diarrhea I have to be careful about urine on his legs because he sits on the side of his hips in the litter box and the urine gets on the inside of the bottom leg.  Sometimes it gets on his tail or he just drags himself through it on his way out of the box.   He tolerates the rag much better but water alone is not enough.  Wipes don't seem to be wet enough to get down into the fur.  Does anyone know of something I can use to clean him with that is non toxic, chemical free, and cleans well with water and a rag.  A spray or a homemade solution that will help.  Any ideas would help, I'm sure.

Thanks a lot!

Janice, Buddy and both of our noses.

Laurie, thanks for the idea. I don't have any acv right now but I can get some, I bet that would help with the smell. 

The raw food he eats is Natures Variety Organic Chicken.  I didn't even think to do any of those things because I didn't think it was the food.  I only thought of the frost crystals on the food last night, and that was an after thought.  He actually ate about a weeks worth before the diarhia started.  I'll check on the date when I get back from the vet. 

Thanks again, you are always so good about helping me. I appreciate that very much. I'll let you know what the vet has to say.  She is new to the cat only practice and hasn't seen Buddy before but she helped me at Christmas with a prescription when I was out of town and she seems reasonable.

Janice

Laurie, I knew to take a sample with me, Buddy wasn't very helpful though!  I even changed the appointment to see if he would go but he didn't have a BM until the afternoon.  That BM was slightly firmer but still left a mess behind. The vet was alright but I am disappointed to have both the tech and the doctor both ask me about him going outside, scratching with his hind legs and a couple of other typical questions, well typical for a cat NOT paralyzed. I told them both he was right away but they somehow didn't notice it...

Anyway, the vet did an exam, looked in his ears, eyes and a temp reading. She thought he looked slightly dehydrated but not too much so as to administer fluids.  She wanted to do a full blood panel and since Buddy has not had a complete one since I've owned him I let her.  She didn't seem to know what was causing the soft stools but we are hoping it is something simple.  Since she is new and we haven't seen her before, I asked her about her feelings on raw diets and she seemed cautiously open to them so that made me feel better.  I also asked her about what I should be looking out for with paralysis and she didn't really seem to have a lot of information.  She works with older cats but not paralysis, she recommended the web and Cornell University. 
 

Buddy has this thing with scabs that seem to travel across his back.  They started the last time I took him to the vet, about October.  I cleaned them with peroxide for about a week and it went away.  They showed up again at the beginning of month,  I didn't think it was ringworm, not the same characteristics and the scabs seem to lift off the skin.  I can pull the hair and remove the whole thing and the hair looks to be coming out from the roots not breaking off like with ringworm.   It leaves a little red spot that goes away but the scab shows up right next to the bald spot and we start over again.  I thought mange but the vet didn't seem to think so.  We looked under the black light and nothing glowed.  In fact, we had to turn the light back on to find the bald spot!  She thought it may be from cancer but admitted that hair usually does not grow back.  Buddy's hair is growing back so most likely not cancer.  (At least that is what I am going to believe unless it is proven otherwise.) 

I brought home a couple of cans of Royal Canin Recovery for cats.  Vet, technician and office staff all said that he would love it.  Ha ha ha, Buddy is the exception to any rule.  He sniffed it and then turned his back on it. If there is a rare side affect, he gets it,  so it stands to reason he would be the one cat who wouldn't like the food.  I'll keep it for emergency force feeding.  So as of tonight no new news.  I am slightly frustrated, it seems like it is just one thing after another.  I think we both just need a good nights sleep.  Any ideas are always welcome. 

Thanks again for the support and help, you are great.

Janice and Buddy

I don't know if I should post this in a new thread with PLI and T-4 results since its not just cleaning him up anymore.

I tried mixing the Recovery with rabbit last night, Buddy ate most of it but it took most of the night to get about 2.5 oz. in him.  Buddy had a small, but firm BM today while I was at work though he didn't eat very much, I mixed more Recovery with more rabbit. Guess he is over that now and I'll have to try something else.

The vet called today with lab results.  I was in class so I couldn't answer the phone, she left a message.  A phone conference is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, January 28th and she will fax the lab results to me.  Most of the numbers looked good except for the thyroid and pancreas. 

January 26, 2012: PLI  was 5.0 with normal ranges at 0.8 - 4.7.

July 23, 2011: PLI was 3.2 with the same normal ranges.

January 26, 2012: T-4 was 3.6 with normal being under 3.5, "possible pancreatitis" being 3.5 - 5.4 and "most likely" being above 5.4.

September 10, 2011: T-4 was 2.1 with same normal ranges.

She mentioned steroids, diet, medication and other possible options for treatment to be discussed when we talk.  She is most concerned with his weight loss seconded by the soft stools. 

I was not able to take a stool sample with me, as Buddy was not helpful. 

What do I ask, what do I need to know?  Could either conditions be side effects of something else?  Could either be causes of his paralysis?  Side effects?  He has proven himself to be sensitive to medications and develops the rare ones. 

Are there any other tests or options I should be asking about before I put him on steroids?  I am overwhelmed.  I never imagined this, he has gone through so much this last year and keeps on being brave.  I want to make it all go away but I don't know how.  Worse I am now wondering if I caused this somehow.  

Sugarcatmom, thank you for the information and link. It looks great and is free of the chemicals I would not want to use on him.  I'll try to find it at my pharmica next week. 

Laurie,  I felt like the vet was suggesting I do my own research on paralysis.  She said she didn't know of any groups or sites dedicated to cats with such issues.  I didn't even think to ask about something to clean him up with.  I assume she'd just give me something with chemicals in it which I wouldn't use anyway.  Buddy did have a couple of fleas around the time he had the ringworm, August, he was treated with something at the vets, I can't remember the name, but not Frontline, he has had skin reactions to that and, again too much chemicals.   I haven't seen any fleas or signs of fleas and I have been looking for the last couple of months.  It would explain the first set of scabs but not the last set that showed up this month.

As for beef, he likes it but has thrown up pieces of cooked steak before.  I would only give him a tiny piece to appease him but for the most part he never got beef.  About two(?) months ago I tried a sample of NV raw beef and he only managed to take a bite or two before it violently came back out.  He has not had any beef since.  I am pretty careful about what is in the canned food he gets, since June when I thought the paralysis began with a canned tuna food, from Tiki Cat.  Duck, rabbit and chicken are all he gets or likes and will eat.  I usually only get Natures Variety brand wet and raw and the store I get it from has a rapid turn over so it doesn't sit around. He sometimes gets Evo wet, but doesn't care for it most of the time.

I took Buddy to see my mom right after Christmas for about two weeks, it was a 4.5 hour drive one way and he hates the car but did well.  When we got there he lost his appetite and I had to try all different kinds of things to get him to eat.  Baby chicken food, fancy feast, boiled chicken, different brands and flavors.  I got Nutrical, but he wouldn't eat more than a few bites at a time and nothing with the nutrical.  I forced pedialite and the nutrical down him but it was hard.  I took him to the local vet and felt comfortable with him as he owned a paralyzed cat.  Buddy weighed 11 lbs on the 1st of January, he weighed 9.15 on the 26th.  I knew from reading this site about the problems with not eating and drinking and tried to get the AD high calorie food.  No one had it up there except for a rude vet office so I took him to my brother's vet, the one with the paralyzed cat.  He prescribed an appetite stimulant but when I gave Buddy that he was anxious, couldn't sleep or sit still all night..  It was terrible, I felt so horrible for giving it to him.  He literally dragged himself from one end of my mom's trailer to the other all night long and cried at me until it finally worked its way out of him. It did nothing for his appetite.  When we came home he began eating right away and has not had eating or drinking problems since we got home until last Saturday.  Again, is this something I did or didn't do that caused this?  He is such a trooper, I feel so helpless.  I can't think of anything else at the minute.  I hope someone who reads this can offer any ideas or even questions that may lead to something.

Thanks again for the help,

Janice and Buddy

Oh I did forget something.  Over the last three or four months buddy has had episodes of dry heaving.  Usually right after he gets out of the litter box and only about 4 times in that length of time which includes once at my mom's early in the month and again the other night.  Nothing comes up, no liquid or solids or hair.

I started a new thread this evening because it isn't just soft stool anymore and I am hoping anyone who reads the new post may be able to give me some thoughts about Buddy's lab results.  I hope that was the right thing.

Laurie, Buddy is between 8-11 years according to the vets,  He came to me two years ago this month, sick, and I do not have any idea what his life was like before he found me. I pm'd Violet tonight, I hope she is inclined to help. 

Janice and Buddy