- Joined
- Jun 26, 2012
- Messages
- 111
- Purraise
- 9
Hi all -
Hoping to get some feedback on a puzzling development with my recent fella:
I adopted into our home a 1 or 2 year old male stray that was terribly ill with Upper Respiratory Infection and tape and roundworms.
After months of care, steady meals, and several rounds of deworming, and neutering, he thrived and is active (so, soooo active!), happy, and is well hydrated.
He was intially dewormed with pyrantel pamoate/praziquantel, and tons of dead round and 2 huge tape worms were eliminated in his stool.
He was dewormed 2 more times, 3 weeks apart, and only 2 dead roundworms were eliminated.
At that point, his stomach was flat and he had normal, regular bowel movements.
Everything was super duper.
But after another week or so, he developed an extremely hard stomach- bloated in just his tummy.
He passed gas noticably the entire first few months we had him, but I can ascribe that to eating an enriched diet, not to mention getting all the food he wanted.
At first I fed him everything under the sun - homemade raw mixed with commercial canned and free fed Purina One dry or Iams.
Now that he isn't starving, he has become more finicky and only eats an evening treat of canned if (and only if!) I add raw liver, and Purina grain-free "Beyond" dry.
I had purchased more dewormer online (Sergeant's "WormX Plus") that is the same active ingredients as before, and gave him 3 more treatments, 3 weeks apart, suspecting his bloat was worms again.
But that didn't resolve it.
It's entirely possible I bought "fake" medicine with these later rounds of treatment. I'm aware counterfeit supplies and drugs is a risk of web purchases. Although I haven't been able to find literature examining/proving just how prevalent it truly is.
So I took a stool sample in and he only had tapeworm eggs.
The vet gave me the topical "Profender" dewormer, thinking a different active ingredient is in order; Emodepside (with Praziquantel).
2 rounds of that, and his hard stomach is not deflated. I confess I do not know if he passed any worms from the Profender, as he goes outside a lot to defecate now that it's summer. It's plausible he is reinfecting with rodent catches. I do clean his litterbox with bleach.
So before I go the vet $$$ route of figuring out what's going on with him, I figure I'd put it out there for possibilities I can figure this out on my own.
Now, having been an ill, malnourished stray, and all of a sudden getting access to non-stop food, perhaps his digestion is not keeping up ... too much of a good thing ... however it has been 5 months now, and I would have thought he'd adjust by now.
It doesn't seem to be fluid build up at all - it is very "even" and just simply HARD. He doesn't pass gas when I press and palpatate - and although he farts every once in a while (much less than those initial months), it's not constant at all- it's just that I notice it because I've never had cats farting noticably in all my 40 yers of owning cats.
He is showing no other symptoms, as a matter of fact quite the opposite - he is so playful, active, and has filled out mildly and normally overall and has good skin hydration and his coat has started to shine ... his teeth are healthy ...
it's just so bizarre because the more serious disease considerations for something like this would typically coincide with other symptoms and deterioration; lethargy, poor appetite, unhealthy elimination, etc...
The one thing I haven't tried and am considering is simply treating him as if he has simply chronic gas: beano?
Since he's pooping outside, I may not realize he could be mildly constipated (I say "mildly" because if it's severe, he'd be demonstrating discomfort),
I could try a laxative - I've had great results with Miralax for other cats.
My last resort frankly is the vet - here in podunkville - we have only 2 vet choices, and I'm not a fan of either of them or their staff.
Years of history with both and their talent and instincts I find ... lacking.
When I dropped off the stool sample I emphasized they should look hard for coccidia, as that would need Albon to eliminate. I also understand it is difficult to spot in a sample.
They probably resented me saying that, and intentionally did a quick sloppy examination. Oy. (LOL- I'm paranoid about quality of care from professionals.)
Hoping to get some feedback on a puzzling development with my recent fella:
I adopted into our home a 1 or 2 year old male stray that was terribly ill with Upper Respiratory Infection and tape and roundworms.
After months of care, steady meals, and several rounds of deworming, and neutering, he thrived and is active (so, soooo active!), happy, and is well hydrated.
He was intially dewormed with pyrantel pamoate/praziquantel, and tons of dead round and 2 huge tape worms were eliminated in his stool.
He was dewormed 2 more times, 3 weeks apart, and only 2 dead roundworms were eliminated.
At that point, his stomach was flat and he had normal, regular bowel movements.
Everything was super duper.
But after another week or so, he developed an extremely hard stomach- bloated in just his tummy.
He passed gas noticably the entire first few months we had him, but I can ascribe that to eating an enriched diet, not to mention getting all the food he wanted.
At first I fed him everything under the sun - homemade raw mixed with commercial canned and free fed Purina One dry or Iams.
Now that he isn't starving, he has become more finicky and only eats an evening treat of canned if (and only if!) I add raw liver, and Purina grain-free "Beyond" dry.
I had purchased more dewormer online (Sergeant's "WormX Plus") that is the same active ingredients as before, and gave him 3 more treatments, 3 weeks apart, suspecting his bloat was worms again.
But that didn't resolve it.
It's entirely possible I bought "fake" medicine with these later rounds of treatment. I'm aware counterfeit supplies and drugs is a risk of web purchases. Although I haven't been able to find literature examining/proving just how prevalent it truly is.
So I took a stool sample in and he only had tapeworm eggs.
The vet gave me the topical "Profender" dewormer, thinking a different active ingredient is in order; Emodepside (with Praziquantel).
2 rounds of that, and his hard stomach is not deflated. I confess I do not know if he passed any worms from the Profender, as he goes outside a lot to defecate now that it's summer. It's plausible he is reinfecting with rodent catches. I do clean his litterbox with bleach.
So before I go the vet $$$ route of figuring out what's going on with him, I figure I'd put it out there for possibilities I can figure this out on my own.
Now, having been an ill, malnourished stray, and all of a sudden getting access to non-stop food, perhaps his digestion is not keeping up ... too much of a good thing ... however it has been 5 months now, and I would have thought he'd adjust by now.
It doesn't seem to be fluid build up at all - it is very "even" and just simply HARD. He doesn't pass gas when I press and palpatate - and although he farts every once in a while (much less than those initial months), it's not constant at all- it's just that I notice it because I've never had cats farting noticably in all my 40 yers of owning cats.
He is showing no other symptoms, as a matter of fact quite the opposite - he is so playful, active, and has filled out mildly and normally overall and has good skin hydration and his coat has started to shine ... his teeth are healthy ...
it's just so bizarre because the more serious disease considerations for something like this would typically coincide with other symptoms and deterioration; lethargy, poor appetite, unhealthy elimination, etc...
The one thing I haven't tried and am considering is simply treating him as if he has simply chronic gas: beano?
Since he's pooping outside, I may not realize he could be mildly constipated (I say "mildly" because if it's severe, he'd be demonstrating discomfort),
I could try a laxative - I've had great results with Miralax for other cats.
My last resort frankly is the vet - here in podunkville - we have only 2 vet choices, and I'm not a fan of either of them or their staff.
Years of history with both and their talent and instincts I find ... lacking.
When I dropped off the stool sample I emphasized they should look hard for coccidia, as that would need Albon to eliminate. I also understand it is difficult to spot in a sample.
They probably resented me saying that, and intentionally did a quick sloppy examination. Oy. (LOL- I'm paranoid about quality of care from professionals.)
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