Bad, Frequent Diarrhea

My 7 y/o calico car, Sophie, has been having bad diarrhea lately. She has been not using the litter box, which we thought was because we acquired two new kittens recently, but have been second-guessing.

She has had diarrhea her whole life, resulting from a sick kitten hood. It is just worst now- almost liquid, and she goes four or five times in one ten-minute period. We have been giving her sensitive system senior, but it doesn't seem to be changing much.

Other wise, she has been acting normal. I think it could be worms. I'll pick up a dewormer at te store tomorrow.

This sounds like IBD/IBS. What does the vet say? Have you checked out www.ibdkitties.net?

Have you had her checked by the vet?  It could definitely be IBS/IBD.  I would get her checked out if you haven't already.

thank you Peaches!   yes, if she's had diarrhea her whole life there's a good chance it could be IBD (IBS is not the same thing and is much more easily treated. Pretty rare for kitties to have that unfortunately. They usually have IBD which is harder to treat). Anyway, all that diarrhea is depleting her of her nutrients and is probably damaging her intestines. I'd skip the dewormer and get her to the vet pronto. IBD is very painful and she should be checked out. 

My Little Girl was diagnosed with Colitis. She did the same thing but had diarrhea in the tub. There is medicine the vet can give you after they rule out other things like worms. Good luck.

Definitely have a vet check her out. Sounds painful!

Please do get her checked out. Kittens can carry coccidia and giardia which both can cause extreme diarrhea.  Kittens can be carriers and won't necessarily have symptoms.  It is an easy fix if that is the case.

IBD may also cause symptoms like that. So can food allergies.  It would be worth trying her on a prescription diet to see if you can get it resolved.

Alright, I am calling the vet for an appointment this afternoon. Hopefully it is something easily treated thanks for the replies!

Update:

We took her to the vet this afternoon. They think she has IBD, and also has some elevated bacteria. They believe she could also have some pancreatic problems. They gave us a few medicines (including one for parasites, although he was pretty sure tree weren't I any in the sample,) and a new type of food to feed her. If this does not work, we are bringing her back in for a blood sample. He said she looks and feels very sick. Hoping that she really does just have IBD and not something worse, which he said could be possible. Thanks for the replies.

I'm so sorry to hear this, but I'm glad you took her in to find this out now. Because these are serious conditions that definitely need treatment.

Thanks for the reply... I am not too fimiliar with IBD, but from my research I've heard it is hard to treat. What are the odds of it being terminal? I would just like to prepare it if there is a high chance she could pass sometime over the next year or so. I know it will bring her pain the rest of her life, but the vet said the meds help with that. He wouldn't give us a straight answer on my question.

Because there isn't one. There are no statistics but the website I run has case studies on them so that will show you how some medications and treatments work for some, and some work for others. It's a trial and error thing. your kitty with the right treatment can very well have a good, long quality of life. It's just a matter of finding the right regimen.

FWIW, changing the diet helped some members' cats. It sure helped mine when meds weren't touching it.

Yes, a raw food diet works wonders for kitties with diarrhea resulting from IBD. Usually the diarrhea can be coupled with bacterial overgrowth. So a good raw food diet with a really good probiotic would help a lot!

Alright, I will look into raw thanks guys!

Good news! She seems to be doing a lot better! She is a lot perkier (was even playing like an acrobat last night; she usually doesn't do that,) and her stool has already been forming up quite a bit. Getting her to take her pills isn't easy, but it is worth it if it means she feels better. In a couple weeks we just need to slowly wean her off each medicine and find out which one is the one working for her and then go from there we are taking her for a follw-up after Christmas to see if she has any pancreatic problems, but hopefull she does not and she will be okay for the rest of her life I just hope she gets used to the pills eventually