Lola Cat Update -- The Diarrhea Diaries

Hey people. I posted here about my new cat Lola. Regarding that post, she's doing really well! Fully integrated, and everyone's happy. In fact this is how I spent last Saturday:


However, her diarrhea continues.

Here's what I know (and what I've relayed to the vet thus far):

At the shelter, she was given Albon. She was adopted and taken back (I suspect because of both the fearful way she spent the first two days with us (but we knew to give her time) and her stomach issues (as she has had 2/3 accidents in the over a month since we've had her).

When she was back at the shelter, she saw a vet, and the vet gave her metro pills and Diarsanyl Gel. She finished that treatment one day before we picked her up, and from day one, she had diarrhea with us.

I put her on Blue Sensitive Stomach dry food with the canned food the shelter gave me (Purina EN). I mixed in Pumpkin and put her on Benebac every other day. That seemed to help maybe 10%. Still awful diarrhea, VERY often, VERY soon after eating, but at times, it was ALMOST formed. More peanut butter than water, if you will (I know it's gross, hang in there).

I took her to my vet, and she suggested we worm her (Panacur) and give her some sort of antibiotic (I don't remember that name, but I could look it up). I switched her canned food to Blue Sensitive forumla. The vet also wanted me to switch to Forta-Flora. I saw no improvement in a week at all, and if anything, the stool turned even more watery. So, at the vet's advice, I called her when there was no improvement after the week, and I'm taking in a stool sample now for a "diarrhea panel."

So that's where we are now. I'm just wondering if anyone else has gone through this and maybe has some ideas on what it can be? I know the vet will have some answer, even if it's "no answer" from the panel. I'm just wondering.

For what it's worth, the vet doesn't seem to think it's anything SUPER serious, as she wouldn't have lived this long (she's over a year), and she's not skinny at all. She's very small, but she's solid. She also plays a lot. She likes me to hold her (so weird--I've never had a cat like to be held and walked around). She wears a little leash. Here she is at our vet visit two Saturdays ago:





She's just a great little cat, and I know this is uncomfortable for her. The vet didn't even want to get a temp because her little bum looked so sore.

I have no advice, but I did want to say how absolutely wonderful it is that you're being so patient with her and trying so many different things in an attempt to get her well again. It's a beautiful thing to read... even when it's a story that involves visuals of peanut butter textured... well, you know.

Aww, thank you! I just think (I don't know for certain) that she wasn't given a good chance with her first home, and while I'm sad about that, I'm happy that she was returned and we could find her. If there's a house in the area that will take care of her, it's our house. I mean. If she just has diarrhea forever, then I guess that's what she has, and we'll take care of her, but I really want to try to find out what's going on here, because it appears that she's been tested for the normal things and nothing seems to work. :\

She is just adorablel!  I'm so sorry she is having this issue though.

Are you having a PCR Panel done?  That will test for Tri Trichomonas Foetus, which only shows up with that special test I think, and a couple of cats tested for this parasite here on the boards lately.  It's fairly easily remedied once it's diagnosed.

Otherwise, I would look seriously at her food.   Blue Buffalo Sensitivity has potatoes in it, which aren't necessary.  I know it's limited ingredient, but still, potatoes?  Other limited ingredient foods contain peas, which are bad enough (IMHO), but this one contains peas AND potatoes.  what are they limiting besides the meat? (retorical...I know it's no corn, wheat, soy, dairy and eggs)  I would try to get her on a good, possibly organic, all wet food diet.  We can help with that over in the Nutrition Forum if you're interested

Also, do you have her on a daily probiotic?  I give all mine the same one we take.  They each get 1 capsule sprinkled into their food each day.  There has been no diarrhea in our house since they started this regime.  Not that they had it much before, but they did have an occasional bout. 

that someone can figure out what is causing her issues

I specifically asked about that (the Tri Trichomonas Toetus) and the vet said she's only seen two cases ever, and it was in cats from catteries. Still, I THINK it's included in this panel (she just called it a Diarrhea Panel, and it gets sent away). I'll ask her when the results come back if nothing is found--just to make sure she was tested for the TTT.

I read that Potatoes are actually NOT good for some cats with sensitivities (after I ordered this food). So, I'm open to hearing about other options to at least give a try for a few days and see what happens. I'll head over to Nutrition and see what's going on over there.

She's on forta-flora right now, and we've seen zero improvement.

Forti Flora is not what I would call a good probiotic .  I think it's only got 1 strain.  Here is what I give my entire family, including the cats: 

Forta-Flora is what the vet told me to use, so I went with it. I figure I'll use it until the month's over (probably through the holidays) and wait to see what the vet finds with this sample. If she brings us back in, I'll ask her about this product. I mean, the Forta-Flora isn't working. I don't see the harm in trying this, but for the time being, I feel like I have to do what the vet said so I have a solid "it did not work" when I report back.

She sounds a lot like Mogli. He had terrible diarrhea when we got him at 9 months from the shelter, where he'd been on a prescription dry food (Royal Canin Intestinal). His fecal test was negative for the usual suspects like giardia and coccidia, and the anti-diarrheal medicine didn't help. He was very gassy and his feces smelled horrible, so we asked that the next sample be tested for "everything". It turned out that enterohemorrhagic E coli had colonized his bowel, so he was put on strong antibiotics and retested when that course of meds was done. The EHEC was gone, but the diarrhea wasn't.

He was diagnosed (biopsy) with IBD, which was treated with a European nutraceutical called Entero-Chronic, and put on an elimination diet (rabbit at first, with a new protein slowly added about every 4 weeks). It was four months before his stool was consistently firm. He appears to also have food allergies: all grains, definitely chicken and possibly turkey. He has to eat a very low-fat, grain/gluten-free single protein- single carb prescription canned food (also European), but is doing very well on it, though the proteins are a little unusual: rabbit, kangaroo, reindeer and horse. Those foods have either potatoes or parsnips. He gets some veal or lamb commercial grain-free food about once a week, and cooked meat 3 or 4 times (meals) a week. The nutritionist nixed raw due to the high fat content and his problems with malabsorption (not to mention the prior E coli infection). He gets a pet probiotic every day (Pet Dophilus at the moment), as our vet and the nutritionist don't recommend probiotics for humans due to the difference in gut microflora.

That's not to say that Lola is going to have a similar diagnosis, but to underline that it might take a while to get to the root of the problem and in particular that it can take rather a long time for a special diet to work.

Has the vet mentioned Irritable Bowel Syndrome?  If the medications aren't helping it's a likely possibility.  Especially where she has the watery diarrhea right after eating.  This website talks about it: http://ibdkitties.net/

This is all so overwhelming. I've already spent over a grand on different foods, vet bills, etc. for her. And I'm not complaining. I'm just saying...I don't know what more to do. I just ordered different food (again), and it will be delivered Monday. Both of us work--I can't see buying a chicken every day to boil for her to feed raw, and the complicated recipes probably can't happen at our house--we're looking to have a baby soon. If it was the last straw, I'd try (I'm sure my husband would do it), but. I read somewhere that it would be three chicken legs a DAY, and that is really alarming. I just wish I could find a food that we could feed them all and make it work.

Hi Domino84 ,

I can completely understand what you're going through. I had a similar problem with my kitten when I first got him and we spent over $1000 on vet bills, food etc. I went through about 6 different foods (prescription and normal) and ended up settling on Natures Variety Limited Ingredient Turkey, which seemed to upset my kitty's stomach less then the others. In my case, it turned out that my cat had Tritchomonas Foetus and had to be treated. My vet, similar to yours, didn't have much exposure to it, but I insisted that they do they test and it came back positive.

I also tried the boiled chicken and when that didn't settle his stomach, I knew something was up.

Something will work, don't give up.

It's really frustrating when nothing seems to work - I was on the verge of tears several times, feeling hopeless, and many of our members have been through it, too. If the tests don't turn up anything, a certified animal nutritionist might be able to help, so don't give up.
It might take time to resolve whatever problem she has, or combination thereof.

I give some homemade food to provide variety, not out of necessity, and often cook for three (my husband, myself and Mogli). Many people prepare large quantities all at once and freeze portions. You may not have to go that route, and even if you do, it's not overwhelming or even expensive.

:cross: that you get some answers and a treatment plan that works soon.

LeoPrincess said:

Hi Domino84 ,

I can completely understand what you're going through. I had a similar problem with my kitten when I first got him and we spent over $1000 on vet bills, food etc. I went through about 6 different foods (prescription and normal) and ended up settling on Natures Variety Limited Ingredient Turkey, which seemed to upset my kitty's stomach less then the others. In my case, it turned out that my cat had Tritchomonas Foetus and had to be treated. My vet, similar to yours, didn't have much exposure to it, but I insisted that they do they test and it came back positive.

I also tried the boiled chicken and when that didn't settle his stomach, I knew something was up.

Something will work, don't give up.

Click to expand...

Well, I did mention the Trichomonas Foetus. And if nothing comes back from this sample, I'll double-check to make sure that was on the panel they ran.

We went through something similar (if you search my posts you might find me from about 3 years ago) with our last rescue, Butters. He was VERY sick, seemingly on the brink of death, skin and bones, when we got him from the shelter. He has Calici Virus and we went through a lot of testing and treatments. Nothing really worked, but we add L-Lysine to his food every day and put them all on Blue and he does ok. He has flare-ups where he is more stuffy than normal, but mostly, he just sneezes a lot. He's WONDERFUL. I'm not allowed to have favorites. But. He's my favorite. He knows he was saved. SO, my point was, we saved him, and we are fully prepared to take care of Lola, too. It is so sad that she was returned and she has this issue, but it's so fortunate that she found her way to US, because we'll exhaust every resource trying to help her. She's in good hands. We just need to get to the end of the story already and get it fixed! I feel so bad for her.

You're good pet parents, Lola is very lucky!

With the Trichonomas Parasite, the parasite can only be found in soft stool.  When my cat was tested, I dropped him off at my vet and they got the sample.  That particular parasite is very senstive and doesn't "last" long in certain conditions (hot, cold, exposure to air, etc.).

You'll figure it all out and when you do, let us all know what worked and what was wrong!

jcat said:

It's really frustrating when nothing seems to work - I was on the verge of tears several times, feeling hopeless, and many of our members have been through it, too. If the tests don't turn up anything, a certified animal nutritionist might be able to help, so don't give up.
It might take time to resolve whatever problem she has, or combination thereof.

I give some homemade food to provide variety, not out of necessity, and often cook for three (my husband, myself and Mogli). Many people prepare large quantities all at once and freeze portions. You may not have to go that route, and even if you do, it's not overwhelming or even expensive.

that you get some answers and a treatment plan that works soon.

Click to expand...

I mentioned this on another thread, or possibly this one, I'm lost--we are renovating and we got a chest freezer so we can possibly get meat locally, but now having a chest freezer in a few weeks means we CAN make large batches, and that might be a good way to go for us.

I just feel so bad for her. She likes to be held like a baby, so I'll hold her but be very careful not to jostle her. And I set her down really easily, not just plop! like with the other cats. She just feels so fragile to me, which is ridiculous, since last night she was running and chasing Domino, who is 3x her size. She's a wonderful little girl...but she doesn't seem to want to be a lap cat at this point, and it's rare to really get her to purr for you. I'm wondering if it isn't because she doesn't feel well. I wonder if some of that will change for her if we can get this taken care of. If it doesn't, it's fine. She can snuggle by our feet instead. I have my hands full with Butters and Rosalita who need near me all the time, and Domino needs to be with my husband. I was just wondering about it the other night and hoping that she will feel more comfortable soon.

Although, I've done some reading about siamese, and it seems as though they often pick a Person. And that is their Person. So, she definitely has chosen me, because she follows me from room to room and I'm the only one allowed to hold her. She'll let my husband get a few pets in, but she really only wants me to hold her. She's not angry or hissing or swatting. But she gives a little warning noise (not quite a growl). It's more funny than anything else. We hear you Lola. You're 6 pounds of fury. We get it.

LeoPrincess said:

 
You're good pet parents, Lola is very lucky!

With the Trichonomas Parasite, the parasite can only be found in soft stool.  When my cat was tested, I dropped him off at my vet and they go the sample.  That particular parasite is very senstive and doesn't "last" long in certain conditions (hot, cold, exposure to air, etc.).

You'll figure it all out and when you do, let us all know what worked and what was wrong!

Click to expand...

Hmm, now I'm not so sure that's on the panel, because we had to refrigerate the specimen. They were really clear about that part.

I did quite a bit of research about that parasite. For me, the biggest clue was the smell when he would use the litter, it was terrible. I hope that you'll get your answer soon!