Sorry for the graphic thread name, but I am losing my mind over here. The shortest possible version of the story:
I took the cat in for a dental cleaning about six months ago. He was fine that night, then the next day fell into an insane spiral of poor health. He started hiding under the bed and refusing to eat. He had the runs. He ended up at the cat ER, hooked up to an IV, with a low-grade fever. Eventually he regained his health (following a week of my giving him subcutaneous fluids), but for one thing: his eating (at first) and his poop. They found no parasites in his poop, nor could they find anything else wrong with him (no blockages, etc.). To be fair, his poop has never been perfect, but it has at least been manageable. Following the dental cleaning, it took about a month for him to be willing to eat his kibble again. He's always preferred canned food, and I'm aware it's better for him, but he was on kibble for reasons I won't go into here. Anyway, following the cleaning he would only eat canned, and he had constant diarrhea. The vet put him on two rounds of metronidazole. That did nothing except clear up the odour. He was put on i/d and then w/d. He received probiotics. Minor improvement. Finally, I started reading forums online and decided to listen to all the raw food champions I found.
Instant. Cure. Like, that very evening. I gave him some raw tuna, and presto! He had a normal poop. And not a normal poop for him -- an actual normal poop! It was a miracle. I bought a bag of frozen raw food from the store to see how he'd like such a diet, and he took to it immediately. He'd bite of chunks and then run with them to other parts of the kitchen in his excitement. He was pooping like once every two days, perfect little logs with little odour. Hurray!
Until he started throwing it up about three weeks later. First it was just every few meals, then it was every other meal, then it was every meal, and eventually I couldn't even give him half a raw pellet without him puking all over, horrible streaks of pink on my floor. So the raw was out. We returned to canned food, but it gave him the runs, big time, even after a week on said food. We returned to the kibble, which he mysteriously now loved again, and which improved things slightly. Throughout all this puking and loose stool-ing, he has otherwise been normal: alert (perky, even), demanding to go outdoors or to jump on people, sitting out in the open as usual, etc. Normal cat with loose stools, as it were.
Which are now even looser. I give up. I have tried cooking him chicken following a recipe I found online. He ate that for about a week, and his stools improved a little, though they weren't the perfect little logs we got with the raw. I tried mixing in raw tuna (his favourite) or chicken livers (his second favourite) every few days just to firm things up. That worked, until it didn't. After a long consultation with a seemingly knowledgeable guy at the pet store, we're now trying Orijen food and Evo canned. I swear the stool is looser than ever, and moreover, he has a new trick: stepping in it while trying to bury it and then tracking poop all over the floor. Fantastic.
I am exhausted. I am pregnant. I am at my wits' end. I'm taking him to a new vet (I love my vet, but I figure if they can't figure it out, maybe a new set of ideas will help here) this week, but in the meantime (it is, after all, the weekend), any ideas? Should I try to reintroduce the raw food again, but a lot slower? I don't want to have to wash my floors with bleach every time he poops while I'm out (I can catch him in time if I'm home and prevent the disaster).
Thanks for any insight y'all might have!
I took the cat in for a dental cleaning about six months ago. He was fine that night, then the next day fell into an insane spiral of poor health. He started hiding under the bed and refusing to eat. He had the runs. He ended up at the cat ER, hooked up to an IV, with a low-grade fever. Eventually he regained his health (following a week of my giving him subcutaneous fluids), but for one thing: his eating (at first) and his poop. They found no parasites in his poop, nor could they find anything else wrong with him (no blockages, etc.). To be fair, his poop has never been perfect, but it has at least been manageable. Following the dental cleaning, it took about a month for him to be willing to eat his kibble again. He's always preferred canned food, and I'm aware it's better for him, but he was on kibble for reasons I won't go into here. Anyway, following the cleaning he would only eat canned, and he had constant diarrhea. The vet put him on two rounds of metronidazole. That did nothing except clear up the odour. He was put on i/d and then w/d. He received probiotics. Minor improvement. Finally, I started reading forums online and decided to listen to all the raw food champions I found.
Instant. Cure. Like, that very evening. I gave him some raw tuna, and presto! He had a normal poop. And not a normal poop for him -- an actual normal poop! It was a miracle. I bought a bag of frozen raw food from the store to see how he'd like such a diet, and he took to it immediately. He'd bite of chunks and then run with them to other parts of the kitchen in his excitement. He was pooping like once every two days, perfect little logs with little odour. Hurray!
Until he started throwing it up about three weeks later. First it was just every few meals, then it was every other meal, then it was every meal, and eventually I couldn't even give him half a raw pellet without him puking all over, horrible streaks of pink on my floor. So the raw was out. We returned to canned food, but it gave him the runs, big time, even after a week on said food. We returned to the kibble, which he mysteriously now loved again, and which improved things slightly. Throughout all this puking and loose stool-ing, he has otherwise been normal: alert (perky, even), demanding to go outdoors or to jump on people, sitting out in the open as usual, etc. Normal cat with loose stools, as it were.
Which are now even looser. I give up. I have tried cooking him chicken following a recipe I found online. He ate that for about a week, and his stools improved a little, though they weren't the perfect little logs we got with the raw. I tried mixing in raw tuna (his favourite) or chicken livers (his second favourite) every few days just to firm things up. That worked, until it didn't. After a long consultation with a seemingly knowledgeable guy at the pet store, we're now trying Orijen food and Evo canned. I swear the stool is looser than ever, and moreover, he has a new trick: stepping in it while trying to bury it and then tracking poop all over the floor. Fantastic.
I am exhausted. I am pregnant. I am at my wits' end. I'm taking him to a new vet (I love my vet, but I figure if they can't figure it out, maybe a new set of ideas will help here) this week, but in the meantime (it is, after all, the weekend), any ideas? Should I try to reintroduce the raw food again, but a lot slower? I don't want to have to wash my floors with bleach every time he poops while I'm out (I can catch him in time if I'm home and prevent the disaster).
Thanks for any insight y'all might have!
