Hi all, I'm new here and looking for some insight. Thomas, my old guy (we think he is about 13, he was a stray) has been having very watery and loose stools for about a month now, and we are looking for anecdotal info/experiences from others to help us with ideas. A bit of background for context:
Kitty came to us very skinny, short and thin hair, pot bellied (to where we thought he was a pregnant female until I could get close enough to see he was an intact male) 7 years ago.
When we took him to be neutered, he had trouble waking up from the anesthetic so vet did an xray and found his insides were really strange. In the pericardium were most of his other internal organs, intestines, even some colon, and he had a hole in his diaphragm. It turned out it was congenital, no scar tissue, so we opted for surgery to put everything back where it should be so his lungs had room to inflate properly, which they never had.
His digestive issues were immediately apparent...He would get very watery stools from pretty much everything until we switched him to a hypoallergenic food. For the past 6 years he has done well on it and only has diarrhea when he gets into something, which we are careful about.
We brought home a new kitty in July, for the old guy. He is remarkably social for a cat who came to us by way of chasing the male cat we had at the time, but when we brought Thomas home after his surgery we kept the two separated until we moved a couple of weeks later, and with neutral territory they were fast buddies and it turns out Thomas just loves to be a mommy to other cats. So when our other guy went walk about, Thomas was miserable and since then (this was 2 years ago but we had a major move in there and didn't want to stress him) his arthritis has been really bad and he was on and off pain meds for it because all he did was lay around all day. Since bringing home the kitty, he has perked right up and is so much happier, and is off his pain meds because he now moves around and isn't getting stiff and hot in his joints. He loves the new kitty, they are very bonded and he doesn't seem stressed by her at all, quite the opposite. We thought at first that it was her having the loose stools, because it generally is very easy to tell when Thomas does, there is always a pattern. We investigated and dewormed both, and then as we were being super careful to check for worms in stools, we actually laid eyes on Thomas having the diarrhea and the new one not. This is all in the last month and we brought new kitty home in July so he has had lots of adjustment time (ie I don't think if it's stress that she is the stressor). He did get into her food before we switched her on to his, but when that has happened before it was maybe a few days or a week of diarrhea, and not this watery of stool.
He is otherwise playful, happy and not dehydrated...He is eating like normal and no outward signs that he is unwell.
He was on metacam for pain before we got the new kitty but it was making him vomit so we stopped it. We tried an opiate (I don't recall the name) but couldn't get it into him other than one time which made him sedate and miserable. Hence the new cat for exercise. Other than that, I am pregnant again and he is responsive to that, he was with my first too, but it didn't effect him in a stressed out way. Perhaps this time it does and he's rreacting to me being nearly due but my gut disagrees.
Anyone have experience that might shed some light? We are talking him to the vet again, but it really stresses him out (as in he pees all over himself) so I try to be extra prepared when I take him.
Thanks so much!
Kitty came to us very skinny, short and thin hair, pot bellied (to where we thought he was a pregnant female until I could get close enough to see he was an intact male) 7 years ago.
When we took him to be neutered, he had trouble waking up from the anesthetic so vet did an xray and found his insides were really strange. In the pericardium were most of his other internal organs, intestines, even some colon, and he had a hole in his diaphragm. It turned out it was congenital, no scar tissue, so we opted for surgery to put everything back where it should be so his lungs had room to inflate properly, which they never had.
His digestive issues were immediately apparent...He would get very watery stools from pretty much everything until we switched him to a hypoallergenic food. For the past 6 years he has done well on it and only has diarrhea when he gets into something, which we are careful about.
We brought home a new kitty in July, for the old guy. He is remarkably social for a cat who came to us by way of chasing the male cat we had at the time, but when we brought Thomas home after his surgery we kept the two separated until we moved a couple of weeks later, and with neutral territory they were fast buddies and it turns out Thomas just loves to be a mommy to other cats. So when our other guy went walk about, Thomas was miserable and since then (this was 2 years ago but we had a major move in there and didn't want to stress him) his arthritis has been really bad and he was on and off pain meds for it because all he did was lay around all day. Since bringing home the kitty, he has perked right up and is so much happier, and is off his pain meds because he now moves around and isn't getting stiff and hot in his joints. He loves the new kitty, they are very bonded and he doesn't seem stressed by her at all, quite the opposite. We thought at first that it was her having the loose stools, because it generally is very easy to tell when Thomas does, there is always a pattern. We investigated and dewormed both, and then as we were being super careful to check for worms in stools, we actually laid eyes on Thomas having the diarrhea and the new one not. This is all in the last month and we brought new kitty home in July so he has had lots of adjustment time (ie I don't think if it's stress that she is the stressor). He did get into her food before we switched her on to his, but when that has happened before it was maybe a few days or a week of diarrhea, and not this watery of stool.
He is otherwise playful, happy and not dehydrated...He is eating like normal and no outward signs that he is unwell.
He was on metacam for pain before we got the new kitty but it was making him vomit so we stopped it. We tried an opiate (I don't recall the name) but couldn't get it into him other than one time which made him sedate and miserable. Hence the new cat for exercise. Other than that, I am pregnant again and he is responsive to that, he was with my first too, but it didn't effect him in a stressed out way. Perhaps this time it does and he's rreacting to me being nearly due but my gut disagrees.
Anyone have experience that might shed some light? We are talking him to the vet again, but it really stresses him out (as in he pees all over himself) so I try to be extra prepared when I take him.
Thanks so much!
