Need advice: return of diarrhea

My cat (3 years old) had wet poo in November. Took to the vet with a sample, no parasites or anything found. She doesn't go outside. He suggested better food, extra litter box (we have 3 for 2 cats in the basement)  and gave me Fortiflora to add to her food. He thought it was behavioral and we don't have the money to take her back for "more testing". 

We did these, added a litter box upstairs and she sometimes used it, sometimes not.  She preferred to poo in our bathtub. gross, but easy to clean. If we shut the door, she sometimes went outside the bathroom door or downstairs in the basement boxes. It seemed to get better, but never really felt like it was the right consistency.  Then, the flatulence started in January and the runs reappeared. jeez. from such a little kitty. I was really concerned (she still acted fine, playful, etc).  After doing some reading, i tried a home remedy. No food for 24 hours, fresh water. Then slowly gave her a little rice (she didn't like it, but nibbled because she was hungry) then slowly added some chicken and after two days of chicken and rice, put her back on canned foods. 

It seemed to work!  We were fine for three or so weeks so I congratulated myself on avoiding a vet bill.  But, tonight it is back. A lot and runny. 

Should I try the rice and chicken trick one more time and reintroduce a food for sensitive stomachs (like blue buffalo wet or soulistic good kharma wet and a good dry food?  In the past we used fancy foods wet and my husband was buying the dry-however, he didn't pay attention to brands, just bought dry cat food from the grocery store that "is a good kind, I can't remember the name".  He also put away the 4th box, thinking she was "better". but, I don't think one less box could have triggered the diarrhea.  Any thoughts? 

I guess right now, I'd start a dietary log of her foods and her diarrhea incidents. I'm kind of suspect that she could be sensitive to one of the ingredients in the foods you've been offering her. What exact food is she eating? Is it grain-free? Fish free? There could be so many triggers to her loose stools, and though a mild, bland diet (chicken & rice) works well, you definitely can't keep her indefinitely on it. I'd start with a LID diet and keep track of all her food intake, including snacks/treats. Journaling this can help you and your vet if your kitty needs more testing, and I wouldn't put a second vet trip off just yet...sometimes there are other parasites that a normal fecal sample wouldn't pick up. I've had my cat found positive with Giardia at one point, and then several months later found positive for Coccidia (protozoan) and Clostridium perfringens (bacteria) in his gut, despite the fact that my cat is indoor only since adoption day and I have no other animals. He also acted quite fine otherwise, though litter box problems did occur because he was beginning to associate pain with the litter box. I had to get a special testing done, one called a "diarrhea panel" as a diagnostic and it allowed the vet to prescribe the precise meds for the causitive organisms involved. After the few days of administering his med, he was back to normal!

Take a look at your kitty's backside. Is it red/inflamed and raw looking? If you know what it's like having diarrhea yourself for several days, you must know it's painful at some point, too. And there's a risk for dehydration, moreso if she's fed kibble. The least the vet can do is offer medication--something like metronidazole temporarily to help soothe her GI tract, even if it tastes awful to her. You can also try adding plain canned pumpkin (if you're in the US) or Slippery elm bark syrup to her wet food with additional water mixed in while your vet may suggest more testing done to find the root cause.

Info on Slippery elm bark: http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/slippery-elm/

I hope you really find out what's her trigger. You have my sympathies for dealing with loose stools. I for one, know real well how awful that is. Good luck!

thank u, I will begin journaling. I am also thinking about changing vets because that diarrea screening might help and he seemed out of suggestions after his behavior assumption.
what is a LID diet? light in dairy? I do avoid any wet food with dairy.
I know the chicken& rice isn't good for the long term. the first time I only used two days and began tapering off and reintroducing her regular foods.
two quick questions:
is it better to stick with the same flavor/meat of wet cat food? I've given variety of fancy feast proteins.
also, my husband had stopped treats after she was "better", but he just confessed that he had returned to giving her years because the problem was "fixed".
thanks so much for thoughts/advice. I'm glad ur cat is doing better!

Sarahbellum,

LID stands for limited ingredient diet. You can purchase some cans of it from a pet store. Brands to look for are Nature's Variety Instinct and Natural Balance. The cans will specifically be labeled LID. The reason is I'm suggesting this is that these cans typically have much less ingredients than most of the other canned varieties on the market which tends to have a variety of proteins in one can or even a flavor. Since you don't know what is the trigger to her diarrhea, I'm suggesting you start off with canned foods with very few or simple ingredients. You don't have to go with LID labeled cans, of course. You could also buy a can of Weruva's Paw Lickin' Chicken, for example, since you already know that she did well with just chicken and rice. I'd stick to one protein and for a few weeks, and if there she is back to her normal stools, you could try a different protein. I'd avoid fish flavors for now, though. Fish tends to be a high allergy food for cats, despite what most people believe. You want to go with simple ingredient list so you can identify the potential cause that is causing her to have these loose stools. 

If she continues to have loose stools no matter what kind of simple ingredient and LID canned food you serve (without adding in the slippery elm bark syrup or pumpkin or other source of fiber like rice), then you know it's more of a parasitic cause that's more likely, and it'll be time to see a vet for sure.

I'm glad you know to stay away from dairy. Most (but not all) cats are lactose intolerant.

Hope this helps. Hopefully others can come on board and give their advice/opinions. Best wishes to you and your kitty!

thanks! i'll definitely take ur advice. I'm certainly a newbie at this and u hv been be knowledgeable.

I have a Siamese mix who's gone through the same thing. For years he'd have wet sticky poo that looked like cow pies in the litter box. The vet tested him for everything yet he had a clean bill of health. He suggested probiotics (didn't help), switching to rabbit based protein food(didn't help), and pumpkin(cat wouldn't touch it).
I researched online and read that a high fiber diet is needed so I asked my vet about prescribed Royal Canin high fiber dry food. We tried it along with about a tsp. of psyllium husk on his wet food. (We use Natures Variety Rabbit wet food). It worked! I actually saw formed turds within a few days.

Get a PCR diarrhea panel. It's expensive but is a conclusive test that will show more rAre diarrheic situations like tritrichomonas, salmonella, clostridium, campylobacter and more, all of which can cause the kind of diarrhea situation you are describing. Especially Tritrichomonas or TF. Do web search for Judy Gookin