vet advised to back off wet food for kittens w diarrhea, is this a good idea??

I have two kittens - Pia, 6 months and Oliver, 4 months. About a month ago, we noticed that Oliver's third eyelids were protruding. At first we thought it was conjunctivitis since we had just treated Pia  for that but he didn't respond to the eye drops we'd used for her and we noticed his stool was softer than usual so we took him in to the vet. All blood work came back normal and while the vet did not do a fecal test (he'd had one right after we brought him home from the rescue and it came back negative), she prescribed panacur. He finished the panacur and, while the third eyelid protrusion is significantly improved, he still intermittently has soft but well formed stools. 

A few days ago, our other kitten Pia suddenly started having protruding third eye lids and diarrhea. Mostly just well formed, soft stool but occasional episodes of the more watery kind. I called the vet again and she advised that I give both of them probiotics and also reduce the amount of wet food in their diet. Prior to the diarrhea issue, they were both eating wet food for the majority of their diet - approx. 4.5-5 oz each of wet food split between three meals with a quarter cup each of dry food to nibble on between meals that we refill every 24-36 hours (depending on how fast they eat it). For some reason, Pia's diarrhea seemed worse after eating wet food so the vet said to drop the probiotics (which we were mixing in with the wet food) and to put them on all dry food diets for a few days. We also dropped off stool samples for both today. 

We haven't changed up their food - they both eat wellness grain free, mostly  in chicken and turkey flavors  with the occasional nature's variety mixed in (although not lately) and orijen dry food for kittens and cats. Despite the diarrhea, they are both still super active. I'm just really concerned about putting them on dry food diets as I hadn't seen that as a suggested home remedy for diarrhea anywhere. They also both love wet food and I don't want that to change since I'd hoped to keep them on a majority wet food diet. 

Has anyone heard of dry food being used as a remedy for diarrhea? Should I continue to keep them off the wet food? If their fecal samples come back negative, any idea as to what they could both have that's causing both the third eye lid issue and the soft stools? When it started with Oliver, I thought t it could be Haw's syndrome but I didn't think that was something that could be passed to another cat and Pia has the exact same symptoms now. 

Thanks in advance for any input!

Putting them on a dry-only diet could potentially stop the diarrhea; BUT, this is likely only masking the issue not *treating* the problem. Being on the dry only will cause water from their GI system to absorb into the dry as it is being digested and make it appear that the issue has resolved.

Have fecal tests been sent to an outside lab for more specialized testing or have they all been done in house by your vet?

Do you notice any difference when one flavor/brand of food is fed over another?

Have you tried feeding Nature's Variety wet only? The kitties might be sensitive to the thickeners in Wellness.

Does your vet think the eyes and the GI issues are directly connected? Were the kitties running fever when the third eyelids were showing?

If you do dry I would try something with very few ingredients, or if you want to try wet I've been giving my cats Dave's. It's very good high quality, the ones like shrimp and salmon I thinks its called don't have any of thickener's like the other ones do. Also try asking your vet about if something like a prescription diet would help, like I personally like Ivet. It's a lot better ingredient wise than the royal canine and science diet on that side of things. 

Thanks for your response! The fecal tests are being sent to an outside lab. We should have results tomorrow. Only one kitty went to the vet since all this started and he didn't have a fever. I don't think the other one does either. Both are active, eating (although missing their usual wet food!), and behaving per usual.

I haven't noticed one flavor over another causing issues and this is the first time Pia has had this reaction to wellness. I tried a lot of wet foods when we first got her and wellness has always been her favorite. I wonder if maybe it's a bad batch or something?

The vet did seem to connect the two which is why I also previously thought it could be Haws although a bit strange both would have it at the same time? Oliver's eyelids stopped showing after the panacur but his stool still isn't as firm as usual.

The vet also said she in general is against all wet food diets and advises a mix of wet and dry which I sound a bit odd as it's contrary to most of the reading I've done.

The ingredients in different flavors and brands can dramatically shift. Like in a lose food vs thick you might notice 5-10 less ingredients. I would almost skip a meal time for them and give them a limited amount of water, and see if that helps with the wet poop issue. I think you ran into an issue with a vet that doesn't know much about nutrition, so a 2nd opinion might be needed. Like one cat I adopted out was diabetic and the vet said to get a urine sample 2 times a day and test it, if it comes back as color X increase it by X amount until it stops. I bring this up because if we would of took the bad vets advice it would of killed our cat, and we took them to another vet where they just get monitored and tested every 6 months for about 12 hours and they have been living strong with very little insulin for over 12 years since diagnosed. So there really are just horrible vets out there, I really think you might want a second opinion. 

We got the test results back and neither of them have any parasites so I'm not sure what to do next. I've put them back on their wet food since I didn't notice any improvement when they were just on dry. When they are going to the bathroom, both of them start w normal looking poo that becomes diarrhea toward the end. Any ideas on how to clear this up?

We have a balcony garden, where they both spend a lot of time, and while all the plants are cat safe I'm wondering if one of them is causing the GI issues? We have some herbs - mint, thyme, dill, rosemary, and basil - a few flowers - impatiens, lavender, and bougainvillea, and a pot of a wheat and pea grass mix.

I would try wet food without any type of fish or grain in it. Something like chicken, giblets etc. see if it helps. It could be a thyroid problem

The wet food is wellness grain free and we give them the chicken and turkey flavors. Aren't they young for thyroid problems (6 months and 4 months) and why would they both develop that at the exact same time?

Have you tried plain, full fat, unsweetened yogurt or adding some pumpkin (not pie filling) into their food?

I used pumpkin when one of them had constipation and it was really useful. For some reason the vet told me not to use it for their diarrhea but maybe I'll go ahead and try that anyway.

Thanks!

Pumpkin is good for either issue.

I still have an ice tray full of frozen pumpkin purée so will defrost one for their next meal! Any idea on what the underlying cause could be if not parasites?

Hi - another quick question. I emailed the vet today to let her know both cats still had diarrhea despite negative tests for parasites. She wants to now out them both on an antibiotic in case this is bacterial although I don't know where they would have picked it up from and why they'd both have the same thing. She prescribed metronidazole. Any experiences w this one? I'm hesitant to give antibiotics if they don't really need it and they don't really have any other symptoms of bacterial diarrhea, ie fever, blood. Should I try the pumpkin before I start giving them meds?