Help, my cat has diarrhea and not getting better!

karenh · Nov 20, 2015

Hi all,

I have been lurking on this site for a couple of months and I can't seem to find anything that describes my cat "Rocky" issues.

He has had diarrhea for months but only once a day. It is often explosive, meaning he has gas with it. He also has become anti-social which is very out of character for him. Staying far away from me and other people. He does not vomit. But it is obvious he does not feel well.

The vet initially prescribed Metrodiazinole which did not help.

Next visit he prescribed Zeniquin which did not help.

Now he is on Prednisolone 5mg and I recently raised it to 10mg. Still no change.

I switched his food to grain free - dry and wet.

Interesting thing is that he has gained weight. He is overweight at about 20lbs! The pred is making him eat more.

His bloodwork is normal.

The only thing I can think of that has made him sick is that he was eating lizards (green geckos) all summer, out on my patio. And who knows what kind of bugs he found in the shrubs.

He is an indoor cat, but goes out on the patio once a day for a breath of fresh air.

I am so confused about this.

They did not find parasites in his stool, but wondering if he could have a worm, and it go undetected? Also, if he had worms, why is he getting heavier.

Do you have any ideas of what I should suggest to the vet?

Your suggestions would be most welcome!

Thanks

Karen

stephanietx · Nov 20, 2015

Has the vet run a PCR diarrhea panel on the poop yet to rule out parasites that aren't found in a fecal float? What are you feeding him?

tobilei · Nov 20, 2015

I'm not sure exactly what they are, but I do know there is testing for parasites done at vets you often have to specifically request as they're less common (that being said, they're not unheard of either). It might be worth running that by your vet.

I know a number of people who have had problems with diarrhea. Different things fix different kitties.

There is also a problem that some kitties get from the breeders and they generally grow out of it by age 2. I think it starts with a P but I'm drawing a blank (sorry I'm like zero help here!).

Firstly how old is he? Is this a new problem, his whole life, if he's older was he normal before?

What is he eating? Has anything in his diet changed (other than the lizards)?

Last but not least you could trial him on a prescription diet if all else fails for stomach issues (Hills I/D is one, Royal Canin Gastrointestinal is another, Purina make one but we don't get them in Australia so I'm unsure of what they are called) and see if he improves at all on it then slowly introduce other foods.

karenh · Nov 20, 2015

stephanietx said:
Has the vet run a PCR diarrhea panel on the poop yet to rule out parasites that aren't found in a fecal float? What are you feeding him?

hi, no pcr test has been run. I will ask for that, thanks. I started feeding him blue grainfree dry food chicken and nutro grainfree can food recently. Does not seem to matter what I feed him the diarrhea is the same. Also he is only 8 yrs old.

karenh · Nov 20, 2015

Tobilei said:
I'm not sure exactly what they are, but I do know there is testing for parasites done at vets you often have to specifically request as they're less common (that being said, they're not unheard of either). It might be worth running that by your vet.

I know a number of people who have had problems with diarrhea. Different things fix different kitties.

There is also a problem that some kitties get from the breeders and they generally grow out of it by age 2. I think it starts with a P but I'm drawing a blank (sorry I'm like zero help here!).

Firstly how old is he? Is this a new problem, his whole life, if he's older was he normal before?

What is he eating? Has anything in his diet changed (other than the lizards)?

Last but not least you could trial him on a prescription diet if all else fails for stomach issues (Hills I/D is one, Royal Canin Gastrointestinal is another, Purina make one but we don't get them in Australia so I'm unsure of what they are called) and see if he improves at all on it then slowly introduce other foods.

hi, yes, this is a new problem and started in March or April. He is 8yrs old and very healthy otherwise.

tobilei · Nov 20, 2015

Given his age and that it is a new problem it might be worth also getting him checked for IBD/intestinal cancers (not to scare you, it's unlikely but always worth a check in new cases with diarrhea present). IBD is manageable, there is a wonderful website called IBDKitties.net that has fabulous advice if that's what it turns out to be. The PCR test is the one I was thinking of, definitely ask for that before anything else just to rule parasites out (especially given he was eating lizards).

stephanietx · Nov 20, 2015

For what it's worth, I've had issues with Blue and Nutro with my cats. I don't know what it is about them, but I have various issues from my kitties on it. I encourage you to try a grain free meat only canned food for a few days and see if that helps. Look for a limited ingredient or something like duck & pea. The other issue might be that he can't handle a grain-free diet. I have a cat who can't. We feed him grain-free canned and a little bit of grain-free dry with a prescription food, Royal Canin Gastrointestinal HE. We mainly feed canned and supplement snack size portions through the day. We have found the grain free/Rx food keeps my cat's diarrhea in check.

karenh · Nov 20, 2015

Ok, I will pick that up tomorrow and give it a try, thanks

stephanietx · Nov 20, 2015

Another thing you have to be concerned about with diarrhea is keeping him hydrated. Did this start when you changed him to grain-free?

karenh · Nov 20, 2015

stephanietx said:
Another thing you have to be concerned about with diarrhea is keeping him hydrated. Did this start when you changed him to grain-free?

no, I just started grain free in the last 2 weeks. He is eating and drinking normal.

karenh · Nov 20, 2015

Tobilei said:
Given his age and that it is a new problem it might be worth also getting him checked for IBD/intestinal cancers (not to scare you, it's unlikely but always worth a check in new cases with diarrhea present). IBD is manageable, there is a wonderful website called IBDKitties.net that has fabulous advice if that's what it turns out to be. The PCR test is the one I was thinking of, definitely ask for that before anything else just to rule parasites out (especially given he was eating lizards).

yes, I am going to ask for the pcr test. I am not going to get any tests where they have to put him to sleep. I had a cat die from anesthesia a few yrs ago.

stephanietx · Nov 20, 2015

Have you tried switching back to his old food and see if the problem resolves itself? Also, if you're feeding dry, you have to do a gradual change or you get tummy upset and diarrhea. If you switched suddenly, that might be the whole problem.

tobilei · Nov 20, 2015

stephanietx said:
Have you tried switching back to his old food and see if the problem resolves itself? Also, if you're feeding dry, you have to do a gradual change or you get tummy upset and diarrhea. If you switched suddenly, that might be the whole problem.

Yes! Try this first! I didn't realize you'd started him on a new food. Diarrhea from a new food can last weeks and get quite severe (pretty sure that's what set my kitten off, I changed things up a little too quickly).

Even wet food requires a gradual change for some cats. If you can go back to his old foods and add roughly 1 tablespoon a day of the new food and transition it over a week or even 2 if you want to change it. It could also just be that he's intolerant to an ingredient in the new food too. My kitten cannot eat Purr. For some reason every time I give it to her the litterbox is a mess.

I'm sorry for the loss of your other baby. I know the feeling. I lost one suddenly while I slept this year at just 8 months and have been terrified my others will go the same way ever since.

karenh · Nov 21, 2015

No, I switched it slowly and the diarrhea started months before I started trying new grainfree foods. I thought maybe he developed allergies to his food. I also gave him treats all the time and I stopped them also.

Just experimenting to see if I can get the diarrhea to stop. I never completely switched his food. He still gets fancy feast and the diarrhea persists.

karenh · Nov 21, 2015

Yes, I tried his usual food and still same ole diarrhea. Explosive D. But it is only once a day?? He would cry and leap out of the litter box and this what alerted me something was wrong. The pred is helping with that pain from defecating, but it is not helping with the diarrhea. I wonder how much prednisolone he should be taking. He is about 20lbs, a big orange tabby, and the DR started him on 5mg. I raised it 3 days ago to 10mg. Everything I read on the internet says he should be taking 1mg for every pound of weight, which would mean he should be on 15-20mg of pred. for results. Problem is he keeps gaining weight from the pred, ugh. So confusing.

zed xyzed · Nov 21, 2015

Poor Rocky, that must be awful (I am sure it is no fun for you either). You are getting a lot of good advice here. One other option you might want to try later is a raw diet. There are a number of good commercial raw foods, my guy loves Stella and Chewy's Rabbit and Natures Variety Raw Chicken,

But before changing his food again, try to rule out parasites and cancer. I hope it is nothing serious and that you can get it under control

karenh · Nov 21, 2015

I have a call into the doctor this morning, so I will see what she says now. I am going to ask her about the PCR test. I think his troubles started when he was eating lizards. I was shocked when I saw him catch and eat a lizard.

It was horrifying, but very normal for cats. My doc was not too worried about that and said normally that would not upset a cat's tummy. Who knows, maybe he got a parasite from a lizard??

Going thru food changes is very difficult as I have 2 more cats. They love the grainfree dry food, but won't touch the can food. So I am feeding 2 of them Fancy Feast and Rocky the grainfree can food. I think I will try the hydrolzed

for him and see if that works.

stephanietx · Nov 21, 2015

It's possible to feed them each food they enjoy and need. Each of my kitties has its own bowl and food requirements, so they don't share a common bowl. I stand and supervise and keep them out of the bowls. It's not the easy thing, but it's what my gang needs. You might have to try something like that.

What did the vet say?

lisahe · Nov 21, 2015

Another thought... If Rocky's still eating dry food it might be worth tapering that off and cutting it out to see if that's the culprit: even grain-free foods have fillers in them and some of them can cause gastric issues. (And Rocky's gas here makes me particularly suspicious...) One of our cats has (smelly and barfy) trouble if she eats potato and I remember someone just the other day mentioning a cat who had trouble with peas. Both can cause gas. For what it's worth, I'd probably try feeding only canned foods with just meat and no vegetable or grain ingredients.

I know lots of our various suggestions contradict each other but cats' digestive issues are really individual and quirky so they can take a lot of time, trial, and error to figure out!

Good luck!

karenh · Nov 21, 2015

LisaHE said:
Another thought... If Rocky's still eating dry food it might be worth tapering that off and cutting it out to see if that's the culprit: even grain-free foods have fillers in them and some of them can cause gastric issues. (And Rocky's gas here makes me particularly suspicious...) One of our cats has (smelly and barfy) trouble if she eats potato and I remember someone just the other day mentioning a cat who had trouble with peas. Both can cause gas. For what it's worth, I'd probably try feeding only canned foods with just meat and no vegetable or grain ingredients.

I know lots of our various suggestions contradict each other but cats' digestive issues are really individual and quirky so they can take a lot of time, trial, and error to figure out!

Good luck!

thanks, I wonder who makes cat food with just meat? Also I don't think I can get him off of dry food. He snacks on it frequently. I stopped his treats and poor thing thinks I am just being mean.

Help, my cat has diarrhea and not getting better!

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