I think my kitties ate too much.

This is a random question, but can a cat get diarrhea from eating too much food? So I have no idea how this happened all I can say is I have an extremely sneaky/ smart Siamese bandit who knows how to get into anything I guess! I only blame him bc I have caught him in action opening my cabinets before. Anyway I normally NEVER EVER feed my two kitties dry food but I just recently went on vacation and my parents were watching them and as an occasional but very small "snack" they would feed them a little bit of he merrick dry food I bought. Well my cats have been fine all week and they are back to their normal wet food routine. The dry food is in a plastic Tupperware bowl in the top shelf of my cabinet with a sealable lid. Anyway I came home today and noticed the cabinet was open but didn't think too much of it and just shut it. Later is when I noticed the plastic bin was opened and I'm guessing Zander and Ellie somehow got into it and ate some. I think they actually ate their weight in dry food honestly. Not to sound gross , but earlier before I noticed the food I was wondering why there was literally massive "cow patties" in the litter box. Because that is so not like them. And THEN Zander had diarrhea and I had to give him a bath with some wet rags and a teeny bit of soap. I was like "ok, that's weird what the heck is going on?" Well a couple hours later he did it again. And then Ellie my long hair got it which was a NIGHTMARE and she literally got a bath in the tub. I am so stressed out now. Lol Do you think this is only happening because they ate so much food?! I didn't even notice because there was no mess or anything. They were sneaky enough to get into it without making any sort of mess... but getting into the food is the only conclusion I can come to about he upset tummy. They were and are still acting fine. I unfortunately had to lock them in the room with their boxes for now with lots of water because I caught Zander scooting his bottom on the floor and it is much easier to clean in there since I can mop it up if they make an accident. They usually eat fancy feast classic turkey and giblets but I'm scared to give it to them in the morning now. Idk if I should hold off for a little to make sure everything is passed. Opinions please!

Btw this is Zander looking super "innocent" before all the crazy poopy mess happened ! Lol

Here's a great pic showing if you're cat is eating too much and at risk of health issues.

Oooh that is not fun! I think your theory is probably spot on. Dry food has extra carbohydrates (looks like merrick contains a fair amount of potato) which can definitely contribute to diarrhea, feeding the wrong types of bacteria and throwing off the healthy microbiome balance of the colon. And if they ate a lot of it really quickly, it could definitely mean trouble, especially because their digestive system isn't used to that level of carbs.

When I'm worried about diarrhea or vomiting, I feed just plain chicken baby food. Beechnut brand is great because it doesn't have any added ingredients besides some nice, bland, easy to eat meat and water. It's not nutritionally balanced for a cat to eat everyday, but it's good for the short term to give them some calories and fluids and there are no ingredients that could react poorly with their digestive system.

The stress of the diarrhea and baths and everything could be prolonging the whole episode as well. Trimming Ellie's back end might make clean up a little easier.

Be sure to do the tent test to check that they're staying hydrated. I think that's the only real worry right now until everything settles again. If the diarrhea isn't getting better or they do get dehydrated, they probably should see a vet. In the meantime something else that might help are probiotics. Sometimes pumpkin works well for diarrhea, but I would not recommend trying that this time because if it was a carb overload that triggered this event, you definitely don't want to be adding even more plant material.

I'm sure Zander thought he was extremely clever and would have no consequences from his feasting! Oops!

kerfors said:

Here's a great pic showing if you're cat is eating too much and at risk of health issues.

bfi-risk-chart.jpg

• kerfors
• May 26, 2016

Click to expand...

Thanks for such an informative chart! It's always good to be made aware. It's not that they are eating too much as an everyday thing, ...it's just I can only guess that they got into the food and had a field day! Lol and I'm hoping that this resides soon.

Molly92 said:

Oooh that is not fun! I think your theory is probably spot on. Dry food has extra carbohydrates (looks like merrick contains a fair amount of potato) which can definitely contribute to diarrhea, feeding the wrong types of bacteria and throwing off the healthy microbiome balance of the colon. And if they ate a lot of it really quickly, it could definitely mean trouble, especially because their digestive system isn't used to that level of carbs.

When I'm worried about diarrhea or vomiting, I feed just plain chicken baby food. Beechnut brand is great because it doesn't have any added ingredients besides some nice, bland, easy to eat meat and water. It's not nutritionally balanced for a cat to eat everyday, but it's good for the short term to give them some calories and fluids and there are no ingredients that could react poorly with their digestive system.

The stress of the diarrhea and baths and everything could be prolonging the whole episode as well. Trimming Ellie's back end might make clean up a little easier.

Be sure to do the tent test to check that they're staying hydrated. I think that's the only real worry right now until everything settles again. If the diarrhea isn't getting better or they do get dehydrated, they probably should see a vet. In the meantime something else that might help are probiotics. Sometimes pumpkin works well for diarrhea, but I would not recommend trying that this time because if it was a carb overload that triggered this event, you definitely don't want to be adding even more plant material.

I'm sure Zander thought he was extremely clever and would have no consequences from his feasting! Oops!

Click to expand...

Man I am not kidding it was terrible. I purposely put the food up high on the shelves because I know how sneaky he is. (Plus I didn't really have any intentions on feeding them the dry bc they usually just eat wet) i truly have NO idea how they managed to open the lid. It is not an easy to open lid [emoji]128514[/emoji] Like I said, I personally closed it and made sure it was shut! lol sometimes they just blow my mind at the things they can do. I have heard about the pumpkin and thought about that, but I'm glad you mentioned the carb overload they probably got from the potatoes; so I will steer clear of the pumpkin for right now. I don't think they will get dehydrated only because they are drinking water and acting normally, but I will keep a watch on it for sure. Thanks for the baby good recommendation i have never thought of that!! I will probably get up early and get to the store to give them a little bit of that. Lol and yes! I have actually thought about getting her backside trimmed. But we very seldom have issues with her furry bottom. Only when situations like this occur. Surprisingly she didn't do too bad in the bath. I was prepared for a clawing but she kind of just tip toed around and let out some baby meows. I have been checking on them all night and so far so good. No more diarrhea in the box. Praying I don't wake up tomorrow and find any more crazyness!