Cat has had diarrhea for 9 months almost

ericalefevre

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I got princess when she was 5 weeks old and was normal. About a month after having her, she started getting diarrhea everywhere. On my pillow, the couch, curtains, kitchen table you name it. I took her to the vet with a stool sample and was told she had Coccina the parasite. We did the medication and it was gone. About two months later it started again but this time she would pee on one of us before she would start getting diarrhea. And she cries like she's in pain. She just runs around the house while it's happening. We went to a new vet who couldn't find anything wrong and treated her with antibiotics and a probiotic. The antibiotic made her throw up so I stopped using it, however she got better and was fine. I switched her food to Freedom grain free kitten food. A month later she's doing it all over again, but her energy level is way down and she just isn't herself. I don't know what to do. I'm going to call the vet again in the morning. Ps when she was a few weeks old we bottle fed her and she chewed the nipple off and swallowed it. We assumed she passed it. I'm wondering if she never did?
 

denice

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I don't think a foreign body would still be causing issues months later.  You said you switched her food a month ago, that could be the issue but usually a food change will show up much sooner.  I am not familiar with the food is it a dry food?  The grain free dry foods will sometimes cause diarrhea, one of my cats is like that.  She can't tolerate any of the dry grain free foods.

I would first ask the vet to do a PCR stool sample.  It has to be sent out and cost more than the float test done in the vet's office.  It can rule out any of the parasites including ones that aren't commonly seen as well as bacterial overgrowth.  

If that comes back clean then I would start with diet changes.  
 

molly92

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She sounds dehydrated from the diarrhea and the vet probably needs to give her some subcutaneous fluids. She should probably also be on wet food only so she gets as much water as she can. Maybe even give her just meat baby food diluted with water right now. Dehydration in kittens can get dangerous.

Coccidia can be tricky to beat, and it's possible she also had more than just coccidia. The stool sample tests that vets routinely do very often miss common parasites like coccidia (so she could still have it) and giardia, which are very common in kittens! They both cause diarrhea, and they both require different medications, sometimes more than one round (neither are bacteria so antibiotics would not be the most useful). These can definitely flare up at times if they're not completely wiped out with the first round of treatment. The only way to know what she has for certain is to get a PCR test done that has to be sent out to a lab, but often you can just try treatment and see if it works first.

Probiotics are great, but check and make sure it has S. boulardii. If not, you can get human probiotics with that strain and that will be fine. This strain is often successful at treating parasites and infections without the help of any medications. You can read about it here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/283161/saccharomyces-boulardii-use-for-diarrhea-and-gi-disease-incl-ibd

Albon is the typical medication for coccidia, but it takes forever! And even after the standard round of 21 days, you may need to do it again. A newer medication that is much more effective is Ponazuril, which you should definitely ask your vet about if they prescribe albon. Giardia is normally treated with metronidazole (flagyl).

I don't know much about obstructions so I'm not sure if the nipple could be anyway linked. Definitely bring it up to your vet just to be sure.
 
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