Kitten with diarrhea for months now... please help

misskirby

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Hello..! My kitten Kirby is 9 months old and she has had diarrhea since the very first day I got her five months ago. I don't know what to do... I have taken her to the vet many many times where she has been tested for all sorts of parasites (tested 3 different times) all negative, she has been on antibiotics four times now, and is now on a prescription high energy gastrointestinal food. Her last bout with antibiotics was last week, and she finally had solid poop for about a week! Well, two days ago, I noticed she had the drippy poops. I had started introducing Canidae food, so I immediately went back to just the prescription food, however, saw no change later that night. I gave her some fortiflora that night and yesterday, along with some pumpkin and it is a bit firmer, but still drippy. I have tried all sorts of cat food except raw at this point. I've tried Canidae (which has been the best so far), Nature's Variety Instinct, Nature's Balance LID, Science Diet (she hated this one), Royal Canin kitten (barely ate it), Orijen, Fromm, and Blue Buffalo. I free feed her dry food and give her half a can of wet food every night with a little bit of pumpkin and now the fortiflora. The vet is just as confused as I am since she has passed every test... If there is any advice at all, please let me know!!!! I hate coming home to see that she has a drippy booty... it's much worse when she sits down on my furniture and then I have to clean it.... I am considering raw but even after reading tons of articles, am not sure exactly what I need to get and do in order to make sure she is getting all the nutrients needed. I am desperate... Vet bills for her have probably been around $800 total for just this problem.... Cannot spend more money on this. I am starting her on benebac since I read that it is better than fortiflora. Hopefully that will help a little bit.
 

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If she has persistent coccidia (which does not always show up on any tests) then Ponazuril might work.  It works in just a couple of days compared to the previous treatment, Albon, that could take 1 to 3 weeks and then it could recur.  Young cats can have this and eventually they outgrow it, or rather their immune system becomes strong enough to eliminate it.  If she were my kitten, I would certainly try it. 

If your vet is not familiar with it, it has been used in horses for years.  There is another drug made by Bayer that is very similar that also works, Baycox (toltrazuril,).  He can google it.
 

blueyedgirl5946

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How did you introduce the new cat foods? Anytime you change foods, it should be mixed with the old, like maybe 2/3 old to 1/3 of the new. Then you very gradually increase the new and decrease the old.
 
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misskirby

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Yes!! I change her food very very gradually, over the course of at least a week and a half. I have changed it so often because after giving each food at least two weeks, I decide then if it is helping her or not.
 

maggiemay

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Yes!! I change her food very very gradually, over the course of at least a week and a half. I have changed it so often because after giving each food at least two weeks, I decide then if it is helping her or not.
Hi, sorry to hear about Kirby; that has to be miserable for you both.  Fortiflora is a fairly good product, but there is another that often works better.  It's used by quite a few animal rescue organizations.  It works extremely well on cats/kittens with diarrhea.  It is Animal Essentials Plant Enzymes & Probiotics.  It is currently backordered at Only Natural Pet, but you can get a sense of how well it works from the reviews.  It's sold at PetCo and Chewy online as well.  It worked for me when the vet was completely stumped.  It has no taste and I've never had an animal refuse to eat it.  It may be worth a try. 
 

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another vote for Ponazuril. i had a whole litter of 4 with really bad coccidia and our vet just kept saying to keep them on albon so we went to another vet who immediately put them on ponazuril. within a few days, no more diarrhea. albon was really worthless, idk why vets even use it? we switched to benebac also..
 

blueyedgirl5946

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Yes!! I change her food very very gradually, over the course of at least a week and a half. I have changed it so often because after giving each food at least two weeks, I decide then if it is helping her or not.
I am not sure two weeks is enough time. I adopted a grown cat last winter. He had been tested by the shelter for parasites and worms. Then he was released to the pet store to sell. He had explosive diarrhea and they put him on a turkey based dry food for sensitive stomach. They told me he was better so I brought him home. He was okay for the afternoon but after he ate his supper meal, it took me until midnight to clean it up. I struggled with Forti Flora and as long as I gave him that his poops would be some better but not solid. I had him tested by my vet again for parasites and worms. Nothing showed up. I decided to put him on a limited ingredient food, grain free. I changed his food over a period of about four weeks. I went very slowly and put Forti Flora over his food too every day. It solved his problem.

Maybe someone else knows better than I do how long it should take to switch over their food. I only know what I did for my cat and it worked.
 
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misskirby

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If she has persistent coccidia (which does not always show up on any tests) then Ponazuril might work.  It works in just a couple of days compared to the previous treatment, Albon, that could take 1 to 3 weeks and then it could recur.  Young cats can have this and eventually they outgrow it, or rather their immune system becomes strong enough to eliminate it.  If she were my kitten, I would certainly try it. 

If your vet is not familiar with it, it has been used in horses for years.  There is another drug made by Bayer that is very similar that also works, Baycox (toltrazuril,).  He can google it.
She has been put on metronidazole about three different times already. It always helps her but never has a lasting effect. The vet recommended we do an ultrasound but I really cannot afford that, nor do I think it's necessary. Do you know if they need to run any sort of tests before prescribing the Ponazuril?
 
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misskirby

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I am not sure two weeks is enough time. I adopted a grown cat last winter. He had been tested by the shelter for parasites and worms. Then he was released to the pet store to sell. He had explosive diarrhea and they put him on a turkey based dry food for sensitive stomach. They told me he was better so I brought him home. He was okay for the afternoon but after he ate his supper meal, it took me until midnight to clean it up. I struggled with Forti Flora and as long as I gave him that his poops would be some better but not solid. I had him tested by my vet again for parasites and worms. Nothing showed up. I decided to put him on a limited ingredient food, grain free. I changed his food over a period of about four weeks. I went very slowly and put Forti Flora over his food too every day. It solved his problem.

Maybe someone else knows better than I do how long it should take to switch over their food. I only know what I did for my cat and it worked.
What food works for you?? Canidae is the only one that I've found that is somewhat okay for her stomach that she will eat, but I am always looking for other options. Do you feed just wet or both wet and dry?
 

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They just have to be willing to try it for a couple of days.  Coccidia is something that doesnt always show in in fecals.  It "blooms" sometimes and then it shows up, but often it just gives them diarrhea and doesn't show up.  My vet (older & experienced) is usually willing to TRY something that is not harmful (metronidizole is much harsher) and that will bring results or not in a short period of time.  Old school vets didn't have all these new gadgets and tests available so were more willing to use the "try it" method.  As my vet said, it might be coccidia so let's see if this works.  And it did, immediately!  We never got a diagnosis, it didn't show on the slides, but it responded to the treatment right away and probably saved this poor kitten's life as she was losing weight and growing weak from diarrhea and also didnt want to eat (I think eating hurt her stomach).  Within 2 days she had gained back an ounce and was eating and had no more diarrhea.

If your vet has not heard of it, have him/her read this. http://www.sheltermedicine.com/library/diluting-marquis-paste

Rescues do it all the time because it is so much better and faster - use it 3 days and then stop, and then use it again to get any late hatching oocysts

Here is a cat breeder who uses Baycox (toltrazuril) for coccidia and also Panacur for giardia. 

http://www.dazzledots.com/parasites.html

Here is another article about treating coccidia and giardia in puppies

http://www.bullmarketfrogs.com/coccidia-puppies-kitten-baycox/
 
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