2 year old rescue cat with chronic diarrhea

hi guys!

I adopted Reilly one month ago today! He is a buff & white tabby cat, approximately 2 years old, 14 lbs, and supposedly in good health. He was found on the streets in April underweight and covered in scabs, but his rescue shelter got him most of the way back to good health and now he lives with me! The adoption became final 1 week ago. 

I noticed right away that Reilly had STINKY diarrhea from day 1 but his previous foster mom said she never noticed anything. I took him to the vet believing him to have some new problem but found out he had coccidia and giardia which had to be from his previous time on the street. I know sometimes the fecal tests come out falsely negative but the nose knows! Reilly went on three antibiotics, flagyl, albon, and after the albon, Ponazuril. His stools never improved except in smell. Now they barely smell at all & sort of smell like baby formula but they are still cow-pies EVERY TIME!!! I took him back to the vet  but after a repeat fecal (neg) and physical exam the vet said she really believed him to have food allergies/intolerance. (he was scratching his face a lot, which solidified her dx) He is not exhibiting any signs of illness, on the contrary, his coat is so much more shiny, full, and soft since i got him. He eats the right amount, drinks plenty, urinates normally, plays normally, eyes are clear & bright, gums pink, skin intact, ears clean, just cow-pie poops!! He is sweet, sociable & very happy. We have bonded amazingly well & now i just want to get his last problem sorted. What do you guys think? i started him on S.Boulardii 5 days ago. I have seen improvement in frequency and volume but they are the same in consistency. How long does that take to work? i did not get the +MOS kind but i am thinking i might need that one based on other threads from this site. My vet switched his diet when she diagnosed the allergy, that was July 1, and he has been getting Hill's Ideal Balance dry since then.  yesterday i removed all dry food and only gave him cooked chicken. i know that is not a good diet but i thought his "insides" could use a rest for a day, maybe dry food is not agreeable to a cat who was living on the streets, and then today i think i will get him some wet food. i was thinking Natures Variety LID turkey (based again on other threads from this site). my vet does not believe a young cat like Reilly without health issues per say needs wet but isn't it worth trying? I think after 13 days i would have seen improvement if the Ideal balance was the right food but i admit i am ignorant as to how long diarrhea in a cat takes to improve. that is really something i need help & advice on.

How long do i try a new food before i switch? how long to i try probiotics before i give up? at what point should i just go back to the vet & ask for more help? He has been twice in the last 30 days but its no problem, i can take him again, i just feel silly to try nothing on my own & keep going back to ask her for every little thing since she was so positive that she believes him to be healthy (also i am kind of neurotic i think at this point because in the last three months both my mom & my mom's cat, who i took care of, died of cancer, so I'm a bit traumatized and not thinking normally. all my worries are very exaggerated right now & then i end up over-compensating, sigh.).  please help & please advise! thank you! oh, btw, the face scratching is greatly improving, so something is working a little bit....

Was he tested for Tritrichamonas Feotus? It requires a different test than one for giardia or coccidia. A T. feotus cat looks the picture of health, but has cow pie stools. Some vets have never dealt with it and may not be knowledgeable about it.  For the record, I vehemently disagree with your vet concerning dry food.  It is not a natural food for animals and I have found it to be addictive and cause weight gain before I discontinued using it. As for changing food, go very slowly. You could try giving him pure pumpkin, about a teaspoon every day. May help, may not. The probiotics won't hurt him but I never really noticed they made a difference with my cats when we used them. Remember this is just my opinion and experience - I am not a vet.

Thank you for responding posiepurrs. I went ahead & started the pumpkin. I have a call in to find out what they checked the stool for, I requested to talk to the vet herself. My bill says ELISA & I think it's giardia. I would venture to guess TF was not tested for & I want to ask vet if she thinks we should. I have noticed that most pet parents are leaning more and more towards wet & even raw diets. The dry is nothing like what their bodies were used to for thousands of years. I am going to switch to NV turkey LID canned tomorrow & see what the vet has to offer.

If the pumpkin doesn't make much difference you could try rice mixed in with a small amount of chicken. Make sure the rice is definitely cooked and cool before feeding. It's what we feed to cats/dogs at the cattery/kennel I work at whenever they have upset stomachs, shouldn't be done for more than a few days but it often does help firm things up. Hope you find a solution soon!

T. Foetus has to be tested using the PCR diarrhea panel.  Request it from your vet.  If the vet doesn't know about it and isn't willing to test for it, then find a new vet who will.

lifeofreilly said:

Thank you for responding posiepurrs. I went ahead & started the pumpkin. I have a call in to find out what they checked the stool for, I requested to talk to the vet herself. My bill says ELISA & I think it's giardia. I would venture to guess TF was not tested for & I want to ask vet if she thinks we should. I have noticed that most pet parents are leaning more and more towards wet & even raw diets. The dry is nothing like what their bodies were used to for thousands of years. I am going to switch to NV turkey LID canned tomorrow & see what the vet has to offer.

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This is more serious than what pumpkin can do. If the cat tests negative for everything on a PCR panel (and at this point you must do PCR for 100% accuracy), i would consider IBD, which can sometimes be regulated by special diets, and sometimes not, but if its IBD and not controlled, not only is your cat losing nutrients but his eventual risk for small cell intestinal lymphoma goes way up.  I would also be weighing him weekly on a baby scale and if he's losing weight than IBD is not only a big possibility, but its at an advanced stage.  The time to get IBD under control is before it becomes severe.  Just ask my cat Simon, rest in peace.

Thank you for all the advice. Nothing has helped! I tried the chicken only diet with 2-3 tsp pumpkin/day. The frequency & volume when down, but the stool remains too soft for normal. I am going to ask the vet for Comp RealPCR feline diarrhea panel. My last kitty was treated for IBD for 1 1/2 years & ended up on Pred for 5 months, but then we found out it was lymphoma & he died. He was 13y/o but it was too soon for me, I still miss him everyday. So I do understand the seriousness of stomach issues & have never spared any time or expense on my fur babies. I was just hoping the vet was right that it was only food allergy. My last hope is that his allergy is to chicken- he has had chicken in my care every day. So while we wait for our appt & then test results I have him on all Turkey LID.... We'll see but I am losing hope that he doesn't have IBD. Luckily he is a super easy cat to pill if I might be facing a decade of that!!

Oh & he has not lost weight, in fact, he gained 3 lbs since April 26, even while having diarrhea most of that time (according to shelter notes). during his month with me he was weighed twice about 2 wks apart & was 14.04lbs exactly both times on the same scale.

would he be intolerant to bones?

I don't know. Would bones act as a type of roughage to help his digestion? I've never fed raw- that's when they eat bones right?

my German Shepherd would get the runs when I feed him bones, especially at 4 in the morning

do you feed your boy chicken necks or other food with bones in them? 

you just have to eliminate one type of food to see if he stops the runs; it could even be milk, just stop the food for 4 days then move on to the next one

I hope you find what is doing it real quick

poor boy

Wanted to update with Reilly's condition in case someone else goes searching for answers about chronic diarrhea & finds this. Reilly is doing great now, normal tootsie rolls!!! He ended up being intolerant to chicken & that's the exact food I kept giving him! Ugh. Anyway, I switched him to Natures Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Turkey (grain-free) canned and put him on 1 capsule a day (in 3 divided doses) of Jarrow+MOS S.Boulardii probiotic. I saw improvement in his stool within 2 days. I made the switch fast (with vet approval) & the first day diarrhea got worse, but on day 2 there was the first log I had ever seen sitting in the box. It took 5 days to become 100% normal stool. I am going to leave him on this diet for a few months to let his GI tract heal. I am very impressed with Instinct LID as they were the only canned food that had no gums, carrageenan, fillers, eggs, or potatoes. I picked out the whole peas & replaced them with 1 tsp of puréed pumpkin twice a day. This made the perfect food for Reilly & his litter box is not the only thing showing improvement. He has even more energy than before!!! I hope this post helps someone else who, like me, tears through the Internet looking for answers. I also want to recommend Capsuline Chicken-Flavored #3 gel caps. I fill these with the Jarrow probiotic & pill him. Unfortunately, Reilly would not eat it mixed in food once I switched to the +MOS so these caps help making pilling more comfortable.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my questions & showed concern!

lifeofreilly said:

Wanted to update with Reilly's condition in case someone else goes searching for answers about chronic diarrhea & finds this. Reilly is doing great now, normal tootsie rolls!!! He ended up being intolerant to chicken & that's the exact food I kept giving him! Ugh. Anyway, I switched him to Natures Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Turkey (grain-free) canned and put him on 1 capsule a day (in 3 divided doses) of Jarrow+MOS S.Boulardii probiotic. I saw improvement in his stool within 2 days. I made the switch fast (with vet approval) & the first day diarrhea got worse, but on day 2 there was the first log I had ever seen sitting in the box. It took 5 days to become 100% normal stool. I am going to leave him on this diet for a few months to let his GI tract heal. I am very impressed with Instinct LID as they were the only canned food that had no gums, carrageenan, fillers, eggs, or potatoes. I picked out the whole peas & replaced them with 1 tsp of puréed pumpkin twice a day. This made the perfect food for Reilly & his litter box is not the only thing showing improvement. He has even more energy than before!!! I hope this post helps someone else who, like me, tears through the Internet looking for answers. I also want to recommend Capsuline Chicken-Flavored #3 gel caps. I fill these with the Jarrow probiotic & pill him. Unfortunately, Reilly would not eat it mixed in food once I switched to the +MOS so these caps help making pilling more comfortable.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my questions & showed concern!

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Thanks for the update.   A lot of people have similar issues and your experience will help them resolve their kitty's issues.  I know I have not paid enough attention to nutrition myself so read your thread with great interest.

chicken, who would have thunk it

were there any bones in the chicken, or just meat?

chicken necks was George's favorite food, if he wanted to be fed inside, he got mince, if he wanted to be fed outside, it was chicken necks he craved; the bigger necks got a bit beaten up with a meat tenderiser.  George always had dry food to eat anytime he wanted to have a feed as it was in a bowl near my computer

it is grouse he has more energy 

beardrinksbeer said:

chicken, who would have thunk it

were there any bones in the chicken, or just meat?

chicken necks was George's favorite food, if he wanted to be fed inside, he got mince, if he wanted to be fed outside, it was chicken necks he craved; the bigger necks got a bit beaten up with a meat tenderiser.  George always had dry food to eat anytime he wanted to have a feed as it was in a bowl near my computer

it is grouse he has more energy  :hobbes:

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No bones, either it was in the dry/wet foods or it was boiled chicken from the store, but I never give any bones to Reilly.

I guess that cats can develop allergies quite easily to foods they eat every day for long periods. Chicken is in A LOT of foods, even ones that say Turkey or Duck.

I changed one other thing since my update. I added a new probiotic, Jarrow-dophilus Allergen Free. My cat was on 6 antibiotics between April and June & I realized he needed some help getting his GI flora in balance. It's really helped in just a small amount- 1/2 cap per day.

I'd say it was the boiled chicken from the store

why do I have an image of a turducken? 

my George used to love licking the container I made yogurt in, he had it more than milk

I am glad he is better