Chronic Diarrhea in our 6 month persian

Hi all,

We've obtained our second Persian through a very reputable and registered breeder. 

She was being feed two different types of dry food when she was with the breeder. When we obtained her, we were only able to find one dry food, but not the other. So we feed her just the one that was available, and that's when we noticed she developed diarrhea.

That was about 2 months ago, and it's been diarrhea "mostly" ever sense. We've been in close contact with the vet, and I'm nearing my wits end because showering the cat and scrubbing the floors litter boxes is becoming tedious. Stool spells will cause her to poop up to three times a day, if not more.

What we've done:

1) Stool sample. Came back clear.

2) Wet GI food. Seems to help, but it's very hard for her to eat wet food. Either way, wet GI food is what she primarily gets feed. We had to make a switch from the Hills GI food diet because they changed the formula and the texture is plasticy. We now feed her the Purina Pro Plan EN stuff.

3) Dry GI food. As "treats", she gets feed about 10 small pellets of Purina EN GI hard food a day, three times a day after each meal.

4) Assure that when the other cat eats her dry food, that the floor is clean of any residual food. 

5) Probiotics mostly for the past two months administered twice a day. I think we took a two week break when we ran out. I've personally never seen any effects from pro-biotics.

6) Tried mixing in canned pumpkin. Little to no effect.

I made another call to the vet and will see what the next step is. Her activity levels are mostly good, but you can tell she's in discomfort.

My cat also had chronic diarrhea ever since i adopted him at 5 months. I took him to the vet and tried every home remedy but the only thing that worked is raw food.

kittyluv387 said:

My cat also had chronic diarrhea ever since i adopted him at 5 months. I took him to the vet and tried every home remedy but the only thing that worked is raw food.

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I tried switching our persian boy over to wet food from dry but had a lot of trouble with diarrhea.  Long story short, we tried freeze dried raw and it's been working really well.  He still gets some dry but good news is he loves the raw.  

This is our 3rd persian but not all at the same time.  We only have 1 persian now, the other 2 have since gone to the bridge.  In our personal experience we've found that persians can have a sensitive stomach, not saying this is true for everyone just what we've noticed with our guys.  Just out of curiosity, is your vet very familiar with the persian breed?  

Neely said:

I tried switching our persian boy over to wet food from dry but had a lot of trouble with diarrhea.  Long story short, we tried freeze dried raw and it's been working really well.  He still gets some dry but good news is he loves the raw.  

This is our 3rd persian but not all at the same time.  We only have 1 persian now, the other 2 have since gone to the bridge.  In our personal experience we've found that persians can have a sensitive stomach, not saying this is true for everyone just what we've noticed with our guys.  Just out of curiosity, is your vet very familiar with the persian breed?  

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Im not sure if they are familiar with the persion breed. I actually went ahead with the raw on my own against my old vets advice. Hes an old school vet and very pro super market brands. I do recall reading a story online about a cat who only got healthy after eating raw and it was a persian. Some cats just cant stomach processed foods.

Ask the vet to run the PCR Diarrhea panel. It tests for some parasites not found in a fecal float and for some other things.

Hi all,

Sorry for not having an update.

The vet prescribed Zeniquin. She's been on this for 2 days now. Diarrhea is still as bad as its been. 

I think the idea is that she may have bacteria overgrowth in her stomach, so this should help kill all that off. 

I'm not sure what the next step is going to be if this doesn't work. We leave on an international trip in about 6 days, so if this is still continuing we may board her at the vet for about a week.

Since you will be going out of town soon if your kitten is not any better could you get a 2nd opinion in the next day or two, preferably with a vet who is familiar with the persian breed?  Do you know if your vet ran the PCR diarrhea panel stephanietx suggested?

I will definitely find out. 

My receipts show that it was an in house "Fecal Intestinal Parasite Exam", which was $43. So that's probably not enough information to know which one it was?

The cat was at her worst last night after 3 days on the anti-biotics. It was a continuous poop run, non-stop. Constantly meowing and licking her butt. We'd follow her to one place, then start cleaning it up (including the floor). While we were doing that, she would already be at the other litter location. it went back and fourth like this for 45 minutes. We already have to throw away a really cool litter box entry matt that we got because she exploded all over it.

I called my vet last night and left a voice message as this was going on.

Side effect of Zeniquin is....diarrhea. 

I'd be getting concerned about dehydration if she was going from one litter pan to another, not even allowing you time to clean.  Is there another vet in your area you can go to?

I just saw this thread....wanted to add I had a pedigreed Persian in the 90's (sadly lost him in our house fire in 94) and he had severe diarrhea anytime I fed him cat food, any cat food.  Back then I had never heard of raw food diets or anything, but I just started cooking his food at home and the diarrhea quit.  He ate pretty much whatever we were having for dinner, only his meat was boiled and plain.  It stopped his diarrhea, and he ate cooked vegetables quite often as well with no resulting diarrhea.  I wouldn't do this in this day and age, but wanted to let you know that he was intolerant of any processed cat foods.

Thanks hbunny. It's better for a cat to eat human food than it is for them to eat something that makes them explode all the time.

My vet should be calling today based on my frantic message I left her yesterday. I will ask them about the fecal test that they ran, and I will also bring up about trying raw food to see what they say.

I have already started thinking about calling a second vet on getting another opinion. 

My current vet is considered the best in the area, and probably the most expensive, too. They are a cat-only vet. Super clean, super awesome place. Even with that said, I still would have expected my cat to have been resolved of this issue months ago. 

Haven't heard from the vet yet. I'm still expecting them to call today.

The kitten (who is 6 months old now) is doing better this morning. Still has liquid poops, but not as often as it was yesterday night. Still requires a butt cleaning. She doesn't seem to be in pain as much today (no meowing).

We're concerned if we should keep giving her Zeniquin.

I know when I had my Mousie (his actual name was RJ's Blue Mojo--we loved him so much!) my vet never could come up with a cause for his diarrhea, even after a ton of $$ spent on testing.  They thought IBS, all sorts of things.  At that time in my life, I honestly just didn't have the $$ to go back to the vet so I basically just put him on a very bland diet, and lo and behold, it worked.  I remember I fed him boiled chicken, boiled pork chops, gave him the broth cooked off of it too, and gave him some baked fish...basically whatever we were having, he had some, I just cooked his separately from our dinner and would put it in the fridge so I could portion it out over a few meals.  I also cooked him plain green beans, he ate spinach, carrots, broccoli, squash, zucchini, and sweet potatoes--I remember he loved sweet potatoes mashed up!  We grew a garden every year back then and he ate lots of squash and cooked pumpkin.  And he thrived on it! 

I don't think I would go that route now, I would probably go raw, but back then I just knew bland=good for stomach, so I went with it.  And it worked.  I slowly worked in the veggies, but mainly it wasn't me giving them to him--he would steal them, he liked veggies so much.  That was when I started making them for him too, with no seasoning, just steamed or boiled on the stovetop.  A friend of mine who was a vet tech told me what I could and couldn't feed him and told me just don't put any seasoning in it.

I don't have much experience with Zeniquin, but Wurp took it one time for a week because he had an irritated spot on his tail that I assume was infected (they said it was an antibiotic).  It gave him the watery diarrhea--I mean to the point of incontinence, like drippy poo when I picked him up.  My vet took him off of it immediately.  I'd definitely be grilling the vet or vet tech for answers and further testing!

Sorry to write an essay.  Mouse was and forever will be a special baby in our memories.  I got him the same day that I had my long time Puddy euthanized, and I was out of town, and couldn't bear the thought of going home to an empty house.  I went to the old Mall of Memphis to the pet store and bought him for $500.  Back in 1993 that was a ton of money, and he wasn't even a Persian that I think a breeder would sell, he didn't even look Persian, even though I got a pedigree.  He didn't have the classic Persian face.  But I went in and they let me go in a room of kittens, and he literally climbed me and I fell in love.  That little boy got me through my grief...and then sadly he passed of smoke inhalation almost 3 years later.

I'll stop reminiscing now, but just want to add---he was my one and only Persian and he definitely had a different constitution and limits to what his system could handle than any of the other cats I have had.  I have a friend who has always had Siamese, and she claims they are different than other cats as well.  So maybe there is something to it!!!  But then again, I think my cats now are pretty special little critters, they have their own "things" too.  I'm not recommending a particular diet, but just letting you know his system limits were "different"...your baby's may be too.

Please update when you hear.  I have a big soft smushy spot for Persians!

Thanks for the fantastic response. I will definitely keep you guys updated. Maybe I'll post a picture later of my Persians. I'm sure you guys would love them. 

I wonder how GI food compares to a bland diet such as boiled/baked meats without any seasoning/etc. Is a bland diet actually even better for a cat's stomach than GI food?

I would guess yes, being that GI food is still processed stuff.

Don't know.  I know that our lady that went to the bridge last summer at age 18 was on the GI diet and the Hill's A/D for really sick kitties for a long time.  She seemed to gain weight on it.  As to it being better, I don't know.  But it was a necessary evil at the time since it was all we could get her to eat at all.

I think raw is great...but I just can't do it.  And not that I'm squeamish or anything, I don't mind doing it at all, I gave mine some raw chicken bits last night and cut up a chicken heart (note to self---they explode in the microwave if you try to warm it up even for a few seconds)

Our schedules keep us running so much that the one week I tried going raw with them, I never could get organized well enough to know what was in date, recently thawed, or what.  We just can't get our crap together lately, hubby is doing an odd schedule, and my job is extremely hectic and demanding.  I know if that unopened can is sitting there, it is still good to feed as long as it's in date.  I had someone really condemn me elsewhere for not being raw---don't be guilted into raw by anyone if that isn't for you.  Some really wise folks on here assured me otherwise and to do the best you can.  Mine are eating Fancy Feast and Friskies classic pates (the non-fishy ones) and Royal Canin dry as snacks in between meals. One is elderly and a picky eater, and will go on hunger fasts if it isn't what he wants, so I cave and give him fishy flavor every so often, and some folks would flip over that.  I would love to go raw with them, but until our lives slow down a bit and there are some job changes, we just can't swing it.  It added so much stress in our household it wasn't worth it.

Again, sorry for the ramble.....but I really think your babe needs more testing to rule out other things before too many decisions on how to handle it are made.  I'd specifically ask for the PCR diarrhea panel, like stephanietx mentioned.

I haven't read through all the comments, but since you ruled out a medical issue this is likely related to food. IBD, or a sensitivity. Good quality probiotics work, but rarely do "pet" ones work, which are the ones most vet's prescribe. I'd recommend you put him on a good quality wet or raw food, or homecooked, and start s boudorii, which is a type of probiotic that's used to treat diarrhea. 

Here's more info. 

http://www.foodfurlife.com/my-cat-has-diarrhea---what-do-i-do.html

Just got off the phone with the vet. She's definetly researching with her colleagues. She's mentioned all the things everyone else has. She's wanting to take it one step at a time. I mentioned a PCR Panel. She already knew that was one of the next options. She's mentioned raw food diets, etc. she recommended keeping on the antibiotics and pro bioticis until Monday. If no improvment, she mentioned horse dewormer. Then a PCR panel. She's very committed to helping our cat which is fantastic. It reassured me that we're in good hands. She said there's frustration for everyone involved, but reaffirmed that it will be fixed. She's already consulted with her colleagues, including top professionals in the field. I think this will get resolved, in time. We will keep you all informed.

The news from your vet is reassuring, it must have made you feel relieved to know that she is committed to finding an answer for your kitten.  

I completely agree with hbunny about persians having a sensitive stomach.  This is our 3rd persian and we have noticed that each one has had one or another type of sensitivity issue. I know this is going to sound strange to some people but all 3 persians were susceptible to changes in the weather.  I don't think this is true of all the members on TCS who have a persian though.  With our present persian, Carleton, I had tried different brands and rotations of canned food but it gave him very loose poops.  I am in the process of switching him to raw, he still gets some dry but absolutely loves the freeze dried raw and so far we haven't had any problems with diarrhea.  Best of luck with your kitten, please keep us updated on his progress.

It's the young Calico on the left that is having issues.

I don't know anything about your breed, but when my cat had diarrhea my vet put him on an only chicken diet for 10 days. I would feed him 1 chicken breast(1/2 in am 1/2 at night). Boneless skinless chicken breast I boiled, reserved some of the broth to moisten after cutting up in bowl. Have you tried this?