Diarrehea...?

Is there something I can give to CoCo to ease his diarrehea, so that he can have solid bowels again...come to think of it when I got him in October his bowels were never really that solid. Poor guy.

I took him to the vet, ran 2 fecals, he had roundworm(now cleared up) but his bowels are still loose....


I think I heard something about rice and chicken or somthing....but not sure....

If his diarrhea has been going on since Oct., then its been going on way too long without treatment. A negative test for other parasites besides roundworm is *not* conclusive and your vet should consider treating him presumptively for coccidia and/or giardia each of which use different meds.

Other possibilities include colitis or IBD, but usually you try and rule out parasites first throught teatment, although the specific history and nature of the diarrhea may cause your vet to go in a different direction.

A dietary change or supplement can have a powerful and positive affect on diarrhea that cannot be explained by parasite, worm, or other infection or cause, but to treat the symptoms if there is an underlying medical cause that remains untreated will not help your cat. Please see your vet or a NEW vet asap.

His diarrehea has been going on and off since oct. I am running in another fecal for testing for a more detailed testing. Coco was on Medi-Cal diossolution for his crystals and now he is on Performatrin Ultra (which I introduced slowly) Could that be the cause of the diarrehea as well??? Last night I noticed his bowel a little firmer so perhaps he is getting used to the new food???

This kitty kibble is described as Holistic Nutrition, Natural Chickeb, Whole Vegetables & Fruits, Urinary Tract Care, Herbal Supplements, Faxseed & sunflower Oil.

It also contains...

No Artificial Preservatives, Flavors or Colors
No Animal By Products or rendered Animal Fats
No Wheat or Corn By Products....

I am bringing that sample first thing tomorrow morning....

anyone know of anything I can give him to calm things down until the fecal comes back???

Did you adopt him from a shelter or rescue group? If yes, then I would treat him either for coccidia and/or giardia even with neg fecal results because a) fecal results aren't always positive, b) the chances that his problem is related to one of those two causes is high, and c) the treatment is easy, and cheap. Of course there can be other causes, but if its a shelter/rescue cat high priority has to be given to parasites despite fecal results.

Yes Coco was rescued from the Animal Services Shelter here. What is the treatment for CoCCidia/Giardia?? Where can I get it??? Will the treatment harm him, if in fact he does not have CoCCidia/Giardia??/

Coccidia is treated with a liquid called Albon, administered orally, and Giardia with an oral medication (pill or liquid) called Flagyl. Flagyl liquid is easiest because it tastes good - the pill doesn't taste good and as a result causes salivation. Both are safe even if your cat doesn't have either parasite.

Regardless, you still need a good vet to help you decide if this is the appropriate course of action. Without criticising your vet specifically, if my cat came from a shelter (where intestinal parasites are very common), and it had consistant diarrhea, i'd be treating it for one or more parasites regardless of fecal results.

Your cat has been suffering from diarrhea for *much* longer than is normal. Test results don't always produce results, and many illnesses (both in humans and animals) are often diagnosed through the process of treatment, based on odds, best guesses, and which treatments work, and which don't. Your cat needs intervention. Stop waiting for fecal results and start treating this cat. If your vet is unfamiliar with shelter cat illnesses then you may need a new vet. Also, he looks underweight based on your picture.

The picture was taken in October when I got him. As of December the 16th he weighed in at 5.2 pounds (I got him at 3 pounds) I am attending the vet's office this morning so I will be inquiring about these 2 meds and picking one or both up. Thank you for your ongoing help....I appreciate it.

I don't know anything that would help you but I just wanted to say he is BEAUTIFUL.

aww...why thank you....your bijou is quite the QT also

Tousse and Beasley both had/have and are being treated for Giardia. My doctor gave metronidazole 250mg antibacterial-antiprotozoal tablets. Each kitten gets one per day for ten days. I have noticed a change in thier stool consistency, it is still soft sometimes but not runny the way it was before they began treatment.

Unfortunately you dont always find the right vet on the first try. Vets are human beings too and have faults just like us. Its important to find a vet who loves what he/she is doing and would be doing the same exact thing if they were being paid 10 million dollars or 10 cents. It's not a easy thing to do but it is possible. I found the perfect vet, he unfortunately has recently retired but I am holding out hope his replacement will share similar qualities.

My vet is such a sweet man, practicing for 15 years and cares for and talks to coco and ginger as if they were humans. He has waived all his fees for coco until he is better. I am picking up the flagyl tonight.

Let us know what happens. You may want to treat for coccidia as well (with albon) you can do both treatments at the same time. If neither of these work then its time to look at other causes. Try for flagyl liquid (compounded with chicken flavor), the pills are yucky.

OK Im getting a littel worried now, the test came back negative for GIARDIA and COCCIDIA....what does the mean???

Why the diarrehea still...what else may it be?

Hello All,

Hope your Holidays were good. Im back again with another question. Since thursday the 23rd (I picked up Flaygl for CoCo) he has been on the meds for the diarrehea. I noticed his bowels were starting to have shape again, and then this morning he went to the litter box and it was COMPLETLY LOOSE AGAIN, and I forgot to mention that I found a little spot of diarrehea in another room this morning... He has 3 days left of the Flagyl...Is there still a chance of it getting better ???

What Is going on? What could I be doing wrong? Right now he is eating Performatrin Ultra which has no artifical preservatives, Flavors or Colors, no naimal by products or rendered animal fats, no wheat or corn by products. It contains natural chicken, whole veggies and fruits, helps urinary tract care, contains herbal supplements, flaxseed and sunflower oil.

He gets tons of fresh water.

He also gets a tablespoon of solid gold wet(with his pill mashed and mixed into it)

I dont know what to do anymore....

We can all offer advice but none of it is a substitute for a vet who does a thorough work up and who is able to work closely with you and your cat.

Negative tests for giardia and coccidia are not a guarantee that the cat is parasite-free. Personally I would also be treating him with Albon (for coccidia) simply because if you play the odds, his problem is either related to one of the above mentioned diarrheas, and you've only been treating him for one of them (if I've read your posts correctly). A common schedule of coccidia treatment is one week on albon, one week off, one week on, but vets use different schedules. Bare in mind that *if* it is coccidia, and it is not treated, it could kill your kitten. I have seen this happen. I'm not trying to scare you, but I want you to be aware of the issues.


Other possible causes could be some form of colitis, or IBD (Inflammatory bowel disease) but I honestly don't know if your kitten is old enough to possibly have either of those.

Since this is a shelter cat, the chances of it being a parasite are high. From what I've read, you have never treated the kitten for coccidia. Is this true? In my opinion, a shelter cat with undiagnosed diarrhea that is not responding to other treatments should be on Albon for coccidia if for no other reason than to rule coccidia out as a cause. I don't want to criticize your vet, but if you haven't treated with Albon yet, and there is no diagnosis, then there is no justification for your cat not getting Albon. The odds of it being coccidia are too high to ignore, fecal results not withstanding (and not hugely relevant). This isn't rocket science. Shelter kittens with diarrhea are 95% (99%?) likely to have either worms, coccidia or giardia, and if you have only treated for giardia, then you're not treating for the other, overwhelmingly likely cause (coccidoa). I'm assuming he was de-wormed, right??

There is no downside to treating the cat for coccidia. Albon is completely safe, not very expensive, easy to administer, and doesn't taste bad.

If you have treated with Albon (yellow liquid by the way) then its a different ball game, but again i'm assuming you haven't based on your previous posts.

My cat had bowl problems for a year before my vet put him on Tylan powder, which I believe can cure IBS for cats. I put a tiny pinch in his food every day. I didn't want invasive surgery on my cat so we treated the symptoms experimentally and the Tylan power worked wonderfully. Please ask your vet about it, unless your cat is already better! I had tried everything before that (I rescued my cat from the CACC). Rice, sweet potato, new food....the new food helped to some degree...w/d food. But the tylan works best.

Thank you for your response, I will mention that to the vet when he gets back from holidays. I recently switched to Performatrin Ultra which is a holistic formula. CoCo is on the Chicken & Brown Rice formula (which contains the sweet potato, rcie, and many many other wholesome, and all natural foods)

I noticed last night that he stool is starting to have some form...still loose but not liquid like it was...

I'm going to wait until friday and see if it gets better.

hey there,
when cats have bowl problems the food has to be "clean", i.e., not much in it except the meat. the less in it the better. my cat was eating a lamb concoction. sea food is not good, and chicken is sometimes not so great. the more pure the better. mostly my cat was eating eukanuba lb, then switched to W/D, both of which are very clean foods with not much else in them but the base meat. all the holistics ones i tried were too rich and so in the end, i went with what my vet recommended. i dealt with this for a year! they never quite diagnosed it, but then the tylan powder worked when nothing else did. my cat had liqued stool for ages. and flatuence etc. now it is normal! of course, now he has just been diagnosed with chronic kidney failure so it all made sense.
sometimes with my cat he would have two weeks normal, two weeks not normal, but now it is consistent.

w/d?