Diarrhea - What could be causing it?

My boyfriend's cat has had diarrhea for about two days now. I am stumped as to what might be causing it. The kitty's rear end is getting red and irritated from the litterbox visits and constant cleaning...poor guy.

He is acting normal. He is still playing as much as he always does. He is drinking water just fine too. He might not be eating quite as much dry food as he normally does...his food is the same as he's been eating.

With it being the the weekend, followed by the holiday on Monday, the earliest we could get him into the vet would be on Tuesday. Is there anything we could feed him to help relieve his diarrhea? What could be causing it?

When they have diarrhea they should see a vet. If the cat dehydrates it could die- sorry but it could, depending on how quickly the fluid is being lost. You can do the pinch test by gently pinching the scruff of the neck while the cat is on the floor- release the skin and see if it stays tented up- if it does, the cat needs a vet immediately, If the skin goes down in seconds it should be okay till after the holiday. Cook up some plain rice for the cat and feed the rice mixed with a canned food the cat is used to. Diarrhea can have lots of causes, changes in food, health issues, stress, parasites, infectious diseases- no one but a vet can tell you what is going on with this cat.

Well not to scare you but we bought a kitten (garfield) from a pet store about 2 months ago and when we got him home he was pooping very loose stool with blood. He was diagnosed with very bad COCCIDIA. Which is an intestinal parasite.

Everyone told me that with COCCIDIA he should have been very tired with no energy. But it was actually just the opposite. He aways ate well and drank well. The blood and waterylike stool was his only symptoms.

How long have you had your kitty?
If not long .. where did you get him/her?

You definately want to feed him a "bland" diet until you can get him to the vet. I would stay away from canned cat food for now. One thing that works great for sick cats/dogs is meat flavored baby food. You can also use either boiled hamburger or chicken mixed with equal parts of cooked white rice. Pets always seem to get sick at the most inconvenient time (holiday weekend)! I would call your vet first thing Tuesday morning for an appointment. If they are so booked that they can't see him that day I would ask if it would be okay to drop off a stool sample to be checked. If the stool sample is positive for parasites they will dispense the meds and you probably won't even have to take him in (we do that for people at the veterinary clinic where I work--as long as we have seen the pet before). There are several intestinal parasites that can cause diarrhea (Roundworms, Whipworms, Hookworms, Coccidia, Giardia, etc.) One of my cats once had mucousy, bloody diarrhea so I rushed her to the vet thinking she was dying. I had gotten her from the local animal shelter when she was about 3 months old and she hadn't been outside since I got her (several months). Since she had been de wormed twice right after I got her (and never showed any further symptoms of worms) it never even crossed my mind that she might have worms. The stool sample turned out to be positive for roundworms though. My vet said it looked like she also had "Colitis" (which I believe comes from the frequent straining caused by the diarrhea). She gave us a dewormer for the roundworms and an antibiotic for the Colitis. I was really shocked that my indoor only cat had roundworms! My vet said that most kittens/puppies are either born with roundworms or get them from nursing . The roundworms can become "encysted" in their bodies and when they are sick (or stressed) can flair up again at any time throughout their lives. Before she told me that I had no idea that indoor only cats could still get worms!

Thanks for the info. I did get him to eat some white rice mixed with chicken tonight. Hopefully that will help him out.