Smelly diarrhea, want to solve this...

We got her from a stray rescue organization and it has been 3 months now of constant diarrhea that smells horrible. She has had 2 fecal tests and one float test that has come back negative. She has been on Amoxicillin twice, once for a lump on her neck and another after her spay for precautionary URI symptoms. During her spay we had a biopsy done and it came back with mild inflammatory intestinal disease. What they recommend to us now is to put her on SD Sensitive Stomach for a couple weeks to see how she does. She currently has been on Natural balance Venison and Pea for about 4 weeks now with no luck.

She has diarrhea about 4 to 9 times per day with it being more like 8 times and it smells horrible. Other than this she seems like a normal healthy cat, she eats and drinks a ton. I would just like to get this resolved and was wondering if what the vet suggests next seems like the right thing to do. Thanks. Ryan.

Here is the previous thread I posted when she had the lump on her neck:
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ighlight=lymph

IBD can be an extremely frustrating problem to deal with. There really isn't a cure only finding a way to control it. You can try adding probiotics to his food to increase the amount of good bacteria in the gut. A lot of IBD cats do better on canned than wet and grains tend to make the problem worse. Some cats do well on on a small maintenance dose of a steroid. As far as an antibiotic to treat flare-ups, flagyl tends to do a better job. It also kills some parasites and has a mild anti-inflammatory effect. Some cats do really well on a raw diet. Is your vet working with you to find a way to control it? If not you might want to look into going to a feline specialist or possibly a holistic vet.

Well that sounds like good advice. Is there a good canned food that you would recommend? The vet at this point wants to try the SD sensitive stomach food for a couple weeks and if that doesn't work they want to take the next step, whatever that might be. My girlfriend's mom had success with her kitten that had diarrhea using Purina Veterinary Diets EN food.

I guess I want to be diligent at figuring this out. I will give the vet a chance to see how they handle this but I would like to give my input to them on what you guys suggest as well. Thanks.

I would buy some GSE (Grapefruit seed extract) the liquid. It is quite bitter, but start putting a few drops in wet food and same in the water. I would also invest in a pet fountain, because constant diarrhea means massive loss of electrolytes and other essential minerals. Run a mixture of bottled water and pedialyte and GSE together through the fountain for your cat.

Originally Posted by hissy

I would buy some GSE (Grapefruit seed extract) the liquid. It is quite bitter, but start putting a few drops in wet food and same in the water. I would also invest in a pet fountain, because constant diarrhea means massive loss of electrolytes and other essential minerals. Run a mixture of bottled water and pedialyte and GSE together through the fountain for your cat.

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I bought a pet fountain for her and put her old water dish in the living room to make sure that she gets lots of water. If I put GSE and pedialyte in her water is it going to be ok for my other cat?

Originally Posted by kulboy

We got her from a stray rescue organization and it has been 3 months now of constant diarrhea that smells horrible. She has had 2 fecal tests and one float test that has come back negative. She has been on Amoxicillin twice, once for a lump on her neck and another after her spay for precautionary URI symptoms. During her spay we had a biopsy done and it came back with mild inflammatory intestinal disease. What they recommend to us now is to put her on SD Sensitive Stomach for a couple weeks to see how she does. She currently has been on Natural balance Venison and Pea for about 4 weeks now with no luck.

She has diarrhea about 4 to 9 times per day with it being more like 8 times and it smells horrible. Other than this she seems like a normal healthy cat, she eats and drinks a ton. I would just like to get this resolved and was wondering if what the vet suggests next seems like the right thing to do. Thanks. Ryan.

Here is the previous thread I posted when she had the lump on her neck:
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ighlight=lymph

Click to expand...

1. Remove ALL dry food from the diet.
2. Remove any food with grains. This is the most important...as no cat can process grains but it really, really kills the IBD kitties. The only kind of food my IBD cat can tolerate is Wellness Chicken. If you can and your kitty will go for it, consider trying a grain-free raw diet. Unfortunately, some kitties never adapt to it and there are a lot of circumstances that make this impossible for people to keep up with. Wellness is the only grain-free, by-product free food that I personally am aware of.
3. Use a lactose-free, hypoallergenic probiotic such as Power-dophilus, which can be purchased at vitamin stores in the food. About 4 billion live cells should do it for an average sized cat.
4. Have the cat's cobalamin levels tested. IBD cats are frequently not even on the chart. They'd do cobalamin injections, if my memory serves me correctly, once a week for 2 weeks, once ever other week for 2 months and then once a month as needed for maintenence.
5. Try to avoid the use of steroids to treat the issue. Pred will certainly alleviate symptoms, but will do very little to actually aid in the recovery of the cat's bodily systems.
6. If you are prescribed an anti-biotic by your vet it is IMPERATIVE that you use a probiotic the ENTIRE time the cat is on the a-biotic.

I have been doing alot of research and I agree that Wellness sounds like the way to go. As far as all the other suggestions it is pretty overwhelming because I am just learning about IBD. I feel like the first step is to get her on the right food and go from there. I am a little nervous about doing anything else that the vet hasn't told me is ok, although I somewhat question their knowledge. I also have the issue that I have been free feeding my 2 cats and will have to deal with that.

When I switch over to the canned are there any suggestions on that? How often will I feed them and how often will I give her the probiotic?

You guys have no idea how much I appreciate all the advice. I hope I can absorb all of this and make the correct decisions.

I have the same problem with my cat. I had been free-feeding dry and I have had a problem with getting him to eat wet. He will eat a small amount of a wet food for a couple of days than quit. Fortunately any poultry based wet food that is grain free seems to agree with him. I just got some of the Wellness chicken and turkey varieties and will try frequent rotation with the Innova EVO wet. I give him a small amount three times a day but unfortunately he isn't completely off dry. I am still giving him Innova EVO dry which has been linked to possible kidney problems so I am hoping to get him completely off the dry. I have been using Geneflora for pets. It is a little expensive unfortunately. I have a pet store close by that carries a lot of homeopatic remedies so it is easy for me to find. I believe it can be ordered on line at cycles-of-life.com. I don't really know if that is the best choice. The dose for a pet weighing up to twenty pounds is one level scoop a day and it can be doubled the first week and for the first two weeks with a vet's approval. It is supposed to be used for at least two monthes to get the full benefit

I am excited to try this Wellness and see how it works. I know that it is not going to be easy switching them but I am willing to put in the time and effort to make this work. Thanks for the help and the idea for Geneflora.

Life around the house is good again. Thanks to the advice from lionessrampant I tried the Wellness Chicken and the Power-Dophilus. After months of her having diarrhea and going 4 to 9 times per day it only took 1 day for her to have a solid stool. I have never been so excited to see poop in my life.

I think that if I would have went the vet route that it would have been expensive testing and treatment and possible side effects. I am so ubelievable happy for Cassie, she is doing so good. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this is a permanent fix. Thanks to everyone. Ryan.

I am glad to know that you kitty is doing better.
Where did you get your Wellness Chicken?

Is this the formula that you used.
I wonder why it works for IBD kitties?
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Wellness Chicken Formula Cat Food
Made with the high-quality human grade ingredients that make this food superior in nutrition and taste-appeal. Includes chicken, chicken liver, turkey, chicken broth, sweet potatoes, carrots, alfalfa, yellow zucchini, and more. A food that’s truly fit for a royal kitty! A great source of protein, fiber, fats, vitamins and minerals. No by-products used.

Originally Posted by kulboy

After months of her having diarrhea and going 4 to 9 times per day it only took 1 day for her to have a solid stool. I have never been so excited to see poop in my life.

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Yup, this is what cats do to you.

Just read this thread - glad she's feeling better, good luck to both of you!