10 months old cat with soft stool since march

[melchiors]

I adopted a kitten back in march and we have been struggling with soft stools and diarrhea since then.
She has been to the vet multiples times and none of them were of any help.
I asked for some to check her anal glands, they seemed reluctanted to do it, barely looked at them and say they seemed okay.
She saw at least 5 differents vets and none helped in any way with the soft stool, like c'mon, seriously.

She only gets dry food (wet is difficult for me to get where i'm from).
We've changed kibble a couples times and she is now getting N&D from farmina, she only had the chicken flavor for kittens so far.
It has helped a lot, but she still has issues. She goes to the bathroom 2 times a day, rarely 3.
Her poops is always firm now and looks how it should, but the end is soft. 
She has medium to long hair and scoots to get it out and is a mess.

So I'm giving her sweet potatoes everyday. It helps minimizing the soft end, so she doesnt make such a mess anymore.
but even with sweet potato there ALWAYS a string on liquid poop in her butt. She usually cleans it with no problem.
But we can smell her and one or twice a week she will scoot and leave it on the floor, carpet, couch, bed.

Also sometimes i've noticed her left anal sac looks swollen for a couple minutes after she visits the litter box but it goes back to normal after a while.
should i try and express them? Not sure if i can do that to be honest.

She has been dewormed and is taking dewormer for kittens every month as precaution.
I'm thinking about changing foods again? She only had kibble with chicken as the main protein source, could that be it?

 

[cat nap]

Hello @melchiors.

Can you give your kitten a 'sanitary shave' or take her to a cat groomer, who can do it for you.

This way her medium to long fur would not catch onto her poop.

I was thinking that perhaps the 'once a month deworming meds' could be causing the soft poops at the end.

Does she need them every month, or can you switch her to something like 'Revolution' for fleas and worms,...except it does not cover tapeworms.

Ask the Vet if it's okay to go off the dewormer for a month or two, ...to see if the poops firm up, without any liquid.

The food can be causing the issue, but then you'd have to find a new protein, or one she has not tried, and also look at any of the other ingredients, to notice if anything could be causing loose end poops.

I would really start with pausing on the dewormer, first, if your Vet okays it, and then moving on to food.

This way, if you do it in steps, then you're more likely to notice what helped.

With the anal sac question, I would probably try to videotape, with your phone or camera,  anything that you are seeing, about the sac looking swollen,...in order to show the Vet.

But it's really discouraging that 5 different vets were not able to help...So here's hoping that the 6th one would be more helpful. (Wow, that is irritating.

 

)

 

[melchiors]

Hi!
She did get a sanitary shave two months ago and it helped a lot, maybe it's time for another one.
 
She only had kibble with chicken as the main protein source. I may try lamb this month, but idk. The first time she had diarrhea i stopped with her usual food and gave her nothing but cooked chicken for two/three days and she had no issues whatsoever with the chicken, it actually helped 100%. The problem was gone.

What do you think about the kibble? I'm giving the kittens chicken version. Do i upgrade to adults so she has less protein? Or go for lamb?
It seems the lamb flavor has bones and meat as the main source while the chicken uses visceras. I think the bones could help a lot.

To be honest i should start raw fedding. But i couldnt find one vet in town who would support me and i havent run the numbers yet to see if i can actually afford it.

I'll stop the dewormer and see if it helps, to be honest i can't see why she need it every month, she is a indoor cat only and never had contact with other pets ???  

Thanks!

 

[cat nap]

Hi @melchiors...that is really good to know that cooked chicken for two/three days helped her with her diarrhea.

Because she is only 10 months old, I would not upgrade yet to the adult version, with less protein.

She is still young, and growing, and still needs the added vitamin, minerals, and protein that the kitten version probably has.

Usually, we switch over to adult cat food, at about 12 months, but cats continue to grow to about 18 months, so I guess it depends upon your own thoughts about the shape your cat is in, and the food's ingredients. Compare the analysis of the ingredients, to each other, and it will be easier to decide.

As for trying out the lamb flavour versus the chicken, there would be nothing wrong with trying it out, but again, ...I would probably wait until you do one change at a time,....eg, pausing the dewormer, and seeing if anything improves,...then a month or two later, trying out different foods. Giving it 8 weeks to really see of any changes, on a new protein diet. (I think 'visceras' are called 'by-products' here, but I'm not sure.)

(Even though your cat is indoors only, she could still get fleas, and therefore your Vet probably thought it a good idea to give monthly deworming meds. Fleas can be carried inside on our shoes, and clothes, especially in warm weather. But always ask your Vet about why they prescribe things.(even if those first five vets sound a little odd, I hope you find one that can take the time to explain things. Even write a list down, and have them at least answer three or four questions.)

I was trying to find an article I read talking about the 'Waltham feline feces chart' which shows a photo of what cat poop is supposed to look like, but I cannot remember where I saw it.

So I only found this website: http://www.catdocmaine.com/catfeces.html

It did mention that swallowed cat hair could cause the 'cling on' effect, or trailing edge, but somehow your description does sound more like the anal glands might be a factor.

Just do what you are doing and keep a watchful eye, especially if she is scooting.

There can be a 'Culture and Sensitivity test' that can be done on the exudate from the sacs and sent out to detect for bacteria and infection. It's good that you notice any unusual changes.

I'm hoping that the stool firming up, will take care of this problem. But it's also strange that the Vets don't have any type of cream to apply to this area for any itchiness or discomfort your cat might feel.

There is a 'Raw and Home Cooked Cat Food' sub-forum where you'd find more info.

Also a 'Cat Nutrition' section, where more cat nutrition threads are.

And a lot of Articles that mention the various Cat Nutrition and Feeding topics. (I'm not really up to par with all the various cat nutrition topics, and can only read a little at a time. I should really get up to speed on that, too.)

I really hope that something you find, works for your cat. Good Luck. 

 

 

[melchiors]

So i think we go a solution here! I've found a wet food that works great with her and she haven't had an accident since then!
 

Not the best quality wet food, but at least the first ingredients are meat and by products (just organs tho! So I'm happy with that) and no grains.
It does have some artificial ingredients I'd prefer she wasnt eating BUT OH WELL.

She still is on dry food, but get's two meals of wet per day and is loving it.
She is eating less,is full of energy, i don't think her coat could be anymore soft and her litter box is pretty much odor free.
Wish i had tried canned food earlier!

We are going to upgrade to homemade sometime next year for sure.

 

 

[cat nap]

Excellent update! 

So it was the change in adding the wet cat food, in addition to her dry food, that made the difference.

Great to hear that you figured it out.

(I really thought the monthly dewormer was causing the problems.)

Thanks for the update. Always love it when people update, especially when things are figured out.

(maybe you can post a photo and tell us her name, when you have time. You can post it here, or in New Cats on the Block.)

 

[missmimz]

If you're looking at homemade consider using EZcomplete. I make homecooked food for my outside cats (my indoor cats eat raw) and he does excellent with it. EZcomplete is really well loved by most cats. In addition, you my want to start giving your cat both a probiotic, which will also help with those stool issues I use this one.


http://www.foodfurlife.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html