Cat being having diarrhea for 3 days now? Switched to new food to quick?

[SeanS]

Hello,

So I had my cat mostly on wet and a little dry. Recently I switched to a new dry food, Rawz chicken/turkey dry food, and she is mostly eating that a smaller amount of wet. She is eating it fine.

Before I switched her to that, she was having constipation where it took her 3 days to pass stool. The vet recommended mirzpatine. Being using that, but my cat still took 3 days to pass stool. So three days ago, instead of the normal 1/8th teaspoon, I accidentally gave her 1/4 teaspoon. This was also the point where I switched her to the new dry food.

The day after, and the last three days, she is having very wet stool, it's pretty close to diarrhea, if not just straight up diarrhea. She is having this wet/diarrhea stool multiple times, 4-5 times a day.

I did switch her to the dry food pretty much instantly, and I'm not sure if the Mirzpatine had anything to do with it, but I stopped giving it to her. Everything else with her seems normal.

What should I do? Do you think her stool will harden soon?

 

[fionasmom]

If you are using liquid mirtazapine, 1/4 teaspoon should be equivalent to 1.25 mg which is well under the dosage of the med that caused major side effects.
Mirtazapine in cats: How much is too much?
Mirtazapine and constipation

Everything You Need To Know About Constipation In Cats – TheCatSite Articles
Diarrhea in Cats
My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do?

The vet gave you mirtazapine for constipation or for something else? I have always heard that it makes constipation worse. However, if you read the second link which is from TCS several years ago, it seems that someone had your experience with it.

Given that this is now a little convoluted....you were given mirtaz for constipation, the cat now has raging diarrhea which seems as if it did conquer the constipation; the question of continuing it should be addressed to your vet along with the fact that your cat now does have diarrhea. Loose watery stool for about 3 times a day constitutes diarrhea, so it might not make that much difference if it is truly runny or not.

Yes, the food switch could play a big part in this. If the diarrhea subsides and she returns to normal, you still need to call the vet and discuss all of this. If the diarrhea continues, it has to be treated by the vet.

 

[SeanS]

If you are using liquid mirtazapine, 1/4 teaspoon should be equivalent to 1.25 mg which is well under the dosage of the med that caused major side effects.
Mirtazapine in cats: How much is too much?
Mirtazapine and constipation

Everything You Need To Know About Constipation In Cats – TheCatSite Articles
Diarrhea in Cats
My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do?

The vet gave you mirtazapine for constipation or for something else? I have always heard that it makes constipation worse. However, if you read the second link which is from TCS several years ago, it seems that someone had your experience with it.

Given that this is now a little convoluted....you were given mirtaz for constipation, the cat now has raging diarrhea which seems as if it did conquer the constipation; the question of continuing it should be addressed to your vet along with the fact that your cat now does have diarrhea. Loose watery stool for about 3 times a day constitutes diarrhea, so it might not make that much difference if it is truly runny or not.

Yes, the food switch could play a big part in this. If the diarrhea subsides and she returns to normal, you still need to call the vet and discuss all of this. If the diarrhea continues, it has to be treated by the vet.

Technically I just bought the Mirtazapine at my local shop rite, the vet just recommended I do that.

I stopped the Mirtazapine three days ago.

If my cat is healthy, and it was just a food change, at what point do you think I should be worried if her stool doesn't return to normal?

I did ask my vet yesterday on the phone, and she recommended fortiflora. I bought some from my vet, but when I returned I read that it wasn't that helpful?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Do you mean Miralax versus Mirtazapine? I"m thinking so. Miralax is for constipation, the other is for loss of appetite and is prescription only. I give one of my cats 1/4 teaspoon of Miralax TWICE a day to prevent constipation, so I doubt that 1/4 once would cause so much issue. I really do think it's the change in dry food.

I would recommend you go back to his old food and VERY SLOWLY introduce the new food. Rawz is an excellent food, however, it is high protein and if she isn't used to that, I can see how it could cause tummy issues. Start with maybe 10% of the new food mixed into 90% of her old food and see how she does for a few days. If there are no digestive issues, then increase to 25% new food to 75% old food. Do that for several more days and see how she does. Again, if no digestive issues, then proceed to 75% new food mixed with 25% old food and monitor for several day. If still no issues, then it's ok to give her 100% new food. I'm talking just the dry food here. It should be ok to continue feeding her wet food as before, as long as you didn't change that too. If you did, then switch it as above too.

As far as the FortiFlora, it really helps mine when they get diarrhea from taking antibiotics. Use one full packet each day. I split it up between morning and evening, but you don't have to do it that way if you don't want to. You can also just feed poached boneless chicken breast for a few days (no spices at all) to give her intestines a break. Then start up slowly introducing the new food.

 

[LTS3]

Technically I just bought the Mirtazapine at my local shop rite, the vet just recommended I do that.

Wait.. what?? Mirtazapine is a prescription medication typically used to treat inappetance in cats. It doesn't help with constipation. I suggest double checking the medicine you bought with what the vet recommended.

FortiFlora is pretty useless as a probiotic to help with diarrhea. S. boulardii is better for diarrhea. There is info here on how to use it: Prebiotics & Probiotics for Cats: Healing Inflammation and gut dysbiosis

 

[SeanS]

Wait.. what?? Mirtazapine is a prescription medication typically used to treat inappetance in cats. It doesn't help with constipation. I suggest double checking the medicine you bought with what the vet recommended.

FortiFlora is pretty useless as a probiotic to help with diarrhea. S. boulardii is better for diarrhea. There is info here on how to use it: Prebiotics & Probiotics for Cats: Healing Inflammation and gut dysbiosis

Hello,

Okay I'm so sorry. I mixed up the two. I bought Miralax to help with the constipation. Sorry about this.

 

[SeanS]

Do you mean Miralax versus Mirtazapine? I"m thinking so. Miralax is for constipation, the other is for loss of appetite and is prescription only. I give one of my cats 1/4 teaspoon of Miralax TWICE a day to prevent constipation, so I doubt that 1/4 once would cause so much issue. I really do think it's the change in dry food.

I would recommend you go back to his old food and VERY SLOWLY introduce the new food. Rawz is an excellent food, however, it is high protein and if she isn't used to that, I can see how it could cause tummy issues. Start with maybe 10% of the new food mixed into 90% of her old food and see how she does for a few days. If there are no digestive issues, then increase to 25% new food to 75% old food. Do that for several more days and see how she does. Again, if no digestive issues, then proceed to 75% new food mixed with 25% old food and monitor for several day. If still no issues, then it's ok to give her 100% new food. I'm talking just the dry food here. It should be ok to continue feeding her wet food as before, as long as you didn't change that too. If you did, then switch it as above too.

As far as the FortiFlora, it really helps mine when they get diarrhea from taking antibiotics. Use one full packet each day. I split it up between morning and evening, but you don't have to do it that way if you don't want to. You can also just feed poached boneless chicken breast for a few days (no spices at all) to give her intestines a break. Then start up slowly introducing the new food.

Yes sorry, it's Miralax. Very sorry for my mistake here.

The thing is, she was eating mostly wet food, and now is eating this dry food. And she doesn't really want to eat the dry food anymore. I heard Rawz is one of the better dry, so I'm feeding her that. She likes it a lot. But I don't want her to have dirrahea several times a day. So I really don't have any option for her to go back to since she won't eat her old wet food anymore.

 

[SeanS]

So I read pumpkin works pretty well. I bought this a few weeks ago just to have on hand. Basically powder that will turn hard when you mix it with water.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PMFF7FW/?tag=thecatsite

Thing is she doesn't lick or want to eat this. Would it work if I sprinkled it on some wet food, or I mixed it with a cat wet treat?

 

[LTS3]

That pumpkin product won't hurt. A can of 100% pumpkin puree (not pie filling) from the supermarket will work just as well and costs way less. Just portion out the can and freeze for later use.

Cats don't need dry food in their diet. Canned food is just fine.

 

[SeanS]

That pumpkin product won't hurt. A can of 100% pumpkin puree (not pie filling) from the supermarket will work just as well and costs way less. Just portion out the can and freeze for later use.

Cats don't need dry food in their diet. Canned food is just fine.

Thing is she doesn't want to eat the pumpkin?

Also she doesn't really want to eat the wet food, and is already close to underweight.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Try the S. Boulardi as mentioned above, and if she doesn't eat pumpkin, that's not so unusual, not all cats do.

Rawz makes wet food too. Maybe she'd like that. Or maybe you could crush up the Rawz dry food and sprinkle a little of it on other wet food that she used to enjoy.

 

[SeanS]

Try the S. Boulardi as mentioned above, and if she doesn't eat pumpkin, that's not so unusual, not all cats do.

Rawz makes wet food too. Maybe she'd like that. Or maybe you could crush up the Rawz dry food and sprinkle a little of it on other wet food that she used to enjoy.

Sorry for the late response. I ended up having to force feed pumpkin mixed with water down her throat with syringe. She didn't like that, but after 2.5 days her stool hardened up, and she is totally fine now.

I've tried rawz wet food, and she isn't a fan. What do people here think about weruva? I heard that is good quality? But not sure.

 

[fionasmom]

I have used various Weruva foods over the years. It was BFF that allowed Fiona to take her thyroid pill for several years and the current bunch like Cats in the Kitchen.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Weruva is an ok food. If you have access to Petco, Soulistic is their house brand and is basically Weruva with a different label. I converted my guys to wet from dry on Soulistic.

I guess it all depends on what you are looking for in wet food. AND what your girl will eat . Weruva and Soulistic (and BFF) don't use wheat or corn or soy, so that's a plus in my book, although they do use Tapioca starch in some of their foods, so the carbs in certain of their lines are higher than I like, but again, it's all in what you are looking for. The best food is what your cat will eat.

 

[LTS3]

Weruva is an ok food. If you have access to Petco, Soulistic is their house brand and is basically Weruva with a different label. I converted my guys to wet from dry on Soulistic.

Soulistic is made by the same company that makes Weruva Soulistic is basically the cheaper version of Weruva. The varieties are nearly the exact same as Weruva, just different names and slightly different ingredients (Weruva's Paw Lickin Chicken is Soulistic's Good Karma)

Both Weruva and Soulistic have an awful lot of foods that contain seafood. Even a food with chicken may contain some kind of seafood. Too much seafood isn't good for cats. Read the labels. The occasional meal that contains seafood, even a meat / seafood mix, is ok.

Browse Weruva Cat Brands

Weruva cat foods are crafted using the finest, high-quality ingredients, and offer a lip-smacking variety of flavors and textures to please even the fussiest of felines

weruva.com

Soulistic Pet

www.soulisticpet.com

 

[SeanS]

Soulistic is made by the same company that makes Weruva Soulistic is basically the cheaper version of Weruva. The varieties are nearly the exact same as Weruva, just different names and slightly different ingredients (Weruva's Paw Lickin Chicken is Soulistic's Good Karma)

Both Weruva and Soulistic have an awful lot of foods that contain seafood. Even a food with chicken may contain some kind of seafood. Too much seafood isn't good for cats. Read the labels. The occasional meal that contains seafood, even a meat / seafood mix, is ok.

Browse Weruva Cat Brands

Weruva cat foods are crafted using the finest, high-quality ingredients, and offer a lip-smacking variety of flavors and textures to please even the fussiest of felines

weruva.com

Soulistic Pet

www.soulisticpet.com

Okay I'm a bit worried about the seafood. Was planning to mostly feed my cat chicken. What about Tiki cat? Is that a good brand?

 

[SeanS]

Weruva is an ok food. If you have access to Petco, Soulistic is their house brand and is basically Weruva with a different label. I converted my guys to wet from dry on Soulistic.

I guess it all depends on what you are looking for in wet food. AND what your girl will eat . Weruva and Soulistic (and BFF) don't use wheat or corn or soy, so that's a plus in my book, although they do use Tapioca starch in some of their foods, so the carbs in certain of their lines are higher than I like, but again, it's all in what you are looking for. The best food is what your cat will eat.

Just curious, why just okay? Also would you say Tiki cat is better? I heard they also have chunks, but better ingredients?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Just curious, why just okay? Also would you say Tiki cat is better? I heard they also have chunks, but better ingredients?

Well, as I mentioned above, I think some of their foods are a little high on carbs, because I like to feed extremely LOW carb food. Plus none of my cats like most of Weruva's foods. Granted, I used Soulistic, almost exactly like Weruva, to transition my beasties to wet, but that was years ago and now they won't eat either brand. But then again, they won't eat Tiki either, none of their lines .

To compare foods, you really need to pick a specific food in each brand and look at the ingredients. For me, it's really hard to say Tiki is better than Weruva, or the other way around, because certain of the selections may be better in one brand and certain others may be better in the other brand (example, lamb pate might have better ingredients with Tiki (if they even have it) and chicken stew might be better with Weruva. I'm just guessing here as I haven't really looked at either's ingredients for quite some time since last time I spent a fortune buying one can of everything at the store to be totally rejected by my furry friends.