Kitten with chronic diarrhea for two months

[fonkybeachbum]

Hi,
We adopted two kittens in May. One kitten has had diarrhea the whole time. Here's what he's been on.
1) Albon Suspension
2) Metronizadole
3) Panacur Suspension
4) Probitics
5) Stool Binder tablets
6) Dewormed multiple times
7) Revolution
8) Food changed multiple times been on Hill Digestive care for two weeks.
None of these have helped at all. He's had multiple negative fecal tests. Any ideas? I'm pulling my hair out. We're going to do a GI panel next. We're like 1k out on two kittens in two months. Anyone had a similar experience? Thanks so much for any help!

 

[F+V]

Feeding raw meat may help. When we adopted ours, they were on all major premium canned commercial cat food and had diarrhea all the time. Food rich in fat (wellness core) made the symptoms worse. I then started studying the guaranteed analysis of cat food, cat nutrition, etc and started making home cooked meals and their diarrhea stopped. Some people are averse to feeding raw meat and it's a lot of work, but worth a try.

 

[FeebysOwner]

What was entailed in these fecal tests? If not a full PCR fecal, then something might have been missed. PCR testing looks for more than just the standard parasites, it also looks for various viral conditions as well as bacterial issues. This could be telling, since it sounds like only one of the two kittens is being impacted.

You have also done a number of things, including food changes over a very brief period of time. Sometimes, if food is the issue, it can take longer than it sounds like you have given any of them.

I don't know what probiotics you have tried, but if not s. bourlardii, please try it. Many folks on this site have had success with eradicating diarrhea with this product. Jarrows is the brand I see most often recommended.
The benefits of using S. Boulardii for cats– FullBucket Health

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. I certainly would not try raw at this time or any drastic food changes unless advised by your vet. Antech offers a special fecal test that checks for many different pathogens. It is not a regular fecal. I would suggest that as well as a fecal PCR. If both those come back inconclusive I would try a novel protein food for cats with food allergy. Last ditch I would try steroids. But please talk about all this with your veterinarian. I would bet that there is an overgrowth of a bacteria or a Protozoa that is going unknown and without being treated.

 

[zed xyzed]

Any update on how these little ones are doing? I hope that you were able to help them get better

 

[Valdproctor]

Hi,
We adopted two kittens in May. One kitten has had diarrhea the whole time. Here's what he's been on.
1) Albon Suspension
2) Metronizadole
3) Panacur Suspension
4) Probitics
5) Stool Binder tablets
6) Dewormed multiple times
7) Revolution
8) Food changed multiple times been on Hill Digestive care for two weeks.
None of these have helped at all. He's had multiple negative fecal tests. Any ideas? I'm pulling my hair out. We're going to do a GI panel next. We're like 1k out on two kittens in two months. Anyone had a similar experience? Thanks so much for any help!

Just curious if anything has worked for you? Going through the sane thing with our kitten!

 

[fonkybeachbum]

Any update on how these little ones are doing? I hope that you were able to help them get better

Hi,

Just curious if anything has worked for you? Going through the sane thing with our kitten!

Hi,
So after even more testing and medicines last year, I took the advice on this thread and ordered brewers yeast with other probiotics in a product called “Daily Cat” from Fullbucket health. I quit all the medicines that weren’t working and went back to normal food an I gave the cat a dose a day in a little bit of microwaved chicken broth and it cured his diarrhea. It took about a week to work. After I went through the first canister in about 2 months I foolishly figured maybe he would be good without it. In about two weeks the problem started all over again. Ordered more and after a week he was good again. These days I give him a dose every couple days and he’s been good ever since. Hope this helps anyone that goes through that this Spring. Daily Cat from fullbucket health. Thanks for all the correct suggestions.

Daily Cat (Probiotic)

 

[BostonFern]

Sounds like it was diet related. I'm glad you solved your problem. Just glancing at your very long list of meds, deworming stands out as something that commonly causes diarrhea and should be carefully dosed and spaced out if repeated. For anyone else reading this, it's important to let your cat recover after trying different treatments.

On a side note, I just read an article this morning on how oral rehydration salt (ORS) treatment is often neglected as an important treatment for diarrhea and resulting dehydration in children (I think the article was about a study specific to India). I'm not sure if ORS tablets are commonly prescribed for cats with diarrhea. Does anyone know?

 

[zed xyzed]

So glad you got it under control my sister's kitten has the same issue.