Ongoing Diarrhea in 8 Month Cat

[Ebsyn]

Hello everyone,

I've posted before about my kitten, but I'm finding myself in need of more help.

A Little Background: I took in two feral kittens a couple months ago. One (George) has persistent diarrhea. He's been dewormed several times with Drontal and Panacur. He's been on Metronidazole and Amoxcilian. He's had a PCR that came back positive for Giardia and then just as recently as 2 weeks ago tested negative on his Antigen Test. Got tested for FIV/FeLV during his neuter and was negative.

Current Issues: After his last round of Panacur and negative test - I released George and his brother into the rest of the house with my other 2 cats. He seemed to be doing well for awhile. There were days of just random diarrhea. The last two days he's had soft and liquid bowl movements. I'm at a total loss of what is going on with this cat. I really do not think that it's worms as all other 3 cats are not sick at all. I know my vet will suggest deworming again, and I'm happy to do it. However, my gut says that something else is wrong.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? And what are other avenues I should be investigating to help resolve his diarrhea?

 

[John Perram]

Does the diarrhea have any blood in it.?

 

[Ebsyn]

Does the diarrhea have any blood in it.?

I didn't get a close look at this morning's but I did not see any. Just light brown and liquid.

 

[John Perram]

Try changing the cats diet he may be having issues with the food.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I agree that it could be food related. When it's not parasites, it's usually food. Not sure what you're feeding him, but I would try changing it. Many cats have issues with wheat, corn, soy, potatoes, and peas, even though peas are often in limited ingredient foods. For now, though, you might just try a different food and see what happens. You could also try feeding him just plain poached chicken for a couple of days first to see if that helps his digestive tract get a rest from whatever is causing the issue. If that helps him, then that would be a clue that it's food. Don't feed just that for more than a couple days though as it's not 100% nutritionally complete. You might also add some probiotics to diet as well. Something with S. Boulardi would be good. Many people give straight S. Boulardi for diarrhea. Some folks use Nexabiotic. It's for humans, but most of us use human probiotics for our cats. I give one half capsule in the morning and one half at night, dissolved in a little water then added to their food. Depending on the age of George, you might use less. You could ask your Vet about how much to use,unless you are already using one. You might also try Slippery Elm Bark Syrup. Just know that if you are giving any medications, not to use that within 2 hours of any medication.

 

[Ebsyn]

I agree that it could be food related. When it's not parasites, it's usually food. Not sure what you're feeding him, but I would try changing it. Many cats have issues with wheat, corn, soy, potatoes, and peas, even though peas are often in limited ingredient foods. For now, though, you might just try a different food and see what happens. You could also try feeding him just plain poached chicken for a couple of days first to see if that helps his digestive tract get a rest from whatever is causing the issue. If that helps him, then that would be a clue that it's food. Don't feed just that for more than a couple days though as it's not 100% nutritionally complete. You might also add some probiotics to diet as well. Something with S. Boulardi would be good. Many people give straight S. Boulardi for diarrhea. Some folks use Nexabiotic. It's for humans, but most of us use human probiotics for our cats. I give one half capsule in the morning and one half at night, dissolved in a little water then added to their food. Depending on the age of George, you might use less. You could ask your Vet about how much to use,unless you are already using one. You might also try Slippery Elm Bark Syrup. Just know that if you are giving any medications, not to use that within 2 hours of any medication.

Thank you for such a detailed response.

Spoke to our Vet. She thinks it could be the Giardia flaring up and said that it takes about a year for gut flora to right itself. But also mentioned that a Hypoallergic diet would be the next step. I'm on the end of my current kibble so I was thinking about switching everyone to Instinct's Limited Ingredient Rabbit recipe anyway. Currently, everyone is on Blue Buffalo (kibble) and Weruva for wet food.

I am also adding the Nexabiotic with S. Boulardi to his food as of yesterday. Last night, we have soft but forming poops. So that's something.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Soft but forming poop is definitely something. Something good! Let's home it continues to form and firm up

 

[stephanietx]

Tumbles was around 8 months old when his poop problems started. We ended up putting him on Rx food and mixing it with what we fed our other kitties. Now, we add in saccharomyces boullardi in addition to plain canned pumpkin in his wet food and it keeps his stool good and firm.

 

[cataholic07]

I would give probiotics daily and switch to a different dry food. Blue buffalo has it's issues.. Dry food isn't good for cats and weruva is good though it can be too rich for some (make sure to be feeding the fish one only a few times a week). Dr elsey's is one of the better dry foods as it's lower in carbs which is easier on cats to digest.