Persistent bloody, soft stools

[umtum]

My fold is having a problem that she has had on and off since she was a kitten. She is about 1 now and I’m noticing it more often. Soft stools with blood at the end. Outside of that she’s her normal self. Do you think I should put her on the hill science wet food?
Currently I’m doing mostly Rawz rabbit pate (which is suppose to like the highest quality wet food) and some dry at night. I'm thinking maybe just only doing wet and see how she responds. I'm just lost now. Thanks

 

[verna davies]

Has she seen a vet or had a fecal test done, it may pinpoint a issue especially as there is blood. Try s boulardii for her soft stools, half a capsule twice a day mixed into her wet food for a couple of days. Jarrow is a well known brand.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I agree with the idea of a fecal test - but I would do the more extensive one. A full fecal PCR which can detect bacterial/viral issues, on top of a host of possible parasites not typically found in the standard fecal tests that are done. Irritation of the lining of the lower gastrointestinal tract can lead to bleeding. So, it is even possible that this is some sort of food intolerance, if nothing shows up on the fecal PCR.

 

[LTS3]

No to the Science Diet. That brand isn't very good despite what vets say and all the marketing Hills does. It's junk quality food. Keep feeding the Rawz. Are you also feeding the Rawz dry food? If not, you may want to switch to that. Or just stop dry food all together and see if that helps the poop issue. Give it a few weeks. Some cats are super sensitive to dry food.

You can try adding probiotics to the diet as well as the S. boulardii already mentioned. Digestive enzymes may also be beneficial.

 

[umtum]

I’ve added pumpkin to her food and she’s had 3 straight days of firm normal stool, but some loose at the end. This is 90% better what I’ve seen the last few weeks. I did take her to vet they did a basic stool test which was negative. Didn’t have the PCR yet but I want to keep an eye on it and if it persists I will ask for it. I did buy some probiotic called nutramax proviable recommened by another cat owner who had the same issues that was fixed with pumpkin and this probiotic. I talked to another person with the same issue but her cat issue ended up being due to clostridium P. Which was fixed with 10 days of tylosin. Is s boulardii better than what I ordered?

Has she seen a vet or had a fecal test done, it may pinpoint a issue especially as there is blood. Try s boulardii for her soft stools, half a capsule twice a day mixed into her wet food for a couple of days. Jarrow is a well known brand.

 

[verna davies]

I have only tried s boulardii and it works really well on my cat. Give what you ordered a go and if it doesnt work then try s boulardii. Glad the pumpkin is helping.

 

[gabicards]

Hi! I have this problem on and off with my 9 month old kitten, too. S. Boulardii has helped (Jarrows brand in the US). We started giving him nothing but Royal Canin Kitten in sachet (which he was eating at the cattery before I brought him home) and removed the dry kibble alltogether, and that almost immediately stopped the soft bloody stools.

I'm slowly trying to reintroduce a different type of kibble (from a brand called Canagan, which helped his sister that lives with another family), so now he's getting 2 sachets a day and about 40-50g of kibble. His stools are soft-ish now (I'm actually making a thread about them in a bit, as I'm unsure whether it's healthy or not) but no blood.

I really think in my cat's case it's mostly food-related - haven't managed to narrow down what specifically he's sensitive too, but it seems to be something present in dry food and not some much in wet food (sachet or pate). We did the PCR, came up clean, and an ultrasound showed his intestines were inflamed (about a month ago).

 

[umtum]

Thanks that information was very insightful. I have also stop giving my cat dry food. Is S Bouldarii you have to give everyday? If you stop will the loose stools come back?

the funny thing last 3 days all firm poop perfect but two at the end was mushy poop, which is still so much better than before but I’m wondering why mushy at end. Maybe it’s just like humans with Irritable bowel syndrome where they have very fluctuating bowel movements. I think the blood is just the result of straining more as loose stools maybe harder to pass. Outside of this issue my cat is very silly happy cat.

 

[verna davies]

You can give a maintenance dose daily but I would give for 5/7 days then stop and see of the soft stools return.

 

[umtum]

If ultrasound shows inflammation of the intestine does that mean IBD? I know this can vary in degree of severity and serious illness. I also read that IBD and lymphoma can look similar in ultrasound. Only way to confirm which is doing a biopsy of the intestine. Did you doctor ever talk about this? I hope it’s nothing serious but I just hope my cat doesn’t have something serious lke thay

 

[gabicards]

If ultrasound shows inflammation of the intestine does that mean IBD? I know this can vary in degree of severity and serious illness. I also read that IBD and lymphoma can look similar in ultrasound. Only way to confirm which is doing a biopsy of the intestine. Did you doctor ever talk about this? I hope it’s nothing serious but I just hope my cat doesn’t have something serious lke thay

As far as I understand, inflammation being visible in the ultrasound doesn't necessarily mean that whatever has caused it is chronic - so it's not enough to diagnose IBD, for instance. Lymphoma is indeed a possibility, and, as you said, only a biopsy would be able to tell for certain. A minimally invasive one, though, such as an endoscopy, could still come out inconclusive, so the best shot at getting that diagnosis would be with a surgical biopsy.

This is all based on my understanding of the issue + what I've read about here + what my vets have said, as I'm in no way an expert.

In my cat's case, changing the food pretty much solved the problem, so his most experienced vet thinks it's a food allergy and not any of the worse possibilities - I hope that's the case!

As for the S. Boulardii, I gave it for 5 days, then stopped and the blood never came back. It needs to be given twice a day because it's not the type of probiotic that populates the gut, it will come out with the stool. After his recent bout of diarrhea last week, following a long trip, I started giving a bit of it again and we're still at it. The dosage depends on your cat's weight, I've never given mine the dosage recommended on ibdkitties.net, I've always just sprinkled a tiny bit on his wet food twice a day and it's enough for him.

Once the gut test + FMT pills from animalbiome.com arrive, I'll give those a try, too.

 

[FeebysOwner]

A fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology can sometimes be done in conjunction with an ultrasound if there is tissue that looks 'suspicious'. In this case sedation is not needed for the FNA itself, but some cats require a small amount of sedation for just the ultrasound depending on their demeanor/personality. The cytology results can confirm inflammatory cells, or other unusual cells that could suggest or identify lymphoma. In the case of potential lymphoma cells, there is an additional test called a PARR (PCR for antigen receptor rearrangements) assay, which can take analysis of the collected tissue a step further in determining cancerous cells when needed.

There is also a core biopsy, which can be performed during an ultrasound that requires a larger needle to actually collect a larger sample of tissue, and I believe it entails sedation. Both are less invasive than a biopsy, but the latter does pose a greater risk for hemorrhage than a standard FNA. I also am not sure how much the core biopsy is used on cats, but I would imagine it is becoming more common.

Many vet specialists will consider a thickened intestinal wall seen through the ultrasound to be enough evidence to assume IBD, if there are other outward signs like vomiting/diarrhea. The FNA is generally used when other organs, such as intestinal lymph nodes appear enlarged or unusual.