My ragdoll kitten is 3 months old and I had adopted her about 2 weeks ago (12/12). Her first bowel movement wasn’t until about 30 hours after we took her home. The first part of her stool was fairly normal, but the last half was diarrhea. Ever since then every bowel movement has been diarrhea. It’s not watery, but it is like pudding. After about 2-3 days we saw there was blood and mucus in her stool. The breeder said it sounded like it could be coccidia. I took her to the vet and she gave her frontal feline .5 tab, put her on metronidazole, and did a stool sample (I think it’s called a fecal floatation). Her results came back negative for parasites and OVA. The metronidazole seemed to have helped with the blood, but the diarrhea persisted. Her metronidazole finished 12/24 and I waited a couple days to see if her stool would improve on its own and it did not. I read online that rice and chicken or rice with chicken broth can help soothe their tummies, so I made her a little, but a couple hours after eating it her diarrhea had become watery and lighter colored. 6 hours later she had another bowel movement and it was very watery again and almost white. I was very concerned but her energy was very high and she was eating and drinking normally, so I decided to wait and monitor her throughout the night (this was Saturday night and all the vets were closed). In the morning her next bowel movement was back to how it had been before, brown, but like pudding. When the breeders had given her to me she had been already eating royal canin dry food, so I continued this diet for her, but I thought maybe her the food has something to do with her diarrhea (the breeders are not aware of her having diarrhea prior to the adoption, but I’m not sure if it was simply missed or if it really didn’t start until we took her home). So, I had read about good dry foods and found that orijen had really good ingredients and even contained pumpkin, which I also read is good for cats with upset tummies. I decided to switch her to this and I changed the protein as well just in case that was a factor too. I had given her about 1:1 ratio of the royal canin and the orijen to transition her. The first two bowel movements were half okay and half diarrhea, so I thought it might be promising, especially since the smell was not as foul. After only 4 hours from her first bowel movement this morning, she went again. This time her stool has blood in it and it is back to looking like pudding. I’m worried because I’m not sure if her stool has blood in it because I did not transition her diet slowly enough or because of another issue. I am out of town for the holidays, so we are away from our vet, but they originally recommended over the counter fiber (psyllium) until they’re able to see her next week. However, they also want her back on metronidazole. I honestly don’t like this idea. I do want to try the fiber supplement, but now I’m concerned with the blood in her stool. I’m considering a PCR Panel, but I’m hoping to get some opinions from other people who may have heard of these symptoms or have experienced this with their pet before. Please let me know.
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
Ragdoll kitten with chronic diarrhea
- Thread starter Jacobsmr
- Start Date
This is such a common issue here on TCS 
If you do a search, you'll find many, many threads on this same topic. I'm guessing your Vet tested for worms? If I were you, I'd probably go ahead and get the PCR Panel done, just because it tests for some of the less common parasites that can reak havoc on their systems that the common antibiotics don't kick. With thata test under your belt, you will know all the bases are covered there.
You might also try adding some S. Boulardi to his food. It's a probiotic that works wonders for diarrhea, depending on the reason, it might not fix it if the cause persists (like parasites or food allergies, that sort of thing, but if his gut flora is simply out of balance due to stress of a new home, it should do the trick. .
If you do a search, you'll find many, many threads on this same topic. I'm guessing your Vet tested for worms? If I were you, I'd probably go ahead and get the PCR Panel done, just because it tests for some of the less common parasites that can reak havoc on their systems that the common antibiotics don't kick. With thata test under your belt, you will know all the bases are covered there.You might also try adding some S. Boulardi to his food. It's a probiotic that works wonders for diarrhea, depending on the reason, it might not fix it if the cause persists (like parasites or food allergies, that sort of thing, but if his gut flora is simply out of balance due to stress of a new home, it should do the trick. .
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
Thank you for the advice. I will definitely do the PCR panel then. She had been dewormed 4 times. 3 times with the breeder and once with me. I am hoping the blood in her stool right now is just from the transition to the new cat food.This is such a common issue here on TCS
You might also try adding some S. Boulardi to his food. It's a probiotic that works wonders for diarrhea, depending on the reason, it might not fix it if the cause persists (like parasites or food allergies, that sort of thing, but if his gut flora is simply out of balance due to stress of a new home, it should do the trick. .
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #4
Hello.
My ragdoll kitten has been having stomach issues since the day I brought her home in December. She was having chronic diarrhea, so I took her to the vet multiple times where she ultimately tested positive for feline coronavirus. The vet had given us the Hill's canned ID food along with clavamox to help her and it made a significant difference. I would say her stool was 90% normal. After a few weeks, we tried transitioning her to various other foods such as the Royal Canin Kitten Gastrointestinal food or even the kibble version of the hill's ID food and it just would not agree with her stomach. She does the best on the Hill's canned food, but even that is inconsistent at times. She also seems congested quite often, to the point where she sounds like she's softly snoring. At this point, my vet suspected a food allergy is the issue, so we switched to the Purina Hypoallergenic food. I don't know why, but I thought with this food I wouldn't have to transition it, so I just abruptly switched it. Bad move on my part because she then had horrible diarrhea that night. My vet prescribed metronidazole to help, but it has hardly helped. The day she started on this food was March 10th, so it has only been 5 days, but her diarrhea is still very bad. I feel awful for her because she just seems so down. I know that these hypoallergenic foods could take up to a month to work, but I don't know if I can wait that long. I hate seeing her like this, it's just so sad. If anyone has had similar issues with their cat, please let me know. I am considering switching back to the hill's canned food for now and just getting a RAST test. My vet is thinking we should do an ultrasound of her stomach and an upper GI panel. This seems like it's going to end up costing a ridiculous amount of money and I am a student, so I am thinking I will just get her insurance, but I think this qualifies as a preexisting condition, so I don't think anything can be covered by the insurance. So, if anyone has a comment on that too, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks.
My ragdoll kitten has been having stomach issues since the day I brought her home in December. She was having chronic diarrhea, so I took her to the vet multiple times where she ultimately tested positive for feline coronavirus. The vet had given us the Hill's canned ID food along with clavamox to help her and it made a significant difference. I would say her stool was 90% normal. After a few weeks, we tried transitioning her to various other foods such as the Royal Canin Kitten Gastrointestinal food or even the kibble version of the hill's ID food and it just would not agree with her stomach. She does the best on the Hill's canned food, but even that is inconsistent at times. She also seems congested quite often, to the point where she sounds like she's softly snoring. At this point, my vet suspected a food allergy is the issue, so we switched to the Purina Hypoallergenic food. I don't know why, but I thought with this food I wouldn't have to transition it, so I just abruptly switched it. Bad move on my part because she then had horrible diarrhea that night. My vet prescribed metronidazole to help, but it has hardly helped. The day she started on this food was March 10th, so it has only been 5 days, but her diarrhea is still very bad. I feel awful for her because she just seems so down. I know that these hypoallergenic foods could take up to a month to work, but I don't know if I can wait that long. I hate seeing her like this, it's just so sad. If anyone has had similar issues with their cat, please let me know. I am considering switching back to the hill's canned food for now and just getting a RAST test. My vet is thinking we should do an ultrasound of her stomach and an upper GI panel. This seems like it's going to end up costing a ridiculous amount of money and I am a student, so I am thinking I will just get her insurance, but I think this qualifies as a preexisting condition, so I don't think anything can be covered by the insurance. So, if anyone has a comment on that too, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks.
Hi
J
Jacobsmr
I'm sorry to hear that your kitten is so sick. Feline coronavirus is more commonly known as Feline Infectious Peritonitis. Has the vet said that this is what they think the kitten has? There is an article about FIP here.
Fip In Cats – TheCatSite Articles
I suggest you double check with your vet that this is what your kitten has and then do some research on FIP. Unfortunately it is often fatal, so rather than spending a huge amount of money on more tests and expensive food it might be better to talk to your vet about making her as comfortable as possible while she is still here.
So sorry that you are going through this.
I'm sorry to hear that your kitten is so sick. Feline coronavirus is more commonly known as Feline Infectious Peritonitis. Has the vet said that this is what they think the kitten has? There is an article about FIP here.
Fip In Cats – TheCatSite Articles
I suggest you double check with your vet that this is what your kitten has and then do some research on FIP. Unfortunately it is often fatal, so rather than spending a huge amount of money on more tests and expensive food it might be better to talk to your vet about making her as comfortable as possible while she is still here.
So sorry that you are going through this.
