Smelly soft poo

[gailuvscats]

Spif was adopted the end of October and had smelly, soft (sometimes drippy mud) poo. After a second negative parasite test, and another dose of wormer, and getting psyllium husk and fortiflora probiotic there has been only a slight improvement. His diet is fancy feast pates, and purina one sensitive stystem which is the diet of my other three cats.

Any other suggestions?

Thank you.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi, can you try s. Boulardii instead? The fortiflora isn't a very strong probiotic.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I agree - FortiFlora is a pretty weak probiotic, so you might want to try s. boulardii, as suggested above, and see if that helps. Other than that, you may have to resort to trials with other foods - perhaps there is one or more ingredients in the two foods you feed that just don't agree with his system. Although, most Fancy Feast pates are pretty limited in their added ingredients. Is the Purina One dry or wet?

Has Spit been tested for bacterial and/or viral conditions that can cause loose stools? Perhaps, you should look into a fecal PCR test. Here is one example of what would be tested for, although they can vary by lab.
Feline diarrhea PCR panel (zoologix.com)

 

[gailuvscats]

Hi. I agree - FortiFlora is a pretty weak probiotic, so you might want to try s. boulardii, as suggested above, and see if that helps. Other than that, you may have to resort to trials with other foods - perhaps there is one or more ingredients in the two foods you feed that just don't agree with his system. Although, most Fancy Feast pates are pretty limited in their added ingredients. Is the Purina One dry or wet?

Has Spit been tested for bacterial and/or viral conditions that can cause loose stools? Perhaps, you should look into a fecal PCR test. Here is one example of what would be tested for, although they can vary by lab.
Feline diarrhea PCR panel (zoologix.com)

Thank you, I did order s boulardi, and the purina one is dry.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Sometimes, dry food has more fillers in it, so it might be the culprit more than the FF.

 

[gailuvscats]

This is purina one for sensitive systems, I think it is better quality than most dry foods

 

[FeebysOwner]

Best as I can tell that line has either something like corn gluten meal, wheat flour, oat meal, rice, and/or pea protein, among a few other similar items. I am not sure any of these ingredients are necessary for a cat's diet. But, there seems to be a lot of unnecessary items in many dry foods. Even so, some cats have issues with some of the gums in wet cat food too, although I think for the most part FF pates usually only contains guar gum.

Nonetheless, if you don't think the food is the problem - and it very well may not be - are you considering the fecal PCR test to see if something might show up as the issue?

 

[stephanietx]

I would try him on a single source of protein. Both Fancy Feast and Purina are known to cause issues with some kitties. Has he been given Metronidazole by the vet to help firm up poops? Has there been any discussion about the possibility of IBD? Has the GI Panel and Diarrhea PCR test been run to rule out other parasites and infections?

 

[gailuvscats]

Thank you, I did order s boulardi, and the purina one is dry.

That zoological site does not list how much the diarrea tests cost. Also, Spif has more "soft serve" that diarrea. None of my other three cats have soft poo, so whatever is causing his does not seem to be contagious. I think I will start to give him just one specific food all the time for a few weeks at a time although trying to feed one a different diet than the others can be difficult and costly. thank you

 

[FeebysOwner]

The Zoological site is just an example of what can be included in a fecal PCR. To find out what it costs, you really need to contact your vet and ask what is included in the testing for the lab they use and how much it is. It varies by vet, by lab, and by location.

Don't forget about the s. boulardii too. All of this is experimental, so only make one change at a time, or you will never be sure what helped if any of it does.

 

[gailuvscats]

I got the s. boulardii today. 1 capsule is 1 human dose. How much of that is a cat dose? around 12 pounds I got the Jarrows

 

[FeebysOwner]

It is a bit of an experiment to see what works for your cat, but as I understand it 1/2 capsule is the dose for adult cats. There are more guidelines and helpful tips in this article from How to Use S boulardii for diarrhea - Raw Feeding for IBD Cats. The data is not just for cats with IBD or raw feeding.