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Thanks I will try those things, I was thinking about getting a HEPA filter too.
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Soft Stool/metronidazole
- Thread starter mycatpaulie
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Just had a quick update, my vet said I should have seen some improvment in her stools by now and she wants me to switch her food to royal canin green pea and rabbit but i think i'm going to wait until i see the dermotologist to see what she thinks. i'm just worried that her soft stools are from a different problem. I will let you know how it goes. here is what i'm going to tell the dermotologist does that sound ok
By doing different food trials and observing when she itches most, to us it seems like her allergy is either an inhaled allergy to something that only flares up when on furnace is turned on, to chicken if it's one of the first few ingredients in canned food or to something in canned food all together.
She's been eating wellness dry since August 21 and not itching bad or breaking out because she is doing so good right now our plan was to keep her on this food until our furnace is turned on to see if see has a flare up but the problem is our vet wants us to change her food to Royal Canin's green pea and rabbit because she's been having soft stool but we're worried about this because she tired Natural Balances green pea and duck and that was too rich for her also we're wondering if there could be a different problem causing her soft stools because she had them when she was on Z/D too and they looked healthy for a while until she had a stool with a piece of hair in it and now she's also urinating more and her urine has a redish brown color to it, we tested her for an infection and it came back negative but is there any blood test or anything we should do before switching her food incase there's an underling problem. I also did read that sometimes natural foods are just too rich for some cats so I didn't know if we should go back to a dry food that isn't too rich.
Here is some background information...
When we got her from the SPCA last June, her papers said she had thinning hair on her trail probably due to an old flea allergy but she wasn't itching or breaking out yet.
We were feeding her Nutro dry food exclusively she was on that for about four months and doing great but then two things changed our forced air furnace was turned on and we started adding Nutro canned food into her diet. In November is when her itching got really bad and she started breaking out in little scabs on her neck and chest, because she only had breakouts on the front part of her body is why our vet thinks it's a food allergy.
We tried switching her food to Natural balance dry and wet food with no grains but that didn't help.
Then in March we started feeing her the Natural Balance green pea and duck soon after she started that she had to go to the emergency vet because she had a block, a vet there said that food was probably too rich for her and her stomach always did look puffy while she was eating it.
Then we did a food trial with Z/D from May until August, she threw up a lot while eating this and her stools were soft then too. When she was eating this her itching was about the same as it was the summer before when she was eating dry food only and our furnace wasn't on.
Now she's been eating Wellness since 8/21. This does have chicken fat and chicken flavor in it but it's down on the list.
Since she was having soft stools we just finished a five day trial of metronidazole last Friday but that didn't help. We couldn't get her to keep the pill down so we had to give it to her in a pill picket and roll it in canned food.
We want to use the least amount of medicine as possible.
If we find out it's just an inhaled allergy and it gets as bad as it did last year is there a safe medicine that she could go on from November to April every year because the other six months of the year when we can have the windows open she's not bad at all.
We don't want to use Depo-Medrol because I read it can send a cat into congestive heart failure very quickly!
Things we have tried to stop her itching...
Prednisolone 5 mg January-May (this only helped when we gave her 1/2 a pill every other day but we didn't want her on it for any longer than what she was on because it can cause problems down the road)
Steroid shot (helped the best but only for one month)
Started using hypoallergenic kitty litter
Feilway diffuser
By doing different food trials and observing when she itches most, to us it seems like her allergy is either an inhaled allergy to something that only flares up when on furnace is turned on, to chicken if it's one of the first few ingredients in canned food or to something in canned food all together.
She's been eating wellness dry since August 21 and not itching bad or breaking out because she is doing so good right now our plan was to keep her on this food until our furnace is turned on to see if see has a flare up but the problem is our vet wants us to change her food to Royal Canin's green pea and rabbit because she's been having soft stool but we're worried about this because she tired Natural Balances green pea and duck and that was too rich for her also we're wondering if there could be a different problem causing her soft stools because she had them when she was on Z/D too and they looked healthy for a while until she had a stool with a piece of hair in it and now she's also urinating more and her urine has a redish brown color to it, we tested her for an infection and it came back negative but is there any blood test or anything we should do before switching her food incase there's an underling problem. I also did read that sometimes natural foods are just too rich for some cats so I didn't know if we should go back to a dry food that isn't too rich.
Here is some background information...
When we got her from the SPCA last June, her papers said she had thinning hair on her trail probably due to an old flea allergy but she wasn't itching or breaking out yet.
We were feeding her Nutro dry food exclusively she was on that for about four months and doing great but then two things changed our forced air furnace was turned on and we started adding Nutro canned food into her diet. In November is when her itching got really bad and she started breaking out in little scabs on her neck and chest, because she only had breakouts on the front part of her body is why our vet thinks it's a food allergy.
We tried switching her food to Natural balance dry and wet food with no grains but that didn't help.
Then in March we started feeing her the Natural Balance green pea and duck soon after she started that she had to go to the emergency vet because she had a block, a vet there said that food was probably too rich for her and her stomach always did look puffy while she was eating it.
Then we did a food trial with Z/D from May until August, she threw up a lot while eating this and her stools were soft then too. When she was eating this her itching was about the same as it was the summer before when she was eating dry food only and our furnace wasn't on.
Now she's been eating Wellness since 8/21. This does have chicken fat and chicken flavor in it but it's down on the list.
Since she was having soft stools we just finished a five day trial of metronidazole last Friday but that didn't help. We couldn't get her to keep the pill down so we had to give it to her in a pill picket and roll it in canned food.
We want to use the least amount of medicine as possible.
If we find out it's just an inhaled allergy and it gets as bad as it did last year is there a safe medicine that she could go on from November to April every year because the other six months of the year when we can have the windows open she's not bad at all.
We don't want to use Depo-Medrol because I read it can send a cat into congestive heart failure very quickly!
Things we have tried to stop her itching...
Prednisolone 5 mg January-May (this only helped when we gave her 1/2 a pill every other day but we didn't want her on it for any longer than what she was on because it can cause problems down the road)
Steroid shot (helped the best but only for one month)
Started using hypoallergenic kitty litter
Feilway diffuser
Be careful what you read on the internet. Depo-medrol will not send a cat quickly into congested heart failure like you are saying...
Furthermore, when you got a month long steroid shot, you probably got Depo-Medrol - that is what Depo is, a long lasting steroid shot.
I do not recommend it for long term use, as it can have side effects, also, my cat Bugsy reacts very badly to it, with mood changes, weight gain, etc. But it DOES work, and when necessary, it should be considered IMHO.
For long time use, IMHO it is a no-no.
You've already gotten lots of good advice on here.
to you for trying to figure out what is best for Paulie. I went through that whole Metronidizole thing with my Archie. I also tried Natural Balance - didn't work. My vet said she didn't like duck as a primary protein source.
Finally, I put him on a different (mostly) grain free to see what would happen - with a vet's blessing. That plus Feliway (stress) plus the fact that I stopped showing him (he was a rescue) and his gut healed up and he is a much happier boy with formed poo! I feed Taste of the Wild Feline - it is a mixed protein food... so if chicken is the culprit that won't work.
He and a couple of other of my boys have inhaled allergies, too. Mostly red itchy eyes and sneezing in the spring.
Finally, I put him on a different (mostly) grain free to see what would happen - with a vet's blessing. That plus Feliway (stress) plus the fact that I stopped showing him (he was a rescue) and his gut healed up and he is a much happier boy with formed poo! I feed Taste of the Wild Feline - it is a mixed protein food... so if chicken is the culprit that won't work.
He and a couple of other of my boys have inhaled allergies, too. Mostly red itchy eyes and sneezing in the spring.
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Carolina thanks for the info about Depo-medrol, I do believe everything I read online, I know that's bad to do but Paulie is my first cat and I've only had him a little over a year so I'm still learning a lot about cats in general.
AddieBee I'm so glad your kitty is doing better, I really hope this dermatologist can help Paulie. Wellness is working so good for his breakouts but his stools are a mess, I'm just wondering if it is from stress too because he was also a stray but it could also just be too rich for him. I have used the feliway plug in before and it seems to work pretty good the only problem is it's so expensive, I got it from the vet and a refill is $25 and the plug in part is $50 which they said you need to buy a new one every 6 months, do you know if the ones you buy in the petstores work as good. Thanks so much for your help!
AddieBee I'm so glad your kitty is doing better, I really hope this dermatologist can help Paulie. Wellness is working so good for his breakouts but his stools are a mess, I'm just wondering if it is from stress too because he was also a stray but it could also just be too rich for him. I have used the feliway plug in before and it seems to work pretty good the only problem is it's so expensive, I got it from the vet and a refill is $25 and the plug in part is $50 which they said you need to buy a new one every 6 months, do you know if the ones you buy in the petstores work as good. Thanks so much for your help!
Get it from Amazon - it is much cheaper... and yes, it is the same thing! The plug in is only $21, and the refill about $14... It is much cheaper than from petstores too...
Here are the links:
Feliway plug in
Feliway Refill
Feliway Refill 6-pack
GENERIC NAME: metronidazole
BRAND NAME: Flagyl
DRUG CLASS AND MECHANISM: Metronidazole is an antibiotic effective against anaerobic bacteria and certain parasites. Anaerobic bacteria are single-celled, living organisms that thrive in environments in which there is little oxygen (anaerobic environments) and can cause disease in the abdomen (bacterial peritonitis), liver (liver abscess), and pelvis (abscess of the ovaries and the Fallopian tubes). Giardia lamblia and ameba are intestinal parasites that can cause abdominal pain and diarrhea in infected individuals. Trichomonas is a vaginal parasite that causes inflammation of the vagina (vaginitis). Metronidazole selectively blocks some of the functions within the bacterial cells and the parasites resulting in their death.
PRESCRIPTION: Yes
GENERIC AVAILABLE: Yes
PREPARATIONS: Tablets: 250 and 500 mg. Tablets, extended release: 750 mg. Capsule: 375 mg. Cream: 0.75% and 1%. Lotion: 0.75%. Gel: 0.75% and 1%. Injection: 5 mg/ml
STORAGE: Metronidazole should be stored at room temperature and protected from light.
PRESCRIBED FOR: Metronidazole is used to treat parasitic infections including Giardia infections of the small intestine, amebic liver abscess and amebic dysentery (infection of the colon causing bloody diarrhea), bacterial vaginosis, trichomonas vaginal infections, and carriers of trichomonas (both sexual partners) who do not have symptoms of infection. Metronidazole is also used alone or in combination with other antibiotics in treating abscesses in the liver, pelvis, abdomen and brain caused by susceptible anaerobic bacteria. Metronidazole is also used in treating infection of the colon caused by a bacterium called C. difficile. (Many commonly-used antibiotics can alter the type of bacteria that inhabit the colon. C. difficile is an anaerobic bacterium that can infect the colon when the normal types of bacteria in the colon are inhibited by common antibiotics. This leads to inflammation of the colon (pseudomembranous colitis) with severe diarrhea and abdominal pain.) Metronidazole also is used in combination with other drugs to treat Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) that causes stomach or intestinal ulcers.
My veterinarians prescribe several meds for stomach and/or intestinal bacterial infections: Amoxicillin, Clavamox, Albon and Metronidazole are some of them. I hope your veterinarian chose the right medication for your cat. It's a small puzzle why there are so many to choose from.
BRAND NAME: Flagyl
DRUG CLASS AND MECHANISM: Metronidazole is an antibiotic effective against anaerobic bacteria and certain parasites. Anaerobic bacteria are single-celled, living organisms that thrive in environments in which there is little oxygen (anaerobic environments) and can cause disease in the abdomen (bacterial peritonitis), liver (liver abscess), and pelvis (abscess of the ovaries and the Fallopian tubes). Giardia lamblia and ameba are intestinal parasites that can cause abdominal pain and diarrhea in infected individuals. Trichomonas is a vaginal parasite that causes inflammation of the vagina (vaginitis). Metronidazole selectively blocks some of the functions within the bacterial cells and the parasites resulting in their death.
PRESCRIPTION: Yes
GENERIC AVAILABLE: Yes
PREPARATIONS: Tablets: 250 and 500 mg. Tablets, extended release: 750 mg. Capsule: 375 mg. Cream: 0.75% and 1%. Lotion: 0.75%. Gel: 0.75% and 1%. Injection: 5 mg/ml
STORAGE: Metronidazole should be stored at room temperature and protected from light.
PRESCRIBED FOR: Metronidazole is used to treat parasitic infections including Giardia infections of the small intestine, amebic liver abscess and amebic dysentery (infection of the colon causing bloody diarrhea), bacterial vaginosis, trichomonas vaginal infections, and carriers of trichomonas (both sexual partners) who do not have symptoms of infection. Metronidazole is also used alone or in combination with other antibiotics in treating abscesses in the liver, pelvis, abdomen and brain caused by susceptible anaerobic bacteria. Metronidazole is also used in treating infection of the colon caused by a bacterium called C. difficile. (Many commonly-used antibiotics can alter the type of bacteria that inhabit the colon. C. difficile is an anaerobic bacterium that can infect the colon when the normal types of bacteria in the colon are inhibited by common antibiotics. This leads to inflammation of the colon (pseudomembranous colitis) with severe diarrhea and abdominal pain.) Metronidazole also is used in combination with other drugs to treat Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) that causes stomach or intestinal ulcers.
My veterinarians prescribe several meds for stomach and/or intestinal bacterial infections: Amoxicillin, Clavamox, Albon and Metronidazole are some of them. I hope your veterinarian chose the right medication for your cat. It's a small puzzle why there are so many to choose from.
