Thin Black Worm-like Lines In Diarrhoea??

[aelu]

My cat had perfect stools on Monday, then they got softer, then tonight he has been having diarrhoea. I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow ASAP.

I noticed that in his last couple of diarrhoea droppings, there were long and thin black lines (about 3-4) in his poop. They weren't moving, and they don't look like flea larvae (was longer than that). What on earth is this? I'm panicking, especially because we have been dealing with Giardia for the past 3 months and now this sudden change of stool and strange symptom is making me breakdown.
Our other cat has soft stools as well, but he hasn't pooped since I have been home so I don't know if he also has those "thin black lines" either.

I took a sample with one of those black things, and will take it to the vet tomorrow. Also, does it make sense to refrigerate my samples to make them fresher?? I had no sample casings, so I had to wrap it in plastic.

 

[aelu]

Black worms in feral cat's feces

This thread shows a picture that is very similiar to what I found in his feces, though I can't say if it looked exactly like that because my cat's "black worms" were also covered in diarrhoea.

Unfortunately the thread doesn't provide me with any answer

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I guess you've already been to the Vet? What did they say? Honestly, I've never heard of any worms that are black, so I'm thinking that's not what this is, but am very curious as to what the Vet thinks.

And I know it's a little late, but,yes, it makes sense to refrigerate any "samples" until you can get them to the Vet (for future reference). Baggies are fine to use, so I'm guessing the plastic wrap worked fine as well.

 

[aelu]

I guess you've already been to the Vet? What did they say? Honestly, I've never heard of any worms that are black, so I'm thinking that's not what this is, but am very curious as to what the Vet thinks.

And I know it's a little late, but,yes, it makes sense to refrigerate any "samples" until you can get them to the Vet (for future reference). Baggies are fine to use, so I'm guessing the plastic wrap worked fine as well.

Hey, thanks for responding!
The vet said the black lines are likely something he ingested (he has access to our terrace garden), but he was still concerned about the diarrhea because it was on-going and associated with some vomiting. I told him our entire history and he suspects that, because our cats always felt better during antibiotic treatment (medicine against Giardia) but then would get runny stools after treatment was over, they might have a bacterial over-growth in their stomachs or an e-coli infection (Antibiotic-responsive diarrhea).

They are now on an antibiotic that treats for both of those, and if their poops are not better by Monday, then I bring in fresh samples and we test again for parasites (giardia, coccidia, t. foetus).

I'll keep this thread updated in case it helps anybody in the future

 

[aelu]

Update:

Our older cat no longer has diarrhea after his treatment and his stools look great. Our younger kitty got diarrhea this morning, however. I brought in a fresh stool sample to be tested. He is getting 4 days of antibiotics since antibiotics always appear to stop the diarrhea. He has been on several different kinds of antibiotics over the past 3 months, and for some reason, all of them have resolved his diarrhea temporarily (including the Panacur for giardia). He is getting probiotics as well. He will continue on a hypoallergenic sensitive food.

Just a warning... I'm going to get descriptive about the poop now (mostly to help anyone else in a similar situation if we resolve this).
The color of the diarrhea was brown, (not yellow like when he had Giardia) and had a little bit of mucous at the end with a slightly pink tinge (probably blood). It was not very watery, but it also did not form. Our kitten often has a drop of blood when he gets diarrhea, so it isn't something new, but it is a concern. It smelled bad, but did not smell like the pungent smell that giardia-stools have, so I do not think it is a re-infection. Also, our older cat has been passing regular stools the past few days and they don't smell at all (if an older cat is infected with giardia but does not have diarrhea, usually one tell is the horrid smell).

Vet will test the stool for multiple things, and will also do a bacterial-culture. We will hopefully get some results on Monday.

If our kitten is clear of all parasites, I think his problem has to do with intestinal flora/balance. He has basically had runny poo since he was born, and his mother rejected his litter, so they maybe did not get the right nutrients at that age. And the only time his diarrhea was resolved was from antibiotics, so his body still is having a hard time adjusting to caring for itself. The good news is, while he has diarrhea, he does not go every couple of hours anymore, so maybe his body is slowly taking care of the problem. I really hope so. He's doing great otherwise, very active, running around and gaining steady weight. He was severely underweight and tends to lose a lot during his diarrhea episodes, but the antibiotics have fortunately allowed him to gain a healthy weight. He is also a siamese cat, and I hear they have a lot of digestive issues.