Getting tired of my kitty's diarrhea and nothing helps.?

Question

I took my 5 months old kitty to vet 3 times and always leave home with high vet bills. He is FelV, FIV, toxo, and worms free. I always fed both of my cats chicken soup for kitten's lover soul dry food mixed with nature's balance wet food. His diarrhea never went away for 3 months and I switched to Wellness Core dry kibbles and Nature's Variety venison raw food or Evo canned food since 3 weeks but they don't work. His diarrhea always make me go crazy because I have to clean after him everyday and his litterbox is really nasty with wet poop drips on the walls. He's even on antibiotics amoxicillin and it never worked. I think this is a joke and I'm thinking about giving him up to no-kill shelter. Nothing works and I'm very frustrated now. What is that supposed to be?

Answer 1

My cat had chronic diarrhea also. It turned out that she had a bacterial infection that was cured by a specific antibiotic - not amoxicillin - can't remember what it was called. I know that some antibiotics cause diarrhea in humans - not sure if it is contributing to your cats problem or not. The food your feeding your cat is all great high end food - I agree with the other person who answered - try a different vet. I know it's gross but don't give up! It's not your kitty's fault!

Answer 2

Cats can't really tolerate a lot of cow's milk, and even though it made the stool soft as opposed to runny, it still isn't good for her. The suggestion about the pumpkin is good, though that's usually reserved for dogs since they'll eat anything and the cat might not take to it kindly. If you think your cat will eat it, go for it. The most likely culprit is her food, though. Depending on what type of food you're giving her, the level of grains and additives in her food might be causing the problem. Switch her to a limited ingredient (i.e. no grains) formula canned food. I feed my cats either the Duck & Green Pea formula Dick Van Patten stuff from PetCo, or there's a brand out there I more often use called Brandon Farms Naturals, which is at least 90% actual meat. (Mine will only eat the Chicken flavor, which is 95% Chicken and Chicken Liver.) If you can't afford the pricier foods like this (I have, on occasion, eaten nothing but ramen and mac and cheese for a week to keep my babies in this stuff at $1.40 a can, but I'm an aspiring crazy cat lady), then check the labels on the cans for other brands that don't contain any rice, and little if any vegetable matter. Cats are obligate carnivores, which means that although they need certain things from their meat, they only need meat. Most commercial cat food, especially the dry stuff, is just full of fillers like rice and useless additives that make it more profitable for them to make it. And if you really want to pamper her and if you have the money, going for a raw diet is supposed to be a miracle for cat health and longevity. The site from which I got all this information is listed below. Good luck, and make sure that there isn't any blood or anything in her stool, but since you've already said you've taken her to the vet, I assume the vet told you nothing dire was happening with her. You sound like a great mom! :) If all else fails, a change in veterinarians might give you, at the very least, peace of mind.

Answer 3

I run a rescue shelter, so I deal with this sort of thing all the time, but bear in mind I am no vet, so my advice is just from one cat lover to another.



Canned food works best until the diarrhea subsides, but you need to get a good, high quality food (this is only short term, until the worst has passed). Your vet (or if you are having issues with your vet maybe try another one in your neighborhood just for food advice) can recommend one that is highly digestible. Wet food also helps to keep them a little more hydrated. You should keep them on the same food until the diarrhea clears up. Also, only feed them little bits at a time, about every three to four hours. What they dont eat in one sitting should be picked up and then put down later on. My vet said if they gorge on food too quickly and too much of it, it can cause the problem to worsen.



The best product BY FAR (in my experience) for treating diarrhea is called Metronidazole. It has a horribly bitter taste, so giving it to them is quite the chore, but it has eventually worked on every kitten I have ever had to treat. It is usually given for 5 to 10 days, but my one piece of advice on that is make sure you do not miss a single dose, otherwise you end up right back where you started. You can get that product only through a vet.



And one final tip, though you may know this if you are already dispensing other medications on your kitty, I find the easiest way to be able to put something foul-tasting in their mouths is to wrap a small towel around their front, kind of like a baby's bib with only their head poking out the top, this keeps them from being able to wriggle around and scratch. And if you lean them backwards a bit while you do that, they will swallow it, rather than spit it out (which they tend to do with metronidazole).



Good luck, don't give up on the little one just yet!

Answer 4

I answered your question of a week ago. I take it you did not try the slippery elm bark. A friend has a cat with IBD. She has been using slippery elm bark for a few months now with good results. He is at least 75% improved. He does have soft stool sometimes, but no more diarrhea.

She likes it so much she just asked me to get her some more before she runs out. I shop at a place that sells bulk herbs so I got what I thought would be a 6 month supply - $1.86!

She makes up the solution, stores it in the fridge, and adds a teaspoon to each meal.



http://www.littlebigcat.com/?action=library&act=show&item=slipperyelm



Some other substances that may help your cat are the amino acid L-Glutamine and Larix occidentalis arabinogalactan.



I mentioned the L-Glutamine in another reply. This is used in humans, cats and dogs to help heal the intestinal lining. It is not a drug and you can buy the capsules and sometimes the powder (cheaper) in health food stores. Please google for the correct dose in cats.



Larix occidentalis is the a species of Larch tree. The arabinogalacan is a substance obtained from the bark of this tree. Amongst other issues, it is used in intestinal disorders including IBD in humans and other animals. For a cat in my family we used a human dietary supplement containing this and it worked quite well. I will try to find the name of it and update.

I suggest you do some internet research into larch arabinogalactans for cats with IBD.

I will try to find some sites for you myself and update.



Probiotics are a good idea. I have a caveat concerning them though and that is that many probiotic products are no good. The reasons are that some are badly formulated using organisms that kill or eat each other leaving only the dominant strains listed on the label, that the product is not storage temp. stable and the organisms are dead. I can't give a comprehensive list of all the good products but one is Jarrow EPS.



With diet, I would try once more. Give your cat just one food, an unfamiliar protien source like duck or rabbit only and see what happens. At this point, after what you have tried, I doubt it is a food sensitivity though.



Update: Found this holistic vet's site. He also sells some products containing substances mentioned above.

http://www.homevet.com/

Larch info, scroll about 40% down this page:

http://www.vrp.com/newsletter.aspx?newsdate=8-1-2005

Answer 5

Your cat needs to be rechecked by a different Vet. Some digestive problems are not easily seen in a stool check. If the poop has an unusually off odor - it's coccidia and needs Albon. Or it could be Giardia and needs Flagyl. Amoxy does not cure protozoan parasites. There are also several other stool binders the Vet can prescribe. And canned pumpkin in his food, 2 or 3 tablespoons, will also help. But he needs a Vet visit.

*** Metronidazole - is the generic term for Flagyl. So now you have 2 people who run Rescues, with thousands of cats telling you - please go to the Vet

Answer 6

Don't give kitty up just because it can't stop pooping wet loose stool. Like the other two said try a different Vet, that Vet Dr. might not be checking into all the possibilities of what causes diarrhea. Many things can cause diarrhea in cats, stress, diet, hormones, illness. It might cost a bit to get this done for your kitty, but once its fixed it will be well worth it in the end. Don't give up - he still loves you!

Answer 7

I can totally relate!



The absolute best thing I have found for my cats' diarrhea is a product called FortiFlora Feline Supplement, made by Purina. It comes in a box of 30 sachets. You just sprinkle one on top of your cat's moist food once a day. After a couple days, the diarrhea clears up. (At the first sign of it coming back, I treat my cat with FortiFlora again, and it usually just takes that one treatment to stop it.) I have also switched my cat's dry food to Iams Digestive Health. That has also made a huge difference in the frequency of the diarrhea returning. What once was a daily battle is now something I deal with once every six weeks or so.



Ask your vet if he/she has some Fenline FortiFlora in stock. If not, you can order it online. I buy mine on Amazon for about $16 (cheaper than the vet's price).



* As a side note here, until the diarrhea clears up, please make sure your kitty is getting enough water. Once my cat ended up dehydrated from his diarrhea and ended up on IV's in the hospital overnight. :o[

Answer 8

Why not try this. Instead of these expensive foods get a can of Friskies Turkey dinner, no chunks, no gravy, just the regular food or the same with Fancy Feast and feed 4 small meals a day. Also try Purina One for sensitive systems. Give it a week and see if the diarrhea calms down. Give only water to drink. I hope this helps. You should also try another vet.

Answer 9

im not sure if this would help, maybe try a different vet. also try with different foods they should be something that will work.