My new boy from Canada has had diarrhea since he arrived on October 31st. He is seven months old currently. I originally thought he had it due to the plane flight. The kittens we've had shipped by plane have also had diarrhea for a couple weeks after.
Anyways I took him to the vet a few days after arrival. The vet did a fecal float and exam. No parasites were found. However he put him on antibiotics in hopes of relieving the diarrhea. We were also instructed to give him probiotic orally. *At this time we were feeding him the same brand of food the breeder had been.
Fast forward to a few weeks later and he still has diarrhea. Another fecal float was done - nothing. We tried pumpkin, acidopholis (SP?) in the food. We tried switching over foods. No luck. The antibiotics had only made it a bit firmer. *Keep in mind we have a hard time feeding him just special food with all the other cats around. He is not a fan of caging so he may have gotten into the regular food.
So again we took him to the vet. He had another fecal float - nothing. He was prescribed Panacur for 8 days. It finally seemed to be looking up after the Panacur. However it came back quickly again. Just like before.
So back to the vet again. The fecal float again was clean. The vet suspects perhaps something like irratable bowel syndrom or a food allergy. He prescribes Prednisone. Currently he is still on it, but it's not really doing anything. He still has diarrhea. Right now he is not on special food because with out caging him he won't stay out of the other food.
Also wanted to add that over the time period of two months he has gained 2 1/2 pounds (perhaps it's up to three now - I haven't weighed him in a while). He seems perfectly happy and content. He loves to eat.
Also I wanted to clarify that when I say diarrhea I don't mean like complete liquid - it's a bit firmer than that. But still not normal poo!
I am not quite sure what to do. Any advice?
It's gotten to be a big hassle. He can't seem to avoid stepping in it and dragging it all over the house!!
I just wanted to add that I just finished reading the thread below by Adriana D. While it does sound slightly similar the diarrhea is not completely watery. It's more like mud.
I also wanted to mentioned that he only going about twice a day.
This sounds a lot like what I went through with Diwan. After trying a lot of different things (mostly natural remedies), I discussed the whole matter with my vet again who said that the only explanation was allergy. I must admit I didn't really believe that but still left with a pack of hypoallergenic kibble. I thought that it was worth trying and as I had gone through everything without many results (stools were not looking good, some days were worse than others).
After a while of that diet everything looked just perfect. As I am not a fan of kibble only diets, I carefully switched him back to cans and raw meat. Every week I tried another type of meat and progressed from there with the hypo kibble still partially present. Thanks to that I managed to find out that he is allergic to veal, beef, wheat and soy. So now I have banned everything with these in it and he is much better.
Of course having only two cats one being a very clumsy and floor loving ragdoll made it easy to implement the diet...
I suggest Orijen brand food.. its got no grain for the cat to potentially be allergic to and I know of a lot of people who swear that it cleared up diarrhea quickly.
I have a kitten, she is now almost 2 years old, that had very loose stool and nothing was showing on the vet tests, and the owner was asking what to do. They tried many different suggestions by the vet, and finally he added it up to allergies and placed her on a homefed diet. This is her partial email, that describes what she feeds her Ragdoll, that had loose stool for a long time. Her Ragdoll is doing great on this diet. I can't say it is right for anyone, but I do know her vet did give her the information.
"It doesn't take long to make, because I make a big batch and dehydrate. 80% chicken, 20 % vegetable. The veggies are: english peas, broccoli, green beans, carrots, pumpkin, onion, celery, spinach, and garlic. I steam the boneless chicken thighs, then barely steam the veggies. I place in food processor. It comes out as a dry crumbly mixture. Then into the dehydrator, because things are steamed they are already dry after processing, so it doesn't take long. Place in an air tight container. I make a month supply up at a time. I do give her a tsp of fish oil over the food upon serving. The veggies give added vitms. that just chicken does not give."
Sometimes IBS can just be that their stomach has been upset so long that it continues having problems. Have you ever tried giving her 24 hours without food to see if that may help her belly to relax, and clear things up. This has helped many in the past, but it does sound like you have done many things already. Please keep us updated.
Best Wishes
Purrs,
Stormi
The recipe is not bad except for the garlic and onions. Those should never be fed to a cat, why taking unnecessary risks for no proven benefits and known problems?
I also would avoid the onion and garlic. Also, when feeding only or primarily a homemade diet one has to be very careful to supplement with necessary things like taurine. It will be in the chicken meat, but perhaps not enough. However, some food allergies seem to leave folks with few alternatives. Wysong does make some single source meat cat foods that may be worth a try if one is sure it is allergies.
So you haven't narrowed done exactly what ingredients he is allergic to yet? And two poops a day seems like quite a lot, but that's probably because he's not feeling so great.
Prescription foods from vets are usually not so great. Try feeding a food without corn/soy/wheat, cats are sometimes allergic to one or more of those. If not that, experiment with meat sources. I know of people with cats that are allergic to poultry, which sucks because it's probably the most common meat source, but there are other foods you can feed. I would guess it's one of those if you've tried various foods and it hasn't gone away. Dry foods can be harder to find without poultry, but canned foods have very short ingredients lists and usually only one meat source. The good news is, when you find what he is allergic to, you can feed the right food to ALL your cats so there won't be any chance of him not eating it.
I had many questions regarding the diet that the vet placed her on, but I didn't get much information as to why these ingredients were chose. I do know that onions and garlic are toxic to cats, even more so than dogs, but in this situation, since my first suggestions didn't help, she has placed much faith in her vet. Also, this is a recipe that she has had her on for close to a year now, with no problems.
I do see the cause for concern. I also know how important taurine is to the development of cats, but again, I am somewhat locked in adding my 2 cents.
She has been very nice, and was very open to my first suggestions, but nothing was helping. I did make sure she was following through, not just giving up after a few days. I still feel like, the vet suggested too many food changes, and that got her digestive system irritated and it was never given a chance to rest. I have tried to speak to her about trying an adult food again, but it is met with much resistance.
I realize this recipe isn't perfect, but it may give someone an idea, just improve upon it.
Purrs,
Stormi
I did want to add, I am not sure it is allergies. She has went back and forth to her vet several times, with tests taken, including the TF test. She was negative for worms, giardia, TF, E-coli.
I don't believe any actual allergy testing was done. I will check into that. I think they came up with allergies after changing foods and no improvement. I can say, she did leave her on a food for a couple of months to give it a chance to work, but I still think the changing in foods could have been irritating the problem.
The only good news, is she has done well on the diet and has had firm stools for close to a year now.
Purrs,
Stormi