Hi All,
Ever since my kitten arrived, i recognized he was suffering from
soft "outings"/diahrrea.
After several consultatians and vet checkup's we did as follows:
1.antibiotic treatment+deworming - didn't work.
2. second antibiotic treatment+steroids - didn't work.
3. stomach calming process - rice, probiotics - helped a bit, but
then there was a huge escalatio.
4. vet's did all necessary check up's and decided it was a chronical state, and the source can not be found.
he got a second steroid shot, and is being treated with anti-inflamatory pills, which help a bit.
(he was at a state in which he couldn't control himself, and
left watery "outings" all over the house, he just couldn't control it)
the anti-inflamatory pills control it a bit, but we have to watch the dosage, since it sometimes escelates.
we are also trying a nutrition method.
starting with a tuna diet. feeding him just one source of protein.
and after a few days we will start hipoallergenic cat foods.
the vet's aren't optimistic, they are hoping the nutritional method would help, but being a chronic state, they can't predict how he would react or how long each improvement would last.
the breeder is willing to take the kitten back, since nursing an ill kitten
is very difficult while working full time, planning kids, etc...
Did anyone here experience raising a kitten with a chronical intestinal disdease?
did it heal?
for good?
did it require a long term pill treatment?
I am hoping the nutritional method would work, but i am not sure what i should do (doing my best to find a way to heal him so i would be able to keep him)....
Yes, I received a kitten from a breeder last year with these symptoms (not a raggie). He was on an anti-inflam. drug, special diet, etc. Started with two rounds of Flagyl that had no effect. However, another vet in the practice recommended Panacur and put him on a regime that was twice the recommended length. It eradicated the problem and then he still was on a special diet (dry and wet food prescribed for intestinal problems -- high fiber) for another two months, after which I slowly switched him to a high quality regular cat food. Also supplemented daily with probiotic (Fortiflora). He has been fine now for almost a year. The problem was confirmed to be a giardia infection. After the Panacur, that was eradicated but he still needed the special diet for another few months because his bowels were inflamed. I had to keep him in a LARGE crate for about six weeks and clean him up him and the large crate several times a day. I had to put salve on his butt because it was very sore. Used absorbent pads in the bottom of the crate. Completely emptied the litter several times a day and washed out the litter box. One big problem is reinfection from the cat cleaning himself or from the litter. It is also contagious. I even bought a steam cleaner to sterilize things but a mild bleach solution would also work. It took a LOT of vigilance to get it cleared up but it did happen. Panacur is the commercial name of the drug and I don't know the generic name. The vet did some sort of test where she was able to see if the giardia was still there. But you have to do a lot of work to prevent reinfection as well. Good luck with your baby.
Thank's!
however, the vets already checked for microb's\ viruses/ and parasites, they say it is not Giardia.
The ragdoll kitten is my second cat, the other cat is not infected,
i hope it at least rules out contagious infections.
My vet thinks it is some kind of disease that resembles human Croahn disease.
I have no idea what it means about his chances, but the vet thinks
the only chance is a nutrional plan combined with anti inflamatory pills.
I am worried sick - the vet was the one who called the breeder.
The first question I have are we talking watery stools or is it more like mud? If soft like mud then adding a bit of 100% canned pumpkin (not pie mix) to the wet food helps bulk up the stool by adding fiber. I also recommend a product by Dr. Goodpet that is a probiotic plus emzymes. http://www.goodpet.com/library/pharmacyFiles/feline.asp
It works really well for us.
Second: What antibiotics were prescribed Flagyl? Panacur?.
Has the kitten been gaining weight? Eating, playing acting normal?
Switching diets and antibiotics can cause or aggrevate this problem.
We had a kitten that had soft stools until the age of 6-8 mos. Vet couldn't find anything. We put him on Hills ID and eventually he grew out of it.
Good luck with your kitty
Hi,
Thank's,
To your' questions -
We are talking "Watery stools"
At first they were just extremely soft, but during an escalation he had
(with no appearant reason, no change in nutrition or medecin), it became completely watery, and very frequent (sometimes 10 times a day).
The anti inflamatory pills helped a bit, lowered the frequency, but we had to enhance the dosage since he had a second escalation.
As for medicin - he received Flagyl (for five days, twice). And steroid shots. and Deworming syrup.
He did not get Panacur, since his "products" were checked for parasites, bacteria and viruses (twice), and in the last check up, nothing was found.
Before the escalation, when his stools were just soft and frequent (5 times a day), we gave him Pro-Biotic digestive supplements given to children, meant to richen the Flora (he took it daily for more than a month with no effects), we also wet his food with Rice Water (prepared according to the vets
idea).
As for his behaviour, he grew bigger, and gained some wait, the vet saw his last week, and said he's size is pretty normal for a 6 month old ragdoll. He is also energetic, has a healthy appetite, cuddly, playfull,
curious, normal kitten behaviour.
He is also the stronger cat in the house, the first cat to eat, the first cat to fight for attention and push the other cat (twice his side) out of his way.
Since he's size is normal the vet thinks he has no problem absorbing the nutrients, he has a difficulty in keeping the liquids.
if it were just soft stools it would be ok, but the vet fears of escalation, since during escelation he litters 10 times a day, at his age
it's pretty dangerous, if it can't be stopped.
At the moment, he is on a Tuna only diet, meant to clean up,
and we are suppoused to switch his nutrition during the week, gradualy to Royale Canine Hipoallergenic dry food.
(our vet thinks Intestinal food wouldn't work in this case, and we should try feeding him with food based on one source of protein, since allergic reaction are usually caused by the protein source).
time will tell, i guess...
Even though the vet did not see giardia, I still think you should try six days of Panacur, because sometimes you do not see the giardia on tests but the cat has it nonetheless. Also, the cat can reinfect himself or herself from the wet feces so you have to make sure the cat does not come into contact with them. So, for example, you have to wipe the cat clean and disinfect the litter box very often or have more than one that you trade out while one is being disinfected. I also suggest giving bottled water as some water supplies have giardia in them. I don't know about diet but I think you need a lot of fiber and some folks swear by adding pumpkin (Libby's pure pumpkin NOT the pumpkin pie filling) to the diet. My cat was on the prescription diet for intestinal problems for several months. There is a thread in another forum about the pumpkin helping the intestinal problems that I will try to find and post the link for you. I am sorry that your baby is going through this.
10x for the link, i will ask the vet about adding sources of fiber,
since we are now trying to minimize his diet to one source of protein
and no carbs and than gradually challenge him with easily digestible cat food.
(i can't change his nutrition at the moment, the Tuna diet lowered
the litter frequency, so i will have to wait, first challenge him with high fiber cat food, and than gradually add sources of fiber).
About the Giardia.
Being such a highly infectious parasite, and since the cats use the same 2 litter boxes share food and water bowels (for more than 2 months) i think if it were Giardia the other cat would have been infected by now.
Not that i would mind trying anything that might work, but in this case (being such a small kitten given so many types of medications) adding another type of antibiotics without evidence that it is actually needed might not be such a good idea.
(he already took 2 sessiona of Flagyl, 2 types of steroid shots, anti inflamatory pills)
The only time I have come across this was in young kittens when they were affected by tainted pet food (dry), via their mums breast milk.
Have you tried feeding raw??
With our problem the bowel was so inflamed it had to be settled first with a steriod then followed by a full course of clavumox.
the steriods were NOT kept up past the first day as these can also cause upsets, then we raw human grade meat, (beef or chicken) or even cooked with pumpkin which certainly doesn't hurt if mixed in with it for bulk.
Changing their dry biscuits to another top quality one then made the world of difference. Research your dry foods, don't just accept vet recomendations. Ask for samples.
This is a great thread--one of my kittens has got soft/wet stool problems, too. He's on a probiotic right now and I'm crossing my fingers that it works. I've also been advised to change both the cats' food to Science Diet. Good luck to everyone's kitties (and their intestines
)