What do I do?? Please help before I have to give my cat away!?

Question

I just got a cat about 1 1/2 to 2 months ago. When we first got her, she had a cold that she caught from the other cats in the shelter and after about a week, she developed diarehha. We took her to the vet and he chalked it down to her being sick and/or the antibiotics. He prescribed her something to help her with it but all it did was make her stool more of a pudding-like consistency rather than watery. We took her to the vet again and he said to just buy Science Diet and it would sort her out (yeah right) We finally wound up complaining to the Humane society and their vet took a look at her and said that we just need to find the right food for her. Well, it's been 3 weeks since we did that and the cat still has diaherra. I have no clue what else to do now and I'm getting frustrated with the smell and the fact that the cat keeps stepping in it so I have to keep giving her mini-baths. We've already had her checked for parasites, she's ok there...just need help :(

Answer 1

Has a complete blood work been done on the kitty? That might give some idea as to whether or not something is truly wrong.

There are many forms of Science Diet food, some of which are available through the vet's office only. There's "CD" food which we feed our four cats and they don't poop much at all with that. I honestly forget the names of the other Science Diet foods that we've been on...it's been several and my kitties are fine.

Answer 2

Take her off her food (not water) for 24 hours. This will let her body get it all out (some what). Put her on a bland diet, cooked white rice (potatoe) and chopped up chicken boiled. (no salt, no seasonings). This should settle her tummy, when you start feeding her a new food, it is best to give her a high quality food (Iams, Science Diet etc.) the generic Purina, Meow Mix, etc. are all made of of beaks, hooves, and internal organs (parts no body else will buy) from the processing plants and provide little nutirive value. Keep her on the bland diet till the diaherria stops (should only be a few days) then Slowly introduce the new food to her (dry cat food), put a little of it in her rice and chicken, and with in about 7-10 days you can put up to a cup, and start weaning out the rice and chicken. (you can make a big pot of the rice and chicken and put it in the fridge or freezer, and just lightly reheat the amount you want to give her, so you not cooking it for her every day). Good luck, if the diaherria still persists, I would get some blood work done, just to make sure all her organs are working properly. Some cats get diaherria from stress, so that might be something to think about as well. Good luck to you and your kitty.

Answer 3

Hi Karrie...you mentioned that you changed your kitty's diet suddenly. This can cause distressed symptoms such as sour stomach and diarrhea. If this is the case you'll need to get her old food and mix it with the new food by gradually changing it more towards the newer food over a course of a couple weeks--3/4 parts of the old food with 1/4...then 1/2 to 1/2 then 1/4 to 3/4 of new, etc. This should help ease her stomach and bowels as well. Also by giving her canned food this will help give a little more fluid in her meals as diarrhea causes dehydration. Any vet can confirm this fact.

If she has food allergies this also will contribute to the diarrhea. There are many brands of high quality cat food. Try finding brands that don't have the ingredient "corn meal". Some of these good brands are called Innova EVO, California Natural, Nature's Variety Prairie, Chicken Soul for the Cat Lover's Soul and more affordably Royal Canin. Please remember these may not alleviate the problem immediately as you need to gradually change the old food slowly over to the new food within a two-week time period before you see any results.

Since you felt the vet you recently visited didn't meet with your expectations, consider finding another vet you could trust for her future care. A good veterinary practioner would welcome you interviewing them in person before ever having to bring your cat to the clinic just to see if you like their practice and staff too.

Have some patience. Young kittens (if your cat is young) sometimes have bouts of diarrhea quite a bit.

Answer 4

Your kitty could have a food allergy. I had a similar situation with a cat I got from the shelter. I had to take the cat back and they kept her for a week, she had an upper respiratory infection, so they say. When she came home she was on a lot of antibiotics and nose and ear drops. But she still had diarrhea. I had to change the type of food I was giving her. Turns out, she was allergic to chicken, go figure. To this day, when I give her any food that has chicken as an ingredient, she sneezes uncontrollably and gets the runs. Keep the kitty, ivest some more time in trying to figure out what is wrong.

Answer 5

This does not sound happy. Has she been checked for parasites?
You need to go back to the vet at the Humane Society and tell him that his advice did not work. Give him a chance to follow up on cat. As with Humans there may be a plan B here to try. Is there a vet school near by? Perhaps they can make a referral to a kitty gasto specialist. Is there a cat club? Ask them who is the best kitty vet.

Answer 6

First of all, I would suggest a second opinion or another trip to the same vet for more suggestions. Antibiotics can cause diarrhea, but so can many illnesses/conditions. It is possible your kitty has another illness that was masked by the Upper Respiratory Infection. It could be a food problem (wrong food for her, allergy, etc). It could also be just the way your cat is. Mine almost always has loose stools...it's really gross, but we just deal with it (of course she doesn't step in hers). Are you feeding wet or dry Science Diet? If it's wet food, try dry. If it's dry, try another brand or a sensitive stomach formula. Are you giving her any human food? If you are, stop and stick to just cat food.

Answer 7

How old is your cat or kitten? Food alergies are more common with kittens and cats than one might realize. Science Diet is one of the Vet's #1 choices, but it is rather expensive too. You may want to try Purina Kitten Chow if your cat is a kitten or Purina Cat Chow if it is a cat. Also what you may want to do is, buy some children's Immodium. Shake up the bottle really well and place 2 droppers full in a bowl or a cup. Put 2 droppers full of warm water and mix the two and every time your kitten/cat goes to take a runny, clay poo, give one dropper of this to it.

If your cat and or kitten is still receiving anti-biotics, you can expect him or her to have a runny clay like poo for as long as it needs the medicine. But the children's immodium mixed with water should slow it down some.

Good luck and I hope I was some what helpful. May you and your cat/kitten bond with each other and find true friendship and companionship with each other for many years!

Answer 8

I had a cat like that, and the vet gave me prednisone (which is a steroid) and an antibiotic (I believe it was metronidazole) to help calm his immune system and treat what the vet referred to as Irritable bowel syndrome. It did not make his stool normal, but it was manageable. I put him on several foods, and ended up sticking with California Natural dry food, which has only 6 ingredients in it. I bought him Sensible Choice canned food (chicken and rice). He was indoors only back then. I had to give him to my mother when he was four years old, because I moved. She lets him go outside now, and you know his bowel problems cleared right up when he was able to go outside and eat grass and things. He needs no pills or special food anymore. He is 8 years old now and quite healthy.

Answer 9

Firstly keep kitty hydrated. Kitty is losing alot of it's nessesary fluids through these unfortunate BMs.
2ndly is kittu a special breed or even part of a special breed? My sisters part Maine coon was prone to a very nasty urinary tract infection. simply because of his breed if we'd known that , if the vet had known it perhaps we could've saved him. if kitty is a special breed read up on that breed preferably in books less than 5 years old. or better yet google your cats breed.
Thirdly get that 2nd opinion. Preferably go to a cat specialist vet. Vets can be just as conceeded as human Drs sure that if they can't figure it out then it's something minor like brand of cat food. They told us to change willows diet when he was sick then claimed to have checkred him nose tip to tail tip, gave him a clean bill of health. 2 days later Christmas mrning he died. 2 weeks later we'd found out that Male maine coons are prone to that disease. as I said if we'd had that knowledge we might've been able to save him. or at least make him more comfortable.
Please for kitties sake & willows don't let this happen to kitty.

Answer 10

Have you tried giving her dry food only? If you can convince her to eat it for a few days then it may help to settle her tummy. Go for a good brand, designed to be fed as a complete diet. Ensure she has enough water to drink, if she has the runs then she will quickly become dehydrated. A little chicken, cooked to being dry, may tempt her to tuck in to the dry food. A dry food diet isn't ideal in the long term, but it may stop your problem, allow her tummy to settle down and then you could gradually reintroduce a little meat feed.

I hope you find a solution to your problem, I have six cats and it's a nightmare when one of them gets an upset tummy.