Diarrhea woes?

Question

My cat has had diarrhea for over a month now. I have tried metronidazole, liquid diarrhea meds, and de-wormers on him and nothing is helping it. He doesn't appear to be in any distress and it doesn't seem to bother him but it worries me. I don't have the money for an expensive vet visit right now though. Can anyone tell me some inexpensive treatments I can try until I can get him to the vet?

Answer 1

My cat has the same problem a lot. After trying many meds that were very expensive the vet said to try ''Kaopectate'' and believe it or not it works pretty good. As soon as I see ANY sign of diarrhea, even just a tiny amount I use it. I give him about 3ml of it. If you do not have a dispenser you can usually get them for free at a pharmacy. Hope Kitty feels better! The vet also said to feed a ''high fiber'' diet, cause the fiber will bind up the loose stools. Check out these web sites!
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?articleid=99
http://www.pets.ca/pettips/tips-75.htm
http://www.fabcats.org/diarrhoea.html
http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/diarrhea
http://www.peteducation.com/category_summary.cfm?cls=1&cat=1357
http://www.cat-world.com.au/CatMilk.htm

Answer 2

If your cat is middle aged and otherwise appears healthy and no major diet change has taken place:

I would start him on Iams Adult Dry only for about 2-3 days see if it improves, some cats respond real well to this something in it that forms small BM.

If no improvments in 2-3 days then move to CANNED Iams (Chicken or Turkey) Only in small meals maybe 1- 6oz can cut into 2-4 small meals. try this for 2-3days

If only slight improvement try Science Diet ID CANNED.
If all else fails ask vet if he would be apposed to allowing you to try a trial of Prednizone.
The good thing about Prednizone is it will help with many different ailments like lets say you did very expensive UltraSound and they found a cancerous or non cancerous tumor Prednizone would be prescribed, unless you wanted to go for the $3,000 radiation or Chemo Lets say they found signs of Irritable bowel well Prednizone would be prescribed. Let say they found just signs of food allergies well Prednizone. ....Get the jist so ask if he would let you try it first. You may never know the diagnosis but lets say it was cancer would you opt for $3,000 treatments or....

Answer 3

If your cat has persistent diarrhea, take the cat to the vet if symptoms have continued for more than 2 days. Bring a stool sample with you and have the vet check for parasites and/or fever.

What kind of food are you feeding your cat? You can try changing (temporarily) the cat's diet to one or more of the following (depending on the cat's preferences):

boiled rice
cottage cheese
bread
plain yogurt
boiled chicken
chicken broth
baby food (strained meat varieties)

The emphasis on the above being as bland as possible. No spices allowed as they tend to aggravate the stomach. This procedure may be advisable to reduce the possibility of dehydration from the diarrhea.

One-half teaspoon of kaopectate (NOT peptobismol, it contains asprin) usually works pretty well too.

Possible causes for diarrhea

Causes of acute (sudden onset) diarrhea
Infections
Viral
Panleucopenia (distemper)
Feline Leukemia Virus
Coronavirus
Rotavirus
Astrovirus
Bacterial
Salmonella
Campylobacter
Escherischia coli (not documented in cats)
Parasitic
Roundworms
Hookworms
Coccidia
Giardia
Toxoplasma
Diet esp. dietary change or raid on the garbage
Toxic or drug-induced
Acetominophen (tylenol)
antibiotics
Miscellaneous
partial intestinal obstruction
Most common causes are viral infections and dietary changes.

Causes of chronic diarrhea
Viral and Bacterial
FIV
FeLeuk
Salmonella
Campylobacter
Clostridium
Parasites
as above, except Toxoplasma
Dietary sensitivity
Miscellaneous
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Drug Sensitivity
Inappropriate use of antibiotics
Bacterial overgrowth??
Partial intestinal obstruction
Idiopathic (no known cause)

Answer 4

My kitten started to have diarrhea after we changed his diet from a mix of wet and dry food to just wet food. I'm not sure if it was the sudden change or the fact that he was having too much wet food (which is what i think it was) but after we switched back to a mix of wet and dry food his diarrhea stopped. If you have recently changed his diet majorly this may be the cause (although i would have though a month was enough time for him to adjust). If you give him human milk or too many treats (like loads of cat milk or bits of human food) this may also be the cause.

good luck!

Answer 5

Try Eukenuba Response LB canned food. A freind of mine with a cat that had chronic diarrhea for 4 years tried everything - food and medication. Then she switched the cat food to Eukenuba Resonse LB and it cured the problem. Amazing. You may want to see if this works for your kitty.

Answer 6

Try changing his food if my boy eats to much wet food or certain types of dry food it gives his super diarrhea

Answer 7

sure!!! It occurs to me too! the previous couple of cases that I had diarrhea exceeded off in the time of my era. My new rule is to ward off rapid nutrition and greasy ingredients in the time of my era which could contribute to the undertaking.

Answer 8

See if he will eat some cottage cheese. We would give that to puppys and kittens with the runs at the shelter!! It ussally works if they will eat it.

Answer 9

Arrowroot - it's natural and organic and has worked on cats in the past.

Answer 10

Man, I hate having the runs.