My cat occasionally gets soft stools, this always ends up being only a symptom of a respiratory problem?

Question

I don't understand the connection between the two, but I'm glad I get a good heads up before she becomes distressed or gets a secondary infection. The vet gives her a couple of shots for congestion and she is right as rain the next day. It's either allergies or a virus. He says I can expect her to go through this every 3 or 4 months. He says she's looking better than she ever has, she had been sick with parasites and uri's as a kitten. I keep a savings for her frequent flyer vet visits.

vet always does a fecal and it's always negative.

I don't understand the connection between soft stools and respiratory problems.

It's funny you should ask about a prescription diet, today he asked me what she was eating, and I told him hill's prescription diet w/d, high fiber for her soft stool problem. He thought that was good.

sometimes I think her problem is a virus.

she has been tested and is negative. She is strictly an indoor cat.

most of the time she has solid stools, once in a while she has a soft stool then the next day the solid stools resume, but when she has three or four days of half solid half soft stools I know something is going on.

anyone know the connection between respiratory problem and soft stools?

I actually can never tell she is having a respiratory problem, he hears the congestion in her chest.

Answer 1

The connection may be stress. When a cat becomes stressed, it can affect his or her gastrointestinal system. If your cat responds well to treatment for her illness and the vet has run fecals that have come back negative, you probably don't have anything to worry about. (as far as the soft stool is concerned, at least...)

I do agree that you should have your cat on heartworm prevention, if she is not, already. It's been discovered that cats do get heartworms more frequently than we thought they did in the past. In infected cats, the lungs are often greatly affected. Ask your vet about feline Revolution. Not only will it help prevent heartworms, but it controls fleas, too.

=)

Answer 2

Cats can be chronic carriers of URI's. They can have outbreaks periodically. Has she been tested for feline leukemia and FIV virus? Both diseases can cause diarrhea and a weakened immune system. Does she go outside? Is she on a regular deworming schedule? Checked for internal parasites several times (can't always find them in 1 or 2 stool tests). Has she had a heartworm test ?(cats can and do get heartworm disease).

Answer 3

Your vet never put your cat on a prescription diet? You shouldn't have to go to the vet every 3 or 4 months to get help for your cat. Your vet should be giving you directions to keep it proactive so that your cat is dealing with her allergies by either giving you nasal spray, allergy medicine, or a presctiption diet. I suggest getting a second opinion from a different vet. They can be wrong sometimes. I was told by a vet that my cat had arthritis when it was actually a bone infection!