any ideas on firming up a loose stool in a cat? he is 2 yrs old. been treated for tape and round worms.?

Question

at the shelter he was treated for worms, ringworm, fleas, and earmites. he acts fine. the poop is like long strings of pudding, and i am used to seeing cats make "tootsie rolls" if you know what i mean! problem is that he steps in it as he turns in his cat box to cover it up...i have been feeding eagle brand dry food..hairball formula. with a tblsp of friskies wet in am and pm. when i stopped the wet it didnt make a difference. i just bouth science diet i/d (intestinal formula) on the advice of a friend. i will take him in to the vet again, but i wanted to try some home remedies first. he has been throughly checked recently and had no health issues. also i tried giving him a probiotic in his food for 2 weeks...no better. any ideas??

Answer 1

Aw, you're trying! That's good to see.

Before adding anything, let's see if we can get to the root cause.

Is the stool like this all the time or is it a recent change? Which could be related to a food change, or medication, or stress.....it may clear up in time by itself.

Have you changed his diet recently? That can cause digestive upsets which will clear up in time, assuming the new food is agreeable.

Probiotics ..... it may just take time to get used to. I bought some for Poppy but it gave her gas. Not wanting to deal with that, I just stopped it. Poppy's system is very sensitive and I didn't want to deal with it.

The best advice I can give you is to change the diet. EB is at least one of the better foods, but if his diet is primarily dry, that may be the problem.

Some people believe that wet food, being wet, causes diarrhea. But think about it - does eating wet food give YOU diarrhea? LOL The truth is, it's dry food that's more likely to cause digestive upsets because of the ingredients used in it.

I recommend switching him to a primarily canned food diet, with little or no dry food. At most, dry food can be up to 50% of the total diet, but it shouldn't be the staple.

You're likely to have better luck with better brands. See some suggestions below.

Try this first. I'm willing to bet you'll find a food that will firm things up and you won't have to do anything more.

More reading from my blog:
Digestive upsets can take more than one form and of course may have more than one cause.

One symptom is vomiting and the other is loose stool or diarrhea. And then there's farting.

Diarrhea is much more serious and a cat suffering from it should always be checked by a vet asap.

In cases of loose stool, a sample should be taken to the vet to rule out any parasites or conditions. Assuming there is none, then you have to look to the diet.

Ditto for vomiting. Excessive hairballs can often be dealt with by daily grooming. I'm not a big fan of supplementing for hairballs - I think the cause should be dealt with not just the symptoms. And I would never feed a hairball control food for the same reason, and because excess fiber isn't necessarily a good thing.

But once you've ruled out diseases or parasites, the most likely culprit is diet. Crappy foods contain ingredients that many cats are unable to tolerate. But even some very good foods can disagree with a cat, either "just because" or perhaps because they've been switched to it too quickly. Or perhaps a particular protein source disagrees with the cat.

Again, the solution in most cases is going to be to switch to another, perhaps better food. It does have to be done slowly, and you may have to try more than one food, but the results are worth it.

If it seems that you've tried every possible food and have been very patient in switching the cat to the new food, you might consider supplements. These include slippery elm or probiotics. I personally suggest Jarrow's Pet-Dophilus as a good probiotic.

Slippery Elm can be used (if you know what you're doing) for constipation, diarrhea and loose stool - it's sovereign, in or out, and is not harmful - although it should not be given at the same time as any other medications because it tends to dilute their effects. It's considered to be a demulcent which affects water balance in the digestive system.

Answer 2

Cat Loose Stool

Answer 3

When it comes to switching foods for this reason, you must be very thourough. YOU WILL NOT see differences overnight. It takes at least a week(up to 10 days) of being on that food and ONLY that food. Meaning, no wet, no treats no nothing.

Depending on where you live, I personally suggest trying out Natural Balance. It worked very well on mine and many of my friends cats.

If after you've tried some foods(look for foods without wheat/corn and by products, and look for some with rice, that usually helps firm stools) and still nothing is helping, you could be dealing with something more severe that they cannot test for unless a portion of their bowel is autospied. But thats a worst case scenario.

Also, pro-biotic(pre biotic) foods sometimes take longer then ALL others to reach a desired result. this is because the probiotics in the food have to balance with the ones already in your cats digestive tract. It's like shedding the old and beginning the new.

Digestive distress, can also be caused by "allergies" or "intollerances". Kinda like Humans are lactose intollerent. Cats can be to different things. A true allergy to a protein source(meat) is a tricky thing, but can be overcome with a high success rate if you do some research and carefully monitor any foods bought.

Answer 4

We have several inside cats at home and my shop. We deal with this every once and a while. The Vet has us using Ammonium AD. Its a people thing, but we put a very small amount on our finger tip, and they seem to lick it off fine Be careful not to over do it, but a small amount in the morning, and if it still persist, do it again the next day. It may take a day or two to really work. It sure works for us. If it comes back, repeat. If that don't do it, a trip to the vet may be in order. Good luck. I'm sure this is fixable.

Answer 5

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RE:
any ideas on firming up a loose stool in a cat? he is 2 yrs old. been treated for tape and round worms.?
at the shelter he was treated for worms, ringworm, fleas, and earmites. he acts fine. the poop is like long strings of pudding, and i am used to seeing cats make "tootsie rolls" if you know what i mean! problem is that he steps in it as he turns in his cat box to cover it up...i have been...

Answer 6

His loose stools are probably bothering his stomach as well. Veterinarians typically recommend a bland diet. I use white rice and boiled hamburger meat. It is very important to boil the meat as this takes all of the grease out of it. After you boil it, run it under hot water and mix it with the rice. If you're cat won't eat it because it is too bland, you can mix it with a tsp of chicken broth. Hope your kitty feels better soon.

Answer 7

My very first kitty (who lived to the ripe old age of 18 years) had this prob towards the end of her life and her vet suggested i boil plain rice (no seasoning) and skinless chicken pieces then when cooked put in blender to make it look like regular canned cat food and just give it to the kitty about 2 times a day (not alot) and then slow down when you notice that it is helping. the rice is a starch and it will help normalize her bowels. good luck

Answer 8

I adopted a very sickly kitten with a recuperating broken leg. Constant diarrhea AND respiratory problems. I switched him to a more appropriate diet (NATURAL and raw) after a couple days doing baby food and brown rice as transition and it was a miracle performed! Even home cooked is better than the processed stuff.

Answer 9

The vet will know - most likely worm related. Take a sample of the stool with you to the vet, he would definitely give a better diagnosis if you bring a sample.

Answer 10

You can try mixing a little bit of plain yogurt in with your kitties food. I forget the exact reason why, but something in it helps the intestinal tract.