Cat Diarrhea

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Ellen S - 05 Aug 2005 15:39 GMT

I have a five year old who has always been a little nervous and had a
sensitive stomach. She throws up more often than any other cat i've had
(about 1-2 times week) and has diarrhea once or twice in a month or two
period. She's otherwise healthy - eats, active, good weight. Vet says there's
probably no serious health issues - just a sensitive tummy.

Here's the problem -- For the past year, every six months (literally - last
Aug, then Feb, now), she gets diarrhea constantly and sometimes there is
mucous and blood. She also threw up mucous and blood yesterday. Last Feb, the
vet treated her and my other cat for possible parasites (with panacure). The
vomiting and diarrhea went away, but now it's back. I spoke with the vet
yesterday and she said that it probably isn't parasites since they were
treated six months ago and they are not outside cats. She believes that it
may be an intestinal issue - possibly food allergies?

I'd really like to get some opinions here. What do you all think? Any other
ideas of what's going on. I switched their food and they aren't very happy
about it. Could this be something more serious? Maybe I should take the cats
to a cat specialist??

Please help. I'm really getting tired of cleaning up all this diarrhea.
(She's a long haired cat and it gets all over her back end - I'm constantly
having to trim the fur back there).

Thank you!!

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Karen - 05 Aug 2005 16:40 GMT

My cat has had chronic diarrhea off and on for the 3 years I've had her. It
was bad at times, but since her heart problem was diagnosed, it's gotten
worse. She was SOOOO miserable, crying and throwing up. Finally, my vet put
her on w/d this past Saturday (after I was up with her half the night
because she was so miserable.) and man, that cleared it right up. SHe has
been like a new cat. I would ask the vet about trying either the i/d or the
w/d. I've seen at least one other vet online say that switching to w/d is
the first thing they try with cats and chronic diarrhea. w/d is lower in fat
than i/d so that is also better for my girl who needs to lose a couple of
pounds. My vet gave me 6 cans to try for free (or a bag of dry, but I prefer
keeping her on canned). I hope you find something. It's soooooo sad and they
are soooo miserable.

> I have a five year old who has always been a little nervous and had a
> sensitive stomach. She throws up more often than any other cat i've had
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> Thank you!!

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Snittens - 05 Aug 2005 17:29 GMT

>I have a five year old who has always been a little nervous and had a
> sensitive stomach. She throws up more often than any other cat i've had
> (about 1-2 times week) and has diarrhea once or twice in a month or two
> period. She's otherwise healthy - eats, active, good weight. Vet says
> there's
> probably no serious health issues - just a sensitive tummy.

<snip>

Diarrhea can be the result of several different things. Unfortunately since
cats can't talk, we have to try to figure it out by trial and error.
Like Karen wrote, w/d prescription food is a good place to start. It has
worked for some of the cats at the shelter who have had diarrhea. We had a
cat on w/d at the shelter, but it wasn't quite doing the trick. The vet
added Metamucil to his wet food once a day, I think the dose was a teaspoon
(check with your vet) and it did the trick.
If the w/d doesn't work, then the next place to go is usually food
allergies. There are prescription diets and also commercial foods you can
buy to start trying to figure out what the allergen is. Some cats can't
tolerate grains well, sometimes it's fish or beef.
If the diarrhea is persistent, you might want to talk to your vet about
doing an ultrasound to see if your cat has thickened intestines or possibly
some sort of irritant like a hairball.

Good luck, I know it's frustrating.

-Kelly

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Phil P. - 06 Aug 2005 00:50 GMT

> I have a five year old who has always been a little nervous and had a
> sensitive stomach. She throws up more often than any other cat i've had
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> treated six months ago and they are not outside cats. She believes that it
> may be an intestinal issue - possibly food allergies?

Which brand of food are you feeding her? Speak to your vet about trying
Hill's Prescription Diet Low Allergen z/d or a diet with a single protein
source such as Hill's Prescription Diet d/d.

> I'd really like to get some opinions here. What do you all think? Any other
> ideas of what's going on. I switched their food and they aren't very happy
> about it. Could this be something more serious? Maybe I should take the cats
> to a cat specialist??

I would get her checked out- abdominal including x-rays to rule out
digestive system disorders.

> Please help. I'm really getting tired of cleaning up all this diarrhea.
> (She's a long haired cat and it gets all over her back end - I'm constantly
> having to trim the fur back there).

I'm sure she doesn't find having diarrhea very enjoyable, either.

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PawsForThought - 06 Aug 2005 03:10 GMT

> I'd really like to get some opinions here. What do you all think? Any other
> ideas of what's going on. I switched their food and they aren't very happy
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> (She's a long haired cat and it gets all over her back end - I'm constantly
> having to trim the fur back there).

Hi Ellen,
First, I would highly recommend joining the IBD group at Yahoo. It's
made up of people who like yourself are dealing with IBD. Here's the
website:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FelineIBD

Second, from people I've talked to who have IBD cats, the cat does much
better on a grain free diet, so it might be something you want to check
out. Lastly, I've had good luck with a holistic vet for my asthmatic
kitty, so you might want to try that.

Hope this helps,Lauren
(and Mickey & Meesha)
See my cats: http://tinyurl.com/76tg8

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