Sudden Diarrhea - Need Opinions

coniferously

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 21, 2016
Messages
332
Purraise
91
Location
Ohio
Hello all.
I have a cat, his name is Theodore, Theo for short. He is about a year and a half now. When we first got him he was about five months old and about a week in got very sick, 106 temperature, swollen joints, etc. My other cats did not get sick from him whatsoever, he was put on two antibiotics and was better at the end of the doses. We never found out what he had, they suggested mycoplasma but we never actually knew for sure. It's been about a year now and he's been perfectly fine. As of probably Wednesday night, I noticed one of my cats were having diarrhea throughout the house. I didn't know who it was until I saw it all over Theo's back end and tail (he's a fluffball). Thursday day, I was home and monitoring him. He seemed to be sort of down but still playful and eating. I ended up taking a nap and then was woken up by something, not sure what, but it caused me to get out of bed where I saw Theo looking panicked. He then started running around looking confused with diarrhea coming out of him. I picked him up and ran him into the bathroom, as his poo came out again and onto my leg. I was really scared because I've never had a cat have diarrhea like this before, and with his history of getting super sick, I was terrified something was happening again. He did not have diarrhea or anything the first time he was sick though, so I didn't know what it could be now.
We took him to the vet Thursday night because at one point he started panting, which he did the first time he was sick as well, and brought a sample with us. They said his heart and lungs sounded good, temperature was 101. I had them take it again later on to make sure, it went up to 103, but the vet said that could be from stress. Which he was super, super stressed there and the whole way there, just panting off and on the whole way. He did stop at the vet though, but he was shaking and hiding in the corner. He said his bladder was small, which was good, and he was a very little bit dehydrated. He said his stomach felt a little tense. They gave him fluids and sent out his blood, urine, and stool for testing. Everything came back good, they said his urine was a little concentrated and had protein in it, but was more than likely because of the dehydration. They sent us home with Metronidazole for GI inflammation and an antibiotic, Doxycycline. They actually didn't mention how long to give him each of those, but it's always been to give them everything they prescribed until it runs out, which is enough for two weeks antibiotics and I believe 16 days of the GI one. He gets both of them every twelve hours, the GI one is a fourth of a pill and the antibiotic is a half pill. He hasn't had an accident since we've been home and has been acting completely normal, except for a large pile of poo I found on the floor, I think yesterday morning, assuming from him. It wasn't diarrhea, but it looked really weird. Just like multicoloured but not bright. Kind of dull, maybe chalky and I feel like there was some green in it. But I assumed since it was his first poo after taking the medication that's why it looked odd. I was honestly just happy to see it was solid at this point. Well just now, I went upstairs and saw diarrhea in the litterbox again. This time it had a pinkish red tint of blood in it. The poo itself was a normal colour lightish-brown. It also looked a little mucousy again. I really am unsure what could be causing this. I have 13 cats total and the other stool looks fine. I haven't changed their food recently either. This just came out of the blue and I just am unsure what it could be from. If anyone has any idea, please let me know. Any other information you'd like, just ask. I'm sure I've left something out.
Anything is helpful. He is my sweet baby and I love him to pieces.
As of right now, he is climbing the cat trees and making his wild noises, acting like his normal insane self. This photo was taken yesterday. Sorry it's sideways:

 

Attachments

Last edited:

Jcatbird

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 5, 2017
Messages
10,301
Purraise
58,378
Location
United States
I am so sorry Theo has been sick. So many things can cause bowel troubles. Is he an indoor cat? Do you know all the vet checked him for? I assume he has been wormed. Tapeworms as well? Checked for Coccidia? Many cats carry that but a flare up can be caused by stress, exposure to other illness or just age. Young and old cats are sometimes struck by this. Your vet needs to be contacted again with a description of his symptoms. Anything new happening in your lives to cause stress? It really could be anything from diet issues to illness. Only a vet can tell you for sure. If he is acting normally right now that’s good. I know it must be a relief to you. They are our babies. I’m glad he seems okay right now. Maybe the medicine is upsetting his tummy. Sometimes it helps the illness but does irritate as well. Just keep him comfortable and get back with the vet. Maybe they can give you more information based on the latest results you see. Hopefully it is just processing the drugs. Please post when you hear more. I’d like to know that Theo is okay. You too! That is a beautiful kitty!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

coniferously

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 21, 2016
Messages
332
Purraise
91
Location
Ohio
All my kitties are strictly indoor. They checked for parasites and it was all negative. I'm not sure what they checked for with his blood, probably just a standard check I'm sure. All I know is they said it all looked good. Like I said, he is a year and a half, still young but definitely not as much of a risk as a kitten, I'd think. But yes he is acting 100% normal. Eating all his food and lots of energy. I also was thinking maybe antibiotics could be upsetting his tummy, but the fact he is being treated for diarrhea kind of makes me think it isn't from the medicine? I dunno. I have a feeling if we call they'll just have us finish out the pills he has (it'll be day 3.5 in the morning, so dose 8, followed by 9 in the evening, he only had one dose Thursday night since that's when we took him). Like I said, we have enough for two weeks, which sounds like a lot. I'm sure they'll be closed tomorrow due to the holiday so we will have to wait to call on Tuesday to confirm the amount to give him and tell them about what's going on now. They called on Friday and Saturday to check on him, and of course he hadn't had diarrhea then so we had nothing to tell them. I just hope he's okay. I really would hate to drag him out there again. It's a forty minute drive, and like I said, he gets sooo upset. I had a cat pass away at the vet purely from anxiety (probably an underlying heart issue or something) but still that's in the back of my mind and I'd hate for that to happen again. I wouldn't be able to live with it.
 
Last edited:
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

coniferously

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 21, 2016
Messages
332
Purraise
91
Location
Ohio
Sorry I didn't completely answer your questions. There isn't any stress that I know of. We haven't moved house or brought anyone new over or gotten any new cats or anything. He gets along well with all the other cats. He's very social and loving to them all, except one who is around his age, Atlas, he tries to play with him but Atlas isn't that social and gets really upset with Theo, but that would be Atlas getting stressed from that, not Theo. Would diet problems be showing after hes been eating the same food for probably.. five months or so now?
 

Jcatbird

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 5, 2017
Messages
10,301
Purraise
58,378
Location
United States
Considering the medicine the vet gave kitty, I am guessing it is just taking time for it to work. If you do a google search on the medicine it will tell you that it is used for protazoal infections, bacterial infections and inflamed bowels. It can be used for ther things too. If Theo had either of the first two it could cause all the rest of the issues. The medicines can also be rough on the tummy. I am not a vet but I have had cats with bowel problems and medication problems. It may be that he is already better, just not over it all yet. Maybe that’s all there is to it. I don’t know if it would help if he ate some dry food or not. I expect food that is easy on his tummy might help. Nothing too rich but might be best to just observe for now unless he seems to stop improving. From what you say, he is better than he was. If he was my kitty, I would just watch him unless he showed worse symptoms. Call the vet when they open. Maybe by then you won’t need to.
I hate that he gets that upset going to the vet. I cover my cats carrier except for the door. I face the door towards me as we ride and keep petting and speaking soothingly the whole way. Some get upset and cry but over time they calm down. I also take my cats for short rides that don’t end up at the vet. Then they don’t associate the ride with the vet. It seems to help. I hope Theo will just continue to improve. By Tuesday you should know more. I’m wishing him to get well quick! :heartshape:
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

coniferously

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 21, 2016
Messages
332
Purraise
91
Location
Ohio
Thank you so much for all your kind words. I really am hoping it's just the medicine upsetting his tummy at this point. I guess my main question is what started this in the first place? Nothing has changed so I guess that's what scares me. If it's something worse than what we are thinking. However he didn't show any signs of pain when the doctor was feeling his belly, and he examined it and felt for quite a while, like 20 seconds or so, and Theo didn't cry or bite or anything. The food we feed them is dry food, a combination of 4Health All Life Stages and 4Health Indoor Cat Formula. I know there was a time a couple of weeks ago where a lot of my cats were vomiting their food up, which was unusual because they never do with this stuff. Maybe it was a bad batch then, and maybe now there is something off that has thrown Theo's bowels off and it just hasn't affected the other cats that way. Good news he isn't throwing up at all and has a ton of energy. If he didn't have diarrhea I would never suspect he wasn't feeling well. Do you know anything about the food we feed them? Sorry for asking you questions like that, I've researched about it but maybe you know something I don't. I've only really read good things about it, and it's grain-free. I feed my cats all 1/3 cup of food twice a day. Some of them don't even finish it all and it goes back in the plastic food bin. It's cheap for being grain free, which is good for feeding 13 cats. I just wonder if maybe it isn't as good as I think it is?
 
Last edited:
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

coniferously

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 21, 2016
Messages
332
Purraise
91
Location
Ohio
As far as car rides and to the vet and all that, I had a towel over his carrier and had the door facing his dad, I kept talking to him and it would help for a second but then he was making horrendous sounds again. Worse than what my other cats sound like in the car. I was honestly so scared something was going to happen to him. We once brought our cat Finlay into the car for a little car ride and he FREAKED out. I felt so bad, we just brought him back inside. But then our cat Atlas loved the car when we first brought him home as a 5 month old kitten and when we took him for shots and neutering. No idea how he would be now, but yeah. I think they're all just different, and Theo happens to be terrified of it.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8

coniferously

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 21, 2016
Messages
332
Purraise
91
Location
Ohio
So when we first got Theo, he would pant for a few seconds after we played with him. Then we found out he we really sick and so I associate him panting with being sick. He didn't pant again for months after until probably a couple months ago, my boyfriend yelled at him for aggressively chasing another cat and pretty much chased him back upstairs from the basement (I yelled at my boyfriend for getting so worked up with Theo and he hasn't been like that towards the cats since). Once Theo came back up he was panting. I assume it was from being overexcited/scared. Then a few days ago after we noticed he was having diarrhea I tried to play with him (that's one of my ways of seeing how crappy he feels) and after playing for probably five minutes with his favourite giant mouse toy, he began to pant. Which is why we took him to the vet. Well, one of the things that really pushed me into knowing he had to go. And obviously I mentioned he panted on and off the whole way to the vet. Not at all when he came back but definitely on the way there, which I associated with being anxious, and I just played again with him a few minutes ago with his mouse toy again, and after probably three minutes he panted. It isn't anything vigorous or anything that lasts long, he does it for like three seconds and stops and that's it. At that point I stop playing. Could this just be how he gets when he's excited? He does get super crazy when we play. We dont do jumps or anytbing but you can tell his inner wild cat emerges. He doesn't have any symptoms of heart disease at all.. he's probably the most crazy and active cat in the house, a great climber and jumper and loves to play. His breathing is normal outside of play time. Sorry to push this into the topic about his bowel problems, I just wanted another opinion on the panting. I mentioned it to the vet and vet tech multiple times and they just said okay or didn't say anything. Again he said his heart and lungs sound good. I just don't know if I should worry a lot about the panting or not. It isn't prolonged and literally lasts five seconds max.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

coniferously

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 21, 2016
Messages
332
Purraise
91
Location
Ohio
So my cat Duncan has diarrhea now.. I heard weird pooping sounds and walked down to the basement and saw him in the act, so maybe the poo in the litterbox wasn't Theo's last night.. does this make it more likely we got a bad batch of food??? I just got a whole order of $220 worth of food and now I don't know what to do. However this is the same batch from two months ago when we ordered it last time, the same batch that was making some of the cats puke. I figured it was just one of the bags we had in there, but maybe it was more. Would a sudden change in food be bad? Or should I buy some and still mix it with this stuff? I really have no idea what to do or even buy.
 
Last edited:

Jcatbird

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 5, 2017
Messages
10,301
Purraise
58,378
Location
United States
I can only tell you what I would do. I have had food issues before. I have also had cat tummy problems that got shared. Tell your vet that the other kitty had loose poop too. First I would try another food. Maybe just a small bag of something to see if they do better after a meal. I also have a vet who thinks giving a wet food at times helps with hydration. I know you have a lot of kitties but maybe the pooping ones could be given some in private while sick. The panting could be an excitement thing. If you really worry you can always take kitty for a second opinion. At least if you got the same opinion you would feel more at ease.
I am not familiar with the food you use but I do know that accidental contamination happens. There have been reports of some animal foods containing some bad stuff. I would check the manufacturer rather than the brand.
When you talk to your vet make sure that the illness can’t be shared. Keep the litter boxes extra clean. If you can provide a separate boxes for the sick kitties it might be better.
Make sure the boyfriend fully understands that stress is really bad for kitties.
Do your cats like music? Classical music that is soft and relaxing seems to help. I have heard that music by Handel is helpful. I also find that some of my kitties like for me to sing to them. Not all. Maybe Theo would like it and you could sing to him in the car or when he gets stressed. Worth trying.:alright:
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

coniferously

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 21, 2016
Messages
332
Purraise
91
Location
Ohio
I specifically asked the vet if we should keep Theo separate and he said for the night until we get results back. Since he's on antibiotics and his results were fine, that was basically our ok to let him out. The vet didn't mention it being contagious or anything since Theo didn't have a fever and had a good physical check up and all that. We also went out and bought 14 new litter boxes the night we came home from the vet and threw the others away in hopes of keeping the other cats safe just in case. When we buy our food we order enough for my mom's cats too and she has said she's noticed more vomiting with the last couple month's worth of food. I've been searching online for probably hours now for cat food and I just am so lost at what to do. Should I make a thread in the nutrition section? Sort of a rhetorical question, I'll probably be doing that anyway. And yes my cats like Zen music, like Japanese and Chinese music. And yes they love when I sing to them too, haha.
 

Jcatbird

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 5, 2017
Messages
10,301
Purraise
58,378
Location
United States
Sounds like you are handling it all great. Start that nutrition thread and see what kind of information you get. I am sure you will get lots of suggestions. I am feeding even more cats here and I know the budget restrictions but there are some god foods out there that won’t break the bank. I’d love to hear that everyone is okay again. At both houses.
 

mikameek

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 2, 2018
Messages
474
Purraise
628
Location
Austin, Texas
I have had it where the same food a cat has been on for a while suddenly caused issues. This isn't personally with my cat, but my roommate's cat. He was on the same food for close to a year when he started throwing up. My roommate wasn't sure what it was and based off of her cat's health being totally fine otherwise, they switched foods. He's been great ever since. The vet thinks that he might have an allergy to fish so he's on a chicken diet with no fish anything in it.

I'd definitely make the forum in the nutrition section (I'll probably chime in there too, haha).
 
Top