9 Mo. Old Former Ferals - On Again, Off Again Diarrhea

beckbjj

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In September 2018 I trapped a family of ferals in my back yard. An experienced rescuer took mom and dad; I kept the two approximately 5 month old kittens. They are awesome young cats now, sweet, playful, healthy, and get along great with my other cats. Both have been to the vet multiple times with the usual feral start-up things (spay, chip, vaccines, parasite checks).

The only catch in all this has been diarrhea that goes away to the point of them having perfect stools, but then comes back. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as far as what they're eating or anything else. Every time I think it's beat, it comes back. FWIW, the diarrhea does not appear to bother them in the least, they are 100% active normal young cats, wrestling, playing, and eating normally.

Their fecal samples have been tested for parasites at least two, maybe three times. ALL were negative for everything, even the very first tests after trapping. They have had Revolution, and then a month later Profender. The first one I trapped was on Panacur early on as the vet thought based on symptoms that she might have giardia (notwithstanding a negative test). I've tried goat milk yogurt and goat milk kefir, and I've tried pumpkin puree. They were both on Forti Flora for two weeks. Since January 8 they've been on Pet Ultimates Probiotics for Cats in the evening meal, and NaturVet Digestive Enzymes Plus Probiotic in the morning meal.

Their food has not changed, aside from now the need to transition from kitten food, but I have been doing that VERY slowly (two weeks or more, and not fully transitioned yet). They eat Fancy Feast Kitten pate and now also Friskies pate. They also get a small amount of American Journey grain free duck kibble. These are all the same things that all my other kitties eat.

I am being careful to keep them hydrated. I mix water in their wet food. I also mix water in their dry food since it does not sit out and is only there for a few minutes. Again, this is same as the other kitties.

Any ideas what's going on here? Any suggestions other than what I've been trying? I'm considering adding a small amount of Metamucil to their wet food, but ultimately I'd really like to know what's happening and fix it permanently.
 

kittyluv387

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Well once I had a shelter worker tell me fancy feast is like kitty crack but some get diarrhea from it. And fancy feast is higher quality than friskies. Have you tried different foods?
 
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beckbjj

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Thanks much for the replies thus far!

Re trying other foods, I have not with these two because they are eating what all the others eat, and because I'm trying to keep diet changes to a minimum because I know that causes issues in and of itself. I can do if it proves necessary, but in the past I have tried a number of foods considered higher quality (Wellness, Wellness Core, Holistic, Dave's, Felidae, a number of others) and all have resulted in my three crystal-prone cats getting crystals. I switched to the Friskies pate a few years ago and this has been their longest stretch so far of no crystals. :dunno:

Re being tested for T. foetus and clostridium, I know they were tested for clostridium because that was the other possibility mentioned when the vet thought the one had giardia. He figured treat for giardia because the diarrhea is neither mucusy nor bloody. The actual tests came back negative though. They were of course also tested for all the typical intestinal parasites (roundworms etc., all negative). I don't know if the tests would have also looked for T. foetus though.

FWIW, all (eight!) of my kitties use the same (nine!) litterboxes and it's ONLY these two that have diarrhea. In the vet's mind at least, that sort of ruled out transmissible parasites. And even these two have no other symptoms of anything, just the diarrhea.

A couple follow-up things. Metamucil is gonna be a no-go. Tonight I mixed a tiny amount in some water and then mixed that into their food and they were not fans. It's unflavored/unsweetened but it does kinda have that sour thing going on and I know cats don't dig that.

Finally, a follow-up question. It occurred to me that perhaps they have a food allergy. I know nothing about allergy testing in animals. Would this be worth checking? Is that something my normal medium-size-city vet can do, or does it require a specialist? Anyone know the ballpark cost of this testing?

And finally finally, one more follow-up question. Should I discontinue the Pet Ultimates probiotics, or the digestive enzymes/probiotics, or both, since they apparently are not working? Could they themselves be causing issues?
 

She's a witch

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Are other cats in your house kittens too? Adult cats don’t even have to have symptoms if they have some parasites or not necessary they need to get them from kittens. I think I would still test for t.foetus, if only to rule this out. It is often overlooked by vets.
 
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denice

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When the test for other parasites was done was there a special way of doing it. They normally want what is called a 'clean catch' which is hard to do and was the sample sent out taking several days up to a week to come back?
 

Erinlinkcappy

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Could you try just asking for a generic medication for parasites? My cat had bad diarrhea and we lived in the outback where testing was expensive and took a long time. Vet just took a guess at it and the medication helped a lot. Sometimes I think it’s worth just giving some broad spectrum treatment and not getting too in-depth with testing.
 

di and bob

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You might wean them off the probiotics/enzymes and see what happens, sometimes messing with the digestive system, no matter what it is can cause upset to specific systems. It would take a week to really see if it helps or not. Since it is just those two it could be something genetic, some allergy or something going on that has nothing to do with diet. It is just a matter of continuous tweaking....
 
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beckbjj

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First, thanks again, all. Sorry I'm slow getting back; it's been a long day.

The other cats here are three 10 year olds, a 5 year old, two almost 2 year olds, and then these two guesstimated 10 month olds. Even though two vets seemed out of ideas, I'm not going to just sit on this much longer, so I will put T. foetus on my list of things to ask about.

The two or three parasite tests they've had have just been me bringing in their poop from the litterbox. I only collected it when I could do so immediately, and only when I could get it to the vet very quickly (not longer than overnight in the fridge). I've never had any vet suggest any other way and actually didn't know there was any other way.

I would be very willing to try a broad spectrum parasite med and will ask about that too when I take them in. Gina (the first one trapped) got Panacur back in September or October and the diarrhea did go away after a couple doses. I don't know if that was coincidence though. The difference is back then she was refusing food and I had to syringe feed her. Both have good appetites now, which makes me wonder if it's something different. But I'd even be willing to try the dreaded Flagyl if it might help.

The probiotics initially were the vet's idea. She provided the Forti Flora and said I could continue that as long as I liked. The diarrhea went away for a time. But they've had diarrhea off and on, before, after, and now during taking the supplements, so I don't know if the probiotics are ineffective, or if the cause is something probiotics can't help like an allergy or IBD.

When I got the Pet Ultimates instead of more Forti Flora it was because I read that FF is not considered that good, plus it's quite expensive per dose, and the Pet Ultimates has many more strains and is better priced.

Tonight, one litterbox visit gave me hope that things were firming up a bit, and then the next one later dashed those hopes. I assume it will happen as it always has, but even if they don't seem to be bothered by it, it makes me sad for them, so I want it to improve soon.

For at least the next week or so, in the absence of any indication that this is an urgent matter, it will be much too cold here to take them to the vet (says the girl who *thought* she was going to trap-neuter-release these cats, haha). I think I will plan to take them to the vet after this cold weather breaks, unless something happens with them where they need to see her sooner. I will run all of your ideas by her, along with asking about allergies and IBS/IBD...and if anyone has any additional ideas, I would very much welcome those as well.

Thanks again!
 

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One of my cats had intermittent diarrhoea and had lots of tests that came back negative. In the UK they dont test for allergies (claim it cant be done). I started on the food trials. The first thing I removed from his diet was all chicken and no more diarrhoea. I have given him chicken twice and each time he had diarrhoea again which made me more confident that chicken was the cause. Its difficult if you have more than one cat (I have 3) but it is possible.
Have you tried Psyllium. Put a pinch on the food twice a day. It really helped my cat. It is also good for constipation as it is not ingested into the intestine but forms a gel that binds the poop together on the case of diarrhoea and eases the passing of the stool in the case of constipation. Magic stuff.
 
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beckbjj

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The latest update is that Gina (the first one I trapped, who had Panacur back in Sept./Oct.) doesn't appear to currently have a real problem, but Gregg (she's a she) does. She was pooping brown liquid, and much too frequently, maybe a bit once an hour. However, with no other symptoms whatsoever, and with our bitter cold weather, I determined the ER wasn't necessary. (I do plan to have a phone consult with the vet on Monday.)

Since Metamucil in their food was not well received ( V verna davies , this is a brand name in the US but it is psyllium...for some reason it's commonly called by the brand name here rather than what it actually is), I mixed up a cat-size dose with water and gave it to her by syringe, which went absolutely fine. And it helped! A lot! She's still not in the normal range, but she is now pooping at much more acceptable intervals, and the one I saw her do was well on its way to being normally formed.

So although I haven't yet determined the cause, I have at least given her some relief! Whew!
 

verna davies

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Thanks for the update. At least she and you are having it a bit easier. The problem with cats having diarrhoea is that there can be so many reasons and its a case of trial and error until you hit on the right thing. I hope you find the cause quickly. Keep us posted.
 

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I hope so too! Thanks much!
Hey beckbjj beckbjj ,

I was curious if you ever figured out the issue with this. I am in a similar situation with two former ferals. One is having persistent diarrhea and the brother is fine. We can not figure it out.
 
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