10-Year-Old Cat Struggling with Intermittent Diarrhea

[Emma Milne]

Hi fellow pet lovers,
I'm reaching out to the community for some advice regarding my beloved 10-year-old cat, Whiskers. Recently, he's been experiencing intermittent episodes of diarrhea, and I'm getting concerned about his health.
Whiskers has always been a healthy and lively cat, but these sudden bouts of diarrhea are worrying. I've tried adjusting his diet, incorporating bland food and eliminating potential triggers, but the issue persists.
I've scheduled a vet appointment, but in the meantime, I'd love to hear from anyone who has gone through a similar situation with their furry friend. What remedies or changes in diet worked for you? Any advice on how to make Whiskers more comfortable during these episodes would be greatly appreciated.
I'm eager to hear your experiences and insights. Let's come together as a community to support each other and our furry companions!



Thanks in advance,
Emma

 

[Claire88]

Strange, I posted an almost identical thread this morning! No advice but have a vet appointment at 5pm so will let you know what they say!

 

[tabbytom]

Hi fellow pet lovers,
I'm reaching out to the community for some advice regarding my beloved 10-year-old cat, Whiskers. Recently, he's been experiencing intermittent episodes of diarrhea, and I'm getting concerned about his health.
Whiskers has always been a healthy and lively cat, but these sudden bouts of diarrhea are worrying. I've tried adjusting his diet, incorporating bland food and eliminating potential triggers, but the issue persists.
I've scheduled a vet appointment, but in the meantime, I'd love to hear from anyone who has gone through a similar situation with their furry friend. What remedies or changes in diet worked for you? Any advice on how to make Whiskers more comfortable during these episodes would be greatly appreciated.
I'm eager to hear your experiences and insights. Let's come together as a community to support each other and our furry companions!



Thanks in advance,
Emma

and welcome to TCS!

So sorry that Whiskers is going through this intermittent bout of diarrhea. He could be experiencing some sort of gut issues or eaten something not right or some other issues and have been giving him this discomfort.
But sometimes it could be just that the system is not agreeable with certain food or drinks just like us humans which can give the runs unless it is chronic diarrhea.
But it's best that you have your cat checked by a vet and get a professional advice.

I recommend that you give this article a read as my boy who was 7 years old last year had chronic diarrhea for around 2 1/2 months and refused to take medications and I read this article and gave my boy probiotics that was mentioned in the article and after administering the probiotics on a daily basis, my boy's diarrhea was resolved.

My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do?

And after that, I give him a small dose once in the morning and once in the evening to maintain his gut health.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I would suggest taking a stool sample with you when you go to your Vet visit. One of my cats recently had intermittent diarrhea and it turned out he had Clostrdium Perfengens, which is a form of bacteria one gets from eating contaminated food. The diarrhea can come and go, along with intermittent vomiting.

There are two types of fecal tests the Vets can do. The in-house one doesn't pick up on a LOT of the "baddies" out there, but the more expensive one does, just for your information.

In the meantime, if your cat likes it, you can try adding S. Boulardi with MOS to his food to help with the diarrhea. Typically that works well. I actually chose that route for my guy instead of antibiotics and it did clear up the diarrhea. He hasn't had any since the end of November. Haven't done a re-check yet with a fecal exam but I'm optimistic that it will be clear.

 

[Claire88]

I had our vet appointment! The vet found slightly swollen intestines on physical examination and suspects IBD being triggered by an intolerance to something in his diet that he likely used to tolerate but can’t now he’s getting older. Said as it seems very mild we can try a diet adjustment and see how we get on. Also gave a parasite treatment. He also mentioned lymphoma as a worst case, but very very unlikely, scenario and after googling I understand why he did, but am pretty sure it’ll be GI issues.

Now in hindsight, he has always been a bit sensitive to any food changes, is a ‘sick at random’ cat, so IBD wouldn’t be a surprise! Think back to if your cat is prone to vomits etc?

 

[david23]

I would suggest asking your vet about getting an ultrasound by someone who is experienced in feline ultrasound technique i.e. typically not by a general vet with the machine they have in their clinics. The US can measure intestinal wall thickness etc. which I believe would be useful in making a diagnosis of IBD.