All my cats have diarrhea....

[queenof3]

I have four indoor cats, two are 6 mo old kittens and the other two are 7 and 10. About two weeks ago one of the kittens, Inky, developed diarrhea. I withheld his food for 12 hours to see if it resolves, then I slowly introduced him to bland food (chicken and rice). It went well. His poop solidified. I was in the middle of transitioning him back to his regular food when the other kitten, Iggy, developed diarrhea also. Then Inky's diarrhea came back. They share a litter box. Their appetite has been good throughout, no fatigue, no change in habits, still playing and driving me nuts. Sometimes they sneak into the my other cats' litter box, which is located in a different area of the house. Baby, who is 10, developed diarrhea soon after the kittens. I put all three on pedialyte, bland food of chicken with some pumpkin and their diarrhea is now gone. I didn't bring them to the vet because they're all otherwise healthy. I'm slowly transitioning them back to their regular food. So far so good but now cat number 4, Odie, who is male, 7, has also developed diarrhea. And it is a big mess because he is a long haired cat who HATES being combed. I'm beginning to think it's something contagious. Pumpkin seems to help but I don't understand why they ALL have developed diarrhea. I've checked their poop and haven't seen any worms but one can only see so much with the naked eye, especially when tiny culprits are involved.

What do you guys think? Is it time to get to the vet? I'd hate to put them on antibiotics because of what it does to the gut flora. It takes a really really long time for the gut community to normalize and if they don't really need the antibiotics, I don't want to give it to them just to see if their diarrhea would resolve.

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[valg]

Hi QueenOf3.

I'm sorry to hear your kitties have the diarrhoea. However I know your pain. My 1 year old had suffered on and off with it for the last 10 months of his life. Most recently they went to the cattery whilst I was on holiday and a day after we brought them home both kittens developed diarrhoea. The vet advised stress. Have your kitties faced any big changes?

What I found worked most was a probiotic paste called Promax. It's natural as far as I'm aware and it's given in graduations once per day over 3 days. It regulated the intestinal flora and 'bungs' them back up so to speak. Without antibiotics. I also got a powder prebiotic to put in their water. Just a pinch a day. Seemed to work. Boiled chicken is good though not very nutritional and just small amount of dry. I use royal Canin kitten digestive health. Good for the gut.

It's still worth getting them checked over by the vet. It could be that they have a bug. The vet may not prescribe antibiotic to start with but the paste I mentioned or similar. I know the first time I took him Frankie was given a wormer in powder format and an anti inflammatory for his bowels. It cleared up over two days after that.

Don't panic - it seems very common in kittens and cats. Only thing I can suggest is don't change food rapidly. What were they eating before the diarrhoea? I know Frankie can't eat lamb or beef and that sets him off. Too rich I think.

 

[queenof3]

Hi, ValG,
Has your cat's diarrhea resolved now? I've thought about giving my cats probiotics, and I've actually read some very convincing articles. I guess they're good for promoting healthy gut flora but how many actually make it to the gut? The acid in the stomach is so strong, I'm pretty sure they die before they even get there.

The two kittens and Baby are doing good now. No diarrhea. Odie is under the supervision now. If it doesn't resolve we're going to the vet. Their appetites are pretty good, and none of them are lethargic or acting sick. Quite the contrary, actually.

I gave them boiled chicken with a little bit of rice and a pinch of pumpkin. Inky's diarrhea resolved but iggy' continued. When I took out the rice, and only gave them chicken with pinch of pumpkin, it got better. I think Iggy can't tolerate the rice. I only did this for two days. I've transitioned them back to their regular food now.

Iggy and Inky eat Natural Instinct can food. They eat the chicken formula. Sometimes they get bored so I switch it up with different flavors from the same company. They like lamb, which I gave them several times as a treat and they were ok on it, and I've also given them duck. They like lamb more because of the high fat content. I've only given it to them in moderation but I think it's likely they developed the diarrhea from the lamb.

Baby eats fancy feast. She's a little chunky and has eaten dry food most of her life. I've given her only the best but I'm told that even the best of the dry food is bad for cats. I've tried to transition her to eating natural instinct but she just hates it. She likes lamb here and there but she's very picky. Since the diarrhea I gave up and started giving her the fancy feast because I needed to get the pumpkin in her and since she likes fancy featst, I was able to mix pumpkin in there.

Odie is on dry food--SO urinary formula. He hates wet food, but he shouldn't given his history of urinary blockage. He was completely blocked once and had to be hospitalized to get the struvite crystals out. No surgery was done though.

Based on the different foods they eat, I can't say their diarrhea is food-related. Even though they have separate litter boxes, they sneak in when I'm not looking to use each others' litter boxes. I think it might be something contagious. If it comes back or if odie doesn't get better in the next day or so, I'm going to take them to the vet.

 

[zoneout]

You might want to look into trying s boulardii. There has been a growing wave of reports in its efficacy at treating diahrea. There are posts on here you can search for more info.

 

[queenof3]

@zoneout, thanks for that information. I will look into it.

 

[valg]

Yes it's cleared up. I have the odd incident now but it doesn't last long. It sounds as though you're trying the right things. The probiotics helped a little with the settling but every cat is different the latest episode for my two was stress related. We had a 45 minute car journey back from the cattery and Phoebe especially hates the car.

I have only had to resort to antibiotics the once and this was with diarrhoea that lasted 6 days. The other episodes went away in time and with bland chicken and occasional dry food. The paste really did work. It's really thick so I'm guessing that's what actually ensured it reached the gut.

Hope they feel better soon. It will come and go but as long as they're ok in themselves try not to worry too much keeping my paws crossed

 

[zoneout]

I have heard that stress causes health issues in cats. But honestly I hadn't bought into it until I witnessed it firsthand with my cat. Stress can cause severe behavioral and physical issues.