We are fostering a momma and her 3 babies. They have been with us about 1 month now and everything has been going great with the exception of momma kitty and her diarrhea. Grace has had diarrhea since day one and while it is no longer horrendously stinky, it's still there. The shelter vet said she had been treating Grace for coccidia and sent me home with another round of meds. 1 week later and we still have diarrhea.
The 3rd week she was with us, my vet performed a fecal on her and said that there were no traces of coccidia but Grace did have giardia and prescribed metronidazole for 10 days and that if things were not better, blood work would need to be done. We have two days left of the metronidazole but there is no evidence of the diarrhea clearing up.
I updated the shelter vet and also let her know about strands of blood in Grace's stool (even sent pics) then suggested that I get the bloodwork done, as my vet had suggested. I was told that I could do it if I paid for it but it wasn't necessary. The shelter vet thinks that Grace is healthy but just has diarrhea.
I think that there is something going on with the cat. Diarrhea for 4+ weeks is not normal. I do not think that strands of blood in her stool is normal. I don't think that the fact that she weighs 4.1 lbs and is approximately 1 year old is normal. I am at a loss as to what to do because Grace is not "mine" so I don't want to overstep any boundaries when it comes to her care. But I don't want the cat to suffer; let's face it, if one of us had diarrhea for more than a month, day in and day out, our butts would be sore!
On top of all of that, she rarely makes the litter box. She will use it but she doesn't make sure her butt is inside the box before doing her duty. She has also taken to using our two bathroom floors for her pooping. If we close the rooms off to her, she will go on the carpet instead.
So! Any advice on how to handle the out litter box situation will be greatly appreciated as well as advice on whether I should do the bloodwork.
Thanks!
Brandi
The 3rd week she was with us, my vet performed a fecal on her and said that there were no traces of coccidia but Grace did have giardia and prescribed metronidazole for 10 days and that if things were not better, blood work would need to be done. We have two days left of the metronidazole but there is no evidence of the diarrhea clearing up.
I updated the shelter vet and also let her know about strands of blood in Grace's stool (even sent pics) then suggested that I get the bloodwork done, as my vet had suggested. I was told that I could do it if I paid for it but it wasn't necessary. The shelter vet thinks that Grace is healthy but just has diarrhea.
I think that there is something going on with the cat. Diarrhea for 4+ weeks is not normal. I do not think that strands of blood in her stool is normal. I don't think that the fact that she weighs 4.1 lbs and is approximately 1 year old is normal. I am at a loss as to what to do because Grace is not "mine" so I don't want to overstep any boundaries when it comes to her care. But I don't want the cat to suffer; let's face it, if one of us had diarrhea for more than a month, day in and day out, our butts would be sore!
On top of all of that, she rarely makes the litter box. She will use it but she doesn't make sure her butt is inside the box before doing her duty. She has also taken to using our two bathroom floors for her pooping. If we close the rooms off to her, she will go on the carpet instead.
So! Any advice on how to handle the out litter box situation will be greatly appreciated as well as advice on whether I should do the bloodwork.
Thanks!
Brandi