blood in stool / history of intermittent diarrhoea / probiotic opinion

[mmin]

Hello! It's a long ramble, do bear with me!

I've noticed that since july, my cat has had intermittent diarrhoea (very weirdly, just once a day of "bad" stools, and perfectly fine for next few weeks, this coming week will be the 5th week since he's loose-stool free, so i'm hoping that continues and all the previous loose stools were unrelated to each other.

However, 2 days ago, i noticed that the mucus on his poop was a little redder(?) / dark red(?) almost like brown, (he has always had a tiny bit of mucus on his poo) and also some fresh spot of blood stained on the litter. not alot at all, but yes.

I've brought him into the vet, but felt like i'm still very confused and lost on my options. she seemed really impatient and all :/
the vet just said it could either be:
a) infectious causes (and said a PCR test is an option i could do, but at this stage, when its only once every few weeks, the financial cost of it is putting me off a little)
b) diet. (she suggested i switch to hills z/d because she said scottish folds are susceptible to ibd and (this long name?? that i cant remember) and that high protein isn't too good for them - my cat is currently on wet: freezedried raw + ziwipeak / feline natural and dry: t/d for his teeth)
c) genetic causes (and said if it still doesnt resolve after diet change/ PCR, we will do an endoscopy?)


I came back from the vet and because i'm quite reluctant to change his diet to purely hills, i feel like i'm at a loss, because options a, b and c don't feel like too feasible options to me at this stage. so i think the only thing i can do at this stage is to continue monitoring him...

He's currently on Blackmores Digesticare PAWS Probiotics 3x/ week (7 strain probiotic powder at 60 million colony forming units (CFU) / 2g (Lactobacillus acidophilus; L.delbrueckii subspecies bulgaricus; L.lantarum; L. rhamnosus; Bifidobacterium bifidum; Enterococcus faecium; Streptococcus alivarius subspecies thermophilus)

I was reading up and saw the good effects of Saccharomyces Boulardii, and i was wondering if adding an additional yeast probiotic would be recommended in his presentation? Is s boulardii also good for long term health use like a normal probiotic is?


I found this option that contains both normal probiotics and s boulardii and was wondering if it's a good option?

Ava's Blend - Probiotic & Prebiotic

Ava's Blend Probiotic/Prebiotic 100gm Ava’s blend is a specially formulated mix of species specific probiotics and the newest technology of prebiotics designed to increase and nourish the gut flora of your cat Everything in the body is connected with, and influenced by, the gut, so a healthy gut...

rawmeow.com.au

Or would it be better to use a pure s boulardii one in addition to his current blackmores digesticare?

Thank you so much!!

 

[Columbine]

I'm so sorry your cat is having digestive issues. Honestly, the first thing I'd do is bite the bullet and have the PCR test done. It does sound very like he has giardia or coccodia, parasites that are both easily treated with medication. This intermittent diarrhoea with mucus and/or blood is a very typical presentation of both parasites, and no amount of probiotics or S. Boulardii will get rid of them. If it IS one of these parasites, it's very important to treat them, because they can damage the digestive tract if left untreated long term.

Giardia and Giardiasis in Cats
Identifying Common Ailments in Cats Adopted From Animal Shelters and Rescue Groups
(The second article has a little information about Coccidia in the section about parasites).

If you really can't afford the PCR test, you could discuss the possibility of treating for these prophylactically. The downside of this approach is that it won't help matters if it is IBD. That's why its preferable to test first. Also, a PCR test will be cheaper than a lifetime of prescription food

 

[mmin]

I'm so sorry your cat is having digestive issues. Honestly, the first thing I'd do is bite the bullet and have the PCR test done. It does sound very like he has giardia or coccodia, parasites that are both easily treated with medication. This intermittent diarrhoea with mucus and/or blood is a very typical presentation of both parasites, and no amount of probiotics or S. Boulardii will get rid of them. If it IS one of these parasites, it's very important to treat them, because they can damage the digestive tract if left untreated long term.

Giardia and Giardiasis in Cats
Identifying Common Ailments in Cats Adopted From Animal Shelters and Rescue Groups
(The second article has a little information about Coccidia in the section about parasites).

If you really can't afford the PCR test, you could discuss the possibility of treating for these prophylactically. The downside of this approach is that it won't help matters if it is IBD. That's why its preferable to test first. Also, a PCR test will be cheaper than a lifetime of prescription food

Just to clarify! When he has diarrhoea (the last time was 5 weeks ago ) he doesn't have mucus or blood. So far, the mucus/blood that i've spotted is only on firm wellformed stools. Although i'm guessing it doesn't make a difference

In addition, based on what i talked to the vet today, i understand that the pcr test can only be done on "bad stools"? so only watery stools/ loosestools and the ones with blood. does that mean in order to do the pcr test, i would have to wait for a bad one again? thank you!

 

[Columbine]

Hmm, blood and/or mucus on otherwise normal stools does complicate things slightly. I'm so sorry that I misread about that before

Yes, the PCR test would have to be done on loose or otherwise abnormal stools, so you would have to wait for a bad one to do the test. Your vet can tell you whether a mucus-y or blood spotted formed stool would be appropriate to test, but I honestly can't answer that for you.

I'm sorry if I sounded overly negative before. I do know how worrying this is, and how frustrating the diagnostic process can be - especially if tests end up ruling things out, rather than giving you a quick answer.

There's nothing wrong with trying S. Boulardii in principle. I know shadowsrescue has found it very helpful for some of her guys. I'm just VERY wary of trying to treat before you know the cause, as you're going in blind and could potentially do more harm than good. Even if it turns out to be IBD or some other chronic condition (like the one with the long name your vet mentioned), there's no guarantee that S. Boulardii will help. Dietary changes of some sort may well be needed if that's the case, be it the Hills z/d or something else (like, say, a single protein/limited ingredient diet).

I just think its important to know what you're dealing with, as only then will you know the best way to manage it effectively

 

[shadowsrescue]

I have used S. boullardi, but only when I knew what was wrong first. I have used it for post antibiotic diarrhea and coccidia in kittens. Since you don't know what is wrong, I would not just try something and hope for the best. I would take a stool sample into the vet and ask it to be analyzed.

 

[mmin]

I have used S. boullardi, but only when I knew what was wrong first. I have used it for post antibiotic diarrhea and coccidia in kittens. Since you don't know what is wrong, I would not just try something and hope for the best. I would take a stool sample into the vet and ask it to be analyzed.

Understood. Thing is, i've already done that twice - brought the stool sample in, wanting it to be analysed. First time, the vet said she thinks its not necessary to do a test and she thinks each bout of diarrhoea is unrelated to each other. Today, a different vet (because its sunday) said the stool sample i brought in was perfectly fine and would not be appropriate to be sent to the lab. So i don't know. Would it be right to say that the next course of action is just to wait and monitor for the next bad round (whilst praying there won't be one ) and if that happens, only then, to bring the stool in for a pcr? thanks.

 

[Columbine]

I think doing nothing, and waiting for another abnormal stool is the best option. Then get it tested if it occurs. I know its frustrating, but testing a healthy stool isn't going to give you the information you need.

I really hope you don't see a recurrence though, and that whatever was causing the problem has run its course

 

[lisahe]

b) diet. (she suggested i switch to hills z/d because she said scottish folds are susceptible to ibd and (this long name?? that i cant remember) and that high protein isn't too good for them - my cat is currently on wet: freezedried raw + ziwipeak / feline natural and dry: t/d for his teeth)

This is pretty different from what others are saying, but no matter what you decide on the PCR tests, I'd suggest taking a good look at the ingredients in the food your cat is eating. The t/d, for example, includes two corn ingredients, which can be an irritant for some cats. And some Ziwipeak foods have chickpeas, which, well, let's be honest, can cause digestive weirdness in humans, too. Things like unwanted flatulence. I say that though I really love chickpeas! I won't feed chickpeas to the cats, though, because cats just aren't really adapted for that sort of vegetable matter. I recall mentions on the site of cats being sensitive to some legume(s) or other but don't remember details (peas? chickpeas? lentils?), just that there were digestive problems, loose stool or diarrhea, I believe, after eating them.

I would also have a talk with the vet about the disease you don't remember the long name of: cats are carnivorous so meat-based protein is their thing so if you cat has this disorder, whatever it is, it would have a huge impact on diet. Did the vet say your cat has those symptoms? (It can be so so so hard to get and remember good information during a vet appointment! Our vet makes a courtesy phone call a day or two after an appointment if specific health issues were discussed during the appointment: there's never enough time at the office and everybody wants to get the cat home, so those calls are really important.)

Anyway, I hope you get this sorted out sooner rather than later! Good luck~

 

[mmin]

This is pretty different from what others are saying, but no matter what you decide on the PCR tests, I'd suggest taking a good look at the ingredients in the food your cat is eating. The t/d, for example, includes two corn ingredients, which can be an irritant for some cats. And some Ziwipeak foods have chickpeas, which, well, let's be honest, can cause digestive weirdness in humans, too. Things like unwanted flatulence. I say that though I really love chickpeas! I won't feed chickpeas to the cats, though, because cats just aren't really adapted for that sort of vegetable matter. I recall mentions on the site of cats being sensitive to some legume(s) or other but don't remember details (peas? chickpeas? lentils?), just that there were digestive problems, loose stool or diarrhea, I believe, after eating them.

I would also have a talk with the vet about the disease you don't remember the long name of: cats are carnivorous so meat-based protein is their thing so if you cat has this disorder, whatever it is, it would have a huge impact on diet. Did the vet say your cat has those symptoms? (It can be so so so hard to get and remember good information during a vet appointment! Our vet makes a courtesy phone call a day or two after an appointment if specific health issues were discussed during the appointment: there's never enough time at the office and everybody wants to get the cat home, so those calls are really important.)

Anyway, I hope you get this sorted out sooner rather than later! Good luck~

Thank you! I will bear all that in mind. Only keeping him on ziwipeak and t/d cause it's so hard to find other good food here and t/d is recommended again and again by vets cause he has slight gingivitis! And no, she didn't say that he had those symptoms, but more rather, his symptoms could be from: a, b, c, d, e possibilities! Once again, thank you for responding