Chronic diarrhea for over a year

[xcourtney3]

I would try slippery elm

 

[posiepurrs]

Did the vet test specifically for Tritrichomaonas foetus? In 2004 a study found that 31% of purebreds at a cat show were infected with this protozoa. Stands to reason that if it was that high back then the % could be higher now.

 

[josiegirl]

I think your switching your kitty to frozen raw rabbit was best thing you did. I used to feed raw to my cats but had to discontinue it because Moses, my tuxedo, was constipated and it made it worse. (Sadly, he passed away 7 months ago from hepatitis)

My only remaining kitty, Noah, has started going diarrhea lately. I will need to look into the raw diet again. I got sloppy and started feeding the Fancy Feast canned, pate food and a year later he started having trouble with his poos. I took him off it and have tried other brands (Wellness Core, PetFresh cooked, Mauri, Newmans Own, and other brands. He does okay on it for a week and then the diarrhea starts up again. It's frustrating. He's never had this problem before and he's now 15.

I am going to put him on digestive enzymes, along with a raw food diet.

You could also try digestive enzymes. It might help with the blood you're seeing.

(Oh, the picture is of my deceased kitty, Josie. She passed away in 2014)

 

[aevazquez]

I really believe the rabbit is helping. She did not poop last night or this morning before I left for work (a huge improvement in my opinion), just once yesterday morning. I'm hoping to find another poop today when I get home or at least later tonight. No blood and she has not been straining whenever she goes in there to pee, nor is she going in there and straining to poop. She only goes in there now when she needs to instead of before where she almost always had to poop little drops or full on diarrhea multiple times a night and throughout the day. She also is fully off the steroid. Her last doseage was Saturday morning. She ate her normal breakfast this morning and drinking water and even slept through most of the night last night! Also a huge, huge improvement. No stomach gurgles or anything of that nature either. I'll check back in later tonight and let you know about the blood situation. I'm so glad I switched to this food; her coat is fantastic, the litter box isn't a death trap, and she is developing a wonderful routine. Hopefully the blood is just an irritation of some sort. She has gained some weight as well and does not feel as bony anymore. I also wonder if the steroid was making the poop harder than normal, so we shall see what the outcome is today since the steroid should be somewhat out of her system by now.

I have had the exact same issue. My 8 month old Siberian kitten, out of no where started having diarrhea. She had no previous issues. Took her to the vet, she has had every test done, blood work, xrays, multiple fecal samples, float test, SNAP Giardia test, her stool was sent to an outside lab to test for T-Feotus and see her culture/pathogen levels... She has been on metronidozal, 2 rounds of panacur, switched her food to Z/D dry food, is now on 1/4tsp of fiber a day in both her meals. Only eats 1/4 cup twice a day. NO LUCK. Diarrhea still for over 5 weeks straight. Any ideas? I ordered her Tomlyn Pre & Probitoic Water Soluble Powder Cat Supplement, which should be here today. Does everyone advise trying the raw food diet? If so, any suggestions on kinds, brands or flavors? Please help a fur Mama out, this has been so stressful and not to mention $1300 later... she still has the poops and no one knows why.

 

[aevazquez]

I have had the exact same issue. My 8 month old Siberian kitten, out of no where started having diarrhea. She had no previous issues. Took her to the vet, she has had every test done, blood work, xrays, multiple fecal samples, float test, SNAP Giardia test, her stool was sent to an outside lab to test for T-Feotus and see her culture/pathogen levels... She has been on metronidozal, 2 rounds of panacur, switched her food to Z/D dry food, is now on 1/4tsp of fiber a day in both her meals. Only eats 1/4 cup twice a day. NO LUCK. Diarrhea still for over 5 weeks straight. Any ideas? I ordered her Tomlyn Pre & Probitoic Water Soluble Powder Cat Supplement, which should be here today. Does everyone advise trying the raw food diet? If so, any suggestions on kinds, brands or flavors? Please help a fur Mama out, this has been so stressful and not to mention $1300 later... she still has the poops and no one knows why.

One thing, every test came back completely normal, and every fecal sample and test was negative for everything. She is very healthy besides the diarrhea.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

A aevazquez , how long has your little girl been on the z/d? The entire 5 weeks, or just for a week or so now?

I would say trying raw certainly couldn't hurt, especially since her PCR came back negative. It sounds like your girl may have some food sensitivities, so rabbit or venison may be the best way to go, but it's hard to know. As far as brands, just make sure whatever you get is 100% nutritionally complete. Not knowing what country you live in makes it hard to recommend brands

 

[aevazquez]

She has been on the z/d for 3 weeks now. I live in the US.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

OK. Instinct has frozen rabbit, but it also has pork in it (possibly because rabbit is so lean ?). Stella and Chewy also has frozen Rabbit. They use Olive Oil vs pork to add in some fat. Radcat has Frozen Venison, but no rabbit. Radcat is, IMHO, the best of the best, but venison is definitely an acquired taste, so if your girl is picky she might not like it. Plus Radcat is a little harder to come by. I always had to special order it, but it depends on your local whether or not you can find it locally or note Some folks can. I'm sure there are some other brands out there that have rabbit as well, but I'm not familiar with them, because none of my cats like rabbit

 

[aevazquez]

Thank you so much! I will look into it, she is a very picky eater so fingers crossed. This has been by far the most frustrating and mentally draining thing ever. I just don't know what else to do, it is like we take 2 steps forward 3 steps back. I just feel terrible for her and don't understand how this happened out of no where. Ugh.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

If she's picky, she may not take to raw right away. Is she eating dry Z/D or wet? If wet, then try mixing in just a little bit of the raw into the wet and work your way up to more raw. (IF she doesn't immediately recognize raw as food and start eating it, that is). If she's eating kibble and balks at the raw, you can try crushing some kibble and sprinkle it on top of the raw, but she really needs to be scheduled meals in order to feed raw, because you don't want to leave raw food out for too long. let me know if you need info on how to transition to scheduled feeding, etc.

 

[kittyluv387]

Thank you so much! I will look into it, she is a very picky eater so fingers crossed. This has been by far the most frustrating and mentally draining thing ever. I just don't know what else to do, it is like we take 2 steps forward 3 steps back. I just feel terrible for her and don't understand how this happened out of no where. Ugh.

Vital Essentials Freeze Dried mini patties
Primal frozen nuggets or freeze dried
Instinct Freeze Dried Raw Market Nuggets

 

[Margison79]

Hi! My cat Kirby has had chronic diarrhea basically since I took her home at 3.5 months. Here's some quick background info:
I got her from a Breeder.
She has had diarrhea since the first day.
I have taken her to multiple vets, more info on that below.
I've tried different foods such as: orijen, acana, wellness, blue buffalo, royal canin sensitive, purina naturals, natural instincts (I think that's what it was called), canidae, and royal canon gastrointestinal high energy. Also, I have given her the canned formula along with dry when possible. I settled on the GI high energy and fancy feast chicken grilled wet food since I read that some cats with IBD do well on that wet food. All the food changes I have done by gradually changing it over the course of a week or two and trying it for a month each time. No luck or changes in stool.
Here's her info from the vet:
They first prescribed the usual metronidazole when she was about five months which I hated because of what I've read about that medicine for kittens. This helped for the time she was on it and then nothing. This vet then prescribed flagyl and no luck. I forgot to mention at this point we had done a fecal and blood test. Fecal came back normal, but vet said she probably had giardia even though it didn't show up. Blood test came back normal but elevated white blood cells. The vet then suggested fortiflora and the GI Food. Nothing. I went back and she gave me panacur, and nothing. She told me she didn't know what else to do and could not help. Useful, right? I went to another vet at this point and he diagnosed her with IBD and prescribed sulfasalizine which helped A LOT. She was at 6.5 pounds. However, she was on this for six months and was weaned off, only for the diarrhea to come back at full speed after two weeks. She had a major flare up and it was explosive. It subsided a bit but I have to be on high alert so I can wipe her after she goes. I took her back to the vet and they are doing an extensive GI test at A&M. However, they gave me barium solution to help for now and the sulfasalizine again. I'm not sure if it's helping and can't find anything online that provides research on the barium solution. As of now, it's just turned her runny poop whiteish. She is eating and playing and drinking water and has no other symptoms besides the diarrhea. Any advice? I have tried OTC remedies such as pumpkin, Metamucil, benebac and fortiflora, edible pet clay, fiber supplements, an OTC natural medicine for coccidia, and a probiotic spray. She has been spayed and is a blue point Siamese. Her breeder is very reputable.

I see this post was from quite a while ago but I am currently dealing with an almost identical situation with two of my foster kittens that I want to adopt. Can you let me know how your cat is doing today and what resolved the issue if anything? My two are on methotronidazole again, fortiflora and hydrolyzed protein food. Nothing is working. Tia

 

[misskirby]

I see this post was from quite a while ago but I am currently dealing with an almost identical situation with two of my foster kittens that I want to adopt. Can you let me know how your cat is doing today and what resolved the issue if anything? My two are on methotronidazole again, fortiflora and hydrolyzed protein food. Nothing is working. Tia

Yes!! She is much better! I switched her to freeze dried raw patties from Vital Essentials and added slippery elm bark powder. Diarrhea got significantly better almost overnight. She was on that for about 2-3 months and then I switched to the vital freeze dried nibs and slowly added blue Buffalo wilderness hairball grain free to that since she could eat it without me having to rehydrate it, like I did with the patties. She now eats a mix of raw freeze dried nibs, blue Buffalo, and dehydrated peas and has been fine. She has developed anal gland issues through the years and wonder if that had anything to do with her problems at a young age. She gets them expressed every 6 weeks since she cannot do it on her own, hence the high fiber diet. Hope that helps!!! It was a process but we’re in a good place now with way less trouble.

 

[catsknowme]

M Margison79 Here is a link that you might find informational. For my ferals, I seem to have better results with Benebac Plus and adding some RiteAid brand S.boulardi. Sometimes, it seems that too much canned food can trigger "the runs". I know that with humans, such as myself, adequate B12 and D are very important.
Probiotics – IBDKitties

 

[misskirby]

I see this post was from quite a while ago but I am currently dealing with an almost identical situation with two of my foster kittens that I want to adopt. Can you let me know how your cat is doing today and what resolved the issue if anything? My two are on methotronidazole again, fortiflora and hydrolyzed protein food. Nothing is working. Tia

I wanted to also say that the medicine I tried with her never helped, not once. The vets could not recommend raw food and suggested I stick with the hydrolyzed protein but she was not gaining any weight or even enjoying it. I stopped all of their recommendations and solely focused on the raw food to restore her gut and the slippery elm bark powder and it worked literal wonders!

 

[Margison79]

I wanted to also say that the medicine I tried with her never helped, not once. The vets could not recommend raw food and suggested I stick with the hydrolyzed protein but she was not gaining any weight or even enjoying it. I stopped all of their recommendations and solely focused on the raw food to restore her gut and the slippery elm bark powder and it worked literal wonders!

Thank you so much. I will try with my two. Did you get a particular brand of the raw food and elm bark powder? How long before you noticed results? We have been struggling with these two since October. They are about 5 months old. The little boy is around 2 & 1/2 pounds and the girl 1 & 1/2. They should be 5 or 6 pounds by now. White blood cell count is high too like yours was.

 

[Margison79]

M Margison79 Here is a link that you might find informational. For my ferals, I seem to have better results with Benebac Plus and adding some RiteAid brand S.boulardi. Sometimes, it seems that too much canned food can trigger "the runs". I know that with humans, such as myself, adequate B12 and D are very important.
Probiotics – IBDKitties

Thank you!

 

[Margison79]

I wanted to also say that the medicine I tried with her never helped, not once. The vets could not recommend raw food and suggested I stick with the hydrolyzed protein but she was not gaining any weight or even enjoying it. I stopped all of their recommendations and solely focused on the raw food to restore her gut and the slippery elm bark powder and it worked literal wonders!

Sorry. I just saw your whole message with what exactly you used. Thank you

 

[misskirby]

Sorry. I just saw your whole message with what exactly you used. Thank you

No problem! For the slippery elm bark powder, I just bought the capsules from the vitamin shoppe and would use just a small amount, like maybe 1/8 of the capsule. It’ll thicken up the raw food mix quite a bit. Hope it helps, let me know if you have any other questions!