Chronic diarrhea for over a year

[talkingpeanut]

I know nature's variety makes a freeze dried rabbit. Your options are also increased if you look at frozen raw.

 

[kittyluv387]

I know nature's variety makes a freeze dried rabbit. Your options are also increased if you look at frozen raw.

The rabbit one is just a topper i believe. Not meant to take place of a complete meal. It also has pork in it. Primal frozen raw has rabbit nuggets though. Of course its quite a bit more expensive than turkey and chicken.

 

[margd]

 
Have you or any of the veterinarians you've seen considered a consultation with a Veterinary Gastroenterologist?  Treating only the symptoms rather than addressing the etiology won't encourage long-term good health, and ruling out particular causations will make treatment far simpler.

.

Unfortunately no, the tests are kinda out of my price range. The next step my vet would want to take is ultrasound if nothing else is working, but even then, I'm not too sure I can afford it.

Since finances are an issue (and they often are for so many of us) you might find the following resources useful.  

Check out this article for tips and lists of places that will help with funding:   [article="32915"]No Money For Vet Care How To Find Help And Save Your Cats Life​[/article]  

The Humane Society of the United States also has a page on what to do when you can't afford vet care. 

The groups below offer financial help to those who can not afford vet care.  Some of them are also listed in the resources above.

The Prince Chunks Foundation   

Best Friends   

The Pet Fund    

Red Rover    

If you are having trouble getting a financial grant, consider taking out a loan through CareCredit. CareCredit is a credit card and is interest-free for the first six months.

If CareCredit is not an option, take a look at CareCap.   CareCap works with you to obtain a payment plan with your vet. 

If none of the above help you, there are still other ways to fund vet care.  Consider crowd-sourced funding:

GoFundMe  

YouCaring   

Modest Needs    Modest Needs is different than GoFundMe and YouCaring in that it will confirm your need for emergency assistance, something that reassures many potential donors.

I hope you are able to get the funding to cover your kitty's need for additional vet care.   

 

[misskirby]

Hey everybody, wanted to give another update. I switched her to the rabbit frozen raw food and she has been diarrhea free for almost two whole days. However, now her poops are solid and there is blood on her bum after she goes to the bathroom. Could this be because now she's pooping solid instead of liquid? She has no other symptoms and I do not see any blood in the actual poop.

 

[misskirby]

I should say this has happened before and I have told my vet and he wasn't too concerned about it because of all her issues. He said it could be part of the IBD and her body is just used to always pooping liquid so it's harder for her to poop solid, but I would like y'all's opinions!

 

[allie allie cat]

Try the WD Management (Hills) from your vet.  I know it is for weight loss, but if you double up the amount (2 full tins a day - they are only small tins) she will not lose weight.  My cat didn't lose weight because the diarrhea stopped and she in fact put weight on because it stopped.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Try the WD Management (Hills) from your vet.  I know it is for weight loss, but if you double up the amount (2 full tins a day - they are only small tins) she will not lose weight.  My cat didn't lose weight because the diarrhea stopped and she in fact put weight on because it stopped.

If the raw, single protein food is helping, I would not switch back to a food like this.

How is the blood today?

 

[misskirby]

If the raw, single protein food is helping, I would not switch back to a food like this.

How is the blood today?

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.

 

[kittyluv387]

It sounds like your cat isn't very picky! My cat is the same way. Funny how the non picky cats have problems. I want to mention that the primal frozen rabbit is on the dry side compared to the chicken and turkey flavors. This might be contributing to the hard poops. So i would add a couple tablespoons of water to it. I add a tiny bit of water to the turkey and chicken anyways. So happy its working out for you. Some cats just cant handle processed food. This is why i always suggest raw for cats with chronic digestion issues. Btw do you have any pics of your kitty to share??

 

[misskirby]

It sounds like your cat isn't very picky! My cat is the same way. Funny how the non picky cats have problems. I want to mention that the primal frozen rabbit is on the dry side compared to the chicken and turkey flavors. This might be contributing to the hard poops. So i would add a couple tablespoons of water to it. I add a tiny bit of water to the turkey and chicken anyways. So happy its working out for you. Some cats just cant handle processed food. This is why i always suggest raw for cats with chronic digestion issues. Btw do you have any pics of your kitty to share??

I was adding water to it because I got the pronto frozen kind but it wasn't defrosting fast enough, so I'd add water to it to make it defrost faster! I ended up just sticking a small bag of it in the fridge because she would not go near it if it was defrosted but still real cold. Have you had any experience with this? I'll make sure to add water to it though, cause it definitely won't hurt!

I would love to share pictures!! She's my little baby girl

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• misskirby
• Apr 10, 2017
• 1

Her sleeping

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• misskirby
• Apr 10, 2017
• 1

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• misskirby
• Apr 10, 2017

Last one when she was a little kitten, definitely shows her playful attitude.

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• misskirby
• Apr 10, 2017

She is obsessed with stuffed animals but I always take them away and replace them once she's broken through them.

 

[misskirby]

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• misskirby
• Apr 10, 2017

Sorry I had to include this one as well because it's my favorite! It's when she got spayed. She's just so sweet.

 

[talkingpeanut]

She is ADORABLE.

 

[kittyluv387]

Aw she looks so playful and cute! Is she a siamese? Its always nice to see the kitties were talking about.

Well about the defrosting i'm a little elaborate and i baby my kitties so i do a couple of things. I use primal nuggets so i keep 3 days worth in the fridge to thaw out. In the mornings i add the water and food and mush it up in my cats steel bowl. And then i fill up another bigger bowl with hot water from the faucet and put the steel bowl on top of it. After 10 min it might still be a little chilled or warm. Definitely not too cold. And for dinner i get lazy so i microwave a cup of water and pour a little bit of the water into the steel bowl. I stir the hot water and blow on it until its warm and not hot. Then i will add the thawed out nuggets. Its a little chillier with this method. Maybe you can keep 3 days worth of pronto in the fridge with glass tupperware? That's what i do with the frozen nuggets. It is a pain sometimes to remember to do this every 3 days but its what i have to do.

 

[misskirby]

Aw she looks so playful and cute! Is she a siamese? Its always nice to see the kitties were talking about.

Well about the defrosting i'm a little elaborate and i baby my kitties so i do a couple of things. I use primal nuggets so i keep 3 days worth in the fridge to thaw out. In the mornings i add the water and food and mush it up in my cats steel bowl. And then i fill up another bigger bowl with hot water from the faucet and put the steel bowl on top of it. After 10 min it might still be a little chilled or warm. Definitely not too cold. And for dinner i get lazy so i microwave a cup of water and pour a little bit of the water into the steel bowl. I stir the hot water and blow on it until its warm and not hot. Then i will add the thawed out nuggets. Its a little chillier with this method. Maybe you can keep 3 days worth of pronto in the fridge with glass tupperware? That's what i do with the frozen nuggets. It is a pain sometimes to remember to do this every 3 days but its what i have to do.

She is Siamese! Blue point to be specific with gigantic beautiful ears
That's a good idea to put the bowl on top of warmer water. I tried putting some warm water in the frozen food one time but it just didn't work or very well, I think the water was a little too warm! Do you do anything for your cats teeth? I'm always worried she's not getting the proper care for her teeth since it's not hard food for her to chew. I was always told kibble would help with tartar, but don't know how it works with raw food.

 

[kittyluv387]

Well many of us believe that kibble being good for teeth is a myth. Afterall eating crackers wont do our teeth any good. In the wild the cats would tear flesh and gnaw on bones which would clean their teeth. Of course this is really impractical for our domestic kitties. So there is no substitute for brushing their teeth. I try to brush benny's teeth every other day. I started him off when he was an older kitten and he's more tolerant to handling. My ginger cat nemo is less tolerant and i rescued him as an adult. They both got their dentals last year to start off with a clean base. Benny will probably get dentals every other year since he gets his teeth brushed. But for nemo its looking like he needs his dentals once every 1.5 years or less since i dont brush his teeth. You can tell that they need a dental if you see a line of red along the edge of their gums, tartar, and/or bad breath.

 

[misskirby]

Okay so I got home a bit ago and she just pooped. Sadly, still blood. None in poop. Just on the bum. I'm wondering if I should give some pumpkin?

 

[misskirby]

Okay correction, poop has no blood in it, just around parts of it.

 

[misskirby]

I was reading online that sulfasalizine can help with blood. I'm going to give some tonight and see if anything changes.

 

[catsknowme]

    I know that I am stepping in late in this thread, so please forgive me if you have already considered this: Are you using unscented litter? I have helped a number of kitties that had blood in/on the poop just by buying unscented Arm&Hammer or Cat&Co fragrance free litter, for the reluctant owners to try. You can blend in laying mash or Okocat wood litter if odor is a huge concern.

Also, it might not hurt to consult a holistic vet about using slippery elm and marshmallow rood and red raspberry leaf herbs (use commercially prepared, esp for red raspberry). I have very similar issues as your cat, as do some of my ferals, and sometimes herbs do work wonders.

And thank you for the pictures - what a precious darling!!!!  ~ Susan

 

[misskirby]

:hi:    I know that I am stepping in late in this thread, so please forgive me if you have already considered this: Are you using unscented litter? I have helped a number of kitties that had blood in/on the poop just by buying unscented Arm&Hammer or Cat&Co fragrance free litter, for the reluctant owners to try. You can blend in laying mash or Okocat wood litter if odor is a huge concern.

Also, it might not hurt to consult a holistic vet about using slippery elm and marshmallow rood and red raspberry leaf herbs (use commercially prepared, esp for red raspberry). I have very similar issues as your cat, as do some of my ferals, and sometimes herbs do work wonders.

And thank you for the pictures - what a precious darling!!!!  ~ Susan

I am using Dr. Elsey's R&R crystal litter. It's the only one that doesn't make a mess or give her allergies (something she struggled with as a kitten; a lot of sneezing and coughing until I changed the litter). I've always considered herbs, but was always scared to try because of how sensitive she is. It's just crazy how it was horrible diarrhea at first and now it's magnificent poops with blood! I just can't win. I had sulfasalizine on hand from before so I gave that tonight. I think I'll buy some herbs though for maintenance once this settles.