Helping A Cat With Diarrhea

[kathryncrawford]

Hey guys!

One of my cats has been having loose stools + green poop, and I took a poo sample to the vet and he has a bacterial infection. They gave me Pro-pectalin (anti-diarrheal), probiotics and some immune support supplements, although they said it might take a while to get rid of this particular bacteria. His stool firmed up a bit with the meds, but today he's gone 4 times and it's been very loose and watery. He's getting extra liquid with his raw food, but I'm still worried about him having consistent diarrhea and getting dehydrated. He's otherwise acting fine, eating and drinking and playing, so thankfully he's not acting super sick, and doesn't appear to be dehydrated yet.

Obviously I can't call the vet until monday to tell them the anti-diarrheal didn't work. Is there anything I can do in the meantime to help him out? I've seen some people recommend fasting, but wouldn't that normally be if there's something their system needs to get rid of like bad food? Some recommend pumpkin, but that seems hit or miss. Any suggestions with raw feeding in mind?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
How are things today?

Maybe I can get a couple experts with raw, and tummy et al troubles, to weigh in for you; cheeser 1 bruce 1 do you have a moment to provide your thoughts?

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Hey guys!

One of my cats has been having loose stools + green poop, and I took a poo sample to the vet and he has a bacterial infection. They gave me Pro-pectalin (anti-diarrheal), probiotics and some immune support supplements, although they said it might take a while to get rid of this particular bacteria. His stool firmed up a bit with the meds, but today he's gone 4 times and it's been very loose and watery. ...

Hi K kathryncrawford ! I'm sorry to hear your cat isn't feeling well.

I'm not one to willy-nilly endorse using antibiotics and I understand that many pet owners either don't want to use antibiotics or want to pick and choose when they are used (e.g. use them carefully and rarely), but if your vet tested his poo and found a bacterial-based infection, I am wondering why your cat wasn't prescribed an antibiotic to address that? Did you want to try these other things first?

Although some "green poop" could be from ingredients in a food cats are getting, the colors yellow-green and green do tend to indicate an infection, for sure. And continuing diarrhea will definitely lead to dehydration. Some supplements can have side effects - do you know if one of yours has any? (that might contribute to loose stools)

I know your question was about raw feeding suggestions, so hopefully others will chime in on that point!

 

[kathryncrawford]

Hi K kathryncrawford ! I'm sorry to hear your cat isn't feeling well.

I'm not one to willy-nilly endorse using antibiotics and I understand that many pet owners either don't want to use antibiotics or want to pick and choose when they are used (e.g. use them carefully and rarely), but if your vet tested his poo and found a bacterial-based infection, I am wondering why your cat wasn't prescribed an antibiotic to address that? Did you want to try these other things first?

Although some "green poop" could be from ingredients in a food cats are getting, the colors yellow-green and green do tend to indicate an infection, for sure. And continuing diarrhea will definitely lead to dehydration. Some supplements can have side effects - do you know if one of yours has any? (that might contribute to loose stools)

I know your question was about raw feeding suggestions, so hopefully others will chime in on that point!

My vet is more of a holistic vet, so I don't think they'd try antibiotics unless natural methods didn't work. So wasn't my request, but I do tend to agree with them.

He definitely has some bacterial stuff going on, no question there. I'm more worried about the immediate danger of the diarrhea than that though, since I know the bacteria will take time to clear up (he's been on the supplements for about a week only so far).

The only thing they are being fed is whole ground animal grinds from Hare Today, along with their Alnutrin supplement and the occassional chicken neck. The other cat has totally normal poop, every day or two, with little to no smell.

 

[kathryncrawford]

Hi!
How are things today?

Maybe I can get a couple experts with raw, and tummy et al troubles, to weigh in for you; cheeser 1 bruce 1 do you have a moment to provide your thoughts?

No change really that I've noticed today. He's only pooped once so far today, but it was still pretty loose and green. Not completely liquid, but definitely looser than it should be.

 

[kathryncrawford]

Went to the vet today and got some anti-biotics. Poor little guy is just having a rough time of it!

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I really hope he improves soon!

Did the vet give any fluids, to help with dehydration from the diarrhea?

Hang in there!

 

[Shmooo]

Just an FYI- the s boullardi -florastor (coupons available or buy on EBay or any cvs-Walmart etc)...Florastor is given for diarrhea of all types in humans ...it is a patented form of s boullardi that re-forms bacteria and makes proper use of right bacteria in the small intestine so for SIBOits great...helps the body utilize B vitamin and water!! It’s great. For a cat, I’ve used it to hault diarrhea which it does with jus one capsule in food (15 lb cat) (no taste)...while it’s not studied it can be a short term bandaid for antibiotic induced diarrhea for sure. Yes, there is sum lactose but it’s fine for lactose intolerant. Just a thought & I believe there are studies of it in cats now that I recall... it’s a yeast but marketed as a probiotic. Many think probiotics “don’t work” but if there is overgrowth in the small intestine you gotta start with florastor to address SIBO. Study/research but it will hault diarrhea but if it’s food allergies causing diarrhea than it’s so so

 

[kathryncrawford]

I really hope he improves soon!

Did the vet give any fluids, to help with dehydration from the diarrhea?

Hang in there!

No, they didn't give us any fluids, but I actually just took a fecal sample in, not the actual cat, since this is a known issue.

 

[Furballsmom]

Do you think your kitty might be getting dehydrated? If your vet ok these things they might help get your kitty more hydrated.

There's a way to test for it;

1. tent test for dehydration and home-made pedialyte recipe - The Daily Kitten
   
   Also, try making one of these;
   Kitten Glop Recipes - Supplementing Cats and Kittens with nutritious formula you make at home: presented by Bengal Cat breeder Foothill Felines. --This website has a number of kitten glop recipes, with ingredients that you may very well have in your house.
2. Also,
   • Chicken, beef or ham flavored baby food such as Gerber Stage 2 - make sure there is no garlic or onions in the ingredients
   • Tuna and/or the juice, a low mercury/low/no sodium brand is called Safecatch.

 

[cheeser]

Well, we've had far more experience with constipation than diarrhea.

But one of our cats gets the most awful diarrhea when he's on antibiotics. Homemade slippery elm bark syrup has always worked wonders for him, as well as RenewLife Ultimate Flora Extra Care 30 Billion. He's prone to yeast infections, so we didn't want to tempt fate with a probiotic that contains S. boulardii. However, Nexabiotic was extremely helpful for our other cat who suffers from diet related diarrhea every now and then.

I'm afraid I'm probably not much help re: any possible dietary issues for your kitty, as we only feed our cats canned foods since one of our cats is FIV+ and is almost always sick with some kind of infection. But if you and/or your vet suspect that a food allergy could be contributing to your kitty's tummy troubles, just let us know, and we'll see what we can come up with.

Hope your fur baby is feeling better soon!

 

[1 bruce 1]

Green poop in a cat, unless they're eating something green (dyed kibble, etc.) or accidentally ate something green, would make me think something isn't right. It could point to liver, gall bladder, etc., that would need addressing and IME most holistic vets are experienced with that and can help.
I read you took a fecal in, good idea!
I'm really curious what the fecal says, so I hope you'll update us K kathryncrawford .
We do feed raw. But with issues like this that create digestive upsets, we opt for a short term cooked diet. Healthy cats can easily deal with bacteria in raw foods, it's what Nature designed them to do. But cats experiencing digestive upset to the point of green poop isn't something we felt Nature wanted to preserve, and (sad) those cats wouldn't live to pass along those genes.
If a wild cat in Nature experiences this problem odds are they'd die.
If our house cats experience this problem, we're really very lucky to have a ton of treatment and diet options to keep them healthy and happy and get them past this problem. I hope your little guy does well with whatever you choose, as we have a cat with bowel/asthma problems.
In Nature he'd be dead, long dead. In our home, with diet and medical care, he's still kicking butt!!!