I let feral Minou inside. Need cat language translation!

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pixies ma

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He's doing alright, i think. He hasn't been outside in 3 days! He just refuses to go out since it snowed. I have no problem with that.
Stilll have not met Pixie face to face as i am waiting for her to settle a bit. She seems nervous these days. I play with her more.
Minou is on day 5 of taking cortisone, and though yesterday he produced a formed poop (a bit smelly), he just did a stinky soft one. It was a bit formed and not liquid but it's a step back from yesterday. Wonder if that's normal. His diet hasn't changed.
 
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pixies ma

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Well Minou and Pixie have been introduced. I was playing with her in the livingroom when i heard him yowl in the kitchen. I dropped everything and found him sitting next to the screen door, demanding attention. We were all 3 on the floor and everyone was calm and he went under the kitchen table, so i opened the door. Pixie did not move, but he eventually came by. She hissed and growled and he passed her. He smelled her butt and she jumped and hissed some more. He passed her again and went in the tunnel. She was about a yard from him, staring as he just layed there in the tunnel. I petted her and she purred, and i took her to put her in the bedroom. 3 minutes was enough...for me. Pixie was way too nervous, and though Minou seemed calm, he did not seem to be impressed by her and i don't know if he'd actually get fed up with her hissing and just slap the daylight out of her.
So that was that.
He has made 4 stools today, going from formed but soft to the fourth being the same old smelly diarrhea. Sigh...I was hoping the cortisone would work better by now. Yesterday was promising, today is discouraging.
 

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That sounds like good progress.  Even when they are good friends, even my litter mates who grew up together, there will be hissing and growling and swatting the odd time.  I was amazed at the growls that came out of my 7 month old litter mate kittens the first time I gave everybody some raw chicken necks.

One thing I am careful of is to not remove a cat from the room just after the other has hissed or growled at it.  I've read one reason dogs will bark at the mailman every day is that the mailman leaves.  So the dog thinks his barking worked.  Whether this applies to cats as well I have no idea but it seems reasonable so I try to remove one after something good has ended, like some kibbles on the floor to share (not too close)... This in order to instill the idea that two cats in the room equals good times and one cat in the room is neutral.  I also have to watch to not reward growling and hissing with good times too though, sometimes its hard to decide which to do.
 

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It is wonderful progress that he has wanted to stay inside for 3 Days! He is settling in and making himself at home. My five cats co-exist very peacefully, they play together and sleep together on the couch and bed. However, they are like human siblings. They will sometimes fuss with each other-- bat at and hiss at each other and compete for my attention. If it gets to be too much for my nerves, I yell their names, and that usually does the trick, they cut it out for the time. But it is unrealistic to expect cats not to fuss with each other sometimes, just as it is unrealistic to expect kids not to fuss. In spite of the fussing, cats are much happier having feline companionship it keeps their lives from being boring
 
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pixies ma

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Sorry for not replying sooner. I am exhausted lately, and a lot of energy and worry go into Minou's sickness and sometimes i just want to not think about cats for a few hours.
He was put on Z\d today (hydrolyzed protein diet) cause even after a week of cortisone, he still has several diarrheas a day. I thought it was getting better a couple days ago, with him pooping once a day and it being soft but formed. It has gone back to being frequent and jelly on wednesday. I think he is still awkward in litter boxes and he always managed to step in it, getting poop and poopy litter all over my floors. 
He yowls before pooping too. I can't take much more of this, and spoke to the vet again today saying the I\d is obviously not working, so she put him on Z\d for 3 months.
I dont like the ingredients and the price, but my vet insists so she can monitor him better. So he's got the kibble, the cans, and also hydrolyzed Royal Canin treats. He likes all 3, thank ****.
He and Pixie had another sceance, but totally my accident. He was insisting on going out and i could feel him getting restless and stressed, so i let him go. 15 minutes later i opened the porch door to shake my carpet (litter everywhere...) and Pixie was there and i did not expect Minou to be back so soon and he walked right in. She hissed, growled, wouldnt take treats. He was staring at her a bit too close so i distracted him wth pets and treats and it worked fine, but she was stressed as all heck. Then the doorbell rang and everyone jumped and Pixie ran away to hide and that was the end of it.
Ordered a second cat tree, cause Pixie rarely gets to go in the kitchen anymore so she has no window to look out from. It'll be useful when they are both loose in the house too. This is all goin on credit cards but hopefully the big expenses and all the pooping will stop soon.
 
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pixies ma

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F-r-i-g is a bad word? I'm noticing it is censored in my previous message. Odd.
 
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pixies ma

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Oh..i forgot to attach recent pic of my Minou.

He looks so round and he is indeed putting on weight, but it is mostly illusion cause of his jowls.
 
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pixies ma

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Ok i'm officially worried out of my mind. He won't eat now. He seems depressed and i found some runny poop on the sides of his box and it looked black.
 

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Oh crap, literally, you and he are having a hard time.  Black poop is very worrying..  Maybe you could run a poop sample into the Vet?
 

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He's a beautiful cat. I hope your vet can figure out what's wrong with him. I'm so sorry you're going through all of this. Hopefully the vet can prescribe something for his upset tummy.
 
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pixies ma

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When i came home on my lunch break earlier today, he had still eaten nothing, and was laying with his face on the water bowl but not drinking. I offered him some diluted 'gastrointestinal' wet food (cause i don't care of it's not hydrolyzed anymore, i just want him to eat and take in fluids.) and he would not eat it. He took 2 hydrolyzed treats but when i saw him with the water bowl, i opened a can of tuna. That's when he woke up and wanted some. So he drank some tuna juice. When i came back home from work, he has eaten a bit of the wet food but i still took him to the vet.

He was indeed dehydrated from all the pooping. He had sub fluids and an appetite booster. Vet says to stop the cortisone since it's not working at all so it's not worth compromising his immune system. Suggested a diet of rice and tuna (cause he loves it and the juice he had 3 hours prior did not make him sick) for 3 days, and perhaps another course of metrodanizole then.

I dropped him off at home after and went out to get more tuna. When i came back, he had eaten last night's leftover hydrolyzed kibble....
He also ate more tuna, and then rice and tuna.
He's desperate to go out, probably to go potty, but i won't let him. Let's hope he didn't develop an aversion to the box. He hasn't pooped or peed since 7 am ( 11 hours ago)

Anyone want to tell me what they think of all that?
 

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I've been reading this thread but haven't posted before.  I think it's wonderful that you are trying to convince Minou to be a inside pampered kitty. I'm sure his upset belly is making the transition worse for everyone.

I have a little experience with a cat with a sensitive tummy.  My Ruby, who I adopted 3 years ago, had loose (not diarrhea) stools, and used to vomit a clear liquid several times a week, for the first few months I had her. I thought it was just normal for her, but it kept getting more frequent so I took her to the vet.

Luckily for us, a food change was all it took to settle her digestive system.  We switched to a duck-based veterinary wet food and her stools became normal, literally overnight.  And the vomiting soon stopped, as well.  She still occasionally gets sick, but I think from eating too quickly. One thing that seems to work for Ruby is feeding her smaller meals throughout the day so that her tummy never gets empty for too long.

I hope your Minou is feeling better today. He's a very handsome cat and with all that white fur needs to stay inside where it's clean and warm.

Just one thought, have you considered taking him to a cat-only vet who might have more experience with feline gastrointestinal issues.  

And also, I wonder if you'd get more replies to your food query if you posted a new thread on the Nutrition Forum.

Good luck. Keep us posted.
 
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pixies ma

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Hi Rubysmama, thanks for the interest. If there is anyone else reading this thread, hello to you as well!

Thankfully, Minou never vomits. But the only time i have witnessed a solid stool was the night after he got neutered, probably cause he ate nothing for over half a day.

My vet has known me for 15 years (i had dogs before) and knows how Hills Prescription food grosses me out with the dodgy ingredients and high cost . However, since it's been so hard to pinpoint Minou's cause of long term severe diarrhea, she insists that i use the food she feels could help him or at least give clues to find the cause or causes. She can better monitor everything if she knows exactly what goes in my boy's belly.
So for now it is the Z/d diet for 3 months, then tests with various proteines, and eventually D/d (either duck or venison). But...i have already started researching other brands such as Natural Balance.
Since i wrote last, Minou has had two large watery stools, both overnight anywhere between 2am and 6 am. He peed several times too. He eats like a horse, a strict diet of rice and tuna since 24 hours. So, it has been 13 hours since he pooped last, which might mean he is not allergic to fish or at least not to tuna. If he produces a solid stool soon, this will most likely mean he is very much allergic to chicken and who knows what other kinds of poultry. I'll have to see and talk to my vet tomorrow.
As for a vet specialized with cats, i know of one, but it's not near my home. I don't have a car and my current vet is just across the street. She has been a vet for 30 years and is the owner of the place. I have no idea what her specialty is, but she is my best shot considering my lack of transport. Also, since she has known me for years, she sometimes doesn't charge me for things. Yesterday, she didn't bill me for the consult, just the fluids and pill. That's 75$ less on the bill!
I will most likely start posting threads in the nutrition once we get more clues in the next 24-48 hours when needed :)
 
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pixies ma

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And now, for the behavior part of this program...I was woken up this morning by some strange sounds. There was the usual annoying unpleasant sound of Pixie scratching at the screen door, but it was followed my Minou growling. It was some quiet low meow ending in long growls.
That  freaked me out all over again. Gods, i hope he's not losing patience with her, cause he aint seen nothing yet.
Is it possible they have been separated and seeing each other through a screen too long?

With his health issues, i have not stressed too much about introductions as i am so focused on poop, poop smells, and trying not to step in poop. The growling thing reminded me i have that too deal with also.
 

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An idea to consider.  Sometimes rice does not work.  It can ferment and some Vets don't like it at all.  When my dog had month and a half long diarrhoea rice and chicken did nothing for him.  Nor did massive doses of Prednisone.  For my dog we changed to a Holistic INtegrative Vet who had us home cook sweet potato and turkey.  Now that's for my dog, I haven't been able to get any cat to eat sweet potato.  Just something to think about, if you do consider a new Vet.  There certainly is no harm in getting second opinion.
 
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pixies ma

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Second opinion would cost me about 50$ cab fare...
Minou has not pooped in 24 hours. Perhaps the rice is working and he is not allergic to tuna? He eats and pees a lot though. I just hope he wont get clogged....I'll call y vet later asking if i should start de Z\d again.
 

rubysmama

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Another thing to mention to your vet is pumpkin. I've seen that mentioned here before for both diarrhea & constipation.  It's pure canned pumpkin, btw, not the pumpkin pie filling.
 
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pixies ma

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I have pumpkin cubes in the freezer and tried that a couple weeks ago. He hates it and i couldn't even hide it in his food...
After 30 hours of no poops, he had a diarrhea on my lunch break. This is so discouraging and i suspect the slight headaches i've been having are due to stress about this whole mess.
He's lost interest in eating some, perhaps the appetite booster is wearing off.
He hasn't pooped in 4 hours though, so at least he's not getting bad bouts of it that will dehydrate him again. Knock on wood...
My vet was out today, so i will call tomorrow. I'm pretty sure she will put him back on antibiotics but i'm not sure which.
 
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