Mystery mucus stool

[Time 2 Recognize]

Hi, It's been a while since I've been on here and have a situation that I hope, maybe, someone has insight/ideas about.

Since September 14th mid day (so, day 3 now) my 4 year old girl has had mucusy stool. Super loose, sometimes just seems like mostly mucus with a hint of poo. She struggles a bit going. Her appetite thus far has been fine, her energy has been fine and playful. I know cats hide their pain so I don't know really. She's clingy and spicy but that's not really abnormal, per se. She just engaged in play and ate breakfast no problem. Knock on wood that continues.

We went to vet yesterday. Echo (my girls name) was in she-hulk mode. We had a bad experience at a vets years ago and since then she's ready for war with vets even though current vet is kind, patient and gentle. She had to be covered with a towel and handled with gloves. Wouldn't let our vet do all that much, but I brought a sample of poo so that's being tested for giardia and got some fluids. Not sure if it will get tested for much else. I may call when they open to request they test if for whatever they can bacteria/parasite wise. Our vet said next time, we may be best to give her some gabapentin before an appointment, so she is less stressed and can be examined thoroughly. I did gently palpate her tummy at home and nothing feels unusual. Normal cat squish and no reaction of pain from her.

We got some digestive supplement with enzymes and probiotics, as well as a natural fiber supplement in the meantime. Vet said to see how it goes on that, if her stool starts to shift in the right direction and if not we'll have the test and possibly move to antibiotics. She did throw up her evening meal, but it had a thumb size hairball in it so I'm certain that was why. Could that be related to this? Anyway, she's eaten very happily since and no further issues keeping food down

Has anyone experienced something like this? She's an indoor only kitty, just me and her living together. She briefly met my mothers dog this past week, but for like, 5 minutes. She's been on her current foods for months without issue. Maybe a touch of constipation here and there, but she has been having bowl movement daily for long as I can remember. there was a normal tootsie roll poo in the box the day this started so, it came on suddenly. Only thing I can think of is I use an automatic wet food feeder to get her meals when I'm out and I wonder if i didn't clean it well enough causing a bacterial issue.

pic of my lady for cute factor.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Sounds like you have covered your bases pretty well. See what happens with the current 'treatment plan' and if it doesn't work, you might have to consider using something like Miralax (rather than fiber) to help with any possible level of constipation she may be having. If not Miralax, you could try adding a couple of drops of olive oil to her food - that might help with softening her stools as well as helping her to pass hair. If this were to be related to the hairball, daily brushings to remove excess hair would be helpful too since she looks to have fairly long and thick hair. Pretty kitty, btw!! Definitely a cute factor going on!

I also think it would be a good idea to thoroughly clean her wet food feeder just in case. Maybe buy a second one to help with keeping a feeder available to her while the other one is being cleaned. And just to be on the cautious side, have you checked with your mother to see if her dog might have anything going on with his/her heatlh? It is also possible the dog brought something in on their feet that was transferred to an area Echo was exposed to. Changes in the ingredients in your cat's food could also be a factor. It seems like a lot of the cat food companies are 'adjusting' their food contents, for whatever reason.

And if you can get a fecal PCR test done on the current sample as you have suggested, it might be worth it just to rule out other possible issues.

Lastly, another vet visit with the gabapentin - so they can draw blood for CBC & Chemistry blood panels might be in order.

 

[Time 2 Recognize]

Oh hi! Glad to see you still here FeebysOwner
I think I do have Miralax around somewhere. I'm waiting to see how things go for her today and will go from there. So far nutin' which may be a good sign vet says. I have been adding a touch more salmon oil to her food, plus she's gotten probiotic + enzyme and some psyllium husk in her breakfast. She did pass some hair through the back door yesterday. Long skinny piece. So at least that moved through her.

Yes, I have deep cleaned the feeder and am trying to get another one, or at least another inner tray. I wish they made them with something other than plastic. I've read that harbors bacteria? For now I'm using ceramic bowls and staying at home. I have been spending nights at my boyfriends -thus the feeders for late night meal and breakfast because I otherwise work from home. I'm also going to deep clean the litter box.

For mom's dog, she's fine as far as mom can tell. But that's definitely one possible link. Another is she may have eaten a small click bug the night before all this, but from a reading online that should be fine. That's a good point about the food, though she's been having cans from the same couple of cases from Chewy for a couple weeks now so I'm inclined to put that low on the list of possible cause. Hm. My guess is the changes are supply chain and cost inflation driven. In my own business (jewelry -not at all cat food but still lol) I've had to venture around to find more manageable cost and lead times.

Just got a call that the parasite test was fully negative and going to schedule a followup for a proper blood test. It had been well over a year since her prior test. Definitely wasn't happening in any kind of civil way yesterday but a little gaba to calm her and hopefully vet will be able to get the sample.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! I love and appreciate this forum so much.

 

[lisahe]

I hope you're able to figure this out soon, Time 2 Recognize !

We've seen mucousy stool in two of our cats. One of our current cats had lots of mucous when after she ate part of a houseplant. And our previous cat occasionally had mucous (often but not always with blood) on her stool. The vets thought that was colitis; she later developed IBD and, eventually, what was most likely lymphoma.

"Nothing further" really can be a good sign in cases like this. It's totally possible that the click bug upset her stomach but she now feels better. That's what happened with Edwina after she ate the plant: we took her in for x-rays and tests and a few days later she felt better on her own. Like Echo, Edwina loves eating bugs but some of them (particularly camel/cellar crickets, which she adores torturing and dismembering!) can carry odd parasites that can do lots of damage. If Echo continues to have digestive problems you can't figure out, you might want to ask the vet more about parasites. (The backstory here: We learned this because an ultrasound showed major inflammation in Edwina's stomach; she had to have part of her stomach, her spleen, and a couple lymph nodes removed. We'll never know what caused the inflammation but the vets said it could have been parasites. And the ultrasound doc said one of these parasites doesn't always show up in tests! Edwina's doing great now but, given her love of insects, the vet and I agreed that we're going to deworm her three times a year from now on, in the hope that she doesn't develop inflammation again.)

I hope Echo continues to improve! I hope the supply chain improves, too, what a hassle to have to find new ways of doing things.

 

[Time 2 Recognize]

Hi lisahe ! Thank you for taking the time to comment
I'm so sorry to hear about your kitties. Edwina is all ok after the surgery to remove those areas? Hate when it's an uncertain cause. It does seem like a bug is the most likely answer. I think thats the case for Echo as well. She's in my lap as I type and I'm SUPER happy to say after 24 hours of not a sign of a poo, she made a nice happy big one that was very healthy looking.

I've been giving her salmon oil, the probiotic/enzyme supplement as well as a touch of psyllium husk powder in her meals. Seems to have sorted things out the last stool passing.

However, she threw up with a hairball on Thursday evening, and just now threw up a hairball again and is refusing a snack. She's been sort of recluse today, just a bit. So I'm back on alert. Haven't seen another poop today (the nice one was yesterday). And of course the vets are closed today and tomorrow now. So I'm keeping an eye on her and worst case, e-vet today if she won't eat...or possibly other local vet that will be open tomorrow.
I'm a bit scared. She doesn't seem to want to run around after a snack and that is really not like her.

 

[Time 2 Recognize]

So, she went to the bathroom and had nice normal stool ending in loose stool. I gave her an overly fat pinch of catnip last night, which I'm regretting because I remembered and was just reading it can cause digestive upset in excess and I think I put down too much. I'm waiting for my man to come home and if she still seems unwell, uninterested in food and such, we will go to emergency vet. If nothing else but to have a blood test to I pray rule anything else out

 

[lisahe]

How is Echo doing, Time 2 Recognize ? Did you have to bring her to the e-vet? All those hairballs are worrisome, I glad you'll bring her in either today or tomorrow. The reclusive behavior is also worrisome...

Yes, Edwina is doing very well, thank you for asking! It's so nice to have her back to normal. She, too, had hair issues, reclusiveness, and less interest in food. Among other things. Digestive problems can be really hard to sort out...

Anyway, fingers crossed for Echo!

 

[Time 2 Recognize]

lisahe Thank you for checking! So she threw up the hairball today around 2pm, then threw up again (just liquid) at 4pm and was acting unwell, nauseous etc. the entire time.

So we did go to the e-vet, waited a while, and the vet said she felt that since this just started, she had a hairball and she looked ok, no tummy pain when palpated etc that she wouldn't worry about it if it's just for today. I know she felt I was overreacting. She was very sweet about it lol, but said something to that effect. I told her I rather just check and it's nothing than not and it's something.

Since Echo is Queen of the Spicy, she said it'd be hard for them to do anything without sedating her and she didn't feel it was necessary to do x-ray or blood test. Recommended a shot of Cerenia for nausea but I wound up declining that.

As soon as we got home, Echo went to the small dish of Tiki shreds I had out from earlier and ate, asking for more. Lol! I have no idea....maybe it all was just upset from a hairball? It's odd to me and I've never seen her not eat, hairball or not -especially treats. So far she is acting totally normal now and I hope that continues. Keeping a close eye on her and letting the regular vet know via email what happened. They check those even on closed days so.

 

[lisahe]

I'm glad she's feeling better and ate, Time 2 Recognize ! Yes, definitely keep a close eye on her... part of what's so hard about sorting digestive/stomach problems is that they often tend to come and go. (That's a huge part of why we were so slow to get Edwina diagnosed...)

Do you give Echo any kind of hairball remedy? Our cats do really well with Vet's Best hairball/digestive tablets. Ireland, our cat who doesn't have hair problems, does get mild-to-moderate constipation... and the tablets (only 1.5 a day rather than the 2 a day recommended on the bottle) keep her regular, which keeps her eating well. I originally bought the tablets for Edwina, who didn't like them much before her operation. Now, though, she loves them! I have no idea if she'd still have hair problems without them but I like the tablet ingredients, which include slippery elm, marshmallow root, psyllium, probiotics, and enzymes. It might be worth asking your vet about them.

Anyway, fingers crossed that Echo's on the mend!

 

[Time 2 Recognize]

Something is definitely still not right. While she did eat last night once home from the e-vet, she seems to not feel well after eating and is only eating in small amounts today and mostly sleeping in her carrier which is her "leave me alone" spot. So, energy low.

She also went to the litterbox to poo (I imagine, because she did pee earlier) and nothing happened.

She just seems to not feel well and is a bit less responsive. Like if I get out her treats, she is curious and looking but won't necessarily come right over. She usually runs over.

So I emailed her regular vet about getting some gabapentin in the morning to possibly come and do bloodwork, or whatever else in the afternoon if they have any room available. They're closed today. I'll call in the morning if no answer. I'm bewildered by the cause of all this. Mucus poops for 2 days, but fine appetite and energy, then one normal day, then normal morning followed by 2x vomit and no appetite, semi return of appetite and now subdued behavior. I can't find anything in the room that is missing or tampered with.

I do have some hairball supplements, one with much the same ingredients (sans probiotics). The digestive chew from initial vet visit also has probiotics + Enzymes so. I've given her psyllium pinch in her food the past several days except today. Today I just went with a small amount of the probiotic/enzyme digestive treat. I don't know if that could be what has upset her tummy? I did just give her a little bit of the hairball treat that has marshmallow, slippery elm etc. Really want to hopefully rule out anything with blood work and I don't know. Perhaps an xray just to check if anything shows up there or not.

 

[lisahe]

Something is definitely still not right. While she did eat last night once home from the e-vet, she seems to not feel well after eating and is only eating in small amounts today and mostly sleeping in her carrier which is her "leave me alone" spot. So, energy low.

She also went to the litterbox to poo (I imagine, because she did pee earlier) and nothing happened.

She just seems to not feel well and is a bit less responsive. Like if I get out her treats, she is curious and looking but won't necessarily come right over. She usually runs over.

So I emailed her regular vet about getting some gabapentin in the morning to possibly come and do bloodwork, or whatever else in the afternoon if they have any room available. They're closed today. I'll call in the morning if no answer. I'm bewildered by the cause of all this. Mucus poops for 2 days, but fine appetite and energy, then one normal day, then normal morning followed by 2x vomit and no appetite, semi return of appetite and now subdued behavior. I can't find anything in the room that is missing or tampered with.

I do have some hairball supplements, one with much the same ingredients (sans probiotics). The digestive chew from initial vet visit also has probiotics + Enzymes so. I've given her psyllium pinch in her food the past several days except today. Today I just went with a small amount of the probiotic/enzyme digestive treat. I don't know if that could be what has upset her tummy? I did just give her a little bit of the hairball treat that has marshmallow, slippery elm etc. Really want to hopefully rule out anything with blood work and I don't know. Perhaps an xray just to check if anything shows up there or not.

Yes, it really sounds like things aren't right. If she tried to use the box but nothing came out, she definitely needs more tests. This all reminds me so much of what was going on with Edwina: some days she'd seem fine (even knowing that cats can be weird when they're not feeling right) but other days she wasn't herself.

Marshmallow and slippery elm can be calming; Edwina got regular doses of slippery elm goo (I made a syrupy concoction for her) when she wasn't feeling good. It really helped with her eating.

I'm very sorry this is happening (particularly since you did the best thing by taking her to the e-vet!) and hope you're able to get her in early tomorrow! Fingers crossed.

 

[lisahe]

How is Echo today, Time 2 Recognize ? I hope you were able to get her to the vet and that she's okay!

 

[Time 2 Recognize]

I'm very scared.

I tried our regular vet monday. No answer. She seemed just about normal. Was out, not hiding, mostly eating. Poops seemed ok, just about perfect. But she wasn't loving her usual foods. I figured it was because she wasn't feeling great and associated it with those foods. So I got new ones yesterday and she was pretty happy with that yesterday morning and afternoon. She wanted snacks. She ran after them if I threw them as usual. I thought things were alright. I was away last night and left a feeder out with wet food. Came back and she hadn't eaten her late night meal or breakfast. she ate some freeze dried chicken just now. like 2 pieces. That's about it. Just licks the wet food options and is sitting in the sun.

I checked her box and there was some strange stool again. Gooey soft stool with a little bit of a normal piece or two.

I have an appointment with a different vet at 2:30. about an hour from now. Please keep her in your thoughts I am so worried.

 

[lisahe]

I'm very scared.

I tried our regular vet monday. No answer. She seemed just about normal. Was out, not hiding, mostly eating. Poops seemed ok, just about perfect. But she wasn't loving her usual foods. I figured it was because she wasn't feeling great and associated it with those foods. So I got new ones yesterday and she was pretty happy with that yesterday morning and afternoon. She wanted snacks. She ran after them if I threw them as usual. I thought things were alright. I was away last night and left a feeder out with wet food. Came back and she hadn't eaten her late night meal or breakfast. she ate some freeze dried chicken just now. like 2 pieces. That's about it. Just licks the wet food options and is sitting in the sun.

I checked her box and there was some strange stool again. Gooey soft stool with a little bit of a normal piece or two.

I have an appointment with a different vet at 2:30. about an hour from now. Please keep her in your thoughts I am so worried.

Thinking of you as the appointment time draws closer. I hope the other/new vet is able to help you out!

Again, this reminds me so so so much of what was going on with Edwina... all the eating/noteating and normal/notnormal. (Though the box looked fine.) The first time I brought her in, the substitute vet couldn't find anything obviously wrong. Only the ultrasound started to show where the problem was. We were incredibly worried, too, I totally understand what you are going through, it's just awful. & that it all goes well and that the vet has some good advice.

 

[Time 2 Recognize]

They did blood work and X-ray, nothing out of the usual. She ate some snacks and looks like some of a tiki purée stick (my mom checked on her). I’m at a work event that is regrettable to have even gone to, but went for my boyfriend. We’re literally on a boat so stuck for another 1.5 hours.
My mother is watching her and there’s nothing I can do but I’d rather be with her.
So Edwina looked all normal on all tests until ultrasound? Maybe I should ask for that tomorrow from this other vet.

 

[Time 2 Recognize]

The vet said it pretty much comes down to likely being viral. I don’t know. I’m hoping it’s just that because a huge surgery to remove things sounds so scary. Did Edwina have normal looking x rays and everything?
Thank you so much for checking in lisahe and sharing what you guys went through

 

[lisahe]

They did blood work and X-ray, nothing out of the usual.
...
So Edwina looked all normal on all tests until ultrasound? Maybe I should ask for that tomorrow from this other vet.

Here's what happened with Edwina:
Edwina's blood work (complete blood count) on her first appointment (June) was pretty much okay, other than a slightly elevated white blood cell (I think it was?) count. The vet wasn't too worried about that but she ran a pancreatitis test that came up negative. She didn't do an x-ray. The vet sent me home with Cerenia; Edwina did pretty well for a week or two. (This was her pattern...)

About a month later, Edwina was doing worse. (She suddenly had very dark, pretty much black stool, which really worried me.) I called and talked with the regular vet, who immediately booked Edwina for an ultrasound three days later. She said she would have done one the last time Edwina was in if she'd seen her that day. I forget what, exactly, she said would have triggered it.

The ultrasound showed a "mass" in Edwina's stomach. The ultrasound vet listed a bunch of things that could have caused it: inflammatory disease, neoplasia, ulceration, infectious disease, or parasites. After the ultrasound we had the choice of an endoscopy or exploratory surgery, plus removal of the problem, if possible. Based on the ultrasound report, it just sounded like there had to be something in Edwina that would need to be removed so we asked for the operation that deprived her of her spleen, lymph nodes, and pieces of her stomach. We'll never know what caused the mass in Edwina's stomach; all we know is that it was caused by some sort of inflammation. The ultrasound vet seemed to think parasites weren't likely because Edwina's indoor-only. But Edwina goes on a screened porch that has floor cracks (someone killed a slug that came through the floorboards!) and she eats crickets that come into the house. The parasites the ultrasound vet specifically mentioned were physaloptera and ollullanus, which you can read a little about here and here, respectively. (The ultrasound vet's report said both kinds are rarely identified on fecal exams.) In any case, we gave both cats Panacur (a wormer) after Edwina had recovered from her surgery. (Our vet, the vet who did her biopsies, and one of the surgeons where she was operated on all recommended it.) The Panacur was cheap and the powder form was easy to feed in the cats' food. Since Edwina loves eating bugs and since her favorite -- crickets! -- can carry one of those parasites, we're going to give her Pancur several times a year from now on, just in case. (Our vet loves deworming cats, she's thrilled I asked if we should do this.) Apparently lots of cats carry parasites for years and some can really settle in, causing stomach inflammation. (!!! I had no idea!) Edwina has done so much better since her operation that we now wonder if she'd had something going on in her gut all these years, something that just kept building: she'd always had stomach issues (with hair and vomiting) but in the last two months she's only had a couple regurgitation incidents, when she ate too much too soon after her surgery. You might want to ask Echo's vet(s) about a preventive course of Panacur (the powder! our vet says the liquid is really bitter!) just in case there's any chance Echo has some kind of parasites.

Sorry that paragraph is so long! But now you have the whole weird story.

The vet said it pretty much comes down to likely being viral. I don’t know.

Yes, I understand your skepticism. Did you the vet say anything more specific about viruses? Like what virus they think it might be?

Edwina's surgery was definitely very scary, though our vet referred her to an amazing surgeon at an excellent emergency/referral clinic so I had no doubt she'd be in the best possible hands. We were very lucky!

I hope the boat ride wasn't too awful. (I know what that's like when a cat's sick and you have to be somewhere else, it's so hard to enjoy anything!) Fingers crossed that maybe there might be some good advice after talking with the vet again!

 

[Time 2 Recognize]

The ultrasound showed a "mass" in Edwina's stomach. The ultrasound vet listed a bunch of things that could have caused it: inflammatory disease, neoplasia, ulceration, infectious disease, or parasites. After the ultrasound we had the choice of an endoscopy or exploratory surgery, plus removal of the problem, if possible. Based on the ultrasound report, it just sounded like there had to be something in Edwina that would need to be removed so we asked for the operation that deprived her of her spleen, lymph nodes, and pieces of her stomach. We'll never know what caused the mass in Edwina's stomach; all we know is that it was caused by some sort of inflammation. The ultrasound vet seemed to think parasites weren't likely because Edwina's indoor-only. But Edwina goes on a screened porch that has floor cracks (someone killed a slug that came through the floorboards!) and she eats crickets that come into the house. The parasites the ultrasound vet specifically mentioned were physaloptera and ollullanus, which you can read a little about here and here, respectively.

Wow. Thats so wild and mysterious! I will look into those parasites. There are no tests for these parasites? Anyways, I'll look into it.

The great difficulty now, even if I could get the vet to prescribe Panacur, is that she mostly wont eat. At least not any wet food I've put down since late last night. There's currently two out for her, one of which is rehydrated stella and chewy. I am waiting a bit before removing that, because it's raw technically so I'm not going to leave it out all night. The other is her usual food. She seemed eager and meowed when I brought in the bowls, but once before her, she wont eat.

So all she ate today was a few pieces of freeze dried chicken, small handfull of kibble, and a Tiki cat Stix. Oh and some un-hydrated stella and chewy turkey bites or whatever they're called. But all those things she ate, she now has no further desire to eat. She's just chilling in her carrier. Blood was normal minus low phosphorous and no increase in white blood cell count. Since she hadn't eaten a full meal at that point, the only values that were "low" were what would be expected for not eating. I'm letting her be. And one thing I may do is remove all food for the night in a little while to see if in the morning, her appetite returns. Wait until she is actually hungry.

I did come home with some Mirataz. I may try it tomorrow since it's topical. I don't want to give it to her when I can't call vet office if she had some reaction to it. Vet today also recommended 2.5mg Pepcid, but if she wont eat I don't know how to accomplish that... I am hesitant about Cerenia injection as I've read some horror stories...but it may come to that. I hope not. I will definitely discuss an ultrasound as the next possible step with both vets offices. Will call both tomorrow and see what they say. Unfortunately my regular vet is tough to get hold of sometimes because its her own private practice. This other clinic has multiple vets and more staff so. Easier to get in and get in touch.

Did you the vet say anything more specific about viruses? Like what virus they think it might be?

No, she didn't. I will also ask if there are any viral tests that could be done maybe? I'm almost wondering if part of things is that her sense of smell is off. She will seem eager for food, then sniff things and seem...dissatisfied? I can't tell if that's nausea. She hasn't thrown up since Sunday's events.

I've tried moving her bowls around the place, Fortiflora, several types of food (I may break down and try friskies at this rate), and even a touch of grassfed, delicious ghee. Nothing is getting her to eat a full meal, or even some of it.

Thank you so much for your reply. Truly appreciate you so much! This is so bizarre and I'm finding little to no info elsewhere.

 

[lisahe]

I'm sorry to hear that Echo isn't eating, that is always so hard. How is she doing today? I hope she's eating.

I'll write more later but wanted to ask more about what Echo eats. Diet can cause all sorts of problems, we've seen lots of those. Echo's sniffing and walking away is familiar, too, but more because of our other cat, Ireland, who tends to get constipated. I particularly ask about this because some Stella and Chewy foods have high bone content and some cats (like Ireland) get constipated from the bone. After Edwina's operation I stopped feeding raw food... Not because the vet said they could contain parasites but because I had already gotten tired of dealing with all the bone and pumpkin and other stuff that's now in so much commercial raw food. It was getting complicated to figure out how much bone we were feeding. Ireland had already been getting hairball tablets, which helped keep her regular, but now she's become a ravenous eater something we hadn't seen in years.

Edwina's case is weird and mysterious for sure -- the vet even got another call from another vet who heard about it. The surgeon seemed to think parasites were a longshot as the cause of the inflammation but he also basically said that things can get weird...

 

[Time 2 Recognize]

I've given her a light dose of the Mirataz in one ear this morning. She licked a warmed Tiki Fussy cat meal, but did not really eat. She looked like she felt unwell, like her tummy hurt...from the way she was laying in an uncomfy loaf and wouldn't lay on her side.

She also coughed up a hairball earlier around 6:30am. I called the vet we went to yesterday and asked about coming in for a shot of cerenia and we went and got that.

I asked about an ultrasound and one is scheduled for Monday. I just dont know what to do. She had the Cerenia about an hour ago. Ate what looks to be some of the Tiki fussy cat meal, but not a lot and doesn't want treats. She looks less uncomfortable now, at least.

I'm at a loss. I dont want to run out again right now, as I just had to leave to drop off my man at work. I rushed home to check on her because a) shes never had cerenia so I wanted to be here ASAP to make sure she's ok with it and b) I think my random schedule of being here, not being here...is not helpful to her stress in all this. So I will stay a while with her and then perhaps venture out to get various wet and kibble foods later to try and entice her. As well as chicken + beef plain AF baby food. Fortiflora intrigues her but still isn't doing the trick.