New cat is not healthy.

[Mrsty1203]

That's a true cat lover, powering through the toughest times to get to the most cuddles!

I’ll be happy when she starts cuddling more! We’re still learning thresholds and limits with each other. But most importantly, at least now we‘re seeing her real personality and not “I’m sick leave me alone” attitude.

 

[Mrsty1203]

A week after meds were finished and we're starting to see signs of the giardiasis again. Vet said to bring another stool sample in a week so will do that tomorrow. Does anyone have experience with this? Is it hard to get rid of?

 

[Mrsty1203]

That's great news! Hopefully everything looks good in the stool sample next week. It took my kitten Goose nearly a month of antibiotics to get better but he had a rare parasite. Let us know the results!

Did you have to keep giving him the same Meds or different ones to clear it up?

 

[Beholder]

Did you have to keep giving him the same Meds or different ones to clear it up?

Well, the original prescription was for a month. After the month was over he was still having gas, diarrhea and some mild vomiting. We brought in a new stool sample to the vet and they said the parasite was gone...about two weeks after this his symptoms were gone. I'm not sure why this happened, but it appeared the symptoms lasted longer than the infection.

From what my vet originally told me, it's quite common for parasites/worms to not respond to antibiotics. Especially with what he had, it was more of an...opportunistic parasite that is only transmitted by feces. When cats are old enough or healthy enough, their bodies will often fight it on there own. Unfortunately, our cats had/have different parasites so it's not really a good comparison.

 

[Mrsty1203]

Well the good news is the vet said the latest stool sample was clear of any parasites. So thank God, no more meds to worry about right now. She is acting so much better too...

 

[Beholder]

That's great news!

 

[HAS]

Hiya! We adopted two kittens on Jan 30, and upon them arriving home I noticed the diarrhea immediately...surprise! A quick visit to our vet confirmed Giardia in the stool sample. Giardia is tricky to diagnose because of the shedding cycles, so I don’t blame the shelter (cats were in a community room with many other cats due to an emergency situation where they had a large number of kittens come up from Florida.) I bet diarrhea wasn’t noticed. It’s sad, but the nature of that many cats is what it is.

I was able to get them to eat the granules mixed in to a Tiki Cat tube treat ( would mix it and place in small dish). My cats general go crazy for the Tiki Cat tube treats, I have never seen anything like it. It isn’t much for them to consume in each tube, co before they know it, they have finished the treat and also got their medicine. They have a chicken flavor you might try, as you mentioned your kitty was not fond of strong fish flavors.
TIKI CAT Stix Chicken Grain-Free Cat Food Topper, 3-oz pouch, pack of 6 - Chewy.com

Good luck!

 

[Mrsty1203]

Well, even though Stella’s stool sample came back negative she’s had more diarrhea lately. It really comes and goes... so now I’m wondering if it’s a food intolerance to some protein. I’m suspecting chicken, of all things. I would think chicken was fairly safe, like turkey.

 

[Furballsmom]

Chicken can be a food sensitivity trigger or allergen.

 

[Beholder]

Well, even though Stella’s stool sample came back negative she’s had more diarrhea lately. It really comes and goes... so now I’m wondering if it’s a food intolerance to some protein. I’m suspecting chicken, of all things. I would think chicken was fairly safe, like turkey.

Chicken is actually one of the most common allergies/intolerances in cats, so it's very possible. Turkey is usually less problematic but can still cause issues in some cats. A lot of cats also have more sensitivities to dry food compared to wet food.

I think it's also still possible that this could still be symptoms from the parasite that just haven't cleared up yet. Sometimes it can take a little bit for the cat's system to go completely back to normal. Have you asked your vet about it? They may want to see if there is a secondary parasite still potentially lingering. I'm not sure if cats can have two at the same time...but it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Mrsty1203]

The vet said the second stool sample was perfectly clear of parasites. And she said the same as you both did, chicken is a common issue. If removing chicken from her diet doesn’t work, she may have some IBD. But so far it seems staying away from chicken is the trick, and it’s only been a couple days. The vet told me if i find something she likes and doesn’t give her problems to feed her the same thing all the time. I’m a bit opposed to that though, because I’ve heard even using novel proteins, that a cat can develop a sensitivity if fed the same thing. I’ve had a lot of cats and sometimes out of the blue, their favorite food gets totally rejected. Not to mention, especially during covid, all of a sudden supplies are gone. I’d rather be safe knowing there are some other choices she’s already used to. And I’m very glad to see that more companies are offering duck and rabbit in cat food. Used to be harder to find and I’d have to hunt out specialty pet stores for those.

 

[Beholder]

The vet said the second stool sample was perfectly clear of parasites. And she said the same as you both did, chicken is a common issue. If removing chicken from her diet doesn’t work, she may have some IBD. But so far it seems staying away from chicken is the trick, and it’s only been a couple days. The vet told me if i find something she likes and doesn’t give her problems to feed her the same thing all the time. I’m a bit opposed to that though, because I’ve heard even using novel proteins, that a cat can develop a sensitivity if fed the same thing. I’ve had a lot of cats and sometimes out of the blue, their favorite food gets totally rejected. Not to mention, especially during covid, all of a sudden supplies are gone. I’d rather be safe knowing there are some other choices she’s already used to. And I’m very glad to see that more companies are offering duck and rabbit in cat food. Used to be harder to find and I’d have to hunt out specialty pet stores for those.

I think feeding her the same thing for now would be good if it isn't causing any problems. Just so all her symptoms can clear up and she can start feeling better, and so you can be completely sure that is was only chicken and not a combination of ingredients. After that I would definitely start introducing other proteins, if she's already allergic to chicken we definitely don't want another allergy to come along. If you're immediately seeing results though I wouldn't think you would have to do the whole "3 month limited ingredient" diet.

 

[daftcat75]

The vet said the second stool sample was perfectly clear of parasites. And she said the same as you both did, chicken is a common issue. If removing chicken from her diet doesn’t work, she may have some IBD. But so far it seems staying away from chicken is the trick, and it’s only been a couple days. The vet told me if i find something she likes and doesn’t give her problems to feed her the same thing all the time. I’m a bit opposed to that though, because I’ve heard even using novel proteins, that a cat can develop a sensitivity if fed the same thing. I’ve had a lot of cats and sometimes out of the blue, their favorite food gets totally rejected. Not to mention, especially during covid, all of a sudden supplies are gone. I’d rather be safe knowing there are some other choices she’s already used to. And I’m very glad to see that more companies are offering duck and rabbit in cat food. Used to be harder to find and I’d have to hunt out specialty pet stores for those.

Avoid chicken if that's what's working right now. Also avoid all the sneaky chicken ingredients like "natural flavors", poultry giblets, chicken liver, etc. I'm told eggs are a different protein and not all who are reactive to chicken are reactive to eggs. But that wasn't the case with my Krista.

I would indeed commit to the recommended 3 months to give her butt and gut a chance to heal. After three months, if she's still stable, then you can try to introduce new foods or new proteins. I would not go "all in" on all the novel proteins. If she starts becoming allergic to one, she can become allergic to all of them if she's eating all of them while she's reactive. I think two or three different foods is a good place to be, and maybe just a couple of proteins. This way, if things do change, you have other novel proteins in reserve. Novel proteins don't have to be novel to all cats. They simply have to be novel to your cat.

Also try to avoid fish, if you can. I have three reasons for this: fish isn't an ideal food for cats and can be reactive; fish is highly appealing and cats will hold out for fish alone; and if you feed fish all the time, you lose the nuclear option when you need something highly appealing to disguise medicine or restart eating.

 

[riley1]

If you ever had a problem like this again.......... My beloved & departed little boy would get up inside the recliner rather than let me give him medicine. I ordered flavored liquid from a pet apothecary. He still didn't like it but it is so quick and easy to get in their mouths I never use anything else!

 

[IndyJones]

I've heard of people putting medicine on KFC to get cats to take it. Apparently cats really like KFC for some reason. But if your cat has a food sensitivity I can see this not working.

Another thing to avoid is unspecified meat or meat byproduct because it could be anything including chicken.

 

[Mrsty1203]

Avoid chicken if that's what's working right now. Also avoid all the sneaky chicken ingredients like "natural flavors", poultry giblets, chicken liver, etc. I'm told eggs are a different protein and not all who are reactive to chicken are reactive to eggs. But that wasn't the case with my Krista.

I would indeed commit to the recommended 3 months to give her butt and gut a chance to heal. After three months, if she's still stable, then you can try to introduce new foods or new proteins. I would not go "all in" on all the novel proteins. If she starts becoming allergic to one, she can become allergic to all of them if she's eating all of them while she's reactive. I think two or three different foods is a good place to be, and maybe just a couple of proteins. This way, if things do change, you have other novel proteins in reserve. Novel proteins don't have to be novel to all cats. They simply have to be novel to your cat.

Also try to avoid fish, if you can. I have three reasons for this: fish isn't an ideal food for cats and can be reactive; fish is highly appealing and cats will hold out for fish alone; and if you feed fish all the time, you lose the nuclear option when you need something highly appealing to disguise medicine or restart eating.

I totally agree.... I already had a cat once, who became completely addicted to fish and would eat nothing else. Hyperthyroid eventually and megacolon in the end...

 

[daftcat75]

Another thing to avoid is unspecified meat or meat byproduct because it could be anything including chicken.

AAFCO, the regulatory body for what can go into cat food, has a definition for both meat and meat byproducts.

The Association of American Feed Control Officials > Consumers > What is in Pet Food

Meat is the muscle meat of mammals (cows, sheep, lamb, pigs.).

Meat byproducts are unnamed organs from mammals. If it’s organ meat and it’s not named on the label as liver or heart or some other specific organ, it can be labeled as byproducts. Think of this as a mixed bag organ grind.

Byproducts is not a bad word. There are limits on what can be called byproducts. It isn’t “lips and buttholes” (as my brother would colorfully describe hot dogs when we were growing up. ) And it is not mystery meat.

Chicken is not allowed in either “meat” definition. Chicken falls under the “poultry” umbrella if it’s not labeled as chicken.

I recommended to avoid poultry byproducts not because byproducts “can be anything.” (They cannot.) But because poultry can and often is chicken.

 

[Mrsty1203]

I’d love to report an update on Stella. So when all was said and done the latest thing I tried was Proviable Forte from the vet who believes she has some IBS/IBD. It’s a pre/probiotic that comes in a capsule form. I’ve been able to open it and just stir it in her food and she accepted it with no problem. She’s been on it for 2 weeks now and I think we’ve hit the mark. She’s no longer gassy at all and her stools seem normal. Ok, all poop smells but her’s no longer makes me gag... I think we’ve got it. The vet’s version was pretty strong, but I found the same exact thing for a whole lot less money on Chewy but the dose is half, no prescription. So I just give her 2 a day now. I’m guessing for IBS/IBD she’s going to have to be on this for life? Anyone familiar with IBS/IBD and using pre/probiotics?

So we just adopted this beauty Stella from a rescue group. I’m so angry, turns out she’s really not too healthy. The stinky diarrhea she’s been having is not so much from diet change to new food but from Giardiasis and worms. The group blames the foster mother for not telling them. Well, I was able to get my vet to put the Profender on her but I am really struggling trying to get the medicine for the Giardia into her. Turns out this cat is rather on the feral side also... she gave the vet and the assistant a really hard time. I’m supposed to give her this medication for 5 days in a row and it looks like she can smell/taste it in her food so is refusing to eat. Any suggestions? She does not seem tempted by strong smelling cat foods containing fish flavors... I tried people tuna as a treat once already and she ignored it. She keeps screaming at me because she’s hungry but won’t eat the food. I‘ve been playing with her, trying to get her tired and hungrier... but nothing. Dropped a couple treats into it thinking it might get her started, but nope.... she’s a stubborn one. Ferals I’ve dealt with before have not been this stubborn eating medicine in their food. I’m at a loss at what to try next. I’m so angry at this rescue group.