Our sweet sick boy came from an odd shelter

crouton

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Oct 24, 2019
Messages
148
Purraise
101
One of the stray cats I took in once had bad diarrhea - my vet recommended sprinkling his wet food with a little dry rice cereal for babies - Gerber makes one. It helped his diarrhea quite a bit.

If he's grooming himself - I wouldn't advise cleaning him with anything but warm water. He is ingesting whatever is in the wipes. Even though they say they are safe for cats, I wouldn't use them on him right now.

I will let you know if I think of anything else, but please keep us posted! You and your wife are angels. Don't give up on him.
I’ve also used rice cereal with success.

Agree on the wipes,I used the Petco sold wipes when I first got my cat’s and they definitely had stomach upset after. I switched to water wipes to have something soft to wipe, I rinse them off before use too. The furbliss unscented wipes I’ve found since work ok for us. But all cats are different.
 

tarasgirl06

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
Messages
24,708
Purraise
64,894
Location
Glendale, CATifornia
Omgosh. You have been through so much. I feel for you.

Giving you a bit of my background:
My first guy, ended up with IBD. He was also allergic to chicken. We went through the diarrhea.

I ended up going to an Internal medicine Vet. A specialist. A biopsy was done— through the mouth, into stomach. It showed IBD.

Artie was put on a ton of meds for the inflammation and for the diarrhea.
Artie had to eventually be on some meds. We also changed his diet. I did not go raw, because of freezer storage space. I gave him rabbit.

Now with Geoffrey, he came to me with soft stools, pudding like. They were sold at the shelter— I was a volunteer there; but progressively seemed worse.

I immediately took him off of chicken and went back to rabbit.

Geoffrey is also very anxious. The verdict is not in, about him having IBD, but my gut is telling me he does. His soft stool stopped with Prozac.
This does not apply to you. But I have been there.

I would bring a stool sample into the Vet and asking for a PCR test for guardians or other nasties

I would also make an appointment with an internal medicine vet; and do an ultrasound, looking for thickened walls of the bowel.

Honestly, I think a specialist is the way to go, at this point. You have a regular vet, and get a specialist for diagnosis and care.

My gut fits that Luci had IBD. Steroids and metro help.

There is a website named IBD kitties; very informative.

Also, sometimes age can be told by teeth. Shelters have no idea. Most of them use the closest/cheaper vet.. some vets donate their services.

I applaud you for sticking with Luci, through all of this.
I hope I helped.
I have many long threads on here about Artie.
*Jumping in unasked* Thanks for this information and suggestions, artiemom artiemom and sorry to hear that sweet Geoffrey is having issues as well! Lots of scritches and snorgles to him from me. I seem to have lost contact with you but good to see you here and hoping your new place continues to be good for you and Geoffrey!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #23

lucifur_

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
22
Purraise
23
A good option for a larger litterbox is a rubbermaid tote with an entry cut in one side, or a large underbed storage container. You can find videos and how-to articles on DIY litterboxes all over the place.
Looking into this today, the boxes he has right now are labeled “XL” from Target but honestly they aren’t very big lol. He most definitely needs more room to move around so that’s on my shopping list for this afternoon!
 

crouton

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Oct 24, 2019
Messages
148
Purraise
101
Looking into this today, the boxes he has right now are labeled “XL” from Target but honestly they aren’t very big lol. He most definitely needs more room to move around so that’s on my shopping list for this afternoon!
Oh the xl from target is not xl. Chewy has a huge box for 15$ ish. But I think Luci may like a low entry under bed box and keep the whole thing very shallow like a senior box such as this (make your own or buy it)

912C026E-1564-49C7-AF5A-CCDD77AAAD26.jpeg
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #25

lucifur_

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
22
Purraise
23
Thank God you rescued this poor cat from that horrible place!!

It doesn't sound like FIP if he's eating, drinking and active. I had a cat once who did develop FIP from a coronavirus, but his immune system was severely weakened due to being positive for BOTH FeLV and FIV. He refused to eat or drink, hid, and was very lethargic.

It does sound a lot like IBD. A good vet will be able to do an ultrasound to see if his intestines are thickened at all. INVASIVE SURGERY IS NOT NECESSARY. My vet has an traveling radiologist vet come to the office once a week with ultrasound equipment. It's about $450.00 here in the Northeast. You may be able to find a vet in your area with this capability or perhaps your vet could recommend somewhere that has it. Most emergency pet clinics have the equipment.

It also sounds like it could possibly be he ingested some type of toxic substance at the shelter (which should be investigated and probably put out of business) that is causing severe gastric/bowel upset. It sounds like they wouldn't know it if he did. Also, is this some type of illegal animal testing place?

I wouldn't switch him to a raw food diet at this point yet. Too much change will make his issue worse. One of the stray cats I took in once had bad diarrhea - my vet recommended sprinkling his wet food with a little dry rice cereal for babies - Gerber makes one. It helped his diarrhea quite a bit.

If he's grooming himself - I wouldn't advise cleaning him with anything but warm water. He is ingesting whatever is in the wipes. Even though they say they are safe for cats, I wouldn't use them on him right now.

I will let you know if I think of anything else, but please keep us posted! You and your wife are angels. Don't give up on him.
Thank you so much for your comments!! It’s very on the nose for my wife and I to assume the worst so it’s good to hear it’s most likely not FIP just from your experience. We will obviously still keep an eye out for those kinds of symptoms but since he doesn’t have any of those at the moment its nice to be able to ease those worries for sure.
Thank you for letting me know there’s a clear distinction between the ‘invasive surgery’ and just needing an ultrasound!!! The ER he has been at twice does not have ultrasound equipment but they did X-rays and didn’t see anything from that, however I’ll make some calls and see if I can find a clinic or other urgent care with ultrasound equipment, or a specialist instead.
Re the shelter: it’s way out in the middle of nowhere, I have no idea about any illegal animal testing but I would 100% love for them to be investigated. It’s 100% possible he ingested something in that room, especially if they let him out of the kennel to “play” in there unsupervised. It was so filthy I couldn’t believe it. I asked them why him and Charlie were in that room in the first place because it clearly was not meant to be a room for them to be in, it was definitely a break room/utility room of sorts. They told me that any cats that are sick or not feeling well get put in there, and since Luci had the loose stools making a mess and Charlie had his mobility issues that’s why they roomed together. Honestly I would understand quarantining Luci for a time if they didn’t know if he had something contagious, but THAT room? I don’t get it. The whole place was mismanaged, all the paperwork was handwritten and they couldn’t seem to keep track of my EMAILED completed documents several times, forgot to write down dates I would be coming etc.
Re food: I will see about getting some of the dry rice baby food see if that helps them firm up. I have noticed while he’s on this Ziwi Peak rabbit&lamb, he will sometimes have little pieces of what I assume are bone(?) on his bum. They’re like little flat flecks I almost thought it was a piece of oat or wood lol. What do you make of that is that normal??
Re the wipes: wow, I didn’t even think of that. Just checked the ingredients and there’s quite a few. He doesn’t like it very much when his bum gets gently wiped (I mean really who would lol) but he’s such a good boy when I have to help him get it off his paws or in between his toes. He lays down and stretches his toes out for me and everything 🥺❤
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #26

lucifur_

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
22
Purraise
23
Oh the xl from target is not xl. Chewy has a huge box for 15$ ish. But I think Luci may like a low entry under bed box and keep the whole thing very shallow like a senior box such as this (make your own or buy it)

View attachment 371180
Thanks for the tip!! Wow I want to say I feel a little dumb not knowing these basic things though I’ve never had a fur baby before 😅 my wife has had a few cats growing up but she told me she’s never had to help one with a gastro problem this long and complicated, so it’s definitely been a learning experience for both of us! He’s a very unique little guy haha
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #27

lucifur_

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
22
Purraise
23
Omgosh. You have been through so much. I feel for you.

Giving you a bit of my background:
My first guy, ended up with IBD. He was also allergic to chicken. We went through the diarrhea.

I ended up going to an Internal medicine Vet. A specialist. A biopsy was done— through the mouth, into stomach. It showed IBD.

Artie was put on a ton of meds for the inflammation and for the diarrhea.
Artie had to eventually be on some meds. We also changed his diet. I did not go raw, because of freezer storage space. I gave him rabbit.

Now with Geoffrey, he came to me with soft stools, pudding like. They were sold at the shelter— I was a volunteer there; but progressively seemed worse.

I immediately took him off of chicken and went back to rabbit.

Geoffrey is also very anxious. The verdict is not in, about him having IBD, but my gut is telling me he does. His soft stool stopped with Prozac.
This does not apply to you. But I have been there.

I would bring a stool sample into the Vet and asking for a PCR test for guardians or other nasties

I would also make an appointment with an internal medicine vet; and do an ultrasound, looking for thickened walls of the bowel.

Honestly, I think a specialist is the way to go, at this point. You have a regular vet, and get a specialist for diagnosis and care.

My gut fits that Luci had IBD. Steroids and metro help.

There is a website named IBD kitties; very informative.

Also, sometimes age can be told by teeth. Shelters have no idea. Most of them use the closest/cheaper vet.. some vets donate their services.

I applaud you for sticking with Luci, through all of this.
I hope I helped.
I have many long threads on here about Artie.
We are definitely going to look at some type of way to get an IBD diagnosis whether it be just with an ultrasound or biopsy, but it’s going to wait a little longer. We want to see if he improves with these other smaller changes and testing first for now, also to ease the strain on our wallets 😅 the first month we already spent almost $2k (since we were impatient and took him to an ER twice rather than wait weeks for a regular clinic lol). He does seem to have some anxiety, though. Even though he doesn’t hide, he does get pretty vocally upset whenever someone leaves or closes a door. It doesn’t last long but we’re going to try some Feliway first, see if that helps keep him calm. I also think like someone else mentioned before, with time he will most likely get a better idea of the work/who leaves routine. But we will keep the Prozac idea in mind down the road if it doesn’t improve. Thank you for your comments! 🐾❤
 

tarasgirl06

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
Messages
24,708
Purraise
64,894
Location
Glendale, CATifornia
Thank you so much for your comments!! It’s very on the nose for my wife and I to assume the worst so it’s good to hear it’s most likely not FIP just from your experience. We will obviously still keep an eye out for those kinds of symptoms but since he doesn’t have any of those at the moment its nice to be able to ease those worries for sure.
Thank you for letting me know there’s a clear distinction between the ‘invasive surgery’ and just needing an ultrasound!!! The ER he has been at twice does not have ultrasound equipment but they did X-rays and didn’t see anything from that, however I’ll make some calls and see if I can find a clinic or other urgent care with ultrasound equipment, or a specialist instead.
Re the shelter: it’s way out in the middle of nowhere, I have no idea about any illegal animal testing but I would 100% love for them to be investigated. It’s 100% possible he ingested something in that room, especially if they let him out of the kennel to “play” in there unsupervised. It was so filthy I couldn’t believe it. I asked them why him and Charlie were in that room in the first place because it clearly was not meant to be a room for them to be in, it was definitely a break room/utility room of sorts. They told me that any cats that are sick or not feeling well get put in there, and since Luci had the loose stools making a mess and Charlie had his mobility issues that’s why they roomed together. Honestly I would understand quarantining Luci for a time if they didn’t know if he had something contagious, but THAT room? I don’t get it. The whole place was mismanaged, all the paperwork was handwritten and they couldn’t seem to keep track of my EMAILED completed documents several times, forgot to write down dates I would be coming etc.
Re food: I will see about getting some of the dry rice baby food see if that helps them firm up. I have noticed while he’s on this Ziwi Peak rabbit&lamb, he will sometimes have little pieces of what I assume are bone(?) on his bum. They’re like little flat flecks I almost thought it was a piece of oat or wood lol. What do you make of that is that normal??
Re the wipes: wow, I didn’t even think of that. Just checked the ingredients and there’s quite a few. He doesn’t like it very much when his bum gets gently wiped (I mean really who would lol) but he’s such a good boy when I have to help him get it off his paws or in between his toes. He lays down and stretches his toes out for me and everything 🥺❤
Those "flecks" may well be tapeworm segments. Once they come out and dry in the air, they are said to resemble rice grains, but "flecks" wouldn't be far off, either. The vet can very easily, quickly and painlessly test for tapeworm and the treatment is easy, affordable, and effective. You can buy tapeworm tabs over the counter, too -- not sure what businesses you have access to but if you search tapeworm tabs, you will find listings.
Also, you can get very large "storage boxes" from big box retailers such as Walmart for very affordable prices. You can carve out a door in the side of the box and then sand it down to make sure you are not leaving any sharp edges. Boxes that are completely flat on the bottom are best, but any will do fine if you fill with a couple of inches' depth of scoopable, nonscented litter such as SoPhresh, available at Petco.com or at Petco stores, or search the name SoPhresh for additional suppliers.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #29

lucifur_

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
22
Purraise
23
Those "flecks" may well be tapeworm segments. Once they come out and dry in the air, they are said to resemble rice grains, but "flecks" wouldn't be far off, either. The vet can very easily, quickly and painlessly test for tapeworm and the treatment is easy, affordable, and effective. You can buy tapeworm tabs over the counter, too -- not sure what businesses you have access to but if you search tapeworm tabs, you will find listings.
Also, you can get very large "storage boxes" from big box retailers such as Walmart for very affordable prices. You can carve out a door in the side of the box and then sand it down to make sure you are not leaving any sharp edges. Boxes that are completely flat on the bottom are best, but any will do fine if you fill with a couple of inches' depth of scoopable, nonscented litter such as SoPhresh, available at Petco.com or at Petco stores, or search the name SoPhresh for additional suppliers.
I mentioned tapeworms to my wife last night and she did not like the sound of that 🤢😂 We originally had an appointment scheduled but had to cancel as she ended up working late and is the one who has the car (we share 1). Waiting for the clinic to get back to us with a date that works. I’ll bring up doing a tapeworm test for sure. The flecks are weird, like I said it almost resembles a piece of raw oat? lol they’re like little flakes, they are flat and usually triangular in shape. Here’s a photo I got of one that was stuck to his bum, my finger next to it for reference.
 

Attachments

tarasgirl06

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
Messages
24,708
Purraise
64,894
Location
Glendale, CATifornia
That doesn't look like tapeworm to me, tapeworm segments are white-ish and resemble sesame seeds or a small grain of rice.
That is not a tapeworm. That is nothing I've ever seen before.
Also, not sure where you are located, but the place needs to be cited, at very least, inspected, and most likely shut down. Of course this is always complicated because in many locations it's a choice between places like that and no place at all. People are so much in need of humane eduation and just plain discovery of their own hearts and souls, if they even have them. Any society that does not protect and respect its most vulnerable, blameless and innocent is far gone. And that means every society on this earth as far as I know.
 

crouton

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Oct 24, 2019
Messages
148
Purraise
101
You’re using pretty litter right? So that’s not litter. It almost looked like a grain of large clay litter.
 

T.O.

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Feb 15, 2021
Messages
124
Purraise
181
I mentioned tapeworms to my wife last night and she did not like the sound of that 🤢😂 We originally had an appointment scheduled but had to cancel as she ended up working late and is the one who has the car (we share 1). Waiting for the clinic to get back to us with a date that works. I’ll bring up doing a tapeworm test for sure. The flecks are weird, like I said it almost resembles a piece of raw oat? lol they’re like little flakes, they are flat and usually triangular in shape. Here’s a photo I got of one that was stuck to his bum, my finger next to it for reference.
I was curious... and found nothing of interest that looked like that fleck. But you might find some of the more obscure parasites listed of note.
Gastrointestinal Parasites of Cats
 

artiemom

Artie, my Angel; a part of my heart
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 22, 2014
Messages
11,122
Purraise
23,105
Location
near Boston
Artie used to have something similar around his Amy’s. It turned out to be dried poop. As in, if he was passing gas, and it came out.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #35

lucifur_

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
22
Purraise
23
That doesn't look like tapeworm to me, tapeworm segments are white-ish and resemble sesame seeds or a small grain of rice.
That pic is probably a poor example, I’ll see if I can get a better one. They’re usually white when stuck to his bum and look like pieces of raw oats. Not like rice or sesame seeds, though. They’re usually more round or larger shaped but still flat. The one I got a pic of isn’t as white most likely from having poo on it too but who knows lol I thought it could be pieces of bone in the wet food maybe 🤷🏻
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #36

lucifur_

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
22
Purraise
23
That pic is probably a poor example, I’ll see if I can get a better one. They’re usually white when stuck to his bum and look like pieces of raw oats. Not like rice or sesame seeds, though. They’re usually more round or larger shaped but still flat. The one I got a pic of isn’t as white most likely from having poo on it too but who knows lol I thought it could be pieces of bone in the wet food maybe 🤷🏻
Wanted to add they’re also very hard and brittle, these little flat things.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #37

lucifur_

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
22
Purraise
23
Well today upon inspecting Luci’s bum it’s starting to get swollen again and there’s red blood on his bum and in his stools today :( no fun for our sweet boy. He has an appointment tomorrow at a regular clinic to test for a UTI but we aren’t sure what to test for re his loose stools/blood. We’ve already had a PCR test last month, everything came back negative.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #38

lucifur_

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
22
Purraise
23
His poos are still soft but formed at least, no puddles or diarrhea. Sometimes they are more firm like a soft clay, other times like just now it’s very soft. One thing I’m noticing lately is the size of his poos are..well, very long? Lol. They’re so long that they curl and can look like a funnel cake. Every ‘normal’ poo I’ve seen shouldn’t be that long. He gets just under 1 can of wet food a day, split into 3-4 times a day depending on the day. Of these meals, 2 of them contain 1 capsule of the S Boulardii probiotic. We were feeding him only twice a day for the last 2 weeks but noticed he moans when he has these crazy long poos, so we split it up into (ideally) 4 meals a day instead of 2, but sometimes we just do 3 meals if that’s all that time allows. He doesn’t get any other food. We thought maybe twice a day was causing the problem due to him eating so much at once but now I’m wondering if maybe he’s holding it in? No idea. Anyone have any experience with that?
 

crouton

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Oct 24, 2019
Messages
148
Purraise
101
I have cats that get diarrhea from every wet food due to some ingredients. It’s possible his food is exacerbating it. What is he eating?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #40

lucifur_

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
22
Purraise
23
I have cats that get diarrhea from every wet food due to some ingredients. It’s possible his food is exacerbating it. What is he eating?
When we first had him he had horrible diarrhea on Hills I/D and still diarrhea and puddles with Hills Z/D. He’s been fully transitioned now to Ziwi Peak Rabbit+Lamb and we haven’t had any diarrhea since. But the poops are rather long in size, and they’re formed which is great but can still be on the softer side from time to time.
 
Top