Please I Don't Want To Give My New Adopted Cat Back

[zeusthunder10]

I've posted before but my thread died.

Long story short; I adopted a cat in feb of this year who came with a sneezing nose and wheezing. The rescue people gave me 30 days free vat care so I told them the same day I adopted him. They gave me Orbax. One week and nothing. Took him to their vet who checked him. She gave me clavamox and told me it's an URI. Told me to give him all that medicine for 2 weeks. Mind you, he has been having diarrhea since pretty much day one cause I thought it was just the antibiotics. After he finished the medicine he didn't get better. They did a stool sample and chest x Ray. Everything cameback fine and clear. She gave me azithromycin and asked me to bring back some of his snot for a culture. Positive for bordatella AKA kennel cough. My insurance ran out so now it's out of my pocket.

After 2 weeks he starts sneezing again (the diarrhea or soft stool never stopped) took him to another vet who gave him doxycycline and drontal. Sneezing is gone but the diarrhea persists. Took him back Saturday and was given metronidazole and special kind of dry food.

He still has diarrhea. I am in college and cannot afford all these vet visits. I was not expecting to receive a sick cat. He is an amazing cat and I would hate to give him back. I've really come to love him :/

 

[zeusthunder10]

Forgot to mention he is almost a year old and has not lost any weight. In fact, he gained a lb in a period of a week when the vet gave him drontal and doxycycline 2 weeks ago

 

[red top rescue]

You might do well to use the probiotic Saccharomyces boulardii (S. boulardii). I have had 100% success in treating chronic diarrhea in rescued cats when the usual worming and medications have not worked. It is not dangerous and can be mixed in with their wet food.

S boulardii is a yeast-based probiotic. It is a cousin of brewer's yeast. It helps kill off and prevent varopis intestinal infections in a number of ways. It "brushes" the intestines, it adheres to the stuff that the clostridium bacteria (either C. perf or C. difficile) and giardia and coccidia do in the intestines, preventing them from adhering and multiplying, and it enables the healthy bacteria to "use" that space. I provided quite a few links about what S boulardii does in the intestines here: Natural option for prednisone -
http://www.thecatsite.com/t/278036/natural-option-for-prednisone#post_3560195
It takes awhile but is inexpensive (online prices vary widely) and you simply mix it in their food twice a day. I used 1/2 capsule for my feral kittens and they began having some normal poops a couple of weeks in, and by week four they were ALL normal.

 

[zeusthunder10]

You might do well to use the probiotic Saccharomyces boulardii (S. boulardii). I have had 100% success in treating chronic diarrhea in rescued cats when the usual worming and medications have not worked. It is not dangerous and can be mixed in with their wet food.

S boulardii is a yeast-based probiotic. It is a cousin of brewer's yeast. It helps kill off and prevent varopis intestinal infections in a number of ways. It "brushes" the intestines, it adheres to the stuff that the clostridium bacteria (either C. perf or C. difficile) and giardia and coccidia do in the intestines, preventing them from adhering and multiplying, and it enables the healthy bacteria to "use" that space. I provided quite a few links about what S boulardii does in the intestines here: Natural option for prednisone -
It takes awhile but is inexpensive (online prices vary widely) and you simply mix it in their food twice a day. I used 1/2 capsule for my feral kittens and they began having some normal poops a couple of weeks in, and by week four they were ALL normal.

I am having a hard time finding s boulardii. I got acidophilus. is that one not good enough?

 

[orange&white]

Poor little kit, and you too! He's had nothing but the ickies and medication for a while. Sounds like he's feeling better now, except for the loose poops. Any type of probiotic should help him recover faster. Antibiotics not only kill off the bad bacteria, they kill off the good gut bacteria too...the types that help make stools firm.

Hopefully you'll see big improvements over this coming week. Hang in there!

 

[zeusthunder10]

Poor little kit, and you too! He's had nothing but the ickies and medication for a while. Sounds like he's feeling better now, except for the loose poops. Any type of probiotic should help him recover faster. Antibiotics not only kill off the bad bacteria, they kill off the good gut bacteria too...the types that help make stools firm.

Hopefully you'll see big improvements over this coming week. Hang in there!

I got him dr foster and smith probiotics which I have been giving him for 2 weeks now :/

 

[orange&white]

Is he still on the metronidazole? The anti-biotics may be killing the pro-biotics. You might wait until the course of medicine is over.

 

[zeusthunder10]

Is he still on the metronidazole? The anti-biotics may be killing the pro-biotics. You might wait until the course of medicine is over.

Yes right now he is on doxycyclin and metronidazole.

 

[orange&white]

Well, a quick search on taking probiotics and antibiotics at the same time, does indicate that the probiotics are still beneficial in healing gut issues caused by the antibiotics.

Have you been in touch with the rescue people about his ongoing issues? They should probably know how much additional medical bills you have incurred. Perhaps they will offer some additional assistance...particularly if you tell them that you may need to give the cat back to them. (Although I would hope that would be an idle threat.) Often rescues are running on shoe-string budgets, but cats should come to you relatively healthy.

Seems like kitty is on the verge of turning the corner to good health though. Good vibes your way.

 

[zeusthunder10]

Well, a quick search on taking probiotics and antibiotics at the same time, does indicate that the probiotics are still beneficial in healing gut issues caused by the antibiotics.

Have you been in touch with the rescue people about his ongoing issues? They should probably know how much additional medical bills you have incurred. Perhaps they will offer some additional assistance...particularly if you tell them that you may need to give the cat back to them. (Although I would hope that would be an idle threat.) Often rescues are running on shoe-string budgets, but cats should come to you relatively healthy.

Seems like kitty is on the verge of turning the corner to good health though. Good vibes your way.

haha they were some big assholes. After the first round of antibiotics they sent me super passive aggressive email telling me that he is my cat now and not their responsibility anymore. I had to threatened defamation over social media for them to take their word on the 30 days free vet visits.

Right now he is on dr foster and smith probiotics but I stopped giving him that saturday when he got metronidazole.

He had solid healthy stools for 2 days after the giving the drontal

 

[foxxycat]

do you have plain yogurt? no added sugars or anything. You can also try canned pumpkin to firm up the poops. Plain canned pumpkin in a Tupperware container-add a touch of water-mash with a fork until it's like a pudding-see if he will eat it off your finger or spoon. Some cats love it. Some hate it. it helps with constipation AND loose poo.

I am sorry they were jerks to you. I totally understand your anger at them.

 

[zeusthunder10]

do you have plain yogurt? no added sugars or anything. You can also try canned pumpkin to firm up the poops. Plain canned pumpkin in a Tupperware container-add a touch of water-mash with a fork until it's like a pudding-see if he will eat it off your finger or spoon. Some cats love it. Some hate it. it helps with constipation AND loose poo.

I am sorry they were jerks to you. I totally understand your anger at them.

Tried the yogurt and pumpkin. The pumkin was the one that helped those 2 days he had solid poop. But then he got diarrhea again even though I made no food changes AT ALL.

 

[foxxycat]

Oh no!! Aww I am sorry! Maybe you can PM redtophat to find out where to get those particular probiotics...so sorry!!

 

[huxleysmom]

I'm sorry to hear your poor kitty is not feeling well. Is there any chance this could be allergies? When I first adopted Huxley he started sneezing and wheezing. I took him to the vet and they said he probably had a URI, but that it should get better on its own... Long story short, 3 months later, turns out it is not a URI at all, but allergies. Maybe it's worth looking into it.
Good luck!

 

[zeusthunder10]

I'm sorry to hear your poor kitty is not feeling well. Is there any chance this could be allergies? When I first adopted Huxley he started sneezing and wheezing. I took him to the vet and they said he probably had a URI, but that it should get better on its own... Long story short, 3 months later, turns out it is not a URI at all, but allergies. Maybe it's worth looking into it.
Good luck!

It's not allergies they did a culture on the stuff he was sneezing out and it came back positive for kennel cough.

 

[susanandjose]

Sorry if this is obvious, but have you tried spacing out the antibiotics and the probiotics? Two hours apart at least.

Also, it could be he is having a reaction to the dry food? Have you considered switching him to raw diet?

I had a VERY similar situation with a new kitten, Charlie -- 9 months, just adopted and sneezy just like you said with a little bit of diarrhea. He is eating raw now, sneezing is less (but still happening), and on a lysine supplement for what is probably chronic feline herpes. He does not have diarrhea anymore, and his facial rash that he came with also went away.

I feed my other cat raw, and so naturally Charlie was to transition to raw, and it seems to have helped him a lot with his overall health.

A lot of times, these foster and adoption places just have overcrowding, which seems to lead to a lot of issues like the one you're describing... unfortunately. But hopefully you can give him a good home and keep him hydrated with wet or raw food and he will keep getting stronger.

 

[zeusthunder10]

Sorry if this is obvious, but have you tried spacing out the antibiotics and the probiotics? Two hours apart at least.

Also, it could be he is having a reaction to the dry food? Have you considered switching him to raw diet?

I had a VERY similar situation with a new kitten, Charlie -- 9 months, just adopted and sneezy just like you said with a little bit of diarrhea. He is eating raw now, sneezing is less (but still happening), and on a lysine supplement for what is probably chronic feline herpes. He does not have diarrhea anymore, and his facial rash that he came with also went away.

I feed my other cat raw, and so naturally Charlie was to transition to raw, and it seems to have helped him a lot with his overall health.

A lot of times, these foster and adoption places just have overcrowding, which seems to lead to a lot of issues like the one you're describing... unfortunately. But hopefully you can give him a good home and keep him hydrated with wet or raw food and he will keep getting stronger.

yes he was on doxycicline for one week. 2 dosages a day. I would give him one in the morning and at night. I would provide probiotics in the afternoon.

How does this all raw diet work?

 

[orange&white]

There's a sub-forum here for Raw and Homemade Diets: Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food

It takes some research, or just a good recipe, to feed a balanced raw diet made from scratch. Lots of companies have popped up the last few years offering pre-made, balanced raw foods for sale at pet stores...even WalMart is now selling raw food.

I'd let kitty get through the antibiotic regimen and wait for his system to calm down before making any diet changes. If the loose stools don't go away after the current antibiotics, then would be the time to consider a food change.

 

[susanandjose]

yes he was on doxycicline for one week. 2 dosages a day. I would give him one in the morning and at night. I would provide probiotics in the afternoon.

How does this all raw diet work?

You can buy raw even on Amazon nowadays (it's freeze-dried and you simply rehydrate with a little warm water) from a brand called Primal and some others. My cats love that stuff, but I only like to use it as a "stinky topper" for my homemade raw food.

I have been making their food since kittenhood -- 10+ years -- with a couple of lapses here and there. There's the simplest version where it's 85% ground muscle meat, 10% veggies, and 5% organs / bonemeal / eggs, plus taurine powder, and that's what I did for a long time with great results.

Now I follow a more complex recipe with more supplements as one kitty is aging, but it's not a big deal. It takes me some time on a Sunday afternoon, I make a huge batch and freeze it in a silicone muffin tray, then pop 'em out and stick them in a freezer bag for the rest of the month. Then just take some out every night for feeding the next day.

The idea behind raw is that cats never evolved to eat grains or cooked food (makes sense, since they didn't develop fire or agriculture!), and that their gut is designed for a "whole prey" diet of an entire little animal, with its muscles, organs, fats, and even its stomach contents (the veggies).

It is a great way to circumvent allergies, skin issues, kidney issues, and other stuff like that. Once fully transitioned to raw, they will bounce off the wall with energy and look like olympic athletes half their age (this was the case with my kitties at least). Have never had vomiting or diarrhea issues -- EXCEPT when they eat too fast due to voraciousness.

Here is the more complex recipe in case you're interested:

Ingredients

6 lbs. raw organic ground muscle meat (preferably dark poultry)
1.5 lbs. raw, pureed organic liver (preferably same species as muscle meat)
3-4 cups filtered water
6 raw, pastured, organic egg yolks
6000mg Salmon or other fish oil
6 tbsp bone meal (omit if grinding bone from muscle meat)
2-3 tbsp gelatin (omit if grinding bone from muscle meat)
2 tbsp powdered dulse and kelp mixture (equal parts)
1-2 tbsp powdered psyllium husks
6000mg taurine powder
1200mg natural vitamin E including all 8 trocopherols
150 mg B complex
6 capsules raw multiple glandular complex
5000mcg B12 (methycobalamin) -optional, good for older cats or increasing appetite
Instructions

 

[cat princesses]

I'm sorry you're going thru this. If the cat is sneezing and stuff you can try L lysine I usually give a full capsule 1-2 x per day mixed in either wet food or some baby food. I get the gerber tiny jars turkey and gravy or chicken and gravy. Just about a spoon full, warm it for only about 5 seconds in the microwave in a glass dish - this stuff gets hot FAST so check it with your finger first before offering it to your kitty on a spoon. I mix in the capsule and my girl licks it right off the spoon. Also if you have a humidifier just run that with the kitty in the same room. I would highly caution against making your own raw food - that takes time and experience- I would say you're safer to go with a store brand raw like rad cat or Stella and Chewys. most places have samples of these and are happy to give you a trial pack to take home and see if your cat will eat raw or not.
Don't give up on your kitty- it's bad enough that they were at the shelter and not feeling well, it would be heartbreaking to be given back because they were sick. I know how you feel, I adopted 2 cats a year and a half ago and one turned out to have severe allergies. It's taken us over a year, trying multiple things like different litters, foods, steroids. The cat ended up with you for a reason forget about the idiots at the shelter - take matters into your own hands and just move forward.