Raw food and soft poo

[cat dad]

Hi,

My little guy has had soft stools since he was a kitten (he's now 18mos), and a couple of months ago it got worse - like soft serve ice cream. Had his poo checked and everything was fine. Vet put him on a bland diet which worked for a few days and then he went back to the runny poo. We tried FortiFlora which he thought was [font=arial, sans-serif]delicious, and it worked a few days and then back to runny poo.[/font]

[font=arial, sans-serif]I had been going back and forth about trying a raw diet, so I thought this would be a good reason to pull the cord. Anyway, to make a long story longer, its been almost 3 weeks and he has fully formed poo, but its still pretty wet and soft. Shouldn't his poo be pretty dry and crumbly by now?[/font]

 

[c8rams]

That could depend a lot on your raw recipe/preparation, as well as any undiagnosed underlying medical issues.

Have you had the chance to read Lisa Pierson's (DVM, 30 years) website, which deals with raw food, or taken a look at www.felineconstipation.org?  (I highly recommend). 

peace.

 

[cat dad]

Hi thanks for replying.

I guess in my ramble I wasn't very clear. I understand the benefits to feeding raw, I've done all the research. I've been to the vet, and after running the "normal" tests everything turned out negative.

I am seeing improvement since I changed his diet, and his stools are fully formed "tootsie roll" shaped but still soft and wet looking. My question is how long did it take more or less for others who transitioned before they had the "victory" poo as pictured on catinfo.org?

 

[peaches08]

I saw the victory poo within 24 hours of them eating bone with their raw. I started first with adding raw meat a little here and there. Less diarrhea but soft stools. Once they had bone, normal stools.

 

[ldg]

Are you making the food as per the recipe at catinfo.org, or are you using another recipe, feeding prey model raw, or using commercial food?

Because most cats that had issues with diarrhea or soft stool saw improvement as soon as they were on 100% raw. But if you're making your own, the issue might be bone content.

That said, as your little one has had issues with diarrhea and soft stools, the raw diet alone may not resolve the problem. As things have improved, clearly it agrees with him.

There are several types of nasties that can take more than one fecal to find (I've seen TCS members where it took four fecal samples) - and some that need specific tests (like T. foetus).

Given that he did improve for a bit on Fortiflora, I'm thinking a probiotic may help, but a different one. Fortiflora isn't a very good or a very "strong" probiotic. It is helpful when cats have been on antibiotics, and it will replenish the healthy gut flora that get wiped out by the antibiotics. But for long term use (I give my cats a probiotic every day), I now use the Nexabiotic 20-strain probiotic with 30 billion CFU.

The human dose is 2 capsules, one taken AM and one taken PM (each capsule has 15 billion CFU). The adult cat dose is either 1/2 capsule 2x a day or 1/4 capsule 2x a day. For a kitten, the dose is 1/4 capsule 2x a day. This probiotic, specifically, has a strain of yeast-based bacteria (S. boulardii) that treats coccida and clostridium.

It sounds to me like his gut flora may be out of whack, given that things improved for short periods of time and then went back to runny stools. I would definitely try adding this probiotic and see what happens after a few days. If the 1/4 capsule doesn't help, but doesn't make things worse, then I would consider (after 3 - 4 days) increasing the dose to 1/2 a capsule 2x a day (the adult cat dose). If he does have a bacterial imbalance, he may need the higher dose of the S. boulardii that's in the probiotic.

 

[cat dad]

Thanks LDG I was hoping you'd comment.

I'm giving both my guys whole ground rabbit (everything but fur and intestines - from Hare Today) with the required amount of Alnutrin. Eventually I'll add more proteins and supplement meals with meaty bones, but for now I wanted them to get used to the concept.

I will try the probiotic and see if that helps even more, thanks for the suggestion.

 

[mschauer]

Anyway, to make a long story longer, its been almost 3 weeks and he has fully formed poo, but its still pretty wet and soft. Shouldn't his poo be pretty dry and crumbly by now?

I'm not sure I understand. You say his poop is "full formed" but you think it should be dry and crumbly? If it is full formed I would consider it good. The poop from my guys is sometimes moister than at other times but it always has normal poop shape. How often does he poop?

 

[cat dad]

Gah this is so frustrating!

Coincidently I just saw him go and it is back to soft serve!

I thought I was getting improvement from the raw and now we're back to where we were.

 

[cat dad]

I now use the Nexabiotic 20-strain probiotic with 30 billion CFU.

The human dose is 2 capsules, one taken AM and one taken PM (each capsule has 15 billion CFU). The adult cat dose is either 1/2 capsule 2x a day or 1/4 capsule 2x a day. 

I've ordered what you recommended. In the mean time I already have a bottle of Natural Factors, Acidophilus & Bifidus, 5 billion active cells. With micro flora. The ingredients are Lactose, whey, goats milk. Can I use this in the meantime? What dose do you suggest?

Thanks everyone for the help!

 

[ldg]

Yes, that should be fine to use. :nod: I'd start with a half capsule - see how it affects his stool. If he's lactose intolerant, it might make things worse, so start small. :rub:

 

[cat dad]

Yes, that should be fine to use.

I'd start with a half capsule - see how it affects his stool. If he's lactose intolerant, it might make things worse, so start small.

Logistical question: How do you deal with these capsules? I made such a mess with it this morning and wasted most of it.

 

[ldg]

Hunh. Maybe I just have more nimble fingers? :dk: I lick my fingers so they're sticky on the gel cap. I pull it apart, and sprinkle half on one cat's meal, and half on another. But that is why I'm feeding half a capsule, not 1/4, because I don't want to have to measure it out.

You know... maybe measure how much is in half a capsule, in terms of how much fits in 1/4 teaspoon. Then just dump ALL the capsules out into the jar, and store in the fridge - and measure out the half capsule with a measuring spoon. :dk:

If you find you need something smaller than a 1/4 teaspoon to be more accurate, I use these for all kinds of measuring when it comes to the cats and supplements:
For this purpose, you don't need to know the measure - just which spoon works for 1/2 a capsule. But the info on how much each type of spoon is included in the first rating there:

TAD = 1/4 tsp
DASH = 1/12 tsp >>
PINCH = 1/16 tsp
SMIDGEN = 1/32 tsp
DROP = 1/64 tsp

 

[cat dad]

Curse my fat fingers!

I'll keep practicing and if I can't seem to master it I'll order some tiny measuring spoons.

Thanks for all your help!