Sick stray

[DestinyDawn]

A sick cat showed up on my porch a week or so before Christmas. The cat was starving and had severe diarrhea. I have two healthy indoor cats and didn't want another cat and was afraid my cats get sick from contact with this cat. To make a long story short I ended up taking this cat in to save it's life with the help of a woman who works in a vets office. We found that this cat had been spayed and had eaten something that wasn't food. We made sure her shots were up to date and gave her Dorontal. She was tested for feline leukemia and was negative. The diarrhea continued. Smart this point I brought the kitty inside but had to keep her in a cage in a back room. At this point she is still pooping all over the cage and laying in it and not very active. I gave her baths often and she was too weak to even care. She was given Albon and panacur but the problem persisted. We tried metronidazole but that made matters worse. Finally it was suggested to try grain free food and was given propectalin. In my area there was not much to choose from and she didn't care for the food available and while the problem improved it was not cured. I begin to try and elimination diet. I first tried raw chicken legs and thighs ground in chicken broth with a slightly cooked carrot ( bones included) mixed with propectalin. She she slowly began to show improvement until I was finally able to introduce her to the other cats and let her roam around the house. I introduced pork to this diet and she continued to thrive. Until she got worms from the raw food. I have treated all of the cats with milbemax and found a dry grain free food with probiotic that she would eat. The diarrhea came back and she started making messes again. So I started making her food again and cooking it food. I gave it to her along with her grain free dry cat food. She improved some but was still making messes. I now have her only on homemade food. She is back to normal and doing well. I never intended to keep her on the homemade food because I worry she isn't getting proper nutrition especially now that I have to cook the food. Any suggestions?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi, can you try a little of that dry food and see if her system can tolerate it this time around? If so, that might be your answer.

 

[FeebysOwner]

There is a product called Alnutrin which is a supplement to add to 'human' food to make it nutritionally complete for a cat. There is another one called EZComplete, but I think there may be an issue when adding it to chicken. Here are some links to talk about these products as well as one for a site that addresses homemade food for cats. The latter one covers more than just raw feeding and IBD cats.
A Guide To A Balanced, Homemade Cat Food - Alnutrin Supplements (knowwhatyoufeed.com)
Food Fur Life - EZ Homemade raw food for pets!
Raw Feeding for IBD Cats - Feline IBD

 

[DestinyDawn]

Hi, can you try a little of that dry food and see if her system can tolerate it this time around? If so, that might be your answer.

I was going to do that but today she has made two messes only being fed chicken. I see another vet visit in the poor babies future.

 

[Furballsmom]

That poor baby, I'm sorry for the both of you

 

[DestinyDawn]

Thank you! When she first showed up and I took her in there were days I was scared she was too weak to pull through. Now I know that she is on the mend, and we are so much closer to figuring out what I going on with her. Though it will be with a different vet who will hopefully stop guessing and will do some tests to find out what the cause is.

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[Kris107]

I don't know if it would help or applies... but we had to put our cat on prescription hydrolyzed protein (HP) food. It's expensive so I really tried other things first. Boiled chicken went okay to help quickly resolve the diarrhea but not a long term solution. I tried a grain-free limited ingredient diet. That was okay for a couple weeks but then the diarrhea returned. Tried probiotics too. So I had to give in and do the HP food. It's been working. I got to a point where the cost was worth it to not have diarrhea everywhere. I know this might not be ideal since it's a stray, but could be worth a shot if she's going to be someone's long-term companion!

 

[DestinyDawn]

She started as a stray but she is now a part of the family. Actually because we had to keep her from the other cats she has her own room lol. How much does prescription food cost. If I can afford it and she needs it I will do whatever it takes. If not I will have to try to find her a home with someone who can afford to do that. It would break my heart but it's all about what is best for her.

 

[DestinyDawn]

I don't know if it would help or applies... but we had to put our cat on prescription hydrolyzed protein (HP) food. It's expensive so I really tried other things first. Boiled chicken went okay to help quickly resolve the diarrhea but not a long term solution. I tried a grain-free limited ingredient diet. That was okay for a couple weeks but then the diarrhea returned. Tried probiotics too. So I had to give in and do the HP food. It's been working. I got to a point where the cost was worth it to not have diarrhea everywhere. I know this might not be ideal since it's a stray, but could be worth a shot if she's going to be someone's long-term companion!

That sounds almost exactly like what we are going through.

 

[mani]

How much does prescription food cost.

It can be very expensive. But it's possible to use the next best thing... for example Royal Canin will have a prescription 'sensitivity control' food, but also a non-prescription sensitive. The thing is that you don't really know the cause at the moment and, as you're finding out, it's trial and error at the moment.
Are you able to take her back to the vet?

 

[DestinyDawn]

It can be very expensive. But it's possible to use the next best thing... for example Royal Canin will have a prescription 'sensitivity control' food, but also a non-prescription sensitive. The thing is that you don't really know the cause at the moment and, as you're finding out, it's trial and error at the moment.
Are you able to take her back to the vet?

We will be taking her on Tuesday. Hopefully then we can find some answers or at the very least a structured plan to find those answers.

 

[zoes]

Long shot suggestion, have you tried Flora4 Carna4 sprouted grain topper? I know, I know... but, I used this on a cat who was having non-stop diarrhea. She didn't have anything "wrong" with her that could be resolved medically, but she just couldn't keep food in for any amount of time, and was definitely pretty close to death (she was ancient and frail to begin with, so a couple days of bad diarrhea was a life-threatening event). A lady at a pet store recommended Flora4 and a packet was $3 so I gave it a try and it worked immediately and perfectly. I don't know how or why, but I keep it in my arsenal now.

 

[DestinyDawn]

I will definitely keep this in mind. We have a vet visit Tuesday. I am a little nervous about trying anything new until then. If he doesn't give us any definitive answers I will definitely give that a try!