Soft Stools/diarrhea, Symptom Of Fiv?

[_spadekitty]

Hello,

I adopted my cat about a little less than a month ago.
Lately, for a few days now, he's been suffering from loose stools/dirrahea. The loose stools are a beige color and formed. The dirrahea has been dark brown. The weird thing is he'll have one of those loose stools and then a hours later have a normal, chocolate brown, small stool. He's eating and drinking fine, acting completely normal, which is why I'm not sure if he needs a vet.
The shelter dewormed him and sent me home with another two months supply of Revolution, so I don't think it's worms. He had a check up about 2 weeks ago and was given a clean bill of health, although I do suspect his is FIV+ (The shelter tested him but my vet explained the test isn't very good and he simply may not have had enough of the virus to test positive at that time).
I've put him on lysine treats and they helped clear up his eyes a lot, I started those after the loose stools however
Theres been no diet changes.

Does anyone have a FIV+ kitty and issues with loose stools? I'm wondering if that virus is simply the problem, or maybe a regular stomach bug?

 

[catwoman707]

How old is the kitty?

 

[Gizmobius]

My kitten (who is negative for FIV) has had inconsistent stools ever since I brought him home back in December. After many months assuming it was diet related, my vet finally suggested that it could be either giardia, coccidia, or tritrichomonas. These don't show up on a standard fecal test and need to be sent out for a PCR, I believe. If your kitty is otherwise fine, like mine is, it could potentially be one of those.

 

[_spadekitty]

How old is the kitty?

He is 3 yrs old

My kitten (who is negative for FIV) has had inconsistent stools ever since I brought him home back in December. After many months assuming it was diet related, my vet finally suggested that it could be either giardia, coccidia, or tritrichomonas. These don't show up on a standard fecal test and need to be sent out for a PCR, I believe. If your kitty is otherwise fine, like mine is, it could potentially be one of those.

Did the vet recommend anything? Or is it something that just has to run its course? I go to a vet tech school and the dogs are having issues with giardia right now...

 

[catwoman707]

If kitty has not been given a fecal float to look for parasites, this needs to be done.
If it has but was neg, it doesn't mean it's clear, as above post mentions these parasites only shed cysts in cycles so won't always show up at the time the float is done.

A PCR test is done in a lab and is much more sensitive.
If the diet has not changed at all around the time or just before the diarrhea started then it points towards parasites.

Ponazuril is the best treatment ever! Liquid gold

 

[_spadekitty]

If kitty has not been given a fecal float to look for parasites, this needs to be done.
If it has but was neg, it doesn't mean it's clear, as above post mentions these parasites only shed cysts in cycles so won't always show up at the time the float is done.

A PCR test is done in a lab and is much more sensitive.
If the diet has not changed at all around the time or just before the diarrhea started then it points towards parasites.

Ponazuril is the best treatment ever! Liquid gold

He's been getting dewormed for about 5 months consistently and theres no way he'd have recently been in contact with another cats/dogs poop, thats why I'm doubting it's parasites. I got him from my school where they use the animals to help teach, so they very often have their stool examined/blood test run/etc. He had diarrhea issues once or twice at the school and nothing was ever found.

Thats why I was wondering if the fhv caused dirrahea in anyones pets, or if it's just something thay needs to run its course?

I think I'll make him an appointment for Thursday if his stool isn't firm when I get home today, ask about the medication you suggested and metro.

Thank you

 

[kashmir64]

He's been getting dewormed for about 5 months consistently and theres no way he'd have recently been in contact with another cats/dogs poop, thats why I'm doubting it's parasites.

Except neither Coccidia nor Giardia is a worm. They are protozoa parasites.
That being said, if your cat has a healthy immune system, chances are it is neither.
It could be a food allergy. Have you tried different flavors of food? ie. liver instead of chicken etc..
It could be stress. Something he notices, but you don't . What causes stress in them, sometimes we don't even realize as a problem.

 

[_spadekitty]

Except neither Coccidia nor Giardia is a worm. They are protozoa parasites.
That being said, if your cat has a healthy immune system, chances are it is neither.
It could be a food allergy. Have you tried different flavors of food? ie. liver instead of chicken etc..
It could be stress. Something he notices, but you don't . What causes stress in them, sometimes we don't even realize as a problem.

Well thats why I mentioned he hadn't recently been in contact with any type of feces that I know of. He's indoor only...so unless he got infected almost a month ago at the school, or sometime before the shelter got ahold of him?

Yeah, I was thinking food allergy, but I'm just not sure how to go about ruling things out. When I first got him I fed him all different proteins to see if I noticed any reactions and never did (he likes everything lol), and his food is grain free.

I'm thinking you're right and it may just be stress. He's here all day with my mom but she doesn't pay much attention to him...maybe he gets stressed being mostly alone all day?

I bought him some pumpkin to hopefully help firm his stool till he can be chexked out today.

 

[kashmir64]

Well thats why I mentioned he hadn't recently been in contact with any type of feces that I know of. He's indoor only...so unless he got infected almost a month ago at the school, or sometime before the shelter got ahold of him?

This little booger can live in the environment for a year. You could've walked right on it and never known, bringing it home. Kind of like Parvo in that way. But, like I said, it only affects those with a compromised immune system and kittens.

Maybe if you put a cat tree in front of an open window, it will help him.
Definitely try the pumpkin. Does the food you're giving him have any fillers? It could be a corn or wheat intolerance.

 

[Willowy]

The FIV test is about 98% accurate, so I'm not sure why the vet said it isn't very good. Anyway, it doesn't cost that much so you might as well run another one next time he's at the vet, just to be sure.

FIV is an immune disorder, like HIV in humans. So there isn't just one set of symptoms---pretty much any immune system problem could be caused/exacerbated by FIV. I suppose tummy troubles could be one of those symptoms.

But since he tested negative I'm going to say he probably doesn't have FIV. My guess is that his gut bacteria have really taken a beating---first from bad nutrition as a stray, then from all the de-worming and antibiotics after he was rescued. Some probiotics would probably help. There are some sold just for pets but you can use the ones sold for humans too.

ETA: I noticed you said FIV sometimes and FHV sometimes. Which one do you suspect? I don't think FHV would cause tummy trouble---it usually causes goopy eyes and other respiratory issues.

 

[_spadekitty]

The FIV test is about 98% accurate, so I'm not sure why the vet said it isn't very good. Anyway, it doesn't cost that much so you might as well run another one next time he's at the vet, just to be sure.

FIV is an immune disorder, like HIV in humans. So there isn't just one set of symptoms---pretty much any immune system problem could be caused/exacerbated by FIV. I suppose tummy troubles could be one of those symptoms.

But since he tested negative I'm going to say he probably doesn't have FIV. My guess is that his gut bacteria have really taken a beating---first from bad nutrition as a stray, then from all the de-worming and antibiotics after he was rescued. Some probiotics would probably help. There are some sold just for pets but you can use the ones sold for humans too.

ETA: I noticed you said FIV sometimes and FHV sometimes. Which one do you suspect? I don't think FHV would cause tummy trouble---it usually causes goopy eyes and other respiratory issues.

FHV is what I meant, I mix them up a lot, sorry. He is FIV-. So the vet said the FHV test is the one that isn't all that great, she wanted me to bring him back in a couple months to retest for that one. I'm almost positive he has it though as he had the goopy eyes for about 2 weeks while we ruled out eye infections/ulcers/etc, they're clearing up now with lysine.

Yeah, I was planning on trying probiotics with him anyway cause he's a little gassy sometimes lol I'll pick some up.

Thank you

 

[_spadekitty]

Just a post to clarify, he's FIV-. I suspect he may be FHV+.

I'm trying the pumpkin tonight, got him on lysine and possibly probiotics by tomorrow. Scheduled him an appointment for Thursday.

Thanks for all the info, advice everyone!

 

[_spadekitty]

This little booger can live in the environment for a year. You could've walked right on it and never known, bringing it home. Kind of like Parvo in that way. But, like I said, it only affects those with a compromised immune system and kittens.

Maybe if you put a cat tree in front of an open window, it will help him.
Definitely try the pumpkin. Does the food you're giving him have any fillers? It could be a corn or wheat intolerance.

Wow, didn't know it could survive in the enviroment that long, most parasites seem to die pretty quickly. Hes FHV+ not FiV, I always mix them up. So, as far as I know he isn't immune compromise.

His wet food has like brewers rice/rice flour in it, but no corn. I've heard of cats having issues with rice...I'm switching him over to wellness chicken in a few days actually so I suppose if the dirrahea stops and the vet finds notbing we know what the problem is. lol

Thanks for all the advice/info!

 

[kashmir64]

Just a post to clarify, he's FIV-. I suspect he may be FHV+.

Hes FHV+ not FiV, I always mix them up.

I know you get them confused, but which one is he positive for?

 

[_spadekitty]

I know you get them confused, but which one is he positive for?

I'm pretty sure he's positive for FHV. Maybe 2 or 3 weeks after I brought him home, his left eye started getting all goopy and he was squinting. Took him to the vet to get it looked at (which was VERY stressful for him, he freaks out in the car) and then BOTH eyes got goopy and squinty. Got em on lysine and his eyes are much better, so since stress seemed to exaerbate the problem I'm guessing he's probably FHV+.
I was told by my vet the test for it isn't that great and judging by symptoms alone she figured that was it as well.

 

[kashmir64]

O.K., so he is not immune compromised.
It's easy to remember the difference. The 'h' (FHV) is herpes. The 'I' (FIV) is immune.
So, this means we are back to stress or allergies.

 

[_spadekitty]

O.K., so he is not immune compromised.
It's easy to remember the difference. The 'h' (FHV) is herpes. The 'I' (FIV) is immune.
So, this means we are back to stress or allergies.

Yeah I just always type I when I totally mean H, I know the difference but for some reason my brain and fingers don't match up on those lol I'm terrible at abbreviations in general

Well, I'm changing him to chicken wellness whenever it comes in. The only thing I could think of is maybe turkey? I usually don't feed him turkey because he doesn't seem to like it, but I had a few cans and my mom was just feeding him whatever instead of what I was telling her I'm also cutting his dry food to see if that helps.

Stress could be a factor as well, but I can't think of anything thats changed around my house that might be stressing him...

 

[kashmir64]

You don't happen to have an ultrasonic pest controller do you?
Just asking.

 

[_spadekitty]

You don't happen to have an ultrasonic pest controller do you?
Just asking.

Nope