Stools Are Half Solid, But Half Soft/liquid?

[wrenboii]

I adopted my cat about two months ago. He is five or six months old, and his entire litter had diarrhea for a month. I had him for a month, and he was fine for that month. A month later, he had diarrhea for a week. I went to the vet, and got some probiotics, but they didn't work for me. I finally got it under control with Nutrivet's anti-diarrhea medication. I kept him on half-Canidae LID Salmon and half-Merrick Purrfect Bistro Healthy Kitten, his original food. He seemed to respond to that, but he didn't seem to like the Canidae at all. He would take almost six hours to finish his food. So I changed again to Taste of the Wild, and he seemed to like it. He had diarrhea within the first three days of the switch, but was fine within a day. However, his stools were only 75% solid (3 solid stools, one soft and light brown) for the month I had him on it. I wanted to get him back on Merrick Purrfect Bistro Healthy Kitten, as it's the best I can do on my budget and I don't think he was allergic to it. If he had been allergic to it, I think he would have kept reacting. He just had another bowel movement that was half solid, and half liquid, with some solid bits.

I'm mostly wondering if I should take him to the vet, or if I'm over reacting.

Any answers would be very appreciated.

 

[wrenboii]

To be clear, I'm willing to transition him to all wet food, but I don't actually know what's causing this, so I don't want to transition him again, if it's not going to yield results. He did get the fecal sample tested the first time, but nothing came out of it.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Have the fecal repeated, if possible. Both coccidia and girardia are notorious for this, and for both false negatives AND false positives. It really does sound like one of these could be the culprit. And I do recommend taking him to a vet, a feline specialist, if there is one close enough. The continuous diarrhea is certainly not normal, and you do need to get to the bottom of this. AND, please, keep us posted! You have become part of our community, and we fret about "our" cats!

 

[daftcat75]

I would start with all wet food and adding some pumpkin to his diet to help dry him up. Dry food can feed the wrong bacteria which could cause loose stools and diarrhea. If you could run a trial where you phase out the dry and feed him only wet for a month, then you can at least see whether the dry could be to blame. In the meantime, adding canned pumpkin, no sugar or spices, about 1/2 to 1 tsp per day to his diet will help dry him up. Or a pumpkin food like Tiki Cat Aloha Friends. You may also want to start him on a probiotic to rebalance his gut bacteria after a period of diarrhea or loose stools.

 

[wrenboii]

Have the fecal repeated, if possible. Both coccidia and girardia are notorious for this, and for both false negatives AND false positives. It really does sound like one of these could be the culprit. And I do recommend taking him to a vet, a feline specialist, if there is one close enough. The continuous diarrhea is certainly not normal, and you do need to get to the bottom of this. AND, please, keep us posted! You have become part of our community, and we fret about "our" cats!

Thanks! I think I'll take another fecal sample to the vet, and then if nothing comes of it, I'll try wet food.

 

[She's a witch]

Thanks! I think I'll take another fecal sample to the vet, and then if nothing comes of it, I'll try wet food.

Consider another method of checking the sample rather than fecal flotation which has really low success rate when it comes to finding some parasites. There is ELISA test for giardia and PCR tests for all possible pathogens (best but expensive)

 

[wrenboii]

Consider another method of checking the sample rather than fecal flotation which has really low success rate when it comes to finding some parasites. There is ELISA test for giardia and PCR tests for all possible pathogens (best but expensive)

I will ask regarding other methods of checking the sample.

 

[wrenboii]

I would start with all wet food and adding some pumpkin to his diet to help dry him up. Dry food can feed the wrong bacteria which could cause loose stools and diarrhea. If you could run a trial where you phase out the dry and feed him only wet for a month, then you can at least see whether the dry could be to blame. In the meantime, adding canned pumpkin, no sugar or spices, about 1/2 to 1 tsp per day to his diet will help dry him up. Or a pumpkin food like Tiki Cat Aloha Friends. You may also want to start him on a probiotic to rebalance his gut bacteria after a period of diarrhea or loose stools.

I tried the pumpkin trick today, but alas to no avail. Maybe it's taking a while to get through his system.

I'm thinking that I will transition to more wet food regardless because he seems to enjoy it more.

 

[daftcat75]

I tried the pumpkin trick today, but alas to no avail. Maybe it's taking a while to get through his system.

I'm thinking that I will transition to more wet food regardless because he seems to enjoy it more.

Pumpkin has to make his way through him to work. So it will take 12 to 24 hours from when you fed it to start to do its thing. But yes, reducing or eliminating the dry will be more effective than simply adding pumpkin.

 

[wrenboii]

Have the fecal repeated, if possible. Both coccidia and girardia are notorious for this, and for both false negatives AND false positives. It really does sound like one of these could be the culprit. And I do recommend taking him to a vet, a feline specialist, if there is one close enough. The continuous diarrhea is certainly not normal, and you do need to get to the bottom of this. AND, please, keep us posted! You have become part of our community, and we fret about "our" cats!

We got the ELISA, and nothing came of it, but I'm glad to have tested it. The vet is willing to prescribe Metronidazole, but I'm sure if it's worth it if he doesn't have giardia?

He does seem to be responding to the pumpkin, but it's too soon to tell if it's a long term solution. I also haven't seen him go since this morning, so I'm curious to see if my eyes were deceived. (I'm a bit paranoid when it comes to my kitten.)

 

[wrenboii]

Consider another method of checking the sample rather than fecal flotation which has's really low success rate when it comes to finding some parasites. There is ELISA test for giardia and PCR tests for all possible pathogens (best but expensive)

Nothing came of the ELISA test, so I think I'm going to quit asking for fecal samples if nothing's coming up :/ The vet suggested that I try Hill's ID, but I'm wary because it's not actually good food for cats. I think I'll stick to the pumpkin, and see how it goes.

 

[wrenboii]

I would start with all wet food and adding some pumpkin to his diet to help dry him up. Dry food can feed the wrong bacteria which could cause loose stools and diarrhea. If you could run a trial where you phase out the dry and feed him only wet for a month, then you can at least see whether the dry could be to blame. In the meantime, adding canned pumpkin, no sugar or spices, about 1/2 to 1 tsp per day to his diet will help dry him up. Or a pumpkin food like Tiki Cat Aloha Friends. You may also want to start him on a probiotic to rebalance his gut bacteria after a period of diarrhea or loose stools.

I'm wondering if it's okay to give him pumpkin everyday, because I think it's working.

It's just that I don't want to mistake treating a symptom for treating a problem, and inadvertently ignore an actual problem. I'm also unsure if pumpkin is bad for cats long-term.

 

[wrenboii]

Also, I'm not sure if I should just create another thread, but my cat's penis is black? Is this normal? I had never seen it until the other day.

 

[daftcat75]

I'm wondering if it's okay to give him pumpkin everyday, because I think it's working.

It's just that I don't want to mistake treating a symptom for treating a problem, and inadvertently ignore an actual problem. I'm also unsure if pumpkin is bad for cats long-term.

Pumpkin is safe long-term. Reducing or phasing out his dry portions should make the pumpkin less necessary. But until then, if it's working and he likes it, keep with it. It's fiber and moisture. That's a good team. Fiber without moisture (psyllium) is less good. And no fiber and no moisture (dry food) is awful.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I'm thinking that I will transition to more wet food regardless because he seems to enjoy it more.

He's going to do better on a wet diet, anyway. Good for him, liking what he ought to have! It's especially critical for males, given their propensity to urinary issues if on dry diets.

Also, I'm not sure if I should just create another thread, but my cat's penis is black? Is this normal? I had never seen it until the other day.

I just googled healthy cat penises (yes, I certainly did!) and the VERY FIRST picture of a healthy cat penis showed a black penis. He's fine.

 

[wrenboii]

He's going to do better on a wet diet, anyway. Good for him, liking what he ought to have! It's especially critical for males, given their propensity to urinary issues if on dry diets.



I just googled healthy cat penises (yes, I certainly did!) and the VERY FIRST picture of a healthy cat penis showed a black penis. He's fine.

Haha, thanks! I was too afraid to Google it, honestly.

 

[wrenboii]

Pumpkin is safe long-term. Reducing or phasing out his dry portions should make the pumpkin less necessary. But until then, if it's working and he likes it, keep with it. It's fiber and moisture. That's a good team. Fiber without moisture (psyllium) is less good. And no fiber and no moisture (dry food) is awful.

I think I have to take this back, because he is still having diarrhea. It's so strange... but I guess it must not be a fiber issue. He also has slightly more wet food per day (once per day, rather than twice per week), and it hasn't improved.

I'm very confused by my kitten at this point.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

This may be a food allergy of some sort. You might want to try him on a novel protien and see how he does.

 

[momof3b1g]

Are the foods grain free? We took Zane in found at our door. He was having diarrhea. I decide to try baked chicken and his poo was normal. So I found food without rice or grains and that fixed the problem. I have to remember not to give him any brands that have rice or gluten etc in them.

 

[Timmer]

What about going with a very common food like Fancy Feast pate?
In my experience with cats, it was the grain free diet that caused the diarrhea. My remaining cat has been having issues much as you describe (but she's 14 not a kitten) and I have her on just the tuna pate. She is doing better. I tried it for a week and she was fine. Moved onto chicken pate. She did OK. Tried the tuna in a gravy and that was a mistake.
I think you just have to try things for a week and see how it goes.