Sudden Diarrhea! Help!

[BastetCatMomma]

Just took my girl to the vet a month ago and ran a bunch of tests. They all came back normal. She was doing really well. Because of constipation issues we feed her an ONLY wet food diet.
We went to my parent’s house and spent several days for the holiday. Unfortunately we ended up having to stay longer than anticipated and we ran out of Bastet’s (my cat) food. My parents have a cat as well. Bastet started eating that cat’s dry food (though we tried to stop her several times) and for the last 3 days we were there we had to feed her the other cat’s food (we had Covid—it was our only option ). Everything seemed fine. We brought her home Friday. On Sunday her poop started getting soft and last night (Tuesday) she left a big old pile of diarrhea next to the litter. Last night she also woke me up with a little dry heaving but no th I got came of it. I know it was a bit delayed but could this be due to all the food switches? I’m so worried!

 

[BastetCatMomma]

Is there anyone who can provide insight? I’m just so worried.

 

[BastetCatMomma]

Also there was a typo in the original post. I meant to say that she dry heaved but nothing came of it.

 

[Talien]

Yes, it's most likely due to the sudden food change. Cats are known for having sensitive digestive systems. They often end up having bouts of vomiting and/or diarrhea when they are fed something new without a transition period to slowly get them used to it.

 

[BastetCatMomma]

Yes, it's most likely due to the sudden food change. Cats are known for having sensitive digestive systems. They often end up having bouts of vomiting and/or diarrhea when they are fed something new without a transition period to slowly get them used to it.

Even though it took a couple days? We were watching her right after the switch and it seemed fine. It was when she went back to her original food that she started getting sick. I really hope you are right. Covid really backed us into a corner.

 

[Talien]

Even though it took a couple days? We were watching her right after the switch and it seemed fine. It was when she went back to her original food that she started getting sick. I really hope you are right. Covid really backed us into a corner.

It's possible. A change in diet can do strange things to a Cat. If you are worried talk to your vet, it doesn't cost anything to ask questions and get advice.

 

[BastetCatMomma]

It's possible. A change in diet can do strange things to a Cat. If you are worried talk to your vet, it doesn't cost anything to ask questions and get advice.

I came home today and she seemed fine. But then she barfed in her food bowl. I tested her for dehydration. She seems ok. I cleaned that up. She begged for more food so I gave her some. She seems to have taken that well. My father—who was kind enough to clean the litter box over at their place—told me this morning that she was starting to have really soft poops over there near the end so maybe this is not so sudden. I called the vet and explained the situation. They seemed to think the 4 different types of food (her food, dry food, new food, second type of new food because my parents ran out the first type, then back to her food again) was PROBABLY the culprit. She is 10. She just doesn’t bounce back from these things as fast as she used to I think… but hopefully now that she is back on her food, the diarrhea and the vomiting will settle. Would love to hear anyone else this happened to.

 

[Talien]

A 10 year old Cat getting fed 4 different types of food in a short period of time? Yeah.....that's almost certainly the cause. Her intestines are probably about tied in knots and she's going to need time to get back to normal.