The Mystery Diarrhea

LillyBeth123

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Hello,

I currently have one cat age 2y and recently rescued a kitten age 4m. I have had her for about 4 weeks. She was a bit skinny when I got her, the rescue had me buy high calorie packets to help with her weight.

The day I got her home I noticed she had diarrhea. I thought it was stress , so gave it some time. It is mostly liquid, and sometimes has blood. When it continued I reached out to the rescue and they did blood work and fecal testing. She tested negative for parasites, and they could not figure out what’s going on.

For the most part she is separate from my other cat because he is still not accepting the slow introduction. “ eat play love”. But she has full access to the house several times a day while site swapping. The past couple days she has begun pooping/ diarrhea in clothing and on sofas blankets. I can’t seem to figure out how to help her ! Below I tried the following.

- five litter boxes diff type of litter. Clean them everyday.
- Parasite test and blood work
-probiotic
- Only giving her hard food now.
-Spayed
- cat calming pheromone plug ins.
-exercise
 

Alldara

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If a cat has litter avoidance and pooing on something soft, it's because what's happening is causing pain.

Can you reach out to a veterinarian college nearby and see if they've heard of this? Then you can bring the info back to the rescue.

You could also try calling a kitten only rescue to see if they've experienced this. Places like those have seen a ton. Call though, not email as you're more likely to hear back.
 

gilmargl

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Until you find out exactly what the problem is, I would feed her on boiled chicken (and pumpkin or potato - baby food - if she will eat it). The cooked chicken should put an end to, or reduce diarrhea. It has "cured" most of my young, stressed, new kitties.

I would also keep the cats separate until you are 100 % sure that it can't be giardia - which even after a negative test result can still reappear - particularly in weak kitties. It won't be the end of the world if giardia is the problem - at least you will know what you are dealing with.

I wish you luck
🍀♥
 
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LillyBeth123

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If a cat has litter avoidance and pooing on something soft, it's because what's happening is causing pain.

Can you reach out to a veterinarian college nearby and see if they've heard of this? Then you can bring the info back to the rescue.

You could also try calling a kitten only rescue to see if they've experienced this. Places like those have seen a ton. Call though, not email as you're more likely to hear back.
I like this idea, I will let you know what they say.
 
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LillyBeth123

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Until you find out exactly what the problem is, I would feed her on boiled chicken (and pumpkin or potato - baby food - if she will eat it). The cooked chicken should put an end to, or reduce diarrhea. It has "cured" most of my young, stressed, new kitties.

I would also keep the cats separate until you are 100 % sure that it can't be giardia - which even after a negative test result can still reappear - particularly in weak kitties. It won't be the end of the world if giardia is the problem - at least you will know what you are dealing with.

I wish you luck
🍀♥
Could I use rotisserie chicken?
 

posiepurrs

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When you say negative for parasites- just what parasites did they test for? Tritrichamonas foetus will not show up in traditional fecal tests. It needs a specialized test. It produces very soft stools, very smelly and sometimes has mucus or blood in them. Dry food is not an optimal food for cats, but don’t change foods until this is sorted out.
 

Alldara

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No salt and no seasoning! I have had little success with rice, which seemed to make the problems worse when Mogi first arrived as a "thrown-away-for-dead" injured 8-week-old.
Yes. Rice for cats needs to be double cooked. The manufacturers for cat food that contains rice do this automatically.

I used the Purina EN for Magnus when his tummy wasn't well.
 
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LillyBeth123

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When you say negative for parasites- just what parasites did they test for? Tritrichamonas foetus will not show up in traditional fecal tests. It needs a specialized test. It produces very soft stools, very smelly and sometimes has mucus or blood in them. Dry food is not an optimal food for cats, but don’t change foods until this is sorted out.
Oh wow just looked that up, I’m going to call my vet and confirm. Thank you 🙏 I’ll let you know if it ends up being it.
 

tyleete

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And then of all else fails, might just turn out to be a food allergy. I have 2 cats with them that can't eat any type of bird or fish on their food & no wet food due to the gums they put in I believe. They had diarrhea for years before ditching the vets advice this Rx foods and researching on my own.
Good luck
 

pipperoo

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Sometimes a deeper dive into parasite testing is necessary (bloodwork).
My kitten - from a rescue, so she was housed with many other little rescue/feral kittens and who knows what was getting passed back and forth between them in the communal litter boxes. - had atrocious diarrhea OMG the smell, the texture. Turns out she has C. Perfringens (intestinal bacteria). Took two rounds of antibiotics, supported with use of S. boulardi probiotics (the same now used for many types of C. difficile infections in humans!)

So--if she might have something transmissable, you'll want to segregate her litter box until you find out for sure. And soft litter like a sawdust type (not the pellets), might be preferrable in case she doesn't like the feel of the litter you are using.

good luck and i hope the little one feels better soon.
 

maggie101

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Hello,

I currently have one cat age 2y and recently rescued a kitten age 4m. I have had her for about 4 weeks. She was a bit skinny when I got her, the rescue had me buy high calorie packets to help with her weight.

The day I got her home I noticed she had diarrhea. I thought it was stress , so gave it some time. It is mostly liquid, and sometimes has blood. When it continued I reached out to the rescue and they did blood work and fecal testing. She tested negative for parasites, and they could not figure out what’s going on.

For the most part she is separate from my other cat because he is still not accepting the slow introduction. “ eat play love”. But she has full access to the house several times a day while site swapping. The past couple days she has begun pooping/ diarrhea in clothing and on sofas blankets. I can’t seem to figure out how to help her ! Below I tried the following.

- five litter boxes diff type of litter. Clean them everyday.
- Parasite test and blood work
-probiotic
- Only giving her hard food now.
-Spayed
- cat calming pheromone plug ins.
-exercise
Diaheria will cause dehydration so feed canned food like fancy feast classics or weruva. Also tiki sticks or churu. At least add water to the dry food. If she does have dehydration she will want more canned than usual. Also lots of water bowls
 

catsknowme

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If you can feed wet food, add s.boulardii to help with gut issues that cause diarrhea.
My adult disabled daughter had chronic diarrhea of unknown causes (lots of testing but no real answer) and S.Boulardii (Florastor) solved the problem. The manufacturers now sell S.Boulardii in formulas species-specific for pets.
Also, make sure that the litter is thoroughly fragrance free. I have found that some brands don't switch/thoroughly rinse packaging equipment and sometimes batches Marked unscented/fragrance free have enough scent to irritate sensitive rectal tissues.
 
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