Very Soft Poo

[Antonio65]

A 5 months kitten I have at home is having very soft poo, so soft that sometimes it is running like water. It started about three weeks ago.
All the fecal tests came negative, she's been wormed three times anyway, just in case.

We changed her diet from what she was already eating at the practice (where she had been staying for two weeks after being rescued), to a "gastrointestinal" dry and wet diet.
She's been on two different probiotics, currently on Fortiflora.
The results are zero!
When it's time to poop, she howls a bit. At times she just releases a few "drops" of liquid or very soft poo.

All the rest is fine, she plays a lot, she's lovely and alert. She eats fine, not too much, not voracious, drinks regularly.

I don't what else to do. And the vet doesn't know either...
Any idea?

 

[SiameseMummy]

Is she gaining weight?

It could be a digestive problem like Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI). It's rare in cats (more of a dog thing really) but it basically means their pancreas isn't producing the enzymes needed to digest food.

I had a cat with this and they did have diarrhea but was also not gaining weight (very worrying in a 5 month old kitten). It's a blood test to determine enzyme levels.

If she's gaining weight at a healthy rate its probably not EPI.

 

[Antonio65]

Thanks for your quick reply!

Well, I haven't weighed her lately, last time was about a week ago, and she has gained weight since I had rescued her.
She was 4 months old and just 780 grams (1.72 lbs).
Two weeks later she was 1.3 kg (2.86 lbs).
A week ago she was 2.250 kg (4.96 lbs).

Anyway she's visibly under size for her age.

 

[SiameseMummy]

I think she's gaining weight too quickly for EPI - my cat who had it still hadn't made it over 1kg at 5 months!

She was put on enzyme supplements at that point and grew quickly then but she was really all skin and bones before then so this doesn't sound like the same thing.

Perhaps a food sensitivity is more likely here. Those prescription foods can often clear up an upset tummy (they actually worked wonders for my kitten who was on it for a few days after antibiotics) but they don't have great quality ingredients and contain grains and chicken - which are two common sensitivities in cats.

The problem is her age - when my kitten had diarrhoea at around 5 months it was really difficult to find a kitten appropriate food with limited ingredients to see if that was the issue (I'm too scared to go down the raw food route).

It is worrying that she seems to be in pain when pooping. Is there another vet around that can give you a second opinion or more options on what may be wrong?

 

[Antonio65]

Yes, I could take her to a different vet, but from my experience, this kind of things is hard to pin down and fix.
The new food I'm giving her is Purina EN Gastrointestinal.
Prior to this I was giving her Royal Canin Kitten Second Age.

I had fostered two kittens in August, they both developed the same condition, and they were eating a different kind of food.
Another kitten that I had in my home for a couple of weeks (and that have been rehomed in a foster house last week) had something similar.
And this last kitten was OK before coming to my home and is fine now that is in this foster home.

So, either there's something in my home, or all kittens that I have dealt with recently have something we can't understand.

 

[SiameseMummy]

How odd!

Is there a plant or something environmental they could all have been munching on?

 

[Antonio65]

No house plants, or other chemicals. She is not allowed outside.

 

[daftcat75]

Is that a wet food or a dry food?

What you are seeing as small drops of liquid and straining to poop may actually be constipation and a little bit of liquid from straining squeezing past hard dry stools. Diarrhea wouldn’t take straining. It would have a sense of urgency and a lot more volume than a few drops.

Try pumpkin puree (just pumpkin, no other ingredients), about 1/4 tsp at first working up to 1/2 tsp per meal. Pumpkin is useful in both constipation and diarrhea so if I’m wrong about this sounding like constipation, it won’t make matters worse.

 

[Antonio65]

Is that a wet food or a dry food?

Both.
We switched from two previous brands of dry and wet, to a single brand of dry and wet (Purina EN Gastrointestinal).
I got this brand from a person I know who had her kitty with a similar issue.

What you are seeing as small drops of liquid and straining to poop may actually be constipation and a little bit of liquid from straining squeezing past hard dry stools. Diarrhea wouldn’t take straining. It would have a sense of urgency and a lot more volume than a few drops.

Sometimes they are a few drops, but the more common situation is a table spoon of liquid or very runny light brown poop (sorry for this graphic description!).

Try pumpkin puree (just pumpkin, no other ingredients), about 1/4 tsp at first working up to 1/2 tsp per meal. Pumpkin is useful in both constipation and diarrhea so if I’m wrong about this sounding like constipation, it won’t make matters worse.

I'll have a try. The season is the right one too
Thanks!

 

[Antonio65]

The vet adviced me to change food again and feed her gluten-free dry and wet food.
So yesterday I bought this new food, hopefully it will work.
I'm going to try one thing at the time, or I won't know what worked.

 

[Antonio65]

Things are not getting better.
In the last 24 hours she pooped 5 times and all these times it was very soft, nearly liquid.
I know it is too early to appreciate any difference in her diet, but it is the 25th day since she began with this issue, and the 23rd day of treatment with food and supplements.

This morning I woke up to the house in a terrible state, there were drops of liquid poo in the corridor, and prints of poo all over (she put her feet in the liquid poo and walked all over!)

At 7 am I had to wash all the floor (tiled floor, thanks God!) with hot water and bleach.
I was also witness of a moment when she was pooping. She was meowing and howling, but not for the strain, I think it was for the discomfort.

Another thing I have noticed is that she produces lots of gas. When I rub her belly she releases lots of gas

Also, this morning I weighed her, she hasn't gained anything since 10 days ago.

 

[Antonio65]

Three more weeks have gone, but no improvement at all!

We're at the 48th day of soft poop, and from soft at the beginning now we're towards a nearly liquid state of the matter...
The color is dark brown, it might even look like black. The vet saw the photos and was astonished.

The poor kitty goes to the litter 4-5 times a day. Lately she learned how not to put her feet in the liquid, so at least we're saved from the "brown" pawprints all over.

What is new is that she's "leaking" poop while she walks, and I don't think she realizes of it. On Sunday morning she released a good amount of liquid poop while I lifted her up.

We are at the 22nd day of grain free diet and at the 28th day of Fortiflora.

On November 12th, the vet ran an ultrasound scan and all was fine, apart from a couple of lymph nodes and her spleen slightly enlarged. The vet said it was consistent with what she was having.
The vet gave me a prescription for Amoxicilline for 7 days, and after 4 days she added a prescription for Spiramycin and Metronidazole in case it was Giardia. But it's the 11th pill and no results.
I also added a supplement tab that should have made poop firmer. The directions say that after 2 days the problem should be fixed, but I went on till the pack was over, 6 days. Nothing!

The last attempt of the vet is a gel that should remove all toxins and bad bacteria from the bowels, but of course it isn't working...

The vet thinks it could be Toxoplasmosis (but I think that after nearly 50 days all symptoms should have died off), but I'm giving her the Spiramycin, it should work on it as well. Or it could be Tritrichomonas, but I don't see any other symptom apart from the diarrhea.
The test for the Tritrichomonas is the PCR, that can be done only 7 days after the last antibiotic course, so I should wait till Decemebr 6th or 7th. It's a bit expensive, takes a week to get the results back and it could even tell me it isn't what we think.

The kitty is fine, alert, playful and loving. She eats a lot but she isn't gaining weight because she's losing all the nutrients she's eating.

We're exhausted, and useless to say that the cohabitation is getting very hard...

The kitty is a bit older than 6 months now. The vet would also like to spay her, but I don't think it's a good idea in these conditions.
For the same reason, she hasn't been vaccinated yet.

I don't know what to do.

 

[posiepurrs]

If available in your country, have the vet do a PCR test for Tritrichamonas feotus. It is rarely detected by regular fecal exams so a specialized DNA test was developed. It is a protozoa parasite that causes very loose stools and sometimes anal incontinence.

 

[Antonio65]

If available in your country, have the vet do a PCR test for Tritrichamonas feotus. It is rarely detected by regular fecal exams so a specialized DNA test was developed. It is a protozoa parasite that causes very loose stools and sometimes anal incontinence.

This is what I have written in my post
But what if I have the vet run an expensive test and it comes back negative?
So far all we thought it was, it wasn't... And I have been giving the kitten two different (and useless) antibiotics.
The therapy fro the Tritrichomonas is the Ronidazole, with potential severe side effects.

 

[posiepurrs]

If the drug is prescribed by a vet and given according to directions the chance of reaction is slim. When I get home from work and have access to my computer I can forward a paper written by a leading researcher about Tf. I spoke with one of her assistants when I was writing an article about it for a magazine.

 

[kittyluv387]

It sounds like you tried a lot already. But would you consider commercial raw? My cat also had unexplained chronic diarrhea when I adopted him at 5 months of age and raw food is the only thing that worked.

 

[Antonio65]

It sounds like you tried a lot already. But would you consider commercial raw? My cat also had unexplained chronic diarrhea when I adopted him at 5 months of age and raw food is the only thing that worked.

No, I didn't think of raw food.
Selfishly, I consider canned or dry pet food very handy. It doesn't require cooking or a preparation, it doesn't need to be supplemented or balanced at home.
Right now I wouldn't have the time to prepare any food.
And what in the case of leaving the cat home with a person that would mind her? Probably that person wouldn't love to cook for her

 

[kittyluv387]

No, I didn't think of raw food.
Selfishly, I consider canned or dry pet food very handy. It doesn't require cooking or a preparation, it doesn't need to be supplemented or balanced at home.
Right now I wouldn't have the time to prepare any food.
And what in the case of leaving the cat home with a person that would mind her? Probably that person wouldn't love to cook for her

Oh your thoughts on it are natural. Raw food was the last thing I tried because I didn't want to have to deal with raw food lol. But here I am. With commercial raw food it's already made so you don't have to do much. You might just have to use a fork and add some warm water. When I have to board my cat I use freeze dried raw (they add water) so that it's more convenient for the employees to feed him.

 

[Antonio65]

Thanks kittyluv387 , I think I will have to discuss this with the vet.

The vet would like to have the kitty at their practice for a few days, so that they can keep a close eye on her and see what happens.
Her words were "We could keep her here for free until things get fixed".
Well, it might sound good, but what if things don't go better, or if it takes a month to understand the problem?

 

[Vanhorne86]

A 5 months kitten I have at home is having very soft poo, so soft that sometimes it is running like water. It started about three weeks ago.
All the fecal tests came negative, she's been wormed three times anyway, just in case.

We changed her diet from what she was already eating at the practice (where she had been staying for two weeks after being rescued), to a "gastrointestinal" dry and wet diet.
She's been on two different probiotics, currently on Fortiflora.
The results are zero!
When it's time to poop, she howls a bit. At times she just releases a few "drops" of liquid or very soft poo.

All the rest is fine, she plays a lot, she's lovely and alert. She eats fine, not too much, not voracious, drinks regularly.

I don't what else to do. And the vet doesn't know either...
Any idea?

My 2 cats are having the same issue, one of them is 6 months old and the other is 12 and it's been going on for a few months now. I've had fecal analysis that came back negative, one has been tested for tritrichomonas foetus and also giardia too and nothing! I even had them ultrasound scanned for gut tumours and the scans were clear. They were put on a hypoallergenic diet for 6 weeks and still nothing. They're now on a 1 week course of meds which are meant to kill extra types of worms that the usual store bought meds don't and I did see a slightly less soft poo yesterday but there are sloppy ones in the tray again today. I've bought some FortiFlora to try next week but I just don't understand what is going on here! My vet is convinced that it's food allergies but the older one became ill around the time we got the kitten so I just refuse to believe that. Any news on yours?