My cat has diarrhea, this is the 6th day. She's eathing the usual food, and it looks to me that she's fine, playfull as always. What could be the problem? She never leaves the apartment, so she couldn't get any disease from other cats. And she was at a doctor 3 weeks ago.
Do you know any house-made treatment, that you tried and worked? I can't take her to the doctor, he's out of town.
Answers:
Have you switched cat foods lately? Sometimes a sudden change in foods, even different flavors can cause diarrhea in cats. Also it might be the type of food she is eating. Typically cheaper, less expensive foods can cause digestive problems. It could be a lot of things. If your vet is going to be gone for longer than 3 more days, I would schedule an appointment with another vet and have your cat checked out.
You failed to mention if your cat is on dry food, or wet food. If wet food, then change it to dry food. Also, how old is your cat? Make sure it gets plenty of water, since diarrhea will dehydrate a cat.
Good luck, I have 2 cats of my own, and love them dearly.
Most over the counter stuff does not work for cats. Didn't this vet leave someone to cover? Open the phone book, man, check under "V". Six days is a long time.
Try feeding her just a little bit less. My cat has that problem sometimes when he over eats. I no longer just leave food out for him. He gets small amounts a few times a day.
Our cats have recently suffered from the equivalent to a "cold".
Basically a virus that's producing flu like symptoms. In fact, one of our kittens died that my wife was caring for from the animal shelter. The other two kittens from the litter had 105 and 106 degree temps! The doc prescribed some antibiotic which I didn't think would help but it appears to be helping. But now the other cats in the house are sneezing and producing lots of mucus.
What are you feeding her?
You may need to adjust her diet.
I fed mine science diet.It works great.I give her very little tinned treats,as that is not so good for them.
Make sure her food bowls are very clean too.
Pretend that it is your table and that the water is
changed often.Here's an old trick I used to do also
for intestinal parasites that works reasonably well but not 100%. Give her some tinned food with about a
healthy quarter of a teaspoon of Sage from the spice cabinet.
Rub it in her food.If she has an amoebic bug,It may
knock it out.Call your doc though as soon as he's
back.
The fact that your cat is indoors doesn't mean she cannot get infected from other cats - you go outdoors, and you regularly bring infections in. Sorry to tell you, but that's the truth.
Also, even though it's commonly believed, wet food does NOT give runny joy - but dry food does. That's because wet food is digested much better by the cat. Actually, chronic diarrhea can be cured by switching to home-made raw meat diet (see http://www.catnutrition.org ). I would advise switching to wet food if you're feeding her dry, because, along with the runs, you cat can get highly dehydrated (cats have very low thirst drive because they usually get their moisture content from their pray, and dry food has a LOT less water than feline diet should contain).
I would advise also at least calling the vet - there are viruses that go to cats too, and a vet can know if there is an infection where you live.
Have plenty of water out for your cat. Don't overfeed. Give lots of love and affection, and if you feel your cat is upset or is doing strange things, just take her to the vet.
Good luck!
Oh. don't feed milk in any form to your cat - not yoghurt, not cheese, not milk, unless it's special cat milk and that very seldom. Milk can give a cat the runs, cats are lactose intollerant.
Thank you, Katrina. I was also told, by old-time cat owners, that wet food is not good for regular diet, but web info and experimentation taught me that my cat thrives on canned food. I haven't got around to making him food at home, but. I shall. And his stool is less, and very compact, and doesn't smell quite as troublesome as it used to when he was on dry food.
BTW, tuna fish is NOT to be given to cats daily, not even the brine from the can - it depletes cats' store of vitamins (especially, I've read, vitamin E) and that can cause serious long-term damage. Tuna fish should not be given to cats more than once a week.
NO, Science diet and Iams are NOT good foods, just much advertised. Anything that contains rice or corn or wheat should be avoided. Anything that has "by-products" among the first three ingredients should be avoided. That's just for the sake of your cat's health, you know.
you can give him 1cc of pepto bismal 3 times a day.
AlphaOne rocks! I get so tired of being the only one to say this; dry food doesn't do much for cats. It doesn't do much for their teeth since their teeth aren't designed to mash food; the kibble shatters in their mouth, and large chunks are swallowed whole..with little to no abrasive affect on the teeth. And sometimes large chunks can get stuck between the teeth, become acidic, and form plaque.
And soft food is more easily digested by cats. Raw meat, too. We recently switched our cats from an almost all dry food diet to two canned food meals a day. I keep a high quality dry food around just for occasional snacks, but it's not often used.
The poster who suggested Science Diet.doesn't know what he's talking about. I wasted a boatload of money on that crap. And if you want proof that it's crap, just read the ingredients list; by-products and corn up the wazoo. Not to mention Science Diet is one of the only brands still using the controversial preservatives BHT, BHA, and ethoxyquin (most other cat food manufacturers have abadonded use of those for more natural alternatives).
Here's another site for ya;
http://www.catinfo.org
Wet food may help for the time being.it will at least help make sure she doesn't become dehydrated. Just a note; we adopted a female cat nearly 4 weeks ago..when we first got her, she'd empty a water bowl in a few hours. Now that she's on wet food twice a day, she's not sucking down nearly as much water out of her bowl. This is because cats are designed to get most of their water from their food (living animals are about 78% water).
Plain yogurt is good for the digestive system along with pumpkin pie filling, best to find one with small amounts of sugar.
If you give your cat milk, too much of it can give her diarrhea. Too much of certain foods can give her diarrhea as well. If your cat is still active and playful, then she is most likely not in any real danger. Try giving her the juice out of a can of tuna fish once a day, and see if that helps to stop the diarrhea. Or, give her just dry food, and eliminate any wet food that you may be giving her.
A lot of kittens have coccidia, something that may or may not show up in a fecal exam. If you have not had your kttens stool tested by your vet, you should. Roundworms can also cause this problem as well as giardia. With coccidia the kitten gets the squrts occasionally and sometimesit is normsl
Now the issue is how to stop it- are you feeding a high quality kitten food? Science Diet or Iams are the best- watch the "natural" products that are full of excesses in nutrients such as phosphorous.
If your food is adequate- feed her very little and add rice and chicken baby food- this helps block her up a little.
The biggest problem will be dehydration from diarrhea so get her checked out by your vet.
Was she ever checked for parasites or intestinal flukes? Is she gaining weight and growing normally? Even indoor cats can still get contagious diseases, like if she sits in the window and a contagious cat approaches the window, maybe sneezes or licks the screen.
Cats can not process OTC meds that are kept in the normal household. To offer her something could be life threatening or minimally cause permanent liver or kidney damage. Please, call your vet. If he is out of town, they should be able to direct you to an alternative who is taking his patients on an emergency basis while he is gone. Cats can dehydrate fast. Make sure her gums are pink and moist, not tacky or pale. Pinch the skin between her shoulder blades and be sure it falls right back into place. If it takes any time falling back into place, she is becoming dehydrated. Good luck.
Take Your Cat Back To The Vet. And If Your Vet Doesnt Want To Help You.
What you can do with your cat suffering from diarrhea is to get some jarred baby food from the grocery store. Pure chicken or turkey (absolutely without ONION or GARLIC, so read the label.
Cats love this meat and it will be soothing and easily digested by your cat. You can even add some cooked brown rice, cooked winter squash or canned pumpkin (pure pumpkin not spiced or with sugar) to help firm up her stool.
This "diet" should only be used for three to four days as the baby food contains no taurine, an essential amino acid that cats must have in their diet. Of course you must contact the vet again if the cat does not get some relief.
Katrina - you are not the only one here promoting better, more natural diets for cats. Seattle and I and some others keep working at it too. We are all fighting the advertising of the commercial food manufacturers with their 100% balanced and nutritional complete cereals. So keep plugging away at it. Hopefully we will get some cat owners to question what they are feeding their cats.
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