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Holy diarrhea

Ruth

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Hello all,

I’m baaaaaaack! So Stitch is now a little over a year old and all is good with his dog brother (yay). Now on to another and quite troubling issue.

I have been having to take stitch to board while visiting my family in NY more often. It seems like he loves it there but it’s now twice that when back, 3-4 days later he develops diarrhea. The vet has tested him for parasites and all good - so far.

Vet suggested I keep him on metronidazole while boarding to avoid any issues. I didn’t do that last week on my last visit. Big mistake. Huge.

He developed diarrhea Saturday morning at 1:30am...how do I know exact time? Well because I was woken up by the awful smell of my kitty walking on my just laundered comforter with yep...lots of diarrhea.

Took him to vet and she once again gave metronidazole and a pro -biotic. Great. Or so I thought.

I was again woken up by Stitch this time at 3:00am, pacing and meowing. I picked him up in the dark and suffice to say.....he was like a water balloon of poop. I am just going back to sleep now after having to clean up after an hour ordeal of projectile diarrhea.

This can NOT be normal!!!!

Please advise of any thoughts. This can’t happen each time I board him. I unfortunately don’t know anyone to cat sit so it’s my only option.

Help!!!
 
Last edited:

NinaGato

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I would ask at the vets office if there is someone they recommend for at home pet sitting.
Or if he is welcome at your family's house he might be a good traveler. My first Sphynx went everywhere with me. Hotels, car trips, she loved to go to my parent's house for a week.
But, if this is happening everytime it probably is a stress response. It is not an uncommon thing but I agree with you that you need to find an alternative.
 

Yoda mom

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((Hugs)))

Is the boarding facility strictly feeding Stitch his food that is dropped off with him?
Absolutely not feeding him anything else ?

When boarded is he separately housed amd no free roaming with other kitties ?
Do they have a video cam at the facility to watch him?

Did the vet think stress related ?
 

Ruth

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They claim to only give him his food. The place is very clean and I trust them but now I’m not so sure. They have them caged separately and give them playtime alone on an alternating schedule. I have webcam and he always loooks happy and playful.

I am at vet currently and they’re admitting to do fluids and monitor. I’m scared of dehydration.

They’re testing again for Giardia and any infectious diseases or chronic issues.

Ahhh!!!!
 

Xandria

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I am so sorry to hear that you are going through this. Poor Stitch. I too would question whether or not he is getting into other food or simply licking or chewing on something at the boarding place that is giving him Montezuma's revenge!

I hope you can find a sitter for while you are away or at least get to the bottom of why this is happening.

Keep us updated. Hugs
 

Zab

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Following this thread. I'm curious, is he eating and drinking at all when the diarrhea starts? Any temperature?
 

Ruth

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Following this thread. I'm curious, is he eating and drinking at all when the diarrhea starts? Any temperature?
He will eat all day if you let him. It hasn’t affected his appetite or thirst at all.

I’m so confused about it all. Between my havanese and stitch I have been dealing with diarhea for about 2 months now. My havanese had pancreatitis 6 months ago so he’s on a strict diet now and doing well.

I’ll probably get the lab results Tuesday and know what’s going on. If nothing comes back as an issue or parasite (hoping), I guess we’ll have to go with stress.

I have to visit NY again Labor Day weekend so I’ll be looking for a cat sitter. He’s just so people oriented I would hate for him to just be waiting on someone for a few minutes of a visit.

I’ll update on here once I know results and feedback from vet.

Thanks all. Positive vibes in Stitch’s direction would be pawsome! :)
 

Zab

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He will eat all day if you let him. It hasn’t affected his appetite or thirst at all.

I’m so confused about it all. Between my havanese and stitch I have been dealing with diarhea for about 2 months now. My havanese had pancreatitis 6 months ago so he’s on a strict diet now and doing well.

I’ll probably get the lab results Tuesday and know what’s going on. If nothing comes back as an issue or parasite (hoping), I guess we’ll have to go with stress.

I have to visit NY again Labor Day weekend so I’ll be looking for a cat sitter. He’s just so people oriented I would hate for him to just be waiting on someone for a few minutes of a visit.

I’ll update on here once I know results and feedback from vet.

Thanks all. Positive vibes in Stitch’s direction would be pawsome! :)

Healing vibes and hugs to you!
 

MollysMom

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@Ruth - this was a game changer for us. Go to a health food store and get a bottle of S. Boulardii pills. They will probably be in the fridge part. We habe ridden the diarrhea rollercoaster many times and I wish I knew about this sooner.

This page link is a long read

My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do?

so I excerpted the part that is relevant:

"Traditional dosing for therapeutic treatment of diarrhea in adult cats as provided by U.C. Davis is one-half of a 250mg capsule (5 billion CFU) given twice daily. Treatment for kittens is half of the adult dose. It can be given with food; it does not have to be. This is usually sufficient for loose stools of normal frequency. For the “emergency stop diarrhea” approach, we find more frequent dosing of smaller amounts of the probiotic, providing a higher total CFU the first day or two, resolves diarrhea much more quickly.

For adult cats (defined here as 9 months of age and older):

Give one-quarter of the 250mg / 5 billion CFU capsule every two hours or so. Many cats accept it when mixed into finely ground poached chicken breast / turkey breast / pork loin or meat-only baby food. (Beech Nut, Goya, and Gerber list “meat” and broth or gravy as ingredients. These are fine, they are referring to the water used to cook the meat, and they contain no spices). If your cat does not like the taste of the probiotic, you can syringe after mixing with water. If you are not experienced syringing liquids into your cat, you can use empty #3 gel capsules. Simply fill 10 to 20 of these by transferring the S boulardii from the larger capsules into the smaller ones. These are a size easy to pill your cat. Pill your cat with one #3 capsule filled with S boulardii every two hours or so. For pilling instructions, see How to Pill (Your Cat).

This frequent dosing method usually stops diarrhea within 24 – 48 hours, other than when diarrhea is caused by another disease that requires treatment (low B12, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, hyperthyroidism, as examples). This “loading dose” can be continued for longer if necessary, up to three to four days – but if you do not see substantial improvement in the diarrhea on day 3, it is best to follow-up with your veterinarian. It is NOT necessary to use this approach, it can be given at “therapeutic” doses as discussed above twice a day (and doubled if you see improvement in stool but diarrhea or soft cow patty stools have not resolved).

When the diarrhea has substantially resolved with use of the emergency stop treatment protocol, begin use of S. boulardii at the therapeutic dose level (2.5 billion CFU twice daily) and continue for at least one week. If stools soften, resume use of S. boulardii at the therapeutic dose as needed. Given its role in improving performance of bacterial probiotics and its anti-inflammatory properties, the use of S boulardii at maintenance levels (anywhere from 500 million CFU to a total of 2.5 billion CFU daily) can be continued indefinitely along with a bacterial probiotic. It confers many health and GI protective benefits, and we use it along with bacterial strains in all of our cats, all the time."

I know this is a crazy long post... just wanted to add we mixed the boulardii in a tbsp of wet food. Let me know if you have questions
 

Ruth

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@Ruth - this was a game changer for us. Go to a health food store and get a bottle of S. Boulardii pills. They will probably be in the fridge part. We habe ridden the diarrhea rollercoaster many times and I wish I knew about this sooner.

This page link is a long read

My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do?

so I excerpted the part that is relevant:

"Traditional dosing for therapeutic treatment of diarrhea in adult cats as provided by U.C. Davis is one-half of a 250mg capsule (5 billion CFU) given twice daily. Treatment for kittens is half of the adult dose. It can be given with food; it does not have to be. This is usually sufficient for loose stools of normal frequency. For the “emergency stop diarrhea” approach, we find more frequent dosing of smaller amounts of the probiotic, providing a higher total CFU the first day or two, resolves diarrhea much more quickly.

For adult cats (defined here as 9 months of age and older):

Give one-quarter of the 250mg / 5 billion CFU capsule every two hours or so. Many cats accept it when mixed into finely ground poached chicken breast / turkey breast / pork loin or meat-only baby food. (Beech Nut, Goya, and Gerber list “meat” and broth or gravy as ingredients. These are fine, they are referring to the water used to cook the meat, and they contain no spices). If your cat does not like the taste of the probiotic, you can syringe after mixing with water. If you are not experienced syringing liquids into your cat, you can use empty #3 gel capsules. Simply fill 10 to 20 of these by transferring the S boulardii from the larger capsules into the smaller ones. These are a size easy to pill your cat. Pill your cat with one #3 capsule filled with S boulardii every two hours or so. For pilling instructions, see How to Pill (Your Cat).

This frequent dosing method usually stops diarrhea within 24 – 48 hours, other than when diarrhea is caused by another disease that requires treatment (low B12, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, hyperthyroidism, as examples). This “loading dose” can be continued for longer if necessary, up to three to four days – but if you do not see substantial improvement in the diarrhea on day 3, it is best to follow-up with your veterinarian. It is NOT necessary to use this approach, it can be given at “therapeutic” doses as discussed above twice a day (and doubled if you see improvement in stool but diarrhea or soft cow patty stools have not resolved).

When the diarrhea has substantially resolved with use of the emergency stop treatment protocol, begin use of S. boulardii at the therapeutic dose level (2.5 billion CFU twice daily) and continue for at least one week. If stools soften, resume use of S. boulardii at the therapeutic dose as needed. Given its role in improving performance of bacterial probiotics and its anti-inflammatory properties, the use of S boulardii at maintenance levels (anywhere from 500 million CFU to a total of 2.5 billion CFU daily) can be continued indefinitely along with a bacterial probiotic. It confers many health and GI protective benefits, and we use it along with bacterial strains in all of our cats, all the time."

I know this is a crazy long post... just wanted to add we mixed the boulardii in a tbsp of wet food. Let me know if you have questions

I will try it!! I’ll try anything to get rid of this cycle. Once we rule out any condition or parasite I’ll for sure add that to some wet food.

Thank you!!!
 

Yoda mom

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@Ruth positive vibes for Stitch and your Pup!Big hugs to you !

Ask the vet too if they ruled out tritrichomonas in fecal test?

Tritrichomonas foetus (Diarrhea)
It's sometimes an underlying cause of chronic poo issues we have seen some members kitties diagnosed with

Just to share I switched kitties to Nutrisource cat and kitten food in the blue bag ( online not in stores ) I get at k9cuisine.com. They sell cat food too :)
Amd no poo issues - it's advertised in so many words
Cat & Kitten Chicken Meal, Salmon & Liver Cat Food - NutriSource Pet Foods

Did by chance they feed him treats at boarding ? Have you called them and ask if they have any other reports of poo issues?

For pet sitters you can ask your vet if they have techs that pet sit and or ask them for a reference .
Be sure to ask the sitter if sub it out to teens , 3rd parties etc or visit themselves?

My neigh has a sitter who keeps a notebook on the counter and keeps a daily log of visits with notes and medications given etc
Members have webcams with features to imterwct while they are away :)

Keep us updated often! Hope you get answers and relief for stitch
Amd your pup
 

Ruth

Lairian
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Messages
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@Ruth positive vibes for Stitch and your Pup!Big hugs to you !

Ask the vet too if they ruled out tritrichomonas in fecal test?

Tritrichomonas foetus (Diarrhea)
It's sometimes an underlying cause of chronic poo issues we have seen some members kitties diagnosed with

Just to share I switched kitties to Nutrisource cat and kitten food in the blue bag ( online not in stores ) I get at k9cuisine.com. They sell cat food too :)
Amd no poo issues - it's advertised in so many words
Cat & Kitten Chicken Meal, Salmon & Liver Cat Food - NutriSource Pet Foods

Did by chance they feed him treats at boarding ? Have you called them and ask if they have any other reports of poo issues?

For pet sitters you can ask your vet if they have techs that pet sit and or ask them for a reference .
Be sure to ask the sitter if sub it out to teens , 3rd parties etc or visit themselves?

My neigh has a sitter who keeps a notebook on the counter and keeps a daily log of visits with notes and medications given etc
Members have webcams with features to imterwct while they are away :)

Keep us updated often! Hope you get answers and relief for stitch
Amd your pup
I’ll make sure to ask that when I speak to vet tomorrow. I want to rule all out and then make dietary changes. Harry (pup) is on prescription food and I want to also put stitch on some premium food. I’ll look into Nutrisource and the pro biotic.

I will win this battle!!!

Thank you!!
 

Yoda mom

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@Ruth ,continued positive vibes to Stitch and Harry

Please keep us updated about your follow up eoth Stitch's vet

Yes, you will win this poo battle :)
 

Ruth

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So vet said he doesn’t think it’s necessary to do detailed fecal testing as he doesn’t think it’s a chronic issue or parasite. He said it sounds like stress colitis. He recommended boarding at his office next time since they’re prepped for any adverse reaction on his end.

I just feel bad him being caged with no ability to roam, like they do in boarding facility.

Other option is to start pro biotics before boarding time to help any colitis from forming.

I’m a little annoyed they are not doing test but also understand what they’re saying. Under normal circumstances he doesn’t get this awful diarhea. Only post boarding.

So right now they’re sending him home with de worming meds to be on safe side and continue metronidazole for a week.

Hopefully this will be the last time this happens.

Thanks all for your positive thoughts!!

I’m going to get the pro biotic listed above and transition his food slowly as well.


Thanks again!! ❤️
 

Cinafina

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I was going to start a new thread, but since the topic has been discussed somewhat in this one I thought I would add my own concern. Over the last few weeks my 7 month old Butchie's poo's have been getting increasingly stinky, loose and very light brown in colour. It seemed to start about the same time as the very hot weather and he has also been completely off any wet food. He still happily eats his dry food and drinks plenty of water, and he's very active and playful, same as ever. He was weighed at the vet a week ago before given his worming tablet and he's a normal healthy weight. I figured it was just the heat and the vet said every cat owner said the same thing - their cats were eating a lot less! I'm just concerned now after reading that the consistently loose stool can be a sign of infection or inflammation. I really wouldn't call it diarrhea, and I found this chart (link below) that I think is really good, and I would say it's between pictures 3.5 and 4. Has anyone else experienced these or similar symptoms in their sphynx? I usually give him a daily spot clean with a wet wipe after he's done a poo, and sometimes there is a tiny bit of blood (bright red) on the wipe, which I read is common in cases of either constipation or diarrhea... Any thoughts or advise is welcome!

https://www.waltham.com/dyn/_assets/_pdfs/resources/FaecesQuality2.pdf
 

Yoda mom

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@Cinafina , please feel free to start your own thread :)
Each kitty can have similar but different circumstances
(Example - a little bought red vs dark red can help determine where the inflammation is coming from )
Also in my experiemce dewormers can cause a temporary poo change

You can call your vet with an update and see what they suggest



all of us can chime in on a new thread :)
 

Ruth

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I was going to start a new thread, but since the topic has been discussed somewhat in this one I thought I would add my own concern. Over the last few weeks my 7 month old Butchie's poo's have been getting increasingly stinky, loose and very light brown in colour. It seemed to start about the same time as the very hot weather and he has also been completely off any wet food. He still happily eats his dry food and drinks plenty of water, and he's very active and playful, same as ever. He was weighed at the vet a week ago before given his worming tablet and he's a normal healthy weight. I figured it was just the heat and the vet said every cat owner said the same thing - their cats were eating a lot less! I'm just concerned now after reading that the consistently loose stool can be a sign of infection or inflammation. I really wouldn't call it diarrhea, and I found this chart (link below) that I think is really good, and I would say it's between pictures 3.5 and 4. Has anyone else experienced these or similar symptoms in their sphynx? I usually give him a daily spot clean with a wet wipe after he's done a poo, and sometimes there is a tiny bit of blood (bright red) on the wipe, which I read is common in cases of either constipation or diarrhea... Any thoughts or advise is welcome!

https://www.waltham.com/dyn/_assets/_pdfs/resources/FaecesQuality2.pdf
Hello! In my case it seems to definitely have been a stress situation. My stitch is back to normal stool and I can’t be happier! But I would recommend taking a sample to vet. It sounds like the change in food can be a factor. The blood part would concern me. Good luck! Keep us posted!!
 
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