Diarrhea and feeding raw

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LauraFromTexas

Member Since 2017
Hi All, my 12 year old diabetic kitty has been on Dr Pierson's homemade/raw diet for nearly 2 years with no issues. She's been stable with her BG numbers. 3 weeks ago she started having diarrhea several times a day. $600 vet tests later (fecal, urine, blood work) nothing can be found other than high WBC counts (35,000). Did a round of antibiotics and fed her prescription Purina ProPlan EN wet cat food (bland diet according to vet). Her stools firmed up for about 2 weeks. Made a new batch of homemade/raw food and mixed part can part raw and after 1 day her stool was back to runny. I just don't understand what could be going on.

Anyone experience this? TIA!
 
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Is the meat and/or ingredients the same as the last batch? Meaning is the chicken, liver, whatever, from the same "lot" as before? The meat and liver, was is it new, or meat you had frozen from before? I would look for anything that was new to this batch and the previous batch. New supplements? One time Katie got diarrhea for no apparent reason and I made up a new batch from new chicken, I wouldnt use the chicken in the freezer I had used before, just in case.
 
Have you tried plain boiled pumpkin mixed in with the food?
That is a very high WCC. Did they know what caused it or just gave antibiotics?
 
It was all new fresh ingredients with the exception of the supplements. I fed it to her this morning and boom within a minute she was in her box and then threw up. So frustrating since of course I made a 3 month supply again! I've checked all the supplements and they have not expired but maybe they have gone bad? Maybe she has developed an allergy to egg? Can this come on suddenly I wonder? I can make her some scrambled eggs and see if that causes the reaction.

The vet could not determine the cause of the high WBC from the long and expensive list of testing she performed. So she prescribed antibiotics and a probiotic. The canned food they gave me firmed up the stool but I don't want to feed her that long term ($4 a day) and she basically just pooped it out.
 
Also her numbers were slightly elevated indicating possible mild pancreatitis. So maybe I need to reduce the fat in her food? I only use 1/2 of the chicken thigh skin in my batches.

Here is what I'm mixing up.
~20 lbs chicken thighs (50% skin, 30% bones removed)
24 oz chicken livers
12 eggs (scrambled)
6cups water
42 capsules fish oil (1200mg each with 360mg omega3)
7 capsules vitamin E (400 IU each)
12,000 mg Taurine
6 capsules Vitamin B complex
6 tsp mortin lite salt

Grind and mix it all up and freeze in 1 day containers.
 
Hmmmm...how weird. Obviously something is not agreeing with her. I know Katie has a similar violent reaction to dairy. Twice she accidentally licked a little milk or ice cream from a bowl and immediately threw up and had diarrhea, quite like you describe.
The eggs- are you giving them raw or cooking them? I know raw egg whites are bad for cats, not sure about cooked. I use only egg yolks. The only other thing I can think of is the fish oil. Fish oil can go rancid pretty easily, you should be able to tell by the smell. Have you used this brand of fish oil before? Did you sniff the capsules when you opened them? The other supplements should be okay I would think.
How is she doing now?
 
eggs are totally cooked, I even scrambled one today and gave it to her. No bad reaction. Maybe the food has too much skin in it now for her? The supplements all smell ok (the fish oil is nice and fishy lol). All the same brands other than the taurine. I'm going to try just cutting up a chicken thigh and see how she does (without skin). Then slowly add in the rest of the stuff one by one until I can figure this out. I just CAN NOT go back to canned food. The smell alone is horrendous to us!

She's been great today. I gave her the prescription canned food for dinner and no adverse issues so far. Thanks Katiesmom :) Somehow I'll get to the bottom of this!

Laura
 
Good luck! I know I couldn't go back to canned food, my girls have been eating raw nearly all their lives, for the last 12 years (they will be 14 and 15 this fall). I am surprised your girl didnt have adverse effects of canned. It's been years now, but the last time either of my girls had "cat" food they both puked. They can't even have freeze dried chicken anymore, it's raw all the way.
Keep me updated, please. I am quite curious as to what is happening with your girl. If I have any epiphanies, I will let you know!
 
Have you tried some slippery elm bark powder? That’s great for the alimentary tract. May settle things down if it’s further up the tract that’s causing the problem.
 
Just to give an update, I made a new batch of food with 80-90% skin removed and no eggs and within 2 weeks her stools were back to normal! yay!

@Bron and Sheba -- I ordered slippery elm bark powder, of course as soon as it arrived she pooped normally! lol! May I ask how you use it?
 
LauraFromTexas said:
Just to give an update, I made a new batch of food with 80-90% skin removed and no eggs and within 2 weeks her stools were back to normal! yay!

@Bron and Sheba -- I ordered slippery elm bark powder, of course as soon as it arrived she pooped normally! lol! May I ask how you use it?
Click to expand...
That’s great news. Are you adding a supplement to the meat?
For the SEB powder,
1/2 cup cold water
1 teaspoon SEB powder
Whisk together with fork
Bring to boil over heat, stirring all the time. Simmer softly for 1 minute then remove from heat. Store in glass jar in fridge for 5 to 7 days.
Give 1 teaspoon slurry 2 times a day in food.
Don’t give within 2 hours of any medications as it affects absorption.
You can double the ingredients if you want to make more.
That’s great poops are normal
 
Yes, I'm still adding the fish oil, taurine, Vit B complex and Vit E to it. Just eliminated the eggs and most of the skin. She's so skinny though so I feel like she needs more of the fat. But I believe she's got a bit of pancreatitis happening which is causing most of her issues.

Thanks for the info on the SEB. It should affect her insulin absorption, right?

Thanks!
Laura
 
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