Need help, poor Jax still dealing with Diarrhea.

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Nick&Jax

Nick&Jax

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Good morning everyone,

I have posted about this issue with Jax on here before. Thankfully my sweet boy is in remission with his diabetes. Unfortunately ever since his diagnoses and switching to high protein, low carb kibble he has had constant severe diarrhea. And just about every time he goes to the bathroom he gets it all over himself and tracks it all over my house. And gets mad at me when I try to clean him up and even attacks me at times.

He’s been so good and has been doing so good with his diabetes and now this issue is the biggest issue. I am at my wits end and just don’t know what to do. I have tried the Saccharimyces Boulardii + MOS probiotics with zero luck and zero change in his diarrhea issue. He is still free fed his kibble so it’s very difficult for me to get enough of the probiotic in his system quickly enough. I’ve been sprinkling 7-8 capsules on his half a cup of food that he eats a day. He eats almost all of it everyday with no change. I know dry food isn’t the best. I have fancy feast classic pate in the cupboard. I mixed in a quarter can in with a quarter cup of his kibble this morning and he ate some of it. And licked a bunch of the pate. I take that as a good sign and I’m going to keep trying to transition him to the pate. I just don’t know what else to do and I can’t handle this anymore physically and mentally. I feel disgusting and gross in my own home. I can’t keep up with everything he gets dirty from tracking it all over the house. I know I should probably call the vet but I am posting here in hopes for some more direction in what to do. Thank you everyone.
 
What dry food are you feeding? I know there is one of the low carb dry foods that can cause diarrhoea in some cats. I’m going to tag @Diane Tyler's Mom as I think she will know what dry food it is.
When you tried the SBoulardii to stop the diarrhoea, how many times a day did you give it?

It is very hard when they track the mess through the house. Can you restrict him to an area until it gets sorted out ?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
What dry food are you feeding? I know there is one of the low carb dry foods that can cause diarrhoea in some cats. I’m going to tag @Diane Tyler's Mom as I think she will know what dry food it is.
When you tried the SBoulardii to stop the diarrhoea, how many times a day did you give it?

It is very hard when they track the mess through the house. Can you restrict him to an area until it gets sorted out ?
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I am currently feeding Dr. Elseys clean protein kibble. I was warned/told the HP, LC dry kibble can cause smelly poops and or diarrhea. I was just hoping Jax would adjust to this food better since this food helped his BG numbers so well. But it’s actually gotten worse.

It was technically once a day. Grumpy/picky Jax has been free fed his whole life. So getting him to consume enough of the S.Boulardii was really tough. I’ve recently started doing an am and pm feedings. He acts like he’s starving, and once I feed him he only takes a couple of bites. And wants to come back a couple hours later for more. So it’s difficult to get his system coated with S.boulardii.

I’ve thought about that. He would probably lose his mind if I cut him off in a separate room in the house.

But as of yesterday I am starting to transition him to FreshPet chicken recipe with vegetables and eggs. The cross between canned food and dry kibble. It stays in the refrigerator and smells really good. And he seems to really enjoy it. So I’m really hoping that helps his situation.
 
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Deborah & Muffy(GA) & Wendall said:
Have you tried adding fiber like plain canned pumpkin (not pie filling) or unflavored psyllium? Some cats love pumpkin right out of the can.

There's also a dried pumpkin called Firm Up:
https://www.chewy.com/diggin-your-dog-firm-up-pumpkin-super/dp/130965

Pro-Pectalin is an anti-diarrheal:
https://www.chewy.com/vetoquinol-pro-pectalin-diarrhea/dp/109721
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I have not tried pumpkin yet. I might try and order some of that to give it a try. I really appreciate the suggestions.
The other day I actually ordered that Pro-Pectalin the other day and crushed up half a tablet and put it on his food. So I am glad to have it suggested here.
I also made the decision to try and switch his food to FreshPet chicken recipe with vegetables and eggs. The cross between canned food and dry kibble. It’s a softer food that’s refrigerated. He actually seems to really enjoy it. Which helped him eat the whole crushed up tablet of Pro-Pectalin. So fingers crossed that combination helps the situation.
 
Do you think he is nauseated? If he only eats a few mouthfuls, he could be.
Is the new food nutritionally complete? He doesn’t need vegetables. They can have carbs and cats don’t need vegetables. What vegetables are they in the mix?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Do you think he is nauseated? If he only eats a few mouthfuls, he could be.
Is the new food nutritionally complete? He doesn’t need vegetables. They can have carbs and cats don’t need vegetables. What vegetables are they in the mix?
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I’m not sure? I mean it’s more than just a couple bites. He just doesn’t gobble his food down like some cats.

And it’s basically just spinach and carrots. Here is the ingredients list:

Chicken, Chicken Liver, Natural Flavors, Pea Protein, Eggs, Carrots, Pea Fiber, Vinegar, Spinach, Salt, Beta-Carotene, Fish Oil, Taurine, Celery Powder.

I believe this food was listed on the updated food chart. Unless I read it wrong.
 
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Nick&Jax said:
I’m not sure? I mean it’s more than just a couple bites. He just doesn’t gobble his food down like some cats.

And it’s basically just spinach and carrots. Here is the ingredients list:
Chicken, Chicken Liver, Natural Flavors, Pea Protein, Eggs, Carrots, Pea Fiber, Vinegar, Spinach, Salt, Beta-Carotene, Fish Oil, Taurine, Celery Powder.
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Have you checked the carb content of the food? Pea protein and pea fiber would be high carb I would think. I just don’t know why people think when they manufacture food for cats, they have to include all those vegetables. I wonder if it is to please the humans because cats simply do not need vegetables in their food. As he is now in remission, you don’t want to feed him food that has high carb in it.
Do you have time to make his food and add a supplement that makes it a complete food nutritionally?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Have you checked the carb content of the food? Pea protein and pea fiber would be high carb I would think. I just don’t know why people think when they manufacture food for cats, they have to include all those vegetables. I wonder if it is to please the humans because cats simply do not need vegetables in their food. As he is now in remission, you don’t want to feed him food that has high carb in it.
Do you have time to make his food and add a supplement that makes it a complete food nutritionally?
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From what I saw on the food chart it said 4%. But maybe I messed up and read the wrong part of the chart or misunderstood how the chart works.
It’s just very frustrating when I am alone in this and have zero help and very little knowledge about this. Spend countless hours on the computer trying to figure out what’s best for him and then something like this happens. I didn’t know about the vegetables. I am glad to know and hear about that now.
Back to the drawing board to figure out what to feed him.
 
Before you change foods, I would try and find out from the manufacturer what the carb content was of the food.
I just looked up pea protein and it is about 5.5% carbs…I thought it was higher.
And spinach and carrots have lower carbs than a lot of vegetables.
Have you noticed the BG is any higher since using this food?
Nick&Jax said:
From what I saw on the food chart it said 4%. But maybe I messed up and read the wrong part of the chart or misunderstood how the chart works.
Click to expand...
can you copy and paste this chart for us to see.?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Before you change foods, I would try and find out from the manufacturer what the carb content was of the food.
I just looked up pea protein and it is about 5.5% carbs…I thought it was higher.
And spinach and carrots have lower carbs than a lot of vegetables.
Have you noticed the BG is any higher since using this food?

can you copy and paste this chart for us to see.?
Click to expand...


I was able to reach out to the manufacturer and they got back to me very quickly. Here is what they told me:
Below is the Carbohydrate content of the Vital Grain Free Chicken recipe with Antioxidant-Rich Vegetables & Eggs

-3.4% as fed and 8.7% dry matter.

I’m not sure what the difference is between as fed and dry matter. But I am assuming those are pretty good numbers?
8.7% is a little high but that is at least below 10%?
 
I am glad they got back to you so quickly. That sounds all ok. I’m very relieved.
I would just monitor the BG daily for a week to see that there is no change.
How is the diarrhoea now and the appetite? .
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
I am glad they got back to you so quickly. That sounds all ok. I’m very relieved.
I would just monitor the BG daily for a week to see that there is no change.
How is the diarrhoea now and the appetite? .
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Yeah I was glad as well for them emailing me back so quickly. They gave me numbers for all the other foods they offer as well.
That is a good idea. I will definitely be checking his BG numbers to be safe.

There is actually improvement. I have no way of knowing if it is the new food or the Pro-Pectalin. But he has only had one bowel movement today instead of several like the past few days. And it wasn’t watery this time. It was definitely firmer and firm enough that he didn’t get it all over himself. And he seems to really like the food. I’ve been doing 1/4 cup feedings twice a day for now (Dr. Elseys mixed with Freshpet) and now he’s been eating the entire 1/4 within the first hour. Which he usually doesn’t do. So paws crossed and knock on wood that both the new food and Pro-Pectalin works this all out.
 
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