Blackie Still Has Diarrhea

Status
Not open for further replies.
Angela & Blackie & 3 Others

Angela & Blackie & 3 Others

Very Active Member
And it's been over 2 weeks now. She was put on the Fancy Feast Classic pate (first chicken, then turkey & giblets) since Tuesday, June 22nd. I know that in the beginning, an immediate switch from 1 food to the next would cause this problem. But for this long? She's been on psyllium capsules since June 26th (3x a day... 1 with each meal), and I thought they'd be helping but not now. I'd like to see her at least process some of the food that she's eating, not going through her little body like this.

I'm very concerned.
 
Maybe you should try a different type of food at this point. The Fancy Feast may not agree with her stomach.

I'm no expert on diarrhea, just a thought.
 
That's what I was thinking, Laurie. It may be too rich for her, or something. It was a nice switch, though from the crap that she was eating.

Do I need to do a gradual switch over, or can I just simply feed her like normal with the new one? I've got Friskies in my cupboard that I normally give the other ones.
 
I really don't know what to advise you on how to switch over. When Tinkles was diagnosed, I did an immediate switch, all at once, to Fancy Feast (from dry food) and only one of my cats had any problem, and it was mild....slightly looser stool for a day, then no further issues. I would guess that since she's already having problems, a switch could improve things for her...so maybe just giving her the new food all at once might be ok? Like I said, I'm no expert, I haven't had to deal with this problem so I'm not much help...
 
Angela i'm sure many cats here have had diarrhea problems...apparently just not us! Why not post in health about it and see if anyone there can be of help. I'm sure SOMEONE has experience in this.
Lori
 
Angela,

Sorry if I'm confused here, but psyllium capsules are for constipation in humans. If you are trying to stop diarrhea, why are you giving psyllium capsules ?

If you want to stop diarrhea in a cat, get some Fortiflora from your vet. It comes in little packets, one per day that get sprinkled onto the food. It is very tasty and sometimes I use it to entice my civie to eat. It has probiotics and restores the natural bacteria in the intestinal tract, which help digest food and assist nutrient absorption. It is for antibiotic induced diarrhea.
 
Nancy and Cody said:
Angela,

Sorry if I'm confused here, but psyllium capsules are for constipation in humans. If you are trying to stop diarrhea, why are you giving psyllium capsules ?

If you want to stop diarrhea in a cat, get some Fortiflora from your vet. It comes in little packets, one per day that get sprinkled onto the food. It is very tasty and sometimes I use it to entice my civie to eat. It has probiotics and restores the natural bacteria in the intestinal tract, which help digest food and assist nutrient absorption. It is for antibiotic induced diarrhea.
Click to expand...

Psyllium is used to bulk up stool - works for constipation AND diarrhea. :-) Very helpful for IBS, and IDB, too.
It is also helpful for those with cholesterol issues and often even helps to lower blood sugar.
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/psyllium-000321.htm

~M
 
Angela & Blackie & 8 Others said:
I just called the vet, and they don't sell the Fortiflora. They suggested I give her either Imodium AD, or Kaopectate, 2 tsps. BID.

Never heard of this before.
Click to expand...

Angela,

Is it soft stool - like pudding, or soft serve ice cream....?? Or actually watery diarrhea?

If soft serve, try the probios and continue with the fiber caplets. Consider another food for her.

Frequent watery, runny stool is a different matter entirely and needs prompt management to avoid dehydration.


I would steer clear of Kaopectate - aspirin has been added to the formula and aspirin is TOXIC to cats.
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... 8&aid=3016
http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.ht ... &pst=70701

Loperamide, (Immodium AD), can also be dangerous to use in cats. What is your vet thinking??
http://www.petplace.com/drug-library/lo ... page1.aspx
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... 9&aid=1432

If Blackie is having runny, watery diarrhea, then she might benefit from a dose of Pro-Pectalin.
http://www.entirelypets.com/propectalin30cc.html But the gel DOES HAVE SUGAR IN IT

Possibly the tablets would be a better fit instead: http://www.petstruly.com/3120.html

~M
 
I would definitely try different foods. If you switch suddenly they can have issues for a couple days, but it should clear up after that. If the food doesn't agree with them though, then you will see the ongoing problems. Almost all of my kitties have had problems with one food or another over the years, some with specific brands, some with what looks like specific protein sources that don't work well for them. If you haven't seen problems like this in the past then my first suspicion is the food.

There are various things that can be prescribed or bought OTC to deal with it, but if it's atypical for her to me it makes the most sense to change the food. If it started when you put her on this food & she didn't have problems before, that seems to me the obvious culprit.

When I switched Bix over to canned I tried probably 7 different brands and various flavors before settling on what seems to work best for him. Of course he has IBD so is more prone to "issues" but even during the trials some of my civies would have problems with one or another food.

Normally you want to switch gradually, but if you suspect the food is causing problems then you would want to switch immediately to something else, to get away from that food. Although the new food could cause problems of course, if the old one is, there's no point IMO to a gradual transition - her system is already messed up, and sticking with a food that looks to be disagreeing with her isn't going to help her, it's just going to perpetuate the problem.

Hope she is feeling better really soon!!!!! :-D
 
p.s. I don't know why, but one of my civies had major problems with the FF Turkey & Giblets. She does great on Wellness Turkey, so it can't be the turkey. She has mild IBD though, so is more sensitive than most other cats. Made her massively ill though, sicker than any other foods ever have. :( My other civies did fine on it though, and everyone did well on the FF Chicken except the big guy, Mr. Bixie. Probably unrelated since ECID most definitely applies with foods, but thought I'd mention it...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top