Feline diaherra

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crissyb

Member Since 2010
I couldn't find anything on diarrhea so here's my story!

My cat, Cairo, is around 10 years old. Several months ago I had to change his food from dry to wet. The reason for changing his food is because our other cat, Ezra, is diabetic! They are both on the Fancy Feast low carb foods. Anyway, Cairo developed very runny stool. We took him to our vet and she tested him. All was well. She said to put pumpkin on his food. This has been somewhat successful. However, Cairo will rebel and not eat the pumpkin on occasion. Then he is a mess! Does anyone have any suggestions for a natural cure. The vet said there is some medication we can give him, but I really don't want to do that unless absolutely necessary. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions!

By the way, we have been able to control Ezra's BGL with diet alone since Aug. 2009 after 3 month on lantus!
 
I would recommend miralax, about 1/8 tsp mixed into food.

It's a people product, and available at the food store and pharmacy. Go online and you may even find a coupon for it.
 
> However, Cairo will rebel and not eat the pumpkin on occasion.

We had to give pumpkin to our Gwyn for a while, and sometimes she would refuse to eat it as well, which was very frustrating for both of us. Especially when we did something like withdraw all of her other food unless she ate the pumpkin-contaminated food, because she would still refuse to eat it -- at the very most, she'd take a nibble or two and then completely refuse it.

Now, after we opened the pumpkin, we'd put a cover on the can and put it in the fridge. Even so, maybe a week later, the pumpkin would start turning moldy. What we eventually figured out was that Gwyn would start refusing to eat the pumpkin-food a couple of days before the pumpkin in the fridge went moldy. Given that cat's taste-buds are infinitely superior to our own (and significantly better than my eyes), we realised that Gwyn could detect that the pumpkin was turning bad and refusing to eat the mold-contaminated food.

So -- are you storing your open pumpkin in the fridge? If so, I would suggest throwing your current can out and opening a fresh can. Spread the pumpkin in an ice cube tray and freeze it. When solidly frozen, pop the pumpkin-cubes into a ziploc bag and defrost one in the fridge each night. That keeps the pumpkin from going bad.


I would not recommend Miralax for diarrhea. Metamucil can sometimes help with diarrhea, sometimes not.

If this is an ongoing problem, you may want to ask your vet whether they think B-12 injections may help. B-12 absorption is often inhibited in cats with gastrointestinal problems and increasing the B-12 available can help aid digestion. Most folks start with the TAMU protocol here http://www.cvm.tamu.edu/gilab/research/cobalamin.shtml and adjust it to their needs.
 
> I have Miralax in the house so I will try that first.

I recommended against Miralax because I've not seen anything about using it to treat diarrhea; I've only ever seen it used to treat constipation, with the soemtimes side effect of causing diarrhea. Are folks truly using it for diarrhea?
 
2 of the posts recommended trying Miralax. I guess I will call the Vet before I do anything! I will post the vet's suggestions after I speak with her.
 
I would not recommend Miralax for diarrhea.
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I agree.

Miralax is used for constipation, not diarrhea.

Also, consider using a food without wheat gluten. Most FF contain wheat gluten.
 
I have a list of FF that does not contain wheat gluten. That is all my cats eat. My vet says it is probably is age and he is not able to tolerate wet food very well. The big problem is my other cat is diabetic. They share food and it is hard to separate them at feeding time so that compounds the problem!
 
[quotenot able to tolerate wet food very well][/quote]

Unfortunately, some people come to this conclusion - to the detriment of the patient. I have never met a cat yet that benefited from dry over canned for diarrhea.

I am making these general statements based on years of experience watching my colleagues switch diarrhea patients from canned to dry food and this is simply not a good answer.

Again, these comments are general and I am not inferring that this is what (switching back to dry) your vet is suggesting.
 
The vet suggested changing to a senior cat food which is highter in fiber. I have not found any that is low carb though! I am really reluctant to change food because the diabetic cat is doing so well on the FF. He has not had insulin since August of '09.

I do appreciate the information everyone is sharing.
 
The vet suggested changing to a senior cat food which is highter in fiber.
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While fiber *may* help *some* cases of colitis, this is rarely a good fix for the root cause of the diarrhea.

Cats are not designed to eat high fiber diets - they are not cows or horses.
 
I agree with your statement. I just don't want to have to put the cat on medication if there is another alternative! I am going to try to speak with my vet tomorrow.
 
crissyb,

what FF does NOT have wheat gluten? i can't find any. our cat Spriggan has IBD and was diabetic but OTJ since late October 09 mainly we think b/c of the switch from dry to a canned diet. but his IBD flared recently and i'm trying to figure out why. trying to eliminate every possible allergen we can think of, and wheat gluten just may be one.

thanks.

Elena&Spriggy
 
The list is on this website. http://www.felinediabetes.com/diabetic-cat-diets.htm.

Tender Beef Feast (brown label color)
Tender Beef & Liver Feast (magenta)
Tender Beef & Chicken Feast (red)
Gourmet Chicken Feast (dark pink...be careful, this looks just like another chicken variety with gluten!)
Turkey & Giblets Feast (olive green)
Tender Liver & Chicken Feast (orange)
Chopped Grill Feast (kelly green)
Flaked Fish & Shrimp Feast (true blue)
Savory Salmon Feast (orange)
Flaked Ocean Fish Feast (pink)
Tuna and Oceanfish Feast in Aspic (teal label)
 
what about trying a raw diet?

my late Kitty had a very mild case of IBD and her most prominent symptom was chronic diarhea. the vet put her on raw rabbit and the diarhea cleared up within 24 hours. as long as she had a little bit each day, the diarhea was kept at bay. and a proper raw diet is good for a diabetic too.
 
Thanks for the lists! remembered seeing it but couldn't remember where!!!! will try this to see if eliminating wheat gluten has any effect.

Elena&Spriggy
 
crissyb said:
I agree with your statement. I just don't want to have to put the cat on medication if there is another alternative!
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Most of the time there IS another alternative and it involves a proper diet - not necessarily drugs.
 
Re: Feline diarrhea

how long has the cat had diarrhea? I am assuming since the food change, but how long has that been?

Cats do get digestive upset when they eat one kind or type of food for long periods of time and then are changed to a new food, which is why it is often recommended to do a very slow transition when changing foods. Sometimes adding only a tablespoon of the new food and taking a table spoon away for each change, but generally doing 1/4 new to 3/4 old, then half and half, etc. Waiting and watching output to be stable for a few days before doing a new increase in food.

I fed three different types of food to my six cats (I now have eight cats and they are all on raw) for a while. Just herded the right cats behind the right doors for 20-30 minutes, then picked up all the food. If you feel that your kitty would benefit from being reintroduced to the old food you could try this.

I foster a lot, and I often get mother cats with diarrhea due to finally getting "cat food" instead of what ever they were eating outside. I find pumpkin helps, as does full fat plain yogurt (or low fat if you can't find full fat, just make sure the ingredient list is pure) because of the probiotics. You can buy plain ol probiotics if you are reluctant to introduce a milk based product to your cat. You can find them at most health food stores.

I know you said your cats only eat "cat food" but have you tried chunks of raw meat? Cats who weren't introduced to raw meat as kittens and grew up with out it are reluctant, but sometimes they might surprise you. raw chicken breast is a huge hit at my house, as is hamburger. You could even fry up a little of the hamburger to see if they like it warmer.. or you could try mixing the ground meat into the cat food..

Connie
 
Re: Feline diarrhea

Connie,

Thanks for the advice. Cairo has had runny stool since last May when I changed his food. Currently, I am feeding him pumpkin with his food. I will again try meat. I did try yogurt and he wanted no part of it. I bought some powder that was supposed to be probiotics. Both cats loved it but it didn't do any good. The pumpkin has been moderately successful, but his stool is still too runny. He has days when he refuses to eat the pumpkin. Then he is a mess.

I should add that Cairo is very high strung, insecure and nervous. We adopted him and another cat (Ezra) from out niece when they were ages 2 & 3. Before we took them, the cats had moved several different times. i don't think Cairo adjusted well to all of the moves. Although we have had the cats for a long time, I don't think Cairo ever got over his insecurities!
 
May? wow.

I am assuming you had several stool samples in at different times testing for internal parasites.. If you haven't done more then one, it might not be a bad idea to test again because not all parasites shed all the time.

I had one foster mom have diarrhea constantly and the holistic vet recommended cooked white fish or cooked pork.

but since it has been so long you could be looking at IBD.. and that I am not really experienced in but have heard that raw helps - which you have already tried.

c
 
I see that I was one of the people who provided incorrect information. I am sorry that I further confused the situation, but I didn't take the time to read through the post and what was being asked.

Everyone else is correct, that use of miralax is to help loosen the stool and make things flow better. Obviously for a diarrhhea situation, the cat is already flowing and doesn't need more assistance.

What you are looking for is something that you can use to stop diarrhea and I do have a couple suggestions on natural remedies that may help.

Adding a probiotic to the food can be helpful for any cat and this isn't just directed for diarhea or constipation or anything like that.

Additionally, Maui has IBD and she had major diarhea issues for months, prior to FD diagnosis. I tried everything and nothing worked, except finally coming here and learning to change from dry to wet food.

Then she still had issues and it was suggested to try slippery elm bark. Now, I'll give you the recipe for this, but you need to understand that this is a temporary solution and can only be given once a day for a MAXIMUM of 3 days - because it could then cause the opposite problem - constipation:

So, go to vitamin shoppe or some place similar and pick up capsule form of this (400 mg - I think) - make sure it's the only ingredient. The stuff is very sticky.

Take one capsule, and empty only the small portion of the capsule into a dish.

Add 1 spoon of baby food or canned food she likes.

Then add lots of water and mix until it's a soupy puree

Then feed to cat.

This is a natural remedy that should help slow and stop the diarhea.

I hope this helps and apologize for not reading this post thoroughly and providing incorrect information
 
Hillary & Maui

Thanks for the correction. I have tried the probiotics but that didn't work either. I honestly think my cat has a mental problem that is causing his physical problem, much like people!
I think he needs a cat psychiatrist. Even the Vet can't get over the way he acts!

Anyway, I am going to try a little boiled chicken mixed with his food along with the pumpkin to see if that may help. I am reluctant to make drastic changes because of the diabetic cat. Don't want to upset the apple cart! If this doesn't work, I will try your remedy.

Again, Thanks
 
crissyb said:
I honestly think my cat has a mental problem that is causing his physical problem, much like people! I think he needs a cat psychiatrist.
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If you truly think that, perhaps you should speak to Cairo through an animal communicator.
 
Most of them do their sessions via phone. The one I used handled it that way. the initial communications - to set it up was via email and the actual session was done on the phone.
 
Give me a break, an animal communicator? I really have better things to do with my money. We love our cats and are very much aware of the problems, both mental and physical. We give them more love and attention than most pets receive. Between the two cats, we have spent hundreds of dollars on treating their medical conditions. Cairo has been high strung and nervous for as long as we have had him (10 years). He has survived this long and seems happy most of the time. He is my pet, not my child. I draw the line on spending my money on an animal communicator!
 
there are some people out there who truly can communicate with animals. I can understand not wanting to spend money on such "quackery" but there are people out there who have truly been helped by an a/c.

If you don't want to spend money but do want to look into it, there is a yahoo group for people who want to communicate with animals. I have asked for help there a few times for foster cats who were scared out of their gourd. Both times the cats had noticable improvements after the postings. Not black and white was scared and then not scared, but there was improvement. go to groups.yahoo.com and search animal communication.

As for the other suggestion of slippery elm bark, I've used that recently and saw some improvement in some fosters. I learned about it in the yahoo group wholecathealth Some very holistic members who think outside the box and might be able to give you some new otc products to try.
 
I am open minded about animal communications. Could you give me a specific web address for both the communication and the wellness forums? I seem to be having trouble finding anything.
 
If you believe that stress is part of the problem, perhaps you might try a Feliway diffuser in the room(s) where he spends the most time. Some folks also swear by the Bach Flowere Essences, though I haven't used them.

Also, if the nervous temperment is possibly part of the problem, maybe discuss using Prozac or something similar with the vet.
 
Parasites were brought up. Has he been checked for all of them? My Emme can Giardia and it took quite a few visits with lots of stool samples to pin down the cause of her diarrhea.

Giardia can be very hard to diagnose. The cysts can be identified in a fecal smear under a microscope. Since cysts are shed in stools sporadically, several different fecal samples may be needed for a positive identification. Special stains may be needed, as the organism can sometimes be elusive.


Another possibility is food allergies. Before we got the correct cause of Emme's diarrhea, we did a limited food trial eliminating all poultry and beef. We used Natural Balance L.I.D. Duck and Green Pea as well as Venison and Green Pea. I'm sure there are other brands with unique proteins.
 
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