Foster Kitty- poop issues...thoughts?

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carolynandlatte

carolynandlatte

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I was a total worry wart with Latte (and rightfully so, I still believe....most of the time ;-) ).

Now I have this foster and Im concerned about her poop!

She came to me about 5-6lbs overweight. Diet was 100% kibble, free fed. I slowly (at her pace) switched her to a diet of wellness chicken and turkey salmon. She gets no more than 4-6 temptation treats/day, along with some freeze dried chicken. She has been with me approx 2.5 months and on the wet food diet 7-8 weeks. She has successfully lost 1lb 8oz since her arrival, at a rate of approximately 2.5oz/week. She was 15lbs when she arrived. Goal= 9-10lbs.

The problem:
When she was on the dry food the first week or so, she was vomiting every few days. Her stools were very stinky, but looked good. She drank a lot of water.

Once she was on a completely wet diet the vomiting stopped. Her stools have changed, alternating between small/round/hard, normal, soft. I dont see her drinking any water. Im not sure if it looks lower in her bowl because its dry in here and evaporating, or if she is drinking when I am not looking. She feels well hydrated, but I will admit its hard to check because she is big and wont sit still very long. A few weeks ago she had diahrea on a rug, followed by a normal poo hanging from her bottom. It was sad to see her have a hard time getting it off because she is so round. I was hissed and nipped at when I tried to help. *sigh* Yesterday after using the LB, I noticed her trying to cover up something on a rug. When I went to look it was a nickel to quarter size of bloody mucus. Im assuming this came from her back end either before or after using the LB. This ReALLY concerns me!!!

Latte had IBD, and I cant help but fear this cat has the beginnings of it. What else could cause issues like this? Could the food really be doing this to her, despite it being of better quality? She does not seem stressed or unwell. She is happy to eat (all the time, if I let her! :smile: ). She had all her shots and got a clean bill of health when she was brought to the shelter. No other cats she has contact with in this house.

I am bringing her to the vet tomorrow. Its a vet designated by the shelter, so I have no idea what to expect. They want a fecal sample, if I can get it. Anything else I should ask for? Questions I should address? You'd think I would know what to do after all I went through with Latte. But I knew HER, and HER issues. I dont know anything about other cats. :? I want to make sure as long as Duchess (the foster) is in my care, she gets the same good care Latte received - both from the vets and myself.

Thanks for any thoughts on what might be going on.
And, please...any positive vibes to make this visit easy on her would be appreciated. She is a very good girl and showing more trust toward me. I fear something like getting her in a carrier and taking her to the vet may set her back a little. I hope Im not over reacting by bringing her in.
 
Why not just bring in a stool sample first and let them run tests on that? Then if they find she does have something and needs meds, you can treat her first, do another stool sample, etc. before you have to bring her back in.
 
The bloody mucous in the stool could sound suspicious for IBD, but after only a few abnormal episodes, it may be early to tell, or if you try something to treat it, it may be hard to tell if it is being effective or not. The vet may try to suggest a hypo allergenic diet, or some prescription diet. The idea is to feed a novel protein source, in case there are food sensitivities. I don't know if you want to down that prescription diet road, but you might want to brace for the discussion.

The fecal will probably be tested for ova and parasites, but not necessarily for Giardia. You can ask about that.

Have you tried adding water to her food?

I have never tried it, but I think some have added fiber to the diet with pumpkin. If she is having trouble going, and burst a small blood vessel, that might have caused some bleeding. I wonder if trying her on some Miralax might help.

The vet may also suggest a course of treatment with metronidazole (flagyl). This might be worth trying. Tylosin is another med that might be tried. I hope they don't suggest steroid treatment right off the bat.

As long as she is there, you may as well get a good set of bloodwork done, just to make sure she is on good health overall. Has her FeLV/FIV status ever been checked?

If the problem persists or worsens, and IBD is suspected, then you may be looking at scoping or biopsies down the road. Hopefully, this is nothing. It sounds like she is making great progress. I hope she doesn't get too upset over the trip to the vet.
 
Well, poo! ;-) Why didnt I think of bringing a stool sample and leaving her home?!?! Duh! ohmygod_smile Her appt is set up for 10am. *if* I can get a stool sample by then I may call the shelter and see if they would agree to that. When I made the appt they said if I couldnt get a sample they would try to do it there. I dont like that idea so much at this point. :YMSIGH:

Linda, thank you so much for the great suggestions. As you know, Latte's IBD symptoms included more vomiting and innapetance, with VERY occassional liquid poo. So, some of this is a little foreign to me.

I will make sure to ask for the tests you suggested.

I do have some venison, rabbit, and duck left from latte's food stash. depending on what they think I could try switching her food. Now that she is used to the wet food, she may be more open to different flavors. Once I found something she liked, I didnt want to rock the boat.

I will ask about miralax. Ive thought about it, but wanted to watch how things were going for her before asking. Since she is not technically my cat, I dont really know what I can just do and what I need permission for. Pumpkin is a good idea, too. Again...was not sure as a foster what is allowed and what is not in regards to treating problems. guess this is a good time to clarify.

She does get a lot of water mixed with her food. I was so excited to have a cat that I could just open a can, dump it in the bowl and have them eat. Well, it wasnt that easy. I slowly ended up with her pretty much only accepting the wet food as latte did...blended with a food processor and lots of water.

Her labs were normal upon her arrival. However, I did not see them. It was the word of the vet passed on through the old foster mom. I do know she has all her shots (except rabies) and was tested for FeLV/FIV, which came back negative. The only vet experience I have had is the clinic I went to with Latte. They were very good, informing me well, and letting me make decisions. Im a little nervous the place I have to take her will not be as open to this type of practice. I will try to get copies of any labs/tests they run.

I would not be supportive to just throw her on steroids. I think you know you dont have to worry about that. ;-)

I question my urgency to get her in tomorrow because she is acting just fine (eating, playing, grooming, etc). Yet, I fear some sudden crisis because I dragged my feet. I hope my decision and timing is appropriate w/o causing her too much stress. I have spoken to her about it. Surprisingly she seemed to listen (she never listens to me! :lol: ).

Can a 2yr old cat REALLY develop IBD?!?!?!

I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks again!
 
They couldn't use the sample I brought. Decided to give her another dewormer in case what she got in May didn't get everything. Brought home fortiflora and will pick up some pumpkin today. If problems persist after a month we can look at tests. I thought that was a reasonable approach. Vet felt her diet was changed properly and she is lucky to be getting high quality food/treats. Depending on what she ate as a stray, he felt it may be too rich for her and take a little longer to adjust.

She was very stressed. This vet was 30 minutes away and she had open mouth breathing all the way there. I didn't know she could talk so much, either. She tried to bite when they trimmed her extra claw so had to put an e collar on during the process. She took the dewormer well.

She was glued to my side and lap, not wanting anyone else to touch her. I will take that as a compliment since she is not a lap cat. Apparently she does know me as her human for the time being.

Poor thing shed so much and her velvety, soft fur is filled with dandruff. She is currently working hard to correct that.

Fingers crossed the fortiflora and pumpkin will be enough to help correct the issue and she will remain a very healthy kitty for many yrs to come.
 
I have not had problems with Shadoe since adding water to her food and giving sprinkles of the fortiflora. If I let her, she'd eat ONLY the fortiflora!
If I ever see she is getting a bit hard, I add some restoralax and extra water to soften her stool.
If I see that Ollie's stool is not moving fast, I help it along with water and restoralax.

When Ollie was super loose, vet gave us tylosin and it seemed to help, along with the fortiflora.
 
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