Diarrhea-both cats
Diarrhea-both cats
Just wondering what the standard treatment is to try to find cause of soft stools/diarrhea in my kitties. No other symptons as kitties are acting totally normal other than the poop issue. Hooties was noticed about three weeks ago. I saw a little blood and somthing that looked like mucus tissue in his stool. Took him to the vet with stool sample. No ova no gardia. Doctor prescribed amforol. Did not work. Doctor gave forti flora, did not work. Now, three weeks later little Cheech has soft stool, diarrhea. Doctor put both cats on panacur, recommended prednisone but I refused the prednisone as my own experience with prednisone, I don't like the side effects. Cats have been on panacur three days and no improvement. Doctor has not requested additional stool samples and I feel like he is just playing some kind of guessing game and I'm not happy about it. I am going to make appointment with another vet but just wondering what the usual method of finding a cause and treatment is. Thanks for your help.
Re: Diarrhea-both cats
The first question, is what are you feeding them? And, have you changed or switched the diet recently?
Are you feeding any raw foods?
Are you giving supplements?
Blood and mucous in the stool can indicate stress, but most often, indicate the diet is not tolerable in some way, whether it is a certain ingredient or combination thereof, or that it might be tainted. Did the vet even discuss this?
Amforol is not a preferred choice for cats, since it contains bismuth, most have salicylates in them, toxic for cats. Also, it should never be given to pets with dehydration or kidney disease, or very young or very aged animals.
The better choice might have been flagyl or albon. But, since so many medications have been prescribed your cats in a relatively short time frame, ideally, the GI tracts need a short break. Still, flagyl or albon could be considered. If either or both cats are dehydrated, the vet must be very careful in dosing ANYTHING and make sure the dehydration is not serious enough to warrant kidney problems with some medications.
The next step in testing is a fecal culture, preferrably samples from both cats. A fecal float or smear (most likely what your vet performed), isn't specific to identify various forms of bacteria; clostridium, camphylobacter, salmonella or even toxoplasmosis should all be tested for.
The diet needs to be evaluated for intolerance of one or more ingredients, or lack of proper formulation, or potential tainting, like aflatoxin, or as an example, the recent Nutro recalls due to excessive zinc and deficient phosphorus levels, etc.
Are you feeding any raw foods?
Are you giving supplements?
Blood and mucous in the stool can indicate stress, but most often, indicate the diet is not tolerable in some way, whether it is a certain ingredient or combination thereof, or that it might be tainted. Did the vet even discuss this?
Amforol is not a preferred choice for cats, since it contains bismuth, most have salicylates in them, toxic for cats. Also, it should never be given to pets with dehydration or kidney disease, or very young or very aged animals.
The better choice might have been flagyl or albon. But, since so many medications have been prescribed your cats in a relatively short time frame, ideally, the GI tracts need a short break. Still, flagyl or albon could be considered. If either or both cats are dehydrated, the vet must be very careful in dosing ANYTHING and make sure the dehydration is not serious enough to warrant kidney problems with some medications.
The next step in testing is a fecal culture, preferrably samples from both cats. A fecal float or smear (most likely what your vet performed), isn't specific to identify various forms of bacteria; clostridium, camphylobacter, salmonella or even toxoplasmosis should all be tested for.
The diet needs to be evaluated for intolerance of one or more ingredients, or lack of proper formulation, or potential tainting, like aflatoxin, or as an example, the recent Nutro recalls due to excessive zinc and deficient phosphorus levels, etc.
..........Traci
Re: Diarrhea-both cats
Traci...Cats eat fancy feast turkey and giblets and royal canin adult cat food. Know your not a fan of this food but they like it. No raw food and no supplements. No recent diet changes.
Doctor did test the stool sample I initially gave him but I don't think it was anything in depth. Sounds like a fecal culture is more involved than just the fecal float or smear. What is the difference and can you think of any reason the doctor wouldn't recommend this?
Doctor did test the stool sample I initially gave him but I don't think it was anything in depth. Sounds like a fecal culture is more involved than just the fecal float or smear. What is the difference and can you think of any reason the doctor wouldn't recommend this?
Re: Diarrhea-both cats
A culture is more specific for those things I mentioned, like camphylobacter, clostridium, salmonella, e-coli, toxo. The float is more specific for parasitic infections, not necessarily bacteria. The smear might show some bacteria but it won't neccessarily tell you what type of bacteria. When treatment involves more than a couple different antibiotics and there is no improvement, then a culture is the next step, it just might identify something else that your vet might be missing.
Can you remind me how old each of the two cats are, and when was their last bloodwork?
Have you been feeding the same flavor/variety of the Fancy Feast? I ask because maybe the turkey and giblets are just too rich for their GI tract....maybe try a chicken or whitefish flavor instead, see if that makes any difference. How long have you been feeding the Royal Canin?
Again, anything unusual in the home, recent changes that might be causing them undue stress? This normally wouldn't cause the diarrhea/soft stools to persist for too long, but it might be a combination of stress, with a sensitivity to a certain ingredient in the food. Whether that is the Fancy Feast or Royal Canin, ultimately you may be faced with a process of elimination for a culprit ingredient.
Can you remind me how old each of the two cats are, and when was their last bloodwork?
Have you been feeding the same flavor/variety of the Fancy Feast? I ask because maybe the turkey and giblets are just too rich for their GI tract....maybe try a chicken or whitefish flavor instead, see if that makes any difference. How long have you been feeding the Royal Canin?
Again, anything unusual in the home, recent changes that might be causing them undue stress? This normally wouldn't cause the diarrhea/soft stools to persist for too long, but it might be a combination of stress, with a sensitivity to a certain ingredient in the food. Whether that is the Fancy Feast or Royal Canin, ultimately you may be faced with a process of elimination for a culprit ingredient.
..........Traci