Just trying to see an opinion out there about Roscoe's diarrhea.
History: Roscoe has a hole in his heart and a mitral valve defect and is about 14 months old now. When we neutered him (back in January) the cardiologist put him on Cephalexin in case any bacteria landed on that mitral valve. The Cephalexin caused him to have diarrhea for a couple of weeks. I had a fecal done just to make sure things were ok and my vet recommended pumpkin to help him out.
Then....back at the end of July, my husband let him drink the rest of the milk from his cereal bowl (BAD idea). Poor Roscoe puked everything he'd eaten the whole day, it seemed. The milk was a bad idea and now hubby's not allowed to give him any!
He's had slightly loose stools ever since and has been vomiting once about every two weeks. The vomiting wasn't enough to worry me because it's not frequent and he eats right afterwards. I noticed when cleaning out the cat boxes last week (we have four cats and four boxes) that someone had some runny poop in there. I finally found the culprit. I followed Roscoe to the box this morning (I'm sure he thinks I'm nuts for watching him poop), and caught him in the act. It's definitely him with the runny poop.
We're going to the vet Monday morning to get him checked out, but I thought I would ask anyone else out there if it makes sense that loose stools could persist for 6 weeks just from having an overdose of milk? Hubby thinks I'm nuts, but I'm beginning to wonder if there's a correlation here.
He's eating ok and playing ok. I guess I just worry more about him because of his heart.
Thanks.
Kim
Diarrhea
Re: Diarrhea
Kim, it is highly unlikely that the milk would have caused persistent diarrhea, for this long. My guess is he could have a gastrointestinal bacteria brewing or something altogether unrelated. Try to save a stool sample (can save up to 12 hours if it's refrigerated), and ask your vet about a CBC at least at this point.
When he vomits, is he vomiting undigested food or bile? On another note, what type cereal was your husband eating at the time the milk was given to Roscoe? Perhaps he had a severe reaction to a grain in your husband's cereal....this is a long shot, but a potential. Most likely, it's entirely unrelated.
When he vomits, is he vomiting undigested food or bile? On another note, what type cereal was your husband eating at the time the milk was given to Roscoe? Perhaps he had a severe reaction to a grain in your husband's cereal....this is a long shot, but a potential. Most likely, it's entirely unrelated.
..........Traci
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taxcatkim
Re: Diarrhea
Thanks, Traci.
The vomit has been either bile, water, or digested food. This morning, there was plenty of hair, too - looks like from his littermate. They lick each other all the time. It's not been regurgitated, though. It's always been once and then he moves on about his business. It's pretty infrequent, but abnormal for him. The first time he'd ever thrown up EVER was after the milk episode. I don't remember what cereal my husband was eating, but it was probably either Life, Corn Chex, or Special K Red Berry since that's what's usually in the house.
I saved his stool from this afternoon, but it'll be over 12 hours old by the time the vet appt rolls around. My husband's thrilled that it's in our fridge, but it's in a ziploc bag and also a small paper sack, so it doesn't smell up the fridge and you can't even see it. I guess it's the idea of it. If I catch him in the act again tonight or tomorrow morning, I'll save that one. Otherwise, this one's all I have.
Thanks for your advice.
The vomit has been either bile, water, or digested food. This morning, there was plenty of hair, too - looks like from his littermate. They lick each other all the time. It's not been regurgitated, though. It's always been once and then he moves on about his business. It's pretty infrequent, but abnormal for him. The first time he'd ever thrown up EVER was after the milk episode. I don't remember what cereal my husband was eating, but it was probably either Life, Corn Chex, or Special K Red Berry since that's what's usually in the house.
I saved his stool from this afternoon, but it'll be over 12 hours old by the time the vet appt rolls around. My husband's thrilled that it's in our fridge, but it's in a ziploc bag and also a small paper sack, so it doesn't smell up the fridge and you can't even see it. I guess it's the idea of it. If I catch him in the act again tonight or tomorrow morning, I'll save that one. Otherwise, this one's all I have.
Thanks for your advice.
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taxcatkim
Re: Diarrhea
Our vet did some blood work and we'll get that back tomorrow. Stool sample was negative - a few extra bacteria that shouldn't be there. No worms, etc. He had a 104.7 fever, although he was playing and eating while at home. He stressed out so much at the vet, though. Our vet thought the high fever could be in part due to stress, but not that high. We were sent home some Flagyl. Any thoughts on why Flagyl would be the medicine of choice instead of Amoxi Liquid or Clavamox?