Cat is getting close to being evicted by DH- help me keep him!

[tametortie]

We have a BSH who is 4 years old. To cut a long story short, the litter he came from all have bowel issues. Our cat is the only one from the entire litter that hasn't been sent back to the breeder. We are trying very hard to manage his issues.

Our problem is not just explosive diarrhoea though- it's also lack of litter tray use it's like he just needs to go so quickly, he just has to go wherever he is at that time....living room carpet, sofa, my bed, up walls...

We have just moved to a lovely new house which we have saved and saved for and the cat has already shit on the lounge carpet which DH is absolutely fuming about.

We have 2 other cats (girls) and they are all on James wellbeloved food (dry). There is some tension between the cats but I don't think my boy cat is bullied.

We have been to the vets had a few antibiotics and some Different food which made no difference.

After 4 years of this though we are at the end of our tether and don't know what to do next. My wish list is that I want him to just use his tray and I just don't want my house ruined anymore. I love him but I don't want to clean up cat shit anymore. It's bloody horrible!! DH wants him out but I know if he goes back to the breeder, he will be left in an outside enclosure with other cats and I feel really guilty about that. He should be here with his family!

This problem is causing massive conflict in the family between me, DH and dd. We are all miserable but I just need to have one last shot at sorting this before I give up.

Does anybody have any advice? I am ready to try anything to keep my cat!!!

I'm wondering whether he doesn't like them. (Seniorboy used to protest pee about The Lodger's presence in the house although he never protest poo'd that I recall.) Out in the daytime and giving them a separate place to sleep at night might help but I'm afraid that's a 'might'. It's worth trying anyway - although I'd still have a poo sample up to the vet for analysis and maybe also try the food suggestions that other people have posted.

(I'm used to Siamese who are intensely territorial but I've never lived with a BSH before so maybe other posters who have will comment on that.)

Best of luck

He needs a thorough work up for diarrhoea faecal sample and then probably bloods. Inflammatory bowel disease is quite common in British short hairs it can be well controlled once diagnosed with the correct medication.

You've got a BSH if I recall, Lone? Are they territorial in your experience?

I've been fostering some persians with bowel issues for a few months. One in particular had the explosive squits all the time. I tried giving them all sorts of different food, including JWB and also the specialist dried food for sensitve stomachs.

It wasn't until I stopped all dried food and tried feeding exclusively on Butchers Classic tins that I managed to solve the problem. Within a few days he was shitting almost normally and within a week the problem was completely gone.

It's worth a go.

BSH can be territorial, but this cat has explosive diarrhoea so I would go for him sleeping there and being 'caught short'. Medical issues are the most likely cause.

Applaws dry is cereal free and good value from Zooplus. We feed Butcher's Classic wet too. Mine had explosive shits moving from Royal Canin kitten to adult food. Took a week to settle on the above combo but were all great thereafter.

Is butchers classic not dog food?? And wet??

The dog food is called just Butchers etc as far as I know. Butcher's Classic is part of their cat range. (And yes - it's wet food.)

You could consider feeding him or indeed all of your cats raw, it hasn't caught on for cats quite the way it has for dogs but it is hugely beneficial for all kinds of health problems, especially digestive.

[[http://rawfedcats.org/feedingraw.htm this was just the first website I came across, might be worth looking into.

Raw feeding cats is said to be harder than dogs because cats nutritional needs more fiddly.

I think that there are 2 lines of Butchers cans of cat food, Butchers Choice & Butchers Classic and one of them (Classic?) does have cereals.

Aaaahh found it on google. No cereal or soya.

I mentioned it to DH but he is drawing the line at wet food so I will try the james wellbeloved first. Wet food does stink!! Will definitely bear it in mind though if the JWB doesn't work.

Little guy has been out all day today climbing trees- he is still a happy cat

Didn't know that lljkk, that makes sense. I know my sil does it, but I don't know anyone else.

I've used applaws dry food in my cereal intolerant cat, you can get it in salmon or chicken flavour, it would stop him getting bored of his food.

Will you switch all of them? Or he can still eat the one with cereal in it.

When this happened to us switching to cereal free cleared it up in days.

I will swap them all- the 2 moggies can eat anything really. We have to adapt everything around the very sensitive boy cat

The cereal free JWB only comes in 1.5kg bags- what a pain!!

I am kicking myself that I thought normal JWB was cereal free 4 years of misery and not knowing what you are going to come home to....

Hope it's easily solved.

It's marketed that way though isn't it? Maize must be a very cheap filler.

The packaging changed not long ago- I wonder if the ingredients changed too?

I always thought they bulked it out with rice- perhaps it changed.

If you are looking for cereal free it is worth looking at Arden Grange and if you are trying to avoid all grains then they do a salmon and potato or ocean fish and potato.

One of my cats could not eat wet food in jelly without explosive results. Is it possible that you have given a "treat" of wet food now and then and the poo explosion was the result?