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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Help. I can't cope with this anymore

40 replies

Littlemissindependent · 25/03/2017 08:04

I'm at a total loss as to what to do. Rehomed kitten from RSPCA in Nov last year, to discover she was riddled with Giardia. We have had countless courses of Panacur/Metronidazole and it's just not getting any better. EVERY morning I'm getting up to piles of diarrhoea on the carpet and I just don't know how much more I can cope with. Vets bills are astronomical because insurance hadn't kicked in when I first took her to vets, so they consider it a pre-existing condition.
I've contacted the RSPCA as I feel they were incredibly irresponsible rehoming an unhealthy kitten, but short of saying they'd take her back they've refused to help further.
I don't know what to do. Someone please help because I just can't think straight at the minute

OP posts:
Poorlybabysickday · 25/03/2017 08:05

I would wither get her put down or rehome

TheoriginalLEM · 25/03/2017 08:07

Am not sure if repeated metronidazole is the most appropriate course of treatment.

flapjackfairy · 25/03/2017 08:08

I had this with my rescue cat and put up with it for years
It was a nightmare.
No advise other than to say we bought a big dog cage and put cat and litter tray in overnight to contain mess but smell was horrendous !!
You have my sympathy x

flapjackfairy · 25/03/2017 08:10

Ps bed and comfy stuff in cage as well obviously. And food and water.
No one wants to cage a cat but it was that or the dreaded trip to the vets.
Put me off cats for life tbh !

CharlieChopstix · 25/03/2017 08:12

Well, you can't have your home used as a giant toilet ad infinitum can you? I think I'd be returning the cat asap

TheoriginalLEM · 25/03/2017 08:13

ignore me it is the standard treatment. Do be aware that this can pass to humans and is pretty grim.

dudsville · 25/03/2017 08:13

Poor thing and poor you. I would struggle to live like that.

Original poster
Littlemissindependent · 25/03/2017 08:33

It only seems to be an issue overnight, not during the day. Mess aside, she is, for the most part, a happy, affectionate, playful little thing. Think I'll try the caging overnight and see if it helps.

OP posts:
LivMoore · 25/03/2017 08:34

Oh op, massive sympathy from me to you. We have a poorly cat who is restricted to a dog crate after breaking his leg. He now has horrendous diarrhoea which is not responding to treatment and I dread going downstairs in the morning. It is really depressing.
The rspca have been massively irresponsible here.
Honestly, your poor kitty must be feeling awful. As painful as it would be for you, I would euthanise. Flowersļ

Fluffycloudland77 · 25/03/2017 09:48

Is it definitely that and not an intolerance to cereals in her food?.

Original poster
Littlemissindependent · 25/03/2017 09:51

TBH I'm not 100% certain fluffy. It was certainly giardia at first, but now it just seems like diarrhoea. Not as frothy, no mucus in it. She has Harringtons dry food and Felix as good as it looks wet

OP posts:
Vinorosso74 · 25/03/2017 09:59

I was wondering about some sort of food intolerance too.

Original poster
Littlemissindependent · 25/03/2017 10:47

Any advice on an alternative food I can try?

OP posts:
Fluffycloudland77 · 25/03/2017 10:57

Try a week with no biscuits. If it's cereals the pouches should be cereal free.

Cailleach · 25/03/2017 11:01

If she is on antibiotics constantly then those will be killing off all the good bacteria in her bowel. Her bowel will then be inflamed, both from bacterial imbalance and the giardia.

I would avoid any medical treatment for a while and see if it settles naturally.

Incidentally, I once had a cat with explosive bowel problems - the vet told me it was a food intolerance and to put her on the cheapest plainest cat food possible as this usually contains the least additives / colourings etc.

I switched her over to Butchers Wet and Tesco Value cat biscuits and had no further issues with her ever again.

Cailleach · 25/03/2017 11:13

Also I see from Googling that carbohydrate intolerance in humans infected with giardia is a known phenomenon - might be an idea to cut out the dry food for a while, OP, as it may also affect cats in a similar way.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 25/03/2017 13:36

I'm so sorry you're going through this OP. I notice she's having Felix - when we tried Harry on that it produced the litter tray from hell, even he looked embarrassed when he came out of the bathroom! At the time we switched him to Whiskas and he was fine.

I hope you can sort this out, it's horrible for you and her.

thecatneuterer · 25/03/2017 13:49

How awful. I think if ruling out food intolerances and overnight caging don't make a difference then I certainly wouldn't judge you if you decided to have her euthanised. She can't be rehomed. That's pointless. And I'm the last person to suggest giving up on a cat, but I think in this case if you have to then you have to.

Original poster
Littlemissindependent · 25/03/2017 14:35

I've ordered different food and have a large dog cage to give that a try, thanks for all the advice. Part of me wonders if she's too scared to go to the litter trays in the night. My Siamese has form for beating her up so I wonder if that may be part of the problem. If the crate helps then maybe I should separate them overnight so she's not scared.
If I thought she was in pain, or suffering, then I would consider pts. But during the day she is so playful and affectionate and full of mischief that I genuinely don't believe euthanasia is the way to go.

OP posts:
previously1474etc · 27/03/2017 04:36

Not an easy situation to be in. A crate at night would give her a safe place, a place of her own as well as reducing the mess for you.

Being on repeated meds may have made things worse, the side effects can be as you have described. Have you tried Prokolin paste? It firms things up.

Do be aware that if it is a sensitivity to something in the food many foods contain soya which can be a problem and there are usually grains in the supermarket brands, Felix, Whiskas etc. you would need to check the ingredients list to be sure. Venison is recommended for sensitivities. Zooplus is a good place to look, failig that Floyds Pfotenshop which sell in smaller quantities so you can try them out before buying in bulk (if that is what you do).

MissClarke86 · 27/03/2017 04:47

Metronidazole is a very strong unpleasant antibiotic. It's probably not a bug anymore and more likely just poor kitties stomach lining had been destroyed.

I would use purines FortiFlora sachets to build up stomach lining, and Hills Z/D food.

A few years ago giardia went through all 4 of my cats..,, I spent weeks trying to get rid of it. In the end I'm fairly certain the antibiotics were preventing them getting better.

MissClarke86 · 27/03/2017 04:51

And definitely separate them. Take care using a cage it could stress her more. Cats hate being near their own mess. Could she be confined to a hard floored room at night instead?

Diarrhoea at night only is definitely longer a bug.

MissClarke86 · 27/03/2017 04:57

Don't feed felix or whiskas, both very rich.

You need a veterinary recommended sensitive food to let her bowels recover.

Suggesting putting her to sleep is horrible. Shall we kill you off for having a stomach bug? She just needs some help recovering her bowel health poor little thing.

MissClarke86 · 27/03/2017 04:58

That should've said "diarrhoea at night only is definitely no longer a bug"

claraschu · 27/03/2017 05:16

I agree with asking the vet for prescription food. You can also buy grain free food on line, or feed her cooked chicken. MissClarke has recommended a what sounds like a probiotic, but surely your vet should be talking to you about the best thing for her digestion? Maybe you need a different vet?

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