Cat with dodgy tummy

[BatCritter]

I have a new cat for the last few weeks. He's a stray that I brought inside. He's doing really well and looks happy and healthy.
But... He had constant diarrhoea. It's really bad. His litter tray is a disaster area. I was feeding him kitten food at first (because I have a kitten too) then I changed to Whiskas age 1+ food. He's between 2 and 5 years old, apparently.
The vet says he has an inflamed anus and to keep an eye on him. I'm bringing him back to the vet in two weeks for castration and follow up.
In the meantime is there anything I can do. Is there anything you'd recommend?

Look for a grain free food maybe. I got pro kolin paste from the vet when one of mine had diarrhoea but think you can buy it from other places too

I'm going to the vet now to see what food they have. My house is starting to smell and the cat leaves a blob of poo behind everywhere he sits. I'm at my wit's end and have maybe 10 kg of Whiskas food going to waste here.

Pets at home sell grain free food. I get stuff from zooplus too. Does whiskas not have cereal as the first ingredient?

I use encore (From asda), thrive (Amazon) and purizon (zooplus)

They're all dry foods btw. Do they eat any wet foods?

Moving to a grain free single protein hypoallergenic cat food, plus a daily half a tsp of mashed roasted butternut squash has - touch wood - sorted out our cat's dodgy tummy. There are also prescription foods for gastric upset if the vet thinks it's a short term "dietary indiscretion" type issue as opposed to a long term irritable guts type issue. Good luck.

The vet gave me a load of free samples of Burns original cat food with fish and rice. I'll try him on that for a start. I'll look for grain free food if this doesn't help.
I only give them dry food and water. They wander around the neighbourhood eating other food though. I don't want to take away the cat's freedom if I can avoid it.

It's been going on for several weeks, really since I took over feeding them. Before that Henry used to smell of stuff like garlic and ratatouille courtesy of my international neighbours and I don't think he had this problem then.

I got Royal Canin Sensitivity Control wet food . Cleared up my kitten's diahorrhea.

Henry hates the burns cat food so I mixed it with some M&S food and he's ok with that. 24 hours made a huge difference and he's much better. I feel I can stay enjoying my time with him now because it was feeling like a huge chore to manage his bad tummy. He's purring a lot more now too.

Thanks for your help! I might switch him to better quality food in due course but the urgent problem had been solved

My boy has Purina pro-biotic powders when he gets diarrhoea. One a day for a week seems to do the trick (crosses fingers).

You can get them from P@H (£20 for a box of 30), but we first had them from the vet as obviously I wanted to rule out anything else first.

If he's absolutely fine in himself in every other way then they may be worth a try.

When Henry came home from being neutered I discovered that the diarrhoea was back. He has been eating nothing but the Burns food.
I reread all your advice and I went to Zooplus and bought grain free food. I chose Purizon food because they had a variety pack offer and they use ethically sourced chicken. The reviews were good too. I hope delivery doesn't take too long.
Henry looks so healthy and is so full of energy it's hard to believe he's been coping with a sick stomach. I really need to get this sorted out. My hands are flaking from being washed so often after cleaning up multiple times a day. And the smell!
Here's a pic of the guilty fellow

I discovered a new brand today called Scrumbles. It is grain and gluten free are and has probiotics added.

Asda sells Encore dry food. It is grain free and has 80% meat

That would be really handy but there's no Asda near me (not in uk)

Good choice, Purizon is great

OP has Henry been treated for worms? Diarrhea can be a symptom of worms and if you have changed the food without success, it could be a worm problem.

Thank Mia, I got him wormed and fleaed about a month ago. I'm still waiting for the Purizon food to arrive.

I will keep my fingers crossed that the new food will help!

I would be quite concerned about this and would be asking the vet to investigate. One of my cats had similar issues as a kitten when the vet fully explored via blood tests and fecal samples which we had to collect for 3 consecutive days and then drop into the vets for them to have examined at the lab. We also tried vet recommended hypoallergenic hydrolysed protein diet which has cleared things up. This really needs to be led by the vet though - they are multiple reasons a cat could suffer like this and they should be wanting to find out the source. A change of vet might be required if they are not taking this seriously.