Cat with diarrhoea (sorry)

[WinterCarlisle]

Hi everyone

We’ve been adopted by a lovely little cat who’s clearly been living rough for a long time. She rocked up in our garden in October: no chip, no collar, emaciated and despite lots of enquires with lost cat websites etc there’s been no sign of any owner. So clearly she’s now ours .

She (we’ve named her Penny) has had diarrhoea since she arrived. She’s had several trips to the vet where she’s had an industrial dewormer, 3 lots of probiotics, antibiotics and steroids. A full blood screen shows nothing abnormal except for slightly raised inflammatory markers. Physical examination is also unremarkable with no abdominal tenderness and decent teeth. The vet estimates her to be about 11.

I initially figured that Penny’s diarrhoea was probably linked to having had to scavenge food for God knows how long and possibly as a result of her gut getting used to decent food. But it’s still persisting and she goes about 4 - 5 times everyday. And not always in the litter which with small children is really challenging…….

I’ve been conscious about not fiddling around too much with what she eats but it does seem that the “better” the food, the worse she is. Plain fish, chicken, Lily’s Kitchen type food definitely seem to make it worse so at the mo she’s just on Felix. Although the vet said her teeth are ok she definitely seems to find biscuits hard work.

She’s putting on weight and looks million times better than she did. In all honesty I think if she hadn’t come here she’d probably be dead by now . She’s clearly been loved as she’s very sweet and affectionate.

Any suggestions pleeeeease!!!

Thanks loads

Check the ingredients list on her food. Surprisingly some cat foods and treats contain milk or milk derivatives (including some of Pets at Home own brand cat food). My cat cannot tolerate any milk at all and gets awful diarrhoea if accidentally given any milk containing foods.

@parchedjanuary - thank you! From yesterday I’ve taken her off all cat food and trying only plain steamed fish which we did in the early days of having her but with limited results. I figured it was worth another try!!!

I got it on Amazon I think, it wasn’t huge money and i’d bought it originally for the chickens as I was told it’s a natural antibiotic 🤷🏼‍♀️ The royal canin gastrointestinal was from pets at home.

Also has she had a vitamin B12 boost? Sometimes that leads to a vicious circle of squits apparently. Vet can give her a jab that won’t cost too much or you can give her colbaplex.

Has they checked for Tritrichomonas? It needs a special test on a faecal sample.

Yes, I was just about to ask about TF testing. Do you know that there is a vet lab that test for the public too if the costs are ramping up? Full stool check cost me about £60 through pals vet lab, would have been over doubly through the vets, I think the TF PCR is about £50 through them.

No! I did not know that. Thank you. I’ve just googled them and I think we’ll do the TF testing like you suggest. The abdo USS is going to be well over £600 so I’d rather do the cheaper options first. It’s mad how it mounts up so fast! Definitely makes me value the NHS even more.

My gut (haha) instinct is that this is an acquired issue due to her history as a stray and with it being ongoing.

When we first got her she was utterly emaciated and very wobbly (making me wonder a Vit B issue as well). I was very careful about feeding her gradually as I was concerned about refeeding syndrome but despite all of this the diarrhoea is persisting. She’s well in herself, plenty of energy etc but not putting on weight as quickly as I’d have thought she would although she does look a million times better.

Thank you! This is why I love mumsnet so much!

Stupid question maybe but have you considered trying raw food?

If she’s had long term squits I’d start her on B12 anyway regardless of whether it may help (it might btw- have a read up) I got cobaplex on Amazon too 🙂