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

Advice needed for situation with poorly cat

489 replies

Poorlycatadvicewanted · 27/12/2023 01:03

I need some advice please. So we have a kitten still but he isn't well. We've been to the vets countless times. He's on prescription food, he's been on 4 rounds of antibiotics and he's not getting better. I've tried a few vets and they all say he might just always be ill as a complication of the virus. I want to take him to the vets again. But my husband wants to give him up to a cat charity so he can be looked after and possibly re homed. I'm not sure and think we should try to get him better. Its cost me a fortune in treatment so far.

The lady we got him from lied about everything. She said he was a she. She said he was flea treated but he was riddled with fleas. (I took him.straight to the vets and he was flea treated and wormed and vaccinated) She said any cat food was fine but he had diarrhea from the day we got him. After weeks of messaging her it turns out she was feeding him a raw food diet. He was only 4 months old and he got campylobacter ( like salmonella) vets reckon this is the cause of his illness.

He doesn't have campylobacter now as we got this treated but the constant diarrheah is an ongoing complication and he's not putting on weight even though I feed him 4 times a day. Kids are devastated because he said we need to give him up. I'm quite upset but part of me agrees with him and the other says we should carry on looking after him.

The other problem is that the vet refuses to do his vaccinations again or neuter him until he is better. But then also said he might never be better. But won't advise what we should do! I've tried all 3 vets in our area and they say the same. He can't have top up vaccinations as he has the diarrheah and so now he would need them re started but again can't because he's ill.

So now I don't know what to do as he is very much loved! But I feel awful that he's not getting better and looks like there isn't anything we can do about it either. The vets kind of given up!

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Poorlycatadvicewanted · 12/02/2024 10:56

Just an update on ipek if anyone else is still here!

Dropped off stool samples this morning. She said she will call me back this afternoon!

Sods law as I'm typing this he just did a normal poo. Starting to think he's winding me up at this point! 🤣

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StBrides · 12/02/2024 13:38

Good thing he is so gorgeous!

Poorlycatadvicewanted · 12/02/2024 14:43

Vet called me. No giardia so she is sending off to out of house lab and claiming it back on my insurance. Thank goodness as it cost £229

She said he could just be a carrier for campylobacter and his symptoms will come and go. It does mean we couldn't have another cat. Not that I was planning too!

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ILoveNigelTufnel · 12/02/2024 17:32

Good news it’s not giardia. I hope the test show it’s something that’s easily sortable. Thank goodness for insurance as well…

Poorlycatadvicewanted · 12/02/2024 19:26

Thank you @ILoveNigelTufnel I should think it's probably still campylobacter. She did say he could just be a carrier now. Good to know but not good for him unfortunately.

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Poorlycatadvicewanted · 14/02/2024 13:28

I'm hoping the lab are quick! The poor boy us basically pooing water. Vet said to wait and just keep doing what we are doing. He's not dehydrated, did the skin pull test, but he must be miserable. She said potentially 5 days for results. Do you think they would be able to push for the results?

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FormerlyPathologicallyHappy · 14/02/2024 14:03

Possibly not if their looking for infection you have to wait for the bacteria to grow on the Petri dish then examine it to find out what it is.

Is he drinking lots?

Poorlycatadvicewanted · 14/02/2024 14:08

Oh I see. OK, thank you. I didn't know that's how they did it! I thought it was checking under a microscope sort of thing

He's drinking the same as usual. Eating the same. Just now really watery diarrheah and it's an awful smell to it.

Not really sure what to do for him. I could start panacur again but I'm wandering if it just masked his symptoms... or he's got more than one thing going on and it's still campylobacter and he had worms too
....

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user1471538283 · 14/02/2024 14:45

Oh the poor little scrap. Once you've had the results maybe he will be able to go on medication for good?

Poorlycatadvicewanted · 14/02/2024 15:10

Hopefully! He had 2 types of antibiotics for campylobacter and neither made any difference. The only glimmer of hope was when he was on the panacur! But I don't understand why! I want to put him back on it as he hs gone backwards. Diarrheah, smelly, not grooming and bloated tummy again. This all went away with panacur but then vet said to wait again

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Poorlycatadvicewanted · 14/02/2024 17:09

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before. But I just remembered the vet said about doing a faecal transplant if all else fails and that she's done it before... not sure if it would help get rid of the infection by creating better bacteria and then fighting it..but them he could still be a carrier which means risk of relapse? I will ask when we get the results.

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MadeOfAllWork · 14/02/2024 17:41

Oh the poor little soul. He doesn’t get a break does he.

Poorlycatadvicewanted · 14/02/2024 17:44

I know! @MadeOfAllWork he's still happy although a bit quieter, I'm not surprised.

I feel a bit helpless as he can't tell me anything, obviously! He is eating like a horse as he just poos it out! No idea how to make him more comfortable. Night not get the results until Monday too as I handed them in on Monday.. courier took them on Monday evening. So might even be Tuesday.

I suppose the vet can't suggest anything until rathe results come back. She did say campylobacter can be really resistant to antibiotics. So if it is still campylobacter she might do the faecal transplant!

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Poorlycatadvicewanted · 15/02/2024 09:12

Morning everyone. So I woke up.to find ipek with 3 huge puddles of brown water basically! Can't even call it diarrheah. It was all around the floor of the dining room and around his litter box. I'm going to call the vet again but I'm sure she will say the same thing. Wait for the results. He's eating and drinking ok though.

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Poorlycatadvicewanted · 15/02/2024 09:51

Vet emailed me back. She said up the probiotics and start back on panacur. She said parasites came back as negative but doesn't always show up in shedding si to do panacur for 5 days first. She said test results are on day 3. So we are looking at Tuesday for the results.

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LostCats · 15/02/2024 10:40

Ah poor little man. I do hope the transplant or panacur helps. You really are being amazing to him though. Helping him so much.

Poorlycatadvicewanted · 15/02/2024 11:01

I'm not sure if the transplant will happen. But it's an option if nothing else works. Dh swings between being patient and not happy. He calls him his baby then not happy again. But he's just a grump and he's not the one cleaning up!

He's a lovely little thing, albeit a bit (very) smelly!

I still think it could be some sort of worms plus camplobacter. She said the parasites don't always show up in samples. And he improved last time on it. But I also think he is a carrier for campylobacter which means it can relapse. Then the 2 things together! He's been very unlucky

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TemporaryCatSlave · 15/02/2024 11:09

Are they testing for Clostridium perfringens? I think it's fairly rare in cats but I messaged a friend whose cat had similar problems and they said that was what theirs had (treated & now under control). A google shows it has similar symptoms to giardia but is harder to diagnose. Might be worth asking?

Poorlycatadvicewanted · 15/02/2024 11:27

Oh amazing! Thank you so much for asking! That's so kind of you! I shall ask!!

Thank you Thank you

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Poorlycatadvicewanted · 15/02/2024 15:48

A bit of cat tax. We have had to put a tracker on him as he has turned into a bit of a houdini and darts out the door. He hasn't got out of the garden, but a just in case thing!

Advice needed for situation with poorly cat
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NeverDropYourMooncup · 15/02/2024 16:23

Has Ipek been switched to gluten free cat food yet?

Sounds far more like my cat, who will produce liquid at the first sniff of gluten.

Poorlycatadvicewanted · 15/02/2024 18:21

The vet put him on royal canin and said to keep him on that as she was worried about switching him up. Can I ask what food your little one is on please? @NeverDropYourMooncup

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Poorlycatadvicewanted · 15/02/2024 20:21

So I gave him panacur this morning and he still has the diarrheah but not watery and the bloating has gone down significantly....

This is good! But now I'm wandering whats going on with him even more now!

Has anyone ever heard of a cat needing so much panacur?

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NeverDropYourMooncup · 16/02/2024 08:45

Poorlycatadvicewanted · 15/02/2024 18:21

The vet put him on royal canin and said to keep him on that as she was worried about switching him up. Can I ask what food your little one is on please? @NeverDropYourMooncup

Combination of any random gluten free kitten crunchies she'll eat and applaws pouches.

At the moment, it's Applaws for both, but she has also enjoyed Scumbles and the Amazon own brand recently.

Poorlycatadvicewanted · 16/02/2024 10:36

Thank you @NeverDropYourMooncup unfortuantly he refuses biscuits of any kind! So wet pouches only.

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