I've discovered a miracle cure for chronic cat diarrhoea

[thecatneuterer]

Now I know this sounds like "one weird tip" and "vets hate me"😭 but I just have to make this public service announcement.

So I've recently been struggling with three or four cats (I'm with a rescue) that all had chronic diarrhoea. We did all the tests - all negative. Did Panacur, a course of metronidazole just in case, on gastrointestinal food, added probiotics etc etc. basically the works. Some things improved matters slightly, but it was only marginal.

Then someone said they'd had success by giving hairball food. I thought "well, nothing to lose". After four days on Royal Canin Hairball dry (apparently Purina hairball also works) and they were all producing the most perfect poo. Six weeks later and there has been no relapse. I'm experimenting now by introducing small amounts of other food and that is trial and error, but some other food is now tolerated.

You're welcome 😁

Noting this down for next time we have 'a little problem' of this sort! Hope it continues to work for you, thecatneuterer!

Now that is interesting, my last cat had chronic diarrhoea for years and we never got to the bottom of it. My insurance paid out thousands of pounds. She died aged 21 but I'll certainly try this on my new cats if they get diarrhoea. Thanks you.

It's strange as I've Googled and I can't find any mention of it helping with diarrhoea anywhere. The vet has looked at the ingredients and is also rather confused, but she noted it's high fibre which can be helpful.

Basically it's a mystery but so far seems to be one weird tip that actually works.

Thanks for this. The stray hasn't had decent poops since she was spayed. No idea if the stress from that, the car ride or being locked in our house, or even the flea/worm treatment, sent her over the edge but it's been ongoing since July. She's fine in herself though - just ask the squirrels 🐿

Will definitely try this with Tobias! Due to his weight, and recently his squishy poo issues, instead of being on RC Indoor (which has some anti hairball properties) with about 1/4 of the kibble being anti hairball, he's only been having a "diet" dry and recently the probiotic - which of course has added to the weight issues!

The probiotic didn't make a blind bit of difference so passing that on to Annie as Izzy can have rather soft poo (though not cow pats, like Tobias) and starting to run low on the diet stuff, so will get a mix of the hairball and diet when I order in the next few days. He did have a bit of a hairball cough the other day, and he is a grade one shedder, so it should help with that anyway 🙂

Is all well in the land of Celia Hammond @thecatneuterer ? They are one of the places I recommended to a workmate who is looking for an indoor only cat for her and her daughter 😃

I was going to give you a call out to this thread for Tobias @Allergictoironing - but you've already seen it. Hope it works for him.

Shall also note this if needed in the future @thecatneuterer - cheers.

Anything posted by @thecatneuterer is mandatory reading as far as I'm concerned.

Add to that how mind consuming my poor boy's poo issues are to me (and how expensive the excess use of litter and how nose consuming the smell is getting to be!), that headline would drag me in anyway 😆

Hope it works. Please do report back.

Things in all cat rescues are soul destroying these days. I've never known so many unwanted and abandoned cats. The receptionists spend all day on the phone repeating "I'm so sorry, we're full, we can't help". It has never, never been this bad.

I hope to hear from the potential adopters. Please tell them to contact me direct if that helps. We have loads of indoor cats and kittens at Canning Town at the moment (I don't know about Lewisham).

Sadly for you, but happily for her, I got told at work just this morning she's adopted a rather sweet looking 12 week old Tortie.

She wasn't too impressed by the rescue itself though, as the poor kitten had to have a flea bath as soon as she came home as apparently she was riddled with them. The kitten will have a great home there though, and friend is already besotted.

I have started the Stray on it with a ratio of third mixed into her usual. Same brand Purina Bisensis (blue packet) so fingers crossed we will see an improvement. She uses a flower bed outside, as well as her littertray, so I cleaned it up today... apparently a miniature cow has been using it lately 😥

I've just looked on the Canning Town website @thecatneuterer, it breaks my heart to see so many black and black and white cats. I'll never understand why they are overlooked. We're planning on adopting in the new year and I really hope to have my own house panther!

It only worked for me when I fed it exclusively. Mixing with any other food didn't get results.

I'm paranoid enough about his stomach not to switch all at once, plus I may never be forgiven if I don't give them their wet meals. I'm going to have to try slowly anyway aren't I?

Fair enough. DD didn't want an immediate change over (plus we have nearly a full bag of normal) but I wasn't expecting any change for a couple of weeks at least. She's been this way since June but anything the Vet has suggested hasn't worked and the next stage is invasive tests. She's happy enough, playing, eating and drinking. Although that sentence makes her seem debauched 😂

Same with Tobias @Pixiedust1234 . Seems normal in every way except the cow pat texture of his poo, the wind he has when using the tray, and the slightly odd smell to the poo. He has his zoomies, plays, eats well, pretty sure he's drinking OK (though general water consumption between the 2 of them seems up a little recently), coat in fabulous condition. Only real change has been him putting on even more weight as the gastro foods encourage that!

Food delivery arrived yesterday, so starting to give half and half satiety and hairball kibble and their normal wet as from last night.

@thecatneuterer , will you adopt to people located outside of London? I have already been rejected, and I think it's because of indicating that I live in an upstairs flat, so can only (currently) offer indoor only. (I hope that in the next year or two I might able to move somewhere new and be able to offer a catio or secure outdoor access.)

I've been looking at other websites of cat rescues, but they regularly insist on outdoor access.

I'm a one hour drive to the outskirts of London, then another 30 minutes to an hour to Canning Town.

Yes we do, as long as you are able to get to us. We're difficult about high rises though (particularly if they have balconies), and they need a lot of safety measures, but do you mean you're in a converted house?

Please private message me to discuss.

Have sent you a PM

Thank you so much for posting this, @thecatneuterer ! I sent the link to a friend whose little rescue kitten has had horrendous chronic diarrhoea with no obvious triggers and mystified the vets. Within 24 hours of trying it, she'd messaged back to say that she hadn't had to clean her back end with wipes that day for the first time, within 48 hours she had 85% normal poo, and she's just sent me a photo of a completely normal solid poo and said that she's much happier in herself and her little bloated belly has gone right down. I'm absolutely over the moon for her and so relieved. Thank you!

Brilliant top tip, I have a long haired cat and when he had an upset tummy it was a total a nightmare, had to keep dunking his bum (and legs and tail...) in the bath to clean up the mess, while being mawled to bits. That was after he dragged his arse around every carpet in the house. A little bit of shit goes a very long way 🤢

That's wonderful!

It's the first time I've ever punched the air in response to a photo of a poo! 😂

I'm remember this in case any of my 2 cats get it in the future. Thank you.

This also worked a treat for my cat too (ironically he was a sphynx). Eventually down the line I was able to give him different food and never had an issue with runny poop again :0)

When my most problematic (poo wise) cat produced the most beautiful poo I've ever seen, I took a photo and insisted on showing it to everyone I came across like a proud mother.