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 😁

Interesting. And did you discover it by accident? Or did you hear about it somehow. I'm struggling to believe that this isn't more well known (and indeed why the manufacturers don't sing it from the rooftops).

I must have heard of it somewhere, maybe on one of my sphynx groups. I would never have considered hairball food for my naked cat otherwise :0) . It was a long time ago though but after battling runny poo for so long it's like it flicked a switch after he had adjusted and the issues never came back. I was able to give him Royal canin urinary/ sensitive/ indoor and grain free from a couple of other brands later in his life without any issue x

Partly to keep this thread active so others see it, and partly out of despair, my update is a fail for Madam. Mainly because she refuses to eat the hairball. I went from a 2:1 mix to 5 parts normal to one part hairball but she still only nibbles at it then turns her big eyed, forlorn face towards me.

Can I ask which brand others are using? I think I might invest in RC as every cat I've ever known loves RC but it is expensive 🤔

It is a very weird positive side effect , when you think of it , hairball remedy should make their poo slip out a treat not hold it in and bind it up .
Years ago I used to give our old girl some sardine oil to aid the hairball situation though she liked coughing them up !

The Resident House Panthers are ok bowel-wise except when Female decides to chase and eat snails (she's not a competitive hunter ) I can always tell ......her tray stinks and her poo is like jelly

Oh no. What if you give her no choice? Is she likely to starve herself to death?

Apparently Purina hairball also works.

Purina hairball is what I'm adding in. She's not been a fan generally with Purina but she was scarfing too much Iams and getting *coughs chubby. In fact we still use the remnants of the Iams packet as treats to get her in at night as she rates them higher than Dreamies 😯

She's been a visiting stray for over a year and when we were finally honoured with a stroke we realised we could feel every bone in her body, including the gaps between her ulna/radius and the depth of her ribs , it was like stroking a skeleton and absolutely horrifying, so I'm rather loathe to see her refusing to eat at all. She is hungry because she's mithering me and trying to trip me up which is very unusual for her. I think I've answered my own question... I'm off to buy RC on Monday 😂

Hello fellow Sphynx parent. My boy has cow pat soft poos all the time and vet says he's healthy and it's just one of his quirks. Problem is that he has a curly tail which always dips in the poo as he's finishing. I am going to try the hairball food. Hope it works because it's awful having poo painted around the place and awful for him that I have to wash him every time he poos. He hates it but he's such a sweet boy.

@Ownedbykitties
I can confirm we are still using the hairball at 50% ratio. Too little and the problem comes back, too much and she'll eat fingers, wallpaper, hunt frogs and generally be unpleasant instead of eating her food. Definitely worth a try!

We use pro kolin for ours, never had any bad side effects

I've noted down in case I need to try it in the future.

Could you try it with a squirt of lic a lix on it.

I invested in Royal Canin hairball in the end and I mix it with the Purina normal. It sounds a pain but we are having to measure her food anyway as she's overweight, probably overeating as a result of nearly dying from starvation. But no more diarrhoea and no more stinky poops, and no more tummy gurgling. I'm still thrilled with @thecatneuterer posting her miracle ❤

Just to add my thanks too - this is possibly one of the most helpful threads I’ve come across and I read a lot of Mumsnet! 😁 we are just in the process of switching our mini-panther to RC hairball only - she will have a liquid treat with medicine in it twice a day but otherwise just RC biscuits.

So far she’s looking very disgruntled at the lack of wet food - but….only one accidental poop outside of the litter tray in 3.5 days is a major change (we’ve had a rough few weeks) and what’s in the tray is looking more solid already!

we’ve tried several (expensive) solutions to her tummy troubles but this is the first that’s made a real difference.

thank you so much for the top tip!!

That's great. Maybe this thread should be pinned to the top of the board!

I think it should be pinned tbh!

Omg

I've found my tribe 💩🤣

The Good Shit tribe?

Me too! 😽

I can vouch for Purina One Coat and Hairball. Can't thank you enough for posting this 😻

😂

Another massive thanks to the OP… one of our cats has had persistent stomach issues, he’s been on RC digestive dry and wet food for ages, tried Pro-Kolin etc but nothing helped.. saw your thread swapped him over gradually to the RC Hairball wet and dry food .. and as well as his coat looking much better ( he was a persistent hair plucker) his poo’s are actually looking firm ( miracle) - he still doesn’t cover up his deposit’s in his litter tray- but we can’t have everything

I'm so happy to hear this. I don't understand why it's not sold for this purpose - or at the very least advertised as having two beneficial properties.

I'm definitely going to ask MN to pin this thread.

Definitely should be pinned.. I’m sure it will help many more people ( and their pussies!)

I can get royal canin wet coat and hairball food from Amazon but nowhere else. I have been looking on various websites including Royal canin and I asked the vet surgery if they can get it and they can't. They told me that Royal canin digestive wet food is the same but I haven't tried it yet. Anyone else struggle to get it?

It's not the same for me. I buy in Zooplus