Diarrhea

[Danger Kitty]

Hey guys. One of my cats has had diarrhea off and on for awhile now. It isn't more frequent and goes just once a day. I've had him to the vet over this and came out with a clean bill of health and negative stool sample. At one point he stopped eating the food he first ate as a kitten but I was already in the process of choosing a new food. He's now eating the raw infused game bird flavor of merrick and a can of wet merrick for dinner. Just about immediately after switching his stool firmed up and we were ok for a few months. His runny stool has now returned and I'm going to try a bland diet for a few days. By the way, he's 2.5 years old and activity levels hasn't diminished.

I found this post from Per and had a couple questions. http://www.savannahcatchat.com/threads/upset-stomachs-and-runny-stools.2721/

How I see it
-hours 0-36 fast with water
-hours 36-72 bland diet of chicken and rice, and yogurt or kefir, water
-hours 72-108 bland diet mixed with kibble
-hours 108- go back to kibble

Does this sound about right? What type of white rice would be best? What is a good yogurt/kefir to use? Am I going in the right direction at this point?

Any help would be much appreciated. Also I've given him fortiflora with no real results.

 

[Danger Kitty]

Thought I should add that my other savannah has had no signs of diarrhea at all.

 

[Rafiki]

-hours 0-36 fast with water
-hours 36-72 bland diet of chicken and rice, and yogurt or kefir, water
-hours 72-108 bland diet mixed with kibble
-hours 108- go back to kibble

Personally, I would not fast at all. Getting cats to eat can be tough that the last thing I want to deal with is anorexia. I think that you only do this if the cat has absolute raging diarrhea rather than runny stools.
My cats will not eat rice or yogurt. The bland diet that I have used is lightly poached chicken mixed with Gerber baby food chicken as a gravy mixed in.

Why would you eliminate the canned food and replace it with dry kibble?

 

[Rafiki]

Also, you might want to add psyllium powder and probiotics to his food.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Did the negative stool sample include a PCR diarrhea panel? If it was only an inhouse fecal float you haven't ruled out things like tritrichomonas which can present with occasional diarrhea. Just wanted to mention this as you could change the diet, do all sorts of things and if you haven't eliminated infections you will not resolve the issue...

 

[John Popp]

Dr Lisa Pierson beat me up pretty good when we were going over our cats diets and the use of psyllium. I don't recall the details but she kind of crushed me when she asked "Why would you think it's a good idea to give that too your cats?".

I'm all about the probiotics, wish I could get my vet to give me the green light to use them.

 

[Danger Kitty]

Thank you for all your replies. I'll try to answer your questions the best I can.

Why would you eliminate the canned food and replace it with dry kibble?

Forgot to mention eventually going back to the wet food also. After the bland diet I would go back to the kibble and wet combination I normally do

Also, you might want to add psyllium powder and probiotics to his food.

I've been giving them fortiflora for awhile now but have read mixed things about effectiveness. I'll also try the psyllium powder.

Did the negative stool sample include a PCR diarrhea panel? If it was only an inhouse fecal float you haven't ruled out things like tritrichomonas which can present with occasional diarrhea. Just wanted to mention this as you could change the diet, do all sorts of things and if you haven't eliminated infections you will not resolve the issue...

Not sure about PCR. I found the receipt from the visit but had to bring the fecal there after I had one. There is a reminder section on the receipt and it says IDEXX Fecal Panel (comprehensive).

 

[Rafiki]

Dr Lisa Pierson beat me up pretty good when we were going over our cats diets and the use of psyllium. I don't recall the details but she kind of crushed me when she asked "Why would you think it's a good idea to give that too your cats?".

I'm all about the probiotics, wish I could get my vet to give me the green light to use them.

I don't add it as a normal ingredient (although I have seen it in many raw recipes) but I would think that it might bind the water and make his stools less runny short term.

 

[Rafiki]

Fortiflora is not the most effective. I have used it mainly as a different flavoring to food. I currently use Probiotics for Cats by PetUltimates, available on Amazon. I have also used human probiotics like Florostor.

 

[Danger Kitty]

Fortiflora is not the most effective. I have used it mainly as a different flavoring to food. I currently use Probiotics for Cats by PetUltimates, available on Amazon. I have also used human probiotics like Florostor.

Thanks for the info Rafiki. If you don't mind could you please recommend a brand of psyllium powder.


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