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F4 cats with digestive issues

Foodgoddess

Site Supporter
Brother and sister F4's both have digestive problems. He is one year and she is almost five months. We have a special feeding bowl for him and this seems to help. He still has minor problems and will have occasional flare-ups. The female had major diarrhea and vomiting about five weeks ago. We took her to the vet. We had a fecal done and this came back negative. She also had her blood drawn and tested and everything came back normal except she was anemic.

Vet said this may have been due to her being sick, she had a minor surgery for anal prolapse two weeks later. She had been fine. A few weeks after surgery she began to have the same issues. Took her to vet again. Her temperature was normal.. Diarrhea , threw up a couple times. They gave her a shot of convenia, for the vomiting and diarrhea. Could find no other issues, except anal prolapse had come right back, and has been aggravated by all of the diarrhea.

I read on Vet's Corner advice and am following directions. The breeder told me they have very delicate digestive systems. My question is how is this possible, when Savannah's can have a raw diet. I know some people grind up bone and raw chicken for their cats. I realize these are f1 and 2 cats, but I am still confused on how cat food can be a problem for a cat that has wild blood. I also have other cats, that have none of these problems.

We don't even feed them anything raw or like that. The male savannah came to us on taste of the wild and we started to gradually switch him over to our cats food Acana: Wild Prairie which is 65% protein consisting of poultry and fish and then 35% fruits and vegetables. The little girl was on Royal Canin Kitten 36 (which bothers the male her brother too). She also eats the mixture of acana and taste of the wild and my other two cats kitten food from shelter which is purina pro plan chicken and rice (which we are working on getting them off of).

As I said earlier my two cats from the shelter do not have a problem with any of these foods. I am assuming that either the Savannah's I have are prone to extremely sensitive stomachs or possibly something genetic is going on here.

I would appreciate any helpful input, from experienced savannah owners. I have tried to be as detailed as possible. Thanks!
 

admin

Paige
Staff member
Thanks for the detailed post!

Savannahs in general do not have sensitive digestive systems...although we do have a few on this forum that do, so hopefully those owners will post...

Raw is actually easier on the system as cats are obligate carnivores...raw does not have all those additives either, so many people are beginning to feed more raw to cats in general, not just savannahs...that being said, you may just have to find the right food that does not bother your savannahs...the fruit may be bothering them...perhaps try a more protein-based food...

I'm sure others will chime in...
 

Brandy DW

Missing Neka, Loving Sabriel, Nakaia, & Trance
As to the diarrhea which tests were done? If it was just the snap test that doesn't show everything. She may have Giardia, which the snap test would not show, there is another test for that and my Neka had that - she could have only gotten it from the breeder as I had only her for a pet.

Was she tested for coccidiosis? I'm not entirely sure if this is in the snap test, ask your vet.

All I know is that there are different tests for different things. Giardia, at least I know with my vet I had to pay extra for. They had another normal test. There are tests for worms and bacteria which different methods are used to see if that could be the culprit. Do you know exactly what tests your vet did?

----

Are you positive that your girl didn't swallow anything that she shouldn't have that could cause a bowel obstruction? That could cause diarrhea and vomiting although I'm assuming the vet would have checked that.

---
For food I've been told that if you add white rice to it, it can be soothing on a cats stomach, but I don't know if that's true or not as I've never done it. Google for bland diets that may help your savannahs, but it may be worth a shot to see if they can eat raw food without having issues, that would at least tell you if it's a food allergy that they are experiencing.

First though I would ask your vet what tests were done and be specific about asking about the giardia because that would cause diarrhea and vomiting.
 

admin

Paige
Staff member
Also, if you look through the diet/raw diet forum, you will see many threads on this subject.

I think Brigitte recommends some plain boiled chicken with a little rice to soothe tummies...
 

Foodgoddess

Site Supporter
As to the diarrhea which tests were done? If it was just the snap test that doesn't show everything. She may have Giardia, which the snap test would not show, there is another test for that and my Neka had that - she could have only gotten it from the breeder as I had only her for a pet.

Was she tested for coccidiosis? I'm not entirely sure if this is in the snap test, ask your vet.

All I know is that there are different tests for different things. Giardia, at least I know with my vet I had to pay extra for. They had another normal test. There are tests for worms and bacteria which different methods are used to see if that could be the culprit. Do you know exactly what tests your vet did?

----

Are you positive that your girl didn't swallow anything that should shouldn't have that could cause a bowel obstruction? That could cause diarrhea and vomiting although I'm assuming the vet would have checked that.

---
For food I've been told that if you add white rice to it, it can be soothing on a cats stomach, but I don't know if that's true or not as I've never done it. Google for bland diets that may help your savannahs, but it may be worth a shot to see if they can eat raw food without having issues, that would at least tell you if it's a food allergy that they are experiencing.

First though I would ask your vet what tests were done and be specific about asking about the giardia because that would cause diarrhea and vomiting.


She has already been to the vet 4xs for this they seem to think that it is not a FB but not that she is vomiting again I am leaning towards her possibly having An FB...as for the fecal she had a full fecal run that was sent out not done in house like snap tests.

She is a slight primadonna and will refuse chicken and rice she has been intermittently on Low-Res which helped that's why I am starting to think she may be obstructed but her vet does not think so. If the v/d doesn't start to resolved in the next 24 hours I will have her seen by my daughters vet office for a 2nd opinion. She is kind of like a Labrador retriever and likes to try and eat everything in sight and that is a possible concern for me.
 

Foodgoddess

Site Supporter
Also, if you look through the diet/raw diet forum, you will see many threads on this subject.

I think Brigitte recommends some plain boiled chicken with a little rice to soothe tummies...

She has been on chicken and rice and does not like it.....my daughter works at a vet and the vet recommended trying low-res which she likes but that has stopped helping with the digestive issues suddenly
 

Brandy DW

Missing Neka, Loving Sabriel, Nakaia, & Trance
Well with the test they did do, make sure they checked for everything.. Ask what all it screened for.
 

admin

Paige
Staff member
She has been on chicken and rice and does not like it.....my daughter works at a vet and the vet recommended trying low-res which she likes but that has stopped helping with the digestive issues suddenly

Chicken and rice is only a temp fix...
 

Foodgoddess

Site Supporter
Well with the test they did do, make sure they checked for everything.. Ask what all it screened for.


Monday I am taking another fecal over and asking them to run one again for anything and everything..... The last vet she saw did say the food is possibly causing this but that is crazy....it just makes no sense to me
 
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