Chronic sickness and diarrhoea in cat

Tete_en_l'Air

Hello, I'm posting here in desperation, hoping that someone has had a similar experience and can suggest something I haven't already tried.

My female, neutered cat (Sally) is 12 years old and I have had her since she was four. I got her and her sister (Mavis) from a shelter but they were not 'rescue' cats in the sense that they had been mistreated as far as I was made aware.

In Feb 2013 Mavis began vomiting blood very suddenly and died a few days later, the vet thought it was the FIP virus but couldn't be sure. Sally seemed fine herself and seemed to cope well with the loss of her sis (they only ever seemed to tolerate each other tbh).

Not long after, Sally began to have diarrhoea (though always in her tray) and vomit more than normal (both cats had always been quite 'sicky') and it's never gone away since. We've been back and forth to the vets constantly and she's had steroid injections (which stop the vomiting but make no difference to the poo) and steroid tablets (which didn't really do anything).

She's had several blood tests and stool samples sent off, all of which always come back clear. I've had her on plain chicken and fish, expensive Z/D stuff ... nothing helps. There are four vets at the practice and she has seen all of them as well as a locum a couple months ago and we are getting nowhere.

In the last six months the situation worsened in that she did lose a lot of weight and felt very bony, though still seemed happy. She had a course of steroid jabs just to ensure she put some weight back on I think, which she did and she was even looking like her old chubby self by October.

Around the time she lost weight, she began pooing on the landing of the stairs instead of in her tray, which is obviously far from ideal and I was rapidly losing patience when having to clear up very smelly messy mess from my carpet at least once per day. I've ended up moving her tray up to the landing and she does use it there so at least my carpet is safe but it's not very nice having to step over a huge hooded litter tray on the stairs all the time!

In mid-December I was back at the vets discussing how no-one knew what was wrong with her, when the veterinary nurse suggested the cheapest own brand cat food as a last resort, as it is much blander than the more expensive stuff and worked for her own cat. She also asked had there been a trauma before it started, such as moving house, and suggested Feliway. It was only later that I remembered about Mavis's death, and perhaps Sally didn't deal with it as well as I'd thought. I've had one plugged in since about 18th Dec.

I tried the cheapo food and couldn't believe my eyes when it actually worked - I was over the moon for about a week, until it stopped working again. I thought perhaps I shouldn't have given her the various flavours, or the stuff in gravy, and reverted back to plain chicken in jelly but she seemed to go off it and wouldn't eat it. She was clearly hungry as she always wants what I'm eating. I've now got her eating the 'pate' style stuff which she seems to enjoy, but last night she was hugely sick afterwards and did two lots of runny poo. Today, I've given her the same food but very little at a time and she's done quite a solid poo and is sleeping merrily beside me now.

I know that chopping and changing her food is not ideal but what else can I do when she won't eat and is so skinny? Everything I'm doing just seems so hit and miss.

I'm at the end of my tether and going to try a different vets practice in the new year I think, but I wanted to ask here as well and see if anyone had any suggestions.

Sorry for the long rambly post, I wanted to give as much detail as possible and make it clear that I HAVE been consulting with professionals thus far!

Help?!

ljonski

Sounds like IBS . Maybe fish and boiled chicken will help?

*Robin*

Have you tried slippery elm powder, OP?

Tiddlywinks

I've got an elderly cat with IBS - even with two daily doses of steroids and special diet food she still has issues. Sadly, just like with humans, it's hard to manage and varies to the individual.

She tolerates some brands more than others and it is trial and error - you need to try each brand for a good few days before moving on to the next.

Zooplus has a good number of special diet foods for dodgy tummies.

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/esearch.htm#q%3Ddigestive%26cats%3D1Cat%26catl%3D2%26p%3D1%26ci%3DCategory_facet%253D1%253A1Cat

My girl particularly tolerates the Royal Canin, the Hills and the Kattovit brands.

I've also invested in a carpet shampooer / cleaner with easy to fill and empty tanks - it makes the clear-up of accidents much easier.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vax-Carpet-Cleaner-Graphite-Orange/dp/B00HRWMG4W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451511109&sr=8-1&keywords=vax+dual+power+pet

Good luck.

sheramber

You could ask your vet for a referral to a specialist vet.

Fen1

Is she drinking enough water? All of her accidents will leave her dehydrated and exacerbate the situation. A lot of people swear by the electric water fountains if moggie does not drink from a bowl.

There is a Bach flower remedy for pets. It might work, it might not. What have you got to lose?

Fen1

P.S. You will need the Feliway plug ins upstairs and downstairs as they only gave a limited range.

TBagpuss

Is she on wet or dry food? If she is having meat/jelly then trying her on dry food might help. Also look at the ingedients - trying dry foods which are made without added grain may help.

Has she ben tested for thyroid problems? The weight loss and hunger might suggests thyroid issues, and I know from personal experience that when my cat developed thyroid trouble he also seemed to have issues with his digestion and made messes indoors, which he had never done before. He didn't get diaorrhea as such, but he did start making messes upstairs and I suspect that this was becuae he couldn't get outside, or to the litter tray, in time. (although I would have expected your vet to have raisedthis as an issue if they haven't already)

On a practical level, is there anywhere upstairs you could move the tray to, so it is less in the way? I so, try that, and clean the carpet very thoroughly with biological washing powder/liquid which helps get rid of any unerlying smell. trying some catbuscuits up in an old pair of tights nad leaving that on the spot may also reducethe risk of her making a mess on the carpet - It won't cure her medical problem but might help make it a little more manageable on a practical level.

pinkteapot

Have you ever tried a dry-only diet?

Ours had diarrhoea on and off but has been solid since the summer on Hill's Science Plan for Sensitive Stomachs. You might have tried it already though? And you shouldn't go dry-only if she's ever had any urinary or kidney problems, without checking with your vet.

Tete_en_l'Air

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions - there's lots of food for thought here. I did a bit of googling and a lot of people seemed to suggest the 'raw' cat food, so I've just been and bought about a week's worth of that. She's had her first meal tonight and enjoyed it - time will tell.

ljonski - I've tried her on boiled chicken several times and it makes a difference at first but then back to square one and she goes off it after a couple of days anyway.

Robin - NEVER heard of it! I thought it was some kind of joke or sarcastic response until I googled it - thanks, will give it a try if needed!

Tiddlywinks - I think I've tried her on most foods at this stage with limited success. Quite often I'll spend £££ on a premium brand and she just turns her nose up. I have already bought a Vax though - very good investment!!

Sheramber - Yes the vet has suggested this but she's not insured and costs are really mounting up at this stage. Will wait a bit before resorting to that.

Fen - Water not an issue, she's always been a 'big drinker' and has bowls dotted about the house. Will look into the flower remedy though I wasn't convinced it worked for me when I tried it!

Bagpuss - She was always on a dry diet as she used to regurgitate the wet, it's only recently I've tried her on wet food and have been giving her a bit of both (cheapo own brand and v expensive Royal Canin Fibre Response) lately, until starting on the 'raw' stuff today, which I'll give her exclusively for a few days. I think they've ruled out thyroid issues, I seem to remember it was one of the first things they tested for (because of her age?). I'm not worrying about the litter tray for now, we've had no accidents since I moved the big hooded one to the landing so I'll try to get her sorted before attempting to move it somewhere less conspicuous! Will bear in mind the tights thing though, never heard that before!

Pinkteapot - See above. I think Hills was one of the first I tried and she didn't like it much.

Phew! That'll teach me to post a question and not come back for a week! Thanks once again everyone, will keep you posted.

Tete_en_l'Air

Hello again. Well, I've had her exclusively on the raw food for six days now and although some poos have a bit of shape, I'd say 70% are still just totally watery How long should I be persevering with one type of food before moving on? I have about a day's worth of the raw stuff left. She does like it and has been eating well, but no improvement in toilet, coat or weight. Poor little thing, I feel like I'm failing her