Cat with watery stool (3months and still going)

[mr bag puss]

I recently adopted a stray cat ( wasn't chipped )

She was under weight and dirty but more so because of her mainly white coat.

After the first few days when we found her I noticed her stool was coming out very watery and dripping onto on her back legs, smelt strong as well. We had been feeding her the usual off the shelf cat food.

She would use the litter tray within 10min of eating and she'd fart frequently which would smell very strong along side her stomach making noises that you could hear if you where close enough.

Strangely, when we found her she wasn't messy with pooh on her back legs. It did feel like it was the generic cat food we gave her that caused this.

After a few checkups at the RSPCA, some worming solution, flea medication and a blood test confirming she was actually ok (no thyroid issues)I was advised to just feed her plain food.

Over the last 2months I've practically feed her just boiled chicken breast with nothing else added.

She doesn't drop her guys straight away like she does with regular cat food but her stool is still watery (just goes to the garden when nature calls instead of straight after eating), it doesn't even get on her back legs as much (wether she'd mastered how to prevent that or it's not as bad as before)

In total we had her for about 3months and have taken in so much advice but nothing is helping. The RSPCA said that it could take a few months to clear but they felt it wouldn't last that long.

I would really appreciate anyone thoughts, experience with similar issues, (going to have to take her back to the RSPCA, they said to bring her back as they may need to take a stool sample, i'm starting to think it's now come to that point)

Other things I've noticed while having her

* Feed her purina, food for sensitive stomachs, stool was till watery
* Drinks a lot of water, never known a cat to drink so much (was told it's to make up for the loss of liquid in her stools.
* She, does the action of swallowing alot (some say it's normal, but I've never see this before)

I've always grown up with cats since i was a boy and have never known a cat to have these problems. After she does pooh it's very fresh and you can smelt it humming off her until she cleans her self or she's around later in the day and it's cleared up. But it makes you conscious of it, before you let her round you, I always check her back to see if she been recently etc...

The vet estimated her age to be around 2-3yrs...

Once again, hope someone can help...

[lilynmitz]

Have you had stool samples tested by a vet? Might be worth considering.


I had this with a couple of rescue cats I brought home, and in our case many many tests we did proved inconclusive. We tried fish and rice diet (came out the other end as fish and rice!), chicken, all sorts, no good. Eventually the vet reckoned that their gut was probably being irritated by a particular protein, which we couldn't isolate, so he said to put them on a diet of a protein they wouldn't have encountered before. So we put them on venison. INSTANT SOLID POOH! YAAY! I had to keep them on it exclusively for several weeks, tried reintroducing Hills dried food for sensitive tums, runs again, back on venison a bit longer to give their gut a bit longer to recover, etc etc, until eventually I weaned them off the venison altogether, and we never had the problem again. Amused my butcher no end though that his fresh Langdale fell-bred venison was being fed to two rescue cats!

[Meandmymunki]

Yes I too agree to try a totally new protein as she more than likely is intolerant to the cat food and possibly chicken. Hills d/d is a good canned and dried one to try (I think that's venison) or of course the fresh meat option. But whatever you try just try one new thing at a time so you know what works. The repeat swallowing might be a form of reflux from the intolerance and the drinking will be to replace fluids and possibly soothe a sore throat.
Hope you get her sorted.

[lilynmitz]

If using manufactured pet foods, it's likely that there are several protein sources (eg, "with chicken" will mean there's a whole load of other meat sources in the ingredients, of which chicken is part. Hence best to go with fresh meat until you've got them sorted, then gradually wean onto sensitive cat food. Do speak with your vet about this though - it's much more reliable if you've got them on board. If it is an infection that's causing this, it may need appropriate drug treatment.

[mr bag puss]

Thanks for your replies, It was nice to hear that you encountered the same problem but was also able to resolve (gives me hope)

Until I've arranged a date with the vet/RSPCA, you said that you tired Venison, how did you prepare that, did you just boil it, i.e which ever option i go for (choice of fresh meat) should I just boil it like i have been with the fresh chicken breast that i've been feeding her?

[lilynmitz]

I just used to mince it and boil it (try to get the butcher to mince it for you, as it made an awful mess!), then bulk it out with just a little mashed potato, and serve with a just little warm water mixed in so it's not too dry. But do check with your vet first - always worth ruling out parasites or underlying health issues as a possible cause.