Cats with chronic diarrhoea, can anybody help?

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Scatty
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Cats with chronic diarrhoea, can anybody help?

Post by Scatty »

About eight months ago one of my cats had eight teeth extracted. 2 1/2 weeks later the vet deemed it necessary to give her a Convenia antibiotic injection because of a mild infection in one of her cavities. A few days after that she developed chronic diarrhoea. This has now been going on for over eight months. I am absolutely at my wits end as to what to do to help her. I’ve spent hundreds and hundreds of pounds at the vets trying to rectify this. She has had a limited specialty diet, B12 and steroid injections, probiotics, pro-kolin, B12 tablets and I have even tried putting linseeds in her food. The list is endless. She’s had combinations of these for the last eight months. She still has chronic diarrhoea.

Does anybody have any experience of this? At the moment she’s having FortiFlora and pro-Kolin in her food with limited results.

After reading up on Convenia antibiotics ......... I am absolutely horrified as to the bad press it has. If only I had known this before they gave her the injection

Thank you for your help
Scatty xx
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Mollycat
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Re: Cats with chronic diarrhoea, can anybody help?

Post by Mollycat »

My girl had chronic diarrhoea for about 18 months starting with some mysterious liver related crash during which we found she was hyperthyroid. She was successfully treated and it carried on impervious to everything including a lot from your list. At her 6 month check she was found to be still low on potassium, we put her back on the supplements, at some point it cleared up and she has been fine since, with her potassium levels still on the low side but within the normal range. Do not supplement without checking her levels, but it might be worth checking her potassium levels as deficiency does cause diarrhoea.
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Scatty
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Re: Cats with chronic diarrhoea, can anybody help?

Post by Scatty »

Thank you for your reply. Mia had a series of blood tests back in August September time but they only thing they found she was lacking was vitamin B12. As I said, she had had steroid injections and vitamin B12 injections. She is also eating her cat litter at the moment. I think this must be some sort of lack of mineral. She is back at the vets again at the end of this week. Can I ask what supplements did your cat have?

Also, has anybody got any other ideas for food that I could slowly introduce her to that might help? I’m absolutely at my wits end here. I lost one cat at the beginning of January to cancer ( my black and white boy, Frankie, in the picture ), I can’t bear to lose another one so soon. I can just see Mia fading away in front of my eyes
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Mollycat
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Re: Cats with chronic diarrhoea, can anybody help?

Post by Mollycat »

Sorry for your Frankie, believe me I do understand your desperation. All Molly had was potassium and that's for life now, though she does have other electrolyte imbalances.

I believe Convenia is more or less standard issue for dental work but I thought it was normally given at the time of the surgery, not waiting for signs of infection to have started. I know antibiotics can cause specifically vitamin B absorption issues but I believe that's only if taken orally, I don't think the injection has the same effect, but I'm not sure on that.

I found this for you on eating litter and nutrient deficiencies https://www.thesprucepets.com/cat-eating-litter-4587387 - my thoughts would be dietary change and a pot of grass first, but my point about my girl getting over hers in time is just that, time. Countless changes over 8 months might not have given her tummy a chance to settle with any one food. The change itself can trigger a worsening, it doesn't necessarily mean that food is no good, just that the change needs adjusting to.

You say eight teeth removed - was that all back teeth, does she have any molars and premolars still in place? Does she eat dry or wet food? Extracting that many teeth in one go can have big implications for their ability to chew which is the first stage of digestion and a sudden big change can really upset the rest of the system for quite a while.

What sort of age is Mia? Has your vet discussed IBD/lymphoma with you? What about early kidney issues? Bad teeth and kidney problems can go together.

Antibiotics are serious drugs, for careful use on serious or potentially serious conditions. My girl recently has a dental and a shot of Convenia with it, which hasn't caused her any problems and we are at day 12 now, but then there is no way I could or would try to get pills into her, and the dangers of missing doses of antibiotic tablets outweigh the risk of a single dose professionally given injection, for many cats.

Convenia like any other antibiotic can cause diarrhoea, but sometimes we can continue that long after it would have resolved by itself, by scrambling too desperately to cure it and making so many more changes and upsets with vet trips that the cat and its digestive system are messed up by the changes.
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Re: Cats with chronic diarrhoea, can anybody help?

Post by Libertad »

Hi, I know this post is over a year old but I'm freaking out about all the bad things I've read about Convenía.

My cat had a Convenía shot 3 weeks ago and two days after the shot her stools became softer, fast forward to now her stool is almost liquid. I just have to ask, did you ever resolved the diarrhea issue with your cat? And how did you managed to solve it? I just can't imagine dealing with cat diarrhea for months!

Thanks in advance and I hope your cat is ok.

Libertad
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