poopy cat

[Hellojosie]

Well, the last time we had taken Stewie to the vet for diarrhea was back in June, and he also had a slight virus at this time- was acting tired and lethargic, and just not like himself. He was treated with Endosorb for the diarrhea, given a pencillin shot and was also put on antibiotics. Within a couple days he was fine again.

By "diarrhea on and off" I mean we had a few incidents during this time frame (maybe a couple times a month) where we'd find that he'd had diarrhea downstairs. I had not been noticing anything out of the ordinary when I scooped the litter boxes. In thinking back, I know for sure that we didn't make any changes to his diet or litter or anything else, and he's been completely happy and healthy otherwise- he's not super skinny, he's eating, drinking, playing with us and running around like normal with our other cat, Ollie (who has had no symptons of diarrhea at all).

The reason I say he's worse now is because the diarrhea is a DAILY occurence. We finally put a litter box downstairs, and he actually used it for the first time this morning (instead of going in front of the tv as he usually does). No mess to clean up today, hooray! But, the problem is still there. The poo is a caramel-y color, about the consistency of pudding. It usually has virtually no shape at all, but it's not completely liquid either.

I am still working on getting him switched over from his Whiskas food to Nutro- although it seems like he's been eating more of the Nutro out of the dish anyway. It has been almost a week since I made that switch. The only other thing I've changed recently is cutting out his wet food completely and giving him tiny pieces of chicken breast mixed in with rice instead. He does not get any people food other than the chicken & rice, and he doesn't go through the trash or anything- I also make sure to never leave any dishes in the sink with food on them.

I was planning on calling the vet today to get her thoughts, even though she really hasn't been very helpful. She may put him back on the Metronizadole, or she said she had a few other medications she could try. I hate putting him on drugs that don't seem to be working at all, but what else can I do at this point??

[ratchet22]

[QUOTE= The poo is a caramel-y color, about the consistency of pudding. It usually has virtually no shape at all, but it's not completely liquid either. [/QUOTE]





Is there a bad smell to this Pudding carmel poop?

[Hellojosie]

Oh heck yeah...we can always smell it right away as soon as we hit the staircase, and the poo is all the way across the room. My gag reflexes are in full force when cleaning it up too.

[ratchet22]

Yes that is VERY familiar in the rescue world, tee hee, can you tell me if it looks more yellow than carmel? Maybe peanut butter color?

[Hellojosie]

I'd say the color of peanut butter is about accurate. Sure wish it smelled like peanut butter!!

[ratchet22]

I'd say the color of peanut butter is about accurate. Sure wish it smelled like peanut butter!!

It sure sounds like giardia to me, and with that said the metronidizole is the answer normally, but they are showing more and more different strands that are hard to kill, and sometimes it works and sometimes it wont, I had some that it didnt so therefore we used albendazole and it did help, read up on giardia a bit and see if this is what you might be experianceing, I would bet my bottom dollar on it, as I have see this over and over this year, its really bad this year, Im not exactly sure how your cat got it, but thats a cat for ya, fecals done on cats its very rarely seen giardia in the sample, there are only a few times it can be seen, and you get lucky if it is. What does your cat weigh, how much metronidizole did you give him per day? How long?
Did it ever help at all, was there any other thing you were doing while you were also giving him the metronidizole? There is another one that is used besides albendazole and thats panacur, I have not used it yet, but I hear it too helps, but I dont think it has been approved for cats in the us, again read up on it. And think about another vet, or ask if she would consider albendazole......print off the different meds used to kill the different strands of giardia,,,,,,read,,,,,,,,,,, research,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ask, and then read somemore, research it yourself in this area and see what you think

[Hellojosie]

Stewie was on the Metronidazole for about a week, he got a quarter pill every 12 hours. It seemed to help for the first 3 days, and then the messes downstairs started up again. He weighs a healthy 11 pounds.

Thanks so much for your insight on this, I'm definitely going to research giardia and see if that matches Stewie's symptons before I call the vet today. I feel sorta weird suggesting things to her...after all, SHE'S the expert here. But, I guess I see Stewie on a daily basis and know his behavior better than she does. It's definitely strange- I have no clue where he might've picked anything up from. He stays indoors and wants nothing to do with the outside world at all (I think because he was an abandoned kitten, he was found in a soccer field). And my other cat is very healthy, has no problems whatsoever.