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Help,A great feline, who wondered into our lives


Sent to Pet Experts September 12, 2006 8:18 p.m.

Help,

A great feline, who wondered into our lives almost two years ago, has adult cronic diarrea. We can not find an answer to this most uncomfortable problem for him and us.
He is a constant eater and then poops. Miky is quite thin.

Miky sometimes seems to respond to antibiotics as far as his overall energy behavior. By the way, he has a really bad smelling breath and saliva.

Miky has had both lukemia and aids tests.

His health is generally waning.

Thanks for the help!

Edited by Customer (name blocked for privacy) on September 12 2006 at 8:36pm


Optional Information:
Male

Already Tried:
Vet does know what to do--blood counts, antibiotics, prednisone, and etc.
Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Status: Closed   Value: $15   
Answer
September 12, 2006 9:48 p.m. (1 hour and 29 minutes later)
ACCEPTED Check Mark

Many times chronic diarrhea in cats is caused by a food allergy - and the allergy is usually to corn or corn gluten. You can try gradually weaning him to a corn-free diet such as Innova or Wellness or Felidae to see if that helps with the diarrhea at all. You need to add just a small amount of new food to his existing diet the first day. Each day you add more new food, less old, until he is eating all new food in about a week. Other things that can cause diarrhea are clostridium, coccidia and giardia. All are found in the intestine and USUALLY show up in a fecal - however, giardia and clostridium can sometimes 'hide' and may not even show a positive even when a sample is pulled in the vet's office with a fecal loop. Usually a 7 day treatment with flagyl will get either problem under control quickly if your vet hasn't tried that. It would be worth trying even if the tests show negative as it's safe and inexpensive. The bad thing about it is that it tastes HORRIBLE and cats usually froth and foam at the mouth when they take it - but it also shows an improvement in the stool within 48 hours if that is the problem. With his breath being as bad as it is, I would be concerned about a dental abscess or tumor or possible a problem with the pancreas. You might have the vet clean his teeth and do a general dental check to see if anything shows up there. The bacteria from an abscess could also contribute to chronic diarrhea.

Hopefully, one of the suggestions above will prove helpful. Please let me know how things go.



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Lori McLaughlin
Your veterinarian should ALWAYS be consulted first and foremost when your pet's welfare is at stake.
PictureLori  -- Veterinary Healthcare -- 100% Positive Feedback on 314 Pet Accepts
14 yrs health care mgmt & issues focusing on cats, reproductive issues & multicat environments

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