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Bloody poop, diarrhea, vomit...been to vet still not sure
Hi everybody,
I have been reading this forum for a while, my 1 1/2 year old male cat is not in a good way! I have 2 cats brother and sister both 1 1/2 Raggamuffins. One guy, one girl, the girl is completely fine!! He has been throwing up on and off for about a month, but it seemed to be only when he was left alone, or got over excited. So we put it down to him just being stressed. Last week though he took a turn for the worst, he vomited 3 times in the one day, and had runny poo all over his back legs. I bathed him to clean him up, as he is a long hair and often gets poop stuck on him. I locked him in the bathroom while I grabbed a towel, and I came back to a pile of oily blood on the floor, and white foam. I called the vet right away, and took him in. The vet says he is extremely healthy, everything is normal. She gave us a white liquid and a dropper to coat his tummy, a paste for hairballs, prescription food and anti-acid pills. We follow this to the letter, and the next day he was very lethargic, and turned his nose up at the food. Eventually i was able to feed him some food and some water, and I put him to bed for the night fearing the worst. The next day he came bouncing back! We continued with the medicine but I called the vet after he was throwing up after every single dose of the white liquid, she told us to stop feeding him it and see how he faired. There was no more sickness or bad poop (as far as I know) for a little while. He was fine until 2 days ago, when I noticed oily poop stains on all my rugs. I picked up the rugs and cleaned them, and I heard him crying in the shower. I picked him up and RAN to the litter box, and threw him in it. Sure enough, he needed to poop - it seems like he cant make it to the liter box? Not sure. The poop was runny, oily, but no blood. Anyway, I made a makeshift litterbox upstairs for him, and locked him in a room himself all night so he could sleep and have his own litter box, water and food. I also changed his food recently. He was on costco dry food, then iams anti hairball, but after the vet, I ran out and bought several different dry foods to try. He had Royal Cain easy to digest food yesterday, and he seemed fine. Today he had Naturals Rabbit and something, and he is pooping blood. His poop smells awful, and he seems lethargic. I have checked his teeth and skin pull reactions and he is not deydrated. He still has his appetite, but I noticed he didnt eat all of the naturals Rabbit food, so I threw it out, and gave him the Limited Ingredients. He turned his nose up at it again, and has slinked away and is hiding in the dinning room. He seems completely fine, and is running and playing. He hasn't lost any weight as far as I can tell, and he is not an outdoor cat. Him and his sister love to chew plastic bags and anything plastic, or I worry something could be stuck. But the vet says she would likely not see plastic in an xray. When he is sick he cries first if no one is there, makes a choking noise first then like pushes himself back and forward then upchucks, he will start crying afterwords too unless I go help him when he is sick. Poop wise, I perved at him during his last movement, and he seems to be slightly stressing trying to pass anything, and he passed one small quarter sized piece. Sorry for all the detail, but ever since he has got sick I have become obsessed with him, I really want to rule out the simple things before I head back to the vet again. These guys are my first ever pets, and he's my little guy! I worry about him being so sick. I also don't know what is and what isn't normal behavior or what signs to look for. Anything you can suggest would help so much!! Last edited by scottyxx; September 6th, 2012 at 06:07 PM. |
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Not to be creepy or anything but he just pooped, and it was just a bright red mucus.
He also just threw up, it was a thick white foam. |
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Just after I posted this, he started crying and blood was dripping from his anus. I rushed him to the vet. The vet thinks he has a type of IBS for cats, so we have steroids, and another pill which should give him an appetite. I am really worried about him. This was a new vet at the same clinic, and I mentioned plastic bags to him, and he said he thinks it is more likely to be this IBS thing. Fingers crossed!!
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Did these symptoms start before or after you changed food? Have you tried him back on the original food to see how his digestive tract reacts? Did the vet feel the cats stomach, digestive tract & colon to feel if there is a blockage? Sometimes the cat can have hard poop or a foreign object stuck in the colon and the diarrhea, mucus & blood could still leak out around it. If this is a case of IBS switching foods often will only aggravate the issue since each of the foods may have different ingredients that cause different reactions.
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Avoid biting when a simple growl will do The Spirit Lives As Long As Someone Who Lives Remembers You - Navaho Saying |
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Like I said, they have never been fussy so I didn't think anything of switching the food. I ended up switching to the wet because I thought if he has an upset tummy something grain free and watery would be easier for him to digest, and would give him more water to stop him dehydrating. Now we are on vet Fibre food which I hope settles him. |
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My cats are 100% indoor cats, they only go outside with me on the leash in summer, but haven't been outside in over a month.
We got them from someone on Kijiji, when I think they were 2 months old, she said they had been dewormed and fixed, etc,etc. They were not fixed, so we got them fixed at the SPCA Clinic. Is it possible he has worms? How often should you de-worm a cat? How do you deworm a cat? |
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Everybody I know who has fed their cat IAM's has ended up with a sick cat .
The colon will produce mucous just like your sinuses do, however, it is normally such a small amount that it's not noticeable. When the colon gets inflammed, they will produce a lot more, once again like your sinuses when you get a cold. The blood may be caused from sores due to the inflammation. Did your vet state IBS or IBD? I'm thinking it is more of an IBD (Inflammable Bowel Disease, rather than Irritable Bowel Syndrome). Cats are made to eat raw meat, not grains, not corn, not potatoes, period. They can not digest Carbs and therefore do not get any benefit from them, except to add filler to what they eat and to produce large feces that can fill up the colon. Undigested carbs can also irritate the colon, causing inflammation and the symptoms that you have described your cat is getting. Some cats won't be affected by carbs, others are. I know of one cat in particular that will end up with diarrhea and blood dripping from his anus continually and it got worse as the cat aged. The owner now has him on a raw diet and it has cleared up and has perfect poops (it took about 6 months for the colon to heal). The vet also tried, their food, steroids but they didn't work. I highly recommend this website for you, it is so full of great info: http://www.catinfo.org/ Good luck with your kitty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Cat maid to: Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs) Jasper RIP (2001-2018) Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014) Puddles RIP (1996-2014) Snowball RIP (1991-2005) In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb “While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey |
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Firstly, thank you so much for all your replies!
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I highly recommend this website for you, it is so full of great info: http://www.catinfo.org/ Good luck with your kitty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/QUOTE] |
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You could made the raw food and made small meals and freeze them . If they're small enough they should defrost overnight in the refrigerator. An ice tray would the prefect size to use. |
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I got really small tupperwares and I made the raw food for them in this, but the problem was I always forgot to defrost them the night before, leaving my lil ones with no food
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I make a month's worth and freeze daily portions and put it in flatten out medium freezer bags to freeze. That makes them quick to thaw . I make a month's worth at a time. It takes hubby & I an hour to make about 25-30 lbs.
You mentioned about mixing ground chicken/hearts. That would not be a complete meal for cats as they need Vit A (liver) and calcium from bones. The normal ratio is: 80%muscle meat 10%organs (liver/kidneys) 10%bone. Also, cats don't get their vit D from the sun, they get it from the partially processed vit D in their prey's skin AND they need iodine which would come from either a raw thyroid or iodized salt. My friend who has the kitty that can only eat raw buys prepared raw from the pet food store. It is much more expensive that way, but convenient.
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Cat maid to: Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs) Jasper RIP (2001-2018) Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014) Puddles RIP (1996-2014) Snowball RIP (1991-2005) In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb “While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey |
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Do you have a microwave stove? You could put it on defrost , you just have to make sure the food does not have any hot spots so your pet won't burn their little mouths . Or leave a note on the refrigerator to remind yourself to take food out for your lil ones . I have to put up notes all over the house to remember to do things.
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Its worth a shot I think! I worry about microwaving them and salmonela etc?
First say of steroids and antibiotics and food complete ... No sickness ... No Blood ... Solid Poops and he is eating! Fingers crossed it continues!!! |
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Definitely do not microwave the raw food especially with bone in it, even on defrost it will start to cook it a bit including the ground bone pieces, the rest of it being cooked a little wouldn't be harmful but even just slightly cooking the bones can be very damaging to the stomach & intestines. Bones when cooked become very hard & brittle making it easy to rip the lining/walls of the internal organs.
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Avoid biting when a simple growl will do The Spirit Lives As Long As Someone Who Lives Remembers You - Navaho Saying |
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Cat maid to: Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs) Jasper RIP (2001-2018) Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014) Puddles RIP (1996-2014) Snowball RIP (1991-2005) In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb “While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey |
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That was my thought. Raw wouldn't be my first choice as I see you need a grinder and bones. I burned out 3 blenders last year trying raw food haha! But if its all that helps him, then Ill do it of course.
Still pooping good now, and eating!! So happy!! |
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It does take a good meat grinder to grind the bones. I use the Waring Pro (from Hendrix) and have for years with no problems.
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Cat maid to: Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs) Jasper RIP (2001-2018) Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014) Puddles RIP (1996-2014) Snowball RIP (1991-2005) In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb “While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey |
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is there anything else you can use instead of bones? I read on one site a while back that you can use crushed up egg shells?
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There are products that you can purchase that you just add to meat. It has all the necessary nutrients.
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Cat maid to: Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs) Jasper RIP (2001-2018) Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014) Puddles RIP (1996-2014) Snowball RIP (1991-2005) In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb “While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey |
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Does anybody have any tips for pilling cats? First I just pulled his head back and tossed the pills in his open mouth, this worked for maybe 2 days, now I am worried I will snap his neck as he wriggles so much! I then started putting it in cream cheese - which he loves, but now he has become distrustful of the cream cheese, I ended up crushing it into his food today, which I am uneasy about as I do not want him to start distrusting his food.
Any tips? |
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If he on pills forever I think I will need to try them. He lets me give them to him by throwing them in his mouth, he just does not like it! haha, who would?
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Just back from the vet.
He says the cat needs fibre to try and help move along his poop / hairballs / solidify his poop. He gave me fibre food for him, and told me I can mix it with the felidae. He is no longer eating the felidae. He completely refuses to eat it, but he is hungry and if I offer something else he will take it. Before the vet he was in great condition, now he is being sick again, he just threw up all the food he ate today, as well as two other throw ups of liquid. He is not gaining any weight, and he is just a skeleton of a cat. I am trying to stay strong, but I am preparing myself for the worst if this 2nd batch of food and pills don't help him. |
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Scotty, has your vet mentioned giving your kitty an ultrasound--or at least squeezed around on his abdomen really well to check for masses? I took my cat to the vet several months ago because she was vomiting a lot. She had cancer (mast cell disease in her intestine). We did surgery and chemo which worked great but recently I noticed that she was having diarrhea and a few times there was bright red blood. So I took her back for a recheck and her cancer was back. Your cat is much, much younger than mine so it is probably not cancer but I just wanted to mention the possibility because of the similarity of the symptoms.
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The only true way to diagnose IBD is with a biopsy, your vet is just guessing.
Fiber will not necessarily help your cat move things along, they are not humans, they are cats and they need food that the cat's digestive tract is made for and that is MEAT, BONES, ORGANS. Not fiber, not potatoes, not corn. Please read the info in the link below: http://www.catinfo.org/#Prescription/Therapeutic_Diets_ This bulletin half way down: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): IBD can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and/or constipation in the cat. IBD can also present with weight loss as the only clinical sign. There are many unanswered questions with respect to this disease process, but it is logical to start to “treat” a gastrointestinal problem in the cat with a species-appropriate diet considering that it is food that 'bathes' the problem area. Too often these cats are treated with a high level of steroids and a prescription grain-laden dry food diet. I feel very strongly that this common therapeutic regimen dismisses the very significant role that a proper diet plays in our IBD patients. There are an impressive number of anecdotal reports of cats that were terribly ill with IBD that exhibit dramatic improvement when all dry food was removed from their diet and a grain-free/low-carb canned food was fed instead. Taking it even one step further, there are many reports of cats with IBD that improved tremendously on a balanced, grain-free, homemade diet. (See Making Cat Food for a balanced recipe.) Some cats do need steroids (temporary or long-term) but we need to focus more heavily on feeding these patients an appropriate diet rather than simply relying on immunosuppressive medications. If you truly want to help your cat then change it's diet, get rid of the vet food, which in my opinion is doing your cat no good, along with the pred, which may also be damaging your cat more than is necessary. You may even have to change to a 100% raw diet on a protein source that doesn't irritate your cat's colon. Pred will only mask the problem and it is a harsh medication that suppresses the immune system. My friend had to go all the way to a raw diet with no chicken to get her cat who was severely ill with IBD to cure his colon. It took just a couple of months and is now healthy. Her cat can't eat any processed food. Most cat food is not made with a cat's digestive tract in mind! Some Felidae has grain in it and others has potatoes in it. It could be the carbs that is affecting your cat, or chicken, or beef. Has your cat been checked for giardia? Coccidia?
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Cat maid to: Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs) Jasper RIP (2001-2018) Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014) Puddles RIP (1996-2014) Snowball RIP (1991-2005) In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb “While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey |
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Nope to all the worm / parasite checks! I am waiting for my additives to come and then I am moving him to raw. I agree, the Dry kiddle doesnt sit well with me, and neither does having him on drugs.
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