Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: Marcia on August 19, 2008, 13:57:18 PM
-
Bear with me. Our old cat Jamsine who passed away last December died because she had giardia and was anemic. The poor thing had been suffering fromit for a while before we adopted her, she didn't stand a chance :'(
Anyway, our other cat at the time, Holly was having mild Diarrhea and we thought she might be infected with giadia too. So we had her tested and she was fine thank god. Up until now, Holly has been brillient but a couple of weeks ago, she started having diarrhea again. I thought that she might have a bad tummy and i gave her food that was easy for her to digest, cooked chicken and tuna. Yesterday, there was a spot of blood in her diarrhea :( We called our vet and they were fully booked up until this afternoon (she's got an appointment today at 4:00pm). She's had more diarrhea today, about 20mins ago, no blood but i'm so worried. She won't use the litter box either, so it's a big mess for us to clean up.
She's eating fine and drinking perhaps a little more than usual. And she's also still her playfull self, running up and down the stairs and generally driving us mad :rofl:
Please wish Holly good luck at the vets today?
-
Fingers crossed for her.
-
I hope they can get her well soon! big hugs for her x :hug:
-
:thanks: should i take a poo sample with me? or should i wait to see what the vet thinks?
-
It can't hurt as they may want one anyway. Probably a good idea as that's what you're concerned with but don't get them to test it unnecessarily as this can be very expensive and may not be needed. She may just have an upset tum that the vet can sort out without going down that route. Maybe take a sample with you and then take the vet's elad as to whether or not to actually use it.
Good luc to your and your little lady!
-
Poor Holly, hope the vet can sort her out quickly.
-
we we're back from the vets and i'm in pieces :'( First off, the vet looked in her mouth and her teeth are not in a good way. Her gums are reciding slightly and her teeth are a bit yellow, not to mention a really bad breath :( They will need to to do dental work on Holly but they didn't say what kind of dental work.
Her temperature is a little higher than normal and she is a little bloated.
What i'm more upset about is that the vet has had to take a blood sample to test for F.I.V and F.E.L.V :( She thinks there is a possible link between the diahorrea and F.I.V :'(
Holly has been tested and vaccinated for these before we got her but the vet said that they can still show up later on in life.
We'll hear the outcome of the blood tests at roughly 6:30 tonight, here's hoping there's nothing serious.
Anyway, she's been injected with anibiotics and another thing which i'm not sure about. We've also brought home more antibiotics to give her and she's due back at the vets on thursday morning.
Stupid me also thought that her next booster was in december coming, it turns out that it was due at the end of may just gone, so she'll need her annual booster on thursday too. I've double checked the others, and theirs arn't due until 2009 thankfully.
Am i a very bad owner? because i feel like one right now :'(
-
we we're back from the vets and i'm in pieces :'( First off, the vet looked in her mouth and her teeth are not in a good way. Her gums are reciding slightly and her teeth are a bit yellow, not to mention a really bad breath :( They will need to to do dental work on Holly but they didn't say what kind of dental work.
Her temperature is a little higher than normal and she is a little bloated.
What i'm more upset about is that the vet has had to take a blood sample to test for F.I.V and F.E.L.V :( She thinks there is a possible link between the diahorrea and F.I.V :'(
Holly has been tested and vaccinated for these before we got her but the vet said that they can still show up later on in life.
We'll hear the outcome of the blood tests at roughly 6:30 tonight, here's hoping there's nothing serious.
Anyway, she's been injected with anibiotics and another thing which i'm not sure about. We've also brought home more antibiotics to give her and she's due back at the vets on thursday morning.
Stupid me also thought that her next booster was in december coming, it turns out that it was due at the end of may just gone, so she'll need her annual booster on thursday too. I've double checked the others, and theirs arn't due until 2009 thankfully.
Am i a very bad owner? because i feel like one right now :'(
There isnt a Vac for FIV but there is for FeLV.
No you are not a bad owner :hug: I have missed Vac's and i am sure alot of people on here have too.
Try not to think the worse, It could just be a tummy bug xxx
-
i know how upsetting it is to take a cat to the vet with a 'minor' issue and end up having to have FIV/FeLV tests done, although I am unsure as to why your vet would tell you that they could occur later in life - it is less likely for FeLV to occur later in life, and if an accurate test is done for FIV, that shouldnt be the case either. As Michelle says, there is no vaccine for FIV (and while there is in the US, it means they show up as positive on the tests). You aren't a bad mum, but they might not be able to vaccinate her if she is still off colour - PEbbles nearly missed her booster due to being poorly.
-
the results of the blood tests are negative ;D there's nothing abnormal in her blood as far as the vets can see. Now we've got to pray that the antibiotics work for her bad tummy. thanks to everyone for their well wishes and help :) you've all managed to make me feel a whole lot better :)
-
I am so pleased to hear that the bloods were ok. What a relief for you. Hopefully Holly will respond to the meds and soon be back to her normal self. Don't worry too much about the dental, many cats have them. My cat Dragan had one when he was 17.
-
Glad to hear that.
-
We do worry don't we :Luv: - they are out babies after all.
We were at a wedding the other week so I booked them into the cattery overnight - Zebedee came home and had a runny bum for a few days was worried but kept an eye on him - thankfully it cleared up and he is back solid again. I just gave him cooled boiled water and dried food for a couple of days, he was fine in himself the usual mad bengal that he is.
could of been just a dodgy pouch of meat - something as simple as that. I had a pork chop for my tea the other week and was up all night,
SOOOOOOOOOOOO pleased she is feeling better now - bless her xxxxxxxx.
We have to look after out most precious things in life - our baby felines.
-
thanks everyone :) now here comes the hard part, we've got to get her to take her meds :rofl: we have one of those pill popper things to make it easier.
-
I have had FiFi now for 5 weeks and no eating problems - so, gave her some chicken fillets ( cooked by myself properly!) and by goodness -has it given her the runs !
My other cats don''t like chicken , but it was one thing i thought wouldn''t give cats the runs as its quite light !
Have only given her a few biscuits tonight and left off food all day today with just water and she is fine again.
I guess she is fine as long as she just has the biscuits - thought she would like a change as she doesn''t like any wet cat food - and yes, she loved the chicken and ate it all -but it obviously didn''t like her !
Poor FiFi !
-
Holly still isn't right. She's finished her meds and still has diarrhoea :( We're going to make another vet appointment tomorrow and pray that they'll be able to help. We're going out of our minds with worry and the house is smelling of kitty poop :-[ She can't seem to get to the litter box in time and is going on the kitchen tiles or the carpets in the living room and bedroom :(
There's no blood or mucus in her diarrhoea but it's very much liquid :(
She can't be very comfortable right about now.
-
Poor little thing, hope the vet can get to the bottom of it and she soon feels better
-
What food are you giving her?
-
She's getting whiskers biscuits and a meat pouch 2 a week.
-
I'm wondering whether Holly may not have a food intolerance of some kind.
Common no-nos are beef, wheat and dairy - a friend's Burmese is intolerant to all three.
The cheaper dried foods e.g. Whiskas, Go-Cat, supermarket brand have a high proportion of wheat in them as well as beef and they can be the cause of digestive issues. One of my cats leaks from both ends if he eats Go-Cat. Also, he has similar problems with Whiskas wet food (cans / pouches).
What I suggest you do is try feeding her some plain boiled chicken and rice for a few days and see if that helps with the "poopage" problems. Firstly, it should settle her tum as it's light and bland and secondly, if it does firm up her poos, you can then slowly add other foods to her diet and keep an eye on things. If something then gives her a runny bum, then you'll have a fair idea that it doesn't agree with her.
If you feed her mainly dry, then perhaps look for foods that have no wheat or beef e.g. Purina One, Purina One Natural, James Wellbeloved, Royal Canin or Orijen. If in doubt, check the label. Also, Royal Canin do a food for sensitive tums, so may well be worth a look.
-
Did they test a poo sample last time? I know she had bloods done, but not sure if they did that as well. Also, did they test for anything other than FIV and FelV? for instance coronavirus or trichomonas - both of which can cause diarrhea. Good luck at the vets :hug:
-
I was also thinking of the food being a cause, and I would definitely change to different biscuits - I know the specialist OK'd JWB rather than RC last year for Tiger. She had RC Sensitivity for wet, but i was lucky that my insurance company covered the cost - it might be cheaper to make chicken and rice.
-
Orijen might be worth trying as it has no grain at all. It is 75 fish & chicken with 25% fruit & veg with added probiotics, Psyllium husk and glucosamine.
You can get a 400gram trial pack from Zooplus
-
my vet once told me that chicken and turkey as meats presented fewer problems with upset tums or intolerance than the red meats. Also fish, but that I shouldn't just feed fish as it doesn't have enough nutrients. It'll probably be a question of which foods you can get Holly to eat. Although if she won't eat white rice, you can try blending it with chicken juice to a consistency that she will have a lick at (maybe!). Have you tried the prescription foods designed for diarrhoea as a first step?
-
Hope Holly is feeling a lot brighter very soon. Sending lots of get well wishes from me and mine x
-
I've only just seen this. 3 out of 4 of my cats have similar problems and it is down to food. Dino has always had a very sensitive tummy. He can't eat anything like Whiskas or Felix. Then when I adopted Heidi and Huxley last year they had diarrhoea for 6 weeks. They had every blood test under the sun, strong worming meds, antibiotics and may be even steroids. Eventually I changed their diet to Royal Canin Sensible 33 and their tummy's settled right down. I feed all the cats RC Sensible 33 now and they only get dried food. During those 6 weeks Heidi and Huxley were very similar to how you describe Holly being now, including blood in their poo.
A couple of months ago Huxley took a very bad bout of vomiting and diarrhoea but after being house bound for a couple of weeks, put on antibiotics and only feeding him Royal Canin wet Recovery food he recovered and went back to normal. He hunts a lot so we came to the conclusion he had eaten something that doesn't agree with him.
Typical - there I am giving them a specific special diet and he decides to add a little variety for himself.
I hope you get to the root of Holly's problem soon. Good luck and hope she is feeling better (and giving you less worry).
-
Thanks everyone. We'll try her on cooked chicken and rice for a couple of days, see if that makes a difference. Her poo does look a little more solid today but it's still not normal.
Did they test a poo sample last time? I know she had bloods done, but not sure if they did that as well. Also, did they test for anything other than FIV and FelV? for instance coronavirus or trichomonas - both of which can cause diarrhea. Good luck at the vets :hug:
Nope, she didn't have a poo sample. They did test for FIV and FelV and that came back as negative :)
-
I've just realised that I said Heidi and Huxley had lots of blood tests but it was actually their poop that was tested. It was a wide spectrum test, I remember that, but as they all came back negative I can't remember exactly what they tested for.
Glad it sounds like there has been some improvement and hope the chicken and rice helps sort her out. If you do think it may be a diet issue I'd also suggest considering what type of food you will feed her on long term.
-
we were considering moving them on to royal canin :)
-
Update on Holly.
She's been given more tablets, this time, it's Metronidazole (which is used sometimes to treat Giardia?) she is to take them over the weekend and she's booked in again on Monday.
We've also be given a little plastic tube to get a stool sample for the vets to test.
More bad news, she's booked in on Monday to have her teeth removed :( Her gums are receeding and teeth don't look very good. The vet doesn't understand how a young cat has this problem, although she is wondering if there's an underlying problem causing the diarrhoea and the gum disease. She's hoping that the Metronidazole will help with the diarrhoea and maybe help her teeth.
-
Hope the meds work and the dental goes well. Looking forward to positive updates from you :hug:
-
Fingers crossed all goes well :hug:
-
Hope all goes well for little Holly - another one needing lots of healing vibes and :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: - get well soon little Holly
-
well so far, i've not seen any diarrhoea yet, so hopefully the meds are working.
She's putting up a fight though, those tablets must taste awful :evillaugh: and i think Taco has been trying to tell me off this morning for putting those horrible meds in her mouth :rofl:
-
well. holly is home. she's had most of her teeth out but the vet has managed to save some :) she's not very happy about it but i'm sure she'll be ok.
-
poor Holly! I'm sure she'll be her old self soon
-
I'm sure she'll bounce back in no time at all :Luv:
-
we gave her a light meal last night, some cooked chicken. She ate most of that. This morning, we gave her some tuna which she munched down straight away :evillaugh: and we've tried her on some kitty biscuits which she's managed to eat.
She was really nervous last night and this morning but has started nuzzling me this afternoon :)
-
all sounds good! If she was poorly, she'd not eat. glad you are having nuzzles too, sounds like you have been forgiven! ;)
-
That's brilliant. Well done Holly you will soon be feeling so much better now your teeth are sorted
-
she had lots of cuddles in bed this morning and has had some more biscuits too :) she needs to go back to the vets this saturday to have a check over. Also the vet wants to talk to us about helping to save the remaining teeth that Holly has.
-
Update....
Holly's poop is much more solid although it is still very wet looking.
Problem though, we noticed that there was a bit of blood and mucus in her poop last night :( we have collected some of it and my other half is taking it straight to the vets when he finishes work today. I'm really worried now :'(
-
Try not to worry (silly thing to say really). Hope it's nothing serious and soon sorted. Let us know how Holly gets on :hug:
-
Sending Holly a healing head kiss each from the boys, hope it's nothing to worry about :care:
-
grrrr. my boyfriend dropped the poo sample off and they've said that they won't test it at the moment because Holly is still on medication. Apparently the medication can mess up the results of the poo sample. Sooo...we have to finish the medication first, then wait a couple of days before collecting another poo sample >:(
I was hoping to get results soon. The poor thing has been through enough of this already.
-
Time for a long overdue update on Holly.
The diahorrea has gone! ;D We switched her over to Purina One sensitive and it's done the job ;D
She looks so much better and has began putting lost weight back on :)
We're feeding her seperately from Taco, Tilly and Molly and 2 nights ago, she tried some whiskers pouches with the others for the first time in about 3 months. No diahorrea! ;D
So having spoken to our vets, they think that Holly may have had an allergy to the whiskers biscuits. I'm so relieved :)
-
Thats great news, well done Holly ;D
-
Excellent news ... so pleased is Holly is better :hug:
-
;D so pleased it has worked, I swear by it, it was the only thing our Timmy and Smokey could have or they had terrible diarrhoea especially Timmy.
-
She looks so much better and she's way more active :)
She now randomly chases Taco around the house :evillaugh: and right now, she's having a valentines cuddle with him :Luv2:
-
Glad she is doing well.