Stop Your Cat's Diarrhea

All cats have digestive troubles from time to time, and diarrhea is not uncommon. Usually, diarrhea lasts a day or so and clears up on its own. Other times, it may last for several days and cause dehydration, weight loss and lethargy. When your cat shows these signs, you'll most likely need to treat her with medication and reconsider her diet.

Steps

Treating Your Cat's Diarrhea With Medication

  1. Know when to go to the veterinarian. If your cat has diarrhea that lasts more than a few days, if she's also vomiting, or if she also seems lethargic (more tired than usual) she needs veterinary attention. Call your vet and ask if you should bring a sample of the feces with you in case your veterinarian wants to do an analysis of the specimen.
  2. Take your cat to the veterinarian. Bring a fresh fecal sample that's less than 12 hours old. Small amounts of red blood in the stool may be a minor issue. If the stool appears black and sticky (or “tarry”), it may mean that digested blood is coming from the stomach and that a stomach ulcer may have formed. Your veterinarian will probably do some tests (blood work, fecal analysis for internal parasites, x-rays, ultrasound) and prescribe a medication.
    • If your veterinarian finds intestinal parasites in your cat’s stool, the appropriate medication will be prescribed. If it's not an intestinal parasite, the veterinarian may prescribe a medication to slow down the diarrhea, such as Metronidazole, Prednisolone or Tylosin.
  3. Give your cat the prescribed medication. Bring your cat into a small room and shut the door. Hold your cat firmly in your left arm (if you're right-handed) and wrap her in a towel like a cocoon if she will let you. Give the medicine using a syringe (or eyedropper) at the side of the cat’s mouth and administer a little at a time.
    • Make sure the cat is swallowing the medicine and not just letting it drip out. Your veterinarian should include a syringe or eyedropper when they dispense liquid medications. It never hurts to ask for a second one just in case you need a back up.
    • You may want to give your cat a second syringe with a small amount of room temperature water to swallow: this will help clear the medicine taste from his mouth.
  4. Observe whether the cat improves. Be sure to ask your vet how soon you should see improvement. Some chronic conditions, like inflammatory bowel disease, may need medication for months, perhaps for life.[1][2][3] If the treatment plan is working for your cat, the diarrhea should improve or be resolved completely.
    • Signs of Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are: weight loss, dehydration, vomiting, and diarrhea. Your veterinarian will need to run tests to determine if your cat has IBD, chronic diarrhea related to intestinal cancer, or regular diarrhea.

Changing Your Cat's Diet

  1. Consider any changes to the cat's food. If the diarrhea happened within a day or so of changing cat foods or introducing a new food, it could be the new diet. Go back to the old food that was not causing problems and the stool may go back to normal. When the stool is firmed up, try changing the diet very gradually, a little new food at a time.
  2. Consider if your cat has food allergies. If you suspect your cat is allergic to her food, try changing her diet. Food sensitivities (allergies) do occur in cats and may cause diarrhea. So, when changing the diet, make sure the new food has very different ingredients than the old food, otherwise, there may not be much difference to the cat at all.
    • Your veterinarian can also discuss with you trying a high fiber diet for your cat. This may include the use of a prescription diet available only through veterinary channels, and not found on the pet store shelves. Royal Canin, Hill’s Prescription Diets and Purina pet food companies have a veterinary-only subset of diets created for special medical conditions.
  3. Gradually introduce a new diet. For some pets, you might slowly introduce a new food. A good ratio might be 90 percent current food and 10 percent new food. Gradually increase the amount until you reach all new food in about 10 days. Let your kitty tell you how fast you can switch to the new diet.
    • Other cats may prefer adding 10% new food and remaining at that ratio for 3-5 days before adding in 10% more. There is no hard and fast rule and it is not a race.
  4. Use Metamucil. Adding half a teaspoon of unflavored Metamucil into your cat's food once or twice a day for 5-7 days may help firm things up. Canned plain pumpkin may do the same thing. Both Metamucil and canned pumpkin are high in fiber.
  5. Add probiotics to your cat’s diet. Probiotics add good intestinal “bugs” back into the gastrointestinal system to help rebalance a system that is out of sorts with the diarrhea.[4] An easy and tasty option is FortiFlora for cats, an over the counter (OTC) Purina product.
  6. Offer plenty of water. Water loss can be significant with ongoing diarrhea and your pet can get dehydrated. To detect dehydration, gently pinch the normally loose skin at the back of the neck. When a cat is normally hydrated, the skin snaps right back down. If the pinched skin smooths out slowly, or remains tented, the cat is dehydrated. If the cat appears to be dehydrated, take her to the vet right away.

Tips

  • If possible, determine how the diarrhea started so you can prevent a recurrence. Overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism), food allergies, renal failure, cancer, poisoning (from houseplants, rat poison, human medications, etc.), and parasites can result in diarrhea. Your veterinarian will need to do tests to find the cause.
  • Stress can also cause diarrhea. Changes in the cat’s household like a new person, new pet or new place to live can cause emotional distress for cats. Feliway, an over the counter (OTC) product, can help manage your cat's stress. In severe cases of stress, your cat may need prescription medication. Consult your veterinarian for advice.
  • If your cat goes outside, check that your neighbors aren't feeding your cat. Eating too much or eating food they aren't used to can give cats diarrhea.
  • Check your yard and your neighbors' yards for poisonous plants that your cat may have nibbled. Your vet should be able to give you a list of poisonous plants.
  • You may want to lay down newspaper or absorbent pads to make cleanup easier.
  • Confine your cat to a room without a carpet and with food, water and litter until the accidents are under control. This will certainly help with cleanup, but don't do it if it causes your cat more distress.

Warnings

  • Do not scold your cat for the accidents. He can't help it and adding stress will only make his diarrhea worse.
  • Veterinarians now warn that Pepto Bismol and Kaopectate can be poisonous to cats due to salicylate toxicity. Check with your vet on the correct medication and dosage for the weight and age of your cat.
  • If any humans in your household also have diarrhea, take your cat to the vet and the family member to the doctor right away. There are some invisible (to the naked eye) parasites (giardia and toxoplasmosis) that can infect humans (zoonotic disease), which are challenging to remove. These parasites can become life threatening to small children, elderly adults and those with compromised health.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=598
  2. ↑ http://www.vet.cornell.edu/FHC/health_resources/brochure_ibd.cfm
  3. ↑ http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/inflammatory-bowel-disease-in-cats/291
  4. ↑ Jergens A. Feline idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease: what we know and what remains to be unraveled. Journal Of Feline Medicine And Surgery [serial online]. July 2012;14(7):445-458.
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