Chronic Feline Diarrhea!
 

My cat took clindamycin in September for about a week and a half after having a tooth extracted and didn't experience side effects at the time he was taking it. Around mid December he started experiencing diarrhea 2-3 times a day and after eating. Recently, plus the diarrhea he has not been eating very much if anything at all but is drinking normally. He has been on medication for weeks to help stop the diarrhea but nothing really seems to be helping. He is taking 13 billion Acidophilus two to three times a day and 5 billion Acidophilus once a day. He was taking Duralactin L-Lysine twice a day for a short while since it appeared to be doing nothing. He is also taking 63 mg of Metronydazole twice a day and 1 mL of Proviable three times a day. All these medicines put together has brought the diarrhea down to maybe once a day but he is still not eating and is very thin and bony due to this. He drinks normally as I said before but I'm sure he is dehyrdrated. I believe this chronic diarrhea is caused by the clindamycin he took in September. One of the reasons I believe this is because diarrhea is a side-effect to this medication and affects humans the same way. He was eating Science Diet w/d formula food for a while but wasn’t eating that more than he would eat anything else. He usually ate by-product-free, natural, organic canned food and dry food. He has been an outside cat for most of his life but always comes in when the weather is cold or hot. He has been in since the time he began having the chronic diarrhea. I believe he has pseudomembranous colitis which is due to a growth of bacteria in his intestines. The pseudomembranous colitis is the reason he was taking the Metronidazole. I considered giving him Mirtazapine which is a food stimulant but didn’t administer it due to the fact that if he eats, he usually has diarrhea afterwards and if he ate a lot, he would probably just have the diarrhea which would rid him of the nutrients he ate; making the food stimulant basically pointless in this situation. My family and I have tried just about everything and every medication to try to stop the diarrhea and make him want to eat. The diarrhea has lessened but he still doesn’t eat. He takes a few bites then turns away and it seems like he’s not getting any better. Is there anything else we could do? Are we doing all the right things? Is there something else that might be causing the diarrhea and loss of appetite?

Your time and advice is greatly appreciated.

Has he been seen by the same vet all this time? Maybe you need to get a second opinion, before your cat loses any more weight. Was a blood test done? Did they actually identify the bacteria?

Metro can also cause diarrhea. If it was going to work, you probably would have seen an improvement by now. Ditto the probiotics.

You didn't mention blood or mucous. Are those present too? I'm not saying it's not colitis, although usually if the animal was that sick, you would see more evidence. Is he running a fever? If he is truly dehydrated, it's even more important that you get him to a vet.

Have you tried some invalid food, such as boiled chicken and rice? I'd start with just the chicken-flavoured rice, cooked very soft. Let him eat small quantities as frequently as he wants.

You might also want to try slippery elm, a herbal powder that can be purchased at the health food store (if it's in capsules, make sure there are no additives). Mix a tablespoon with a little hot water and let it cool. It should thicken. Administer with a syringe. It coats the digestive system and also has curative powers. Might make him feel better.

I second the opinion to take yout kitty to another vet. I am wondering if tests have to be done?

I have a cat that had chronic diarrhea for years. The vet could never get it under control with medication. He just said he had a sensitive stomach and he recommended I feed him Royal Canin for Sensitive stomanchs from his clinic. So, for years his diarrhea would come and go - poor kitty!!! I felt SO bad for him....

I finally got fed up and started my cats on a raw diet. Within a couple of weeks of the new diet the diarrhea completely cleared up and has not returned in the 5 months I have been feeding him raw. I am now convinced that cats DO NOT handle Grains (rice, corn, wheat, etc.), fillers, perservitives, meat by products, etc. very well. And many cats are allergic to all these wasted ingredients. Just the feedback alone from fellow raw feeders with the same experience has me convinced :lightbulb:

This may not be the case for your kitty but it may be worth a shot??? Even if you try half canned and half raw to see if there is a bit of an improvement. Also, now if I do feed him canned it is GRAIN FREE. I use Wellness canned. If you want maybe start with GRAIN FREE canned (I didn't see grain free mentioned above)

I second what badger says about the slippery elm bark. I had a cat with severe IBD and none of the 5 meds that he was on made a dent in his diarrhea. It wasn't until I gave him some SEB that he finally had a normal poop. Some info for you on that: [url]http://www.littlebigcat.com/?action=library&act=show&item=slipperyelm[/url]

It's really important that you get him to eat. What other foods have you tried? I would definitely stay away from any of the Hill's/Medi-cal products from the vet's office. Across the board, these have crappy ingredients not appropriate for cats. Here is some good info on nutrition, especially as it pertains to cats with messed up digestive systems: [url]http://www.catnutrition.org/index.php[/url]

Clindamycin was prescribed for me for an abscessed tooth, and while it cleared up the abscess within a couple of weeks, developed mucousy, bloody diarrhea. A colonoscopy showed ulcerative colitis, a contraindication for this drug. My specialist prescribed Salofalk for 9 months. So far so good and that was 3 years ago. Don't know whether Salofalk is prescribed for cats, but you might ask your vet about it. Hope you can get her condition cleared up soon. Good luck. :fingerscr

Salofalk is a drug (pill, suppository or enema) used in humans to reduce inflammation in Ulcerative Colitis but does not cure the disease. It is usually the first drug used and is highly effective. There is a small percentage of people are allergic.

As with all meds, regular blood work should be done to check the kidney and liver functions.

[QUOTE=catlover2;739522]Clindamycin was prescribed for me for an abscessed tooth, and while it cleared up the abscess within a couple of weeks, developed mucousy, bloody diarrhea. A colonoscopy showed ulcerative colitis, a contraindication for this drug. My specialist prescribed Salofalk for 9 months. So far so good and that was 3 years ago. Don't know whether Salofalk is prescribed for cats, but you might ask your vet about it. Hope you can get her condition cleared up soon. Good luck. :fingerscr[/QUOTE]

I think they go right to the heavy stuff, pred :frustrated:.

chronic diarrhea
 

my kitty is having the exact same problem that you have described here. Please tell me what you discovered to help the problem. I am desparate!
I took him to the vet initially for something else, and they gave him clindomycin. After two doses, he has the worst diarrhea I have ever seen. He barely eats, and when he does, it passes directly through him.

It sounds as if he has developed IBD as result of the clindamycin. check this out, and see another vet for another opinion. A gradual change to different diet may help, e.g. A more natural food, such as Wellness that contains no corn, soy or wheat.

[url]http://cats.about.com/od/diseasesandconditions/p/felineibd.htm[/url]

[QUOTE=mybuddie;751542]my kitty is having the exact same problem that you have described here. Please tell me what you discovered to help the problem.[/QUOTE]

Have you phoned the vet? I would call and tell them you're stopping the clindamycin. Don't give your cat another dose. Since I don't know what the antibiotics were originally prescribed for, it's possible your cat may need another type, but definitely stop the clindamycin. To help deal with the diarrhea right now, get some high-potency probiotics in capsules from a health food store and sprinkle a bit in some wet food for a few days. Slippery elm powder (also from health food store) might be helpful as well.

question about Slippery elm for cats
 

WHAT is the correct dosage per body weight for slippery elm? And would it be safe for a six month old kitten? Got a rescue kitten and there was blood in his stool and very loose (almost diarrhea). Doc said it was stress diarrhea and put him on metronidazole. That worked beautifully and then after 10 days, cycled him off - 24 hours later, back to diarrhea and bloody stool. Back on metronidazole for another week. Fecal came back negative for worms, but vet wants to put him on Panacur, due to loose stools again and excessive gas. Can I do something homeopathic to help him? Probiotics or slippery elm? Help!

Slippery elm isn't really dosed by weight. I'd start with about 1/4 tsp twice a day mixed with wet food and increase up to 1/4 tsp 4x/day if you don't see any results.

Also, what is the kitten eating right now?

Probiotics certainly wouldn't hurt, especially if his diet has been changed recently.