Fix for chronic diarrhea in cats (kittens)
Hi everyone
Since "kitten season" in some places is waning down a bit, and the kittens are getting old enough to go up for adoption (2-3lbs), and I just had a pretty bad experience with diarrhea in kittens (2-3 lb kittens), I just thought I would post this (in case some of you got kittens and now they have bad diarrhea). NOTE: I have 16 rescue kittens this week (down from 36, they move slow but they do move on to their forever homes, etc) and suddenly a few of them got this very very bad diarrhea. And, my vet has given me a great solution and I wanted to share to maybe help others who are also going through this problem right now. (may be a virus going around in kittens this year as well, who knows)
RE DIARRHEA EMERGENCY: Several of my rescue kittens just suddenly got lethargic and got splattering (explosive) diarrhea and lost body mass in 24-48 hours as I tried everything. Panacur (for giardia and worms), marquis paste (coccidia), albon (coccidia), drontal (tapes and roundworms, whipworms, etc), and nothing. But, it happened after I gave them a different wet food that I normally dont' give. Some people say that changing food can cause tummy upset, but I don't think that is what this was. I have rescued over 500-maybe 650 (lost count) and NEVER got this (creamy yellow white stuff coming out the butt) and the kittens (2-3 of them) lost a large part of their body mass in 2 days. A crisis (needed IV fluids etc).
I am convinced it was "food poisoning." Exam showed nothing (no worms, parasites, dr. said probably not toxoplasmosis, or trich, or salmonella, but maybe hyper bacteria) which sounds about right if my theory is right. These kittens got sick after eating this particular food (and I never feed cats anything with beef either b/c that's not a scurrying animal, but on this occasion I was in a hurry and just picked up what was available on the shelf) (Bad idea). I think the beef food can harbor bacteria moreso than turkey, chicken, etc. (of course I don't know) but 650 kittens and nothing like this before? Weird... (and as I recall they were not too keen on eating the food and just picked at it. cats/kittens know....)
In any event, I noticed ALOT OF PEOPLE STRUGGLE WITH CHRONIC DIARRHEA IN KITTENS AND CATS so I wanted to offer a potential suggestion in the event anyone has a problem with this in the future.
(1) "Pro Bio" (that's the name of the product; it comes in a powder) the kittens were attacking me to get to it. I have used other probiotics but this is the first one the kittens "loved" to eat. I mixed it in 2 ml of water (1/2 tsp per cat) mixed their doses in ketchup containers (those tiny ones you get at fast food restaurants) b/c I have 16 kittens to dose each time. Administered with "no needle" feeding/oral medicating syringe via mouth. ( use 3ml oral syringes to suck up the mixture from the mini ketchup holders and I administer by mouth; oh yes, they fight...but I win every time. ...b/c I am foster mommy and it is what it is...). But, with one cat, much easier. They were trying to get their tongues in the containers to suck out the residue. But PRO BIO (puts the good bacteria back in their intestines) and restores digestive BALANCE.
(2) In conjunction with a concoction that my Vet created. This is in sum "NEOMYCIN SULFATE" mixed with water. An antibiotic for the intestines. My vet calls it "pucker up" medicine, so you have to stop when everything goes back to normal or they will get constipated. But, as he says, "I've never seen a cat die of constipation, but I have seen plenty die of dehydration."
Which is why if you have a kitten with ongoing diarrhea and the fur isn't bouncing back on their scruff when you pull it up, you need to quickly hydrate. They can die very very fast. And when they are sick, they might not want to get to the water bowl. (also make sure plenty of water all the time. I've seen people that have dry water bowls. Would you like to not have access to water if you were thirsty? It's easy to forget when you are busy, and they cannot speak up and ask for water...). I also disagree with people that say cats get all the liquid they need from wet food. If that is the case, why are they always at the water bowl drinking (kittens, cats, etc)? They get thirsty too.
THE REASON I AM POSTING THIS...When I was looking for a "solution" on my own, I just saw so many people on the internet with months of diarrhea in cats. And so many people said they had been to the vet so much still with no relief. And dehydration is a danger in that case. And, since those two things (Pro bio and neomycin sulfate together) TURNED this nightmare around PRETTY RAPIDLY, I thought I should share it for others. No more yellowish creamy white mucuous and weight wasting rapidly (dehydration), and the kittens at issue are plumping up (only in 2 days).
NOTE: The vet also does not think it is Panleuk or FIP (dry or wet). They could not have Panleuk b/c I've had them since they were babies (months) and FIP (he just said that they did not look symptomatic of that). Although that could be what it is (fingers crossed it isn't).
Lena
**note, I am not a vet or in the industry, so I am not trying to give vet advice. And, it's always a good idea to bring your animal to the vet if something like this happens. My intention was to give info that you can ask your vet about when you go there. Sometimes vets don't know about cures that rescuers know about (off label uses especially or meds they use in other countries. For instance, vets use albon for coccidia, but the pound and shelters around where I live use "marquis paste" which is for horses, etc., but they dilute it, etc. Or, panacur which is another horse (large animal med) which shelters/pounds use after diluting, that vets don't use. I'm not advocating anything either way, just telling you my experiences.