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Kitty Diarrhea Problems



 
 
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  #11  
Old January 23rd 04, 07:37 AM
Knack
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"Phil P" wrote in message
...

"brian" wrote in message
om...
Kitty Problems:

She has had a diarrhea problem as long as we have had her (7 months).
She was de-wormed at the vet when she was a kitten and they


vet ran
all of the normal tests for parasites which all came back negative.

We took her back to the vet last week and they ran all of the normal
tests again. She tested negative again for parasites or worms


"All of the normal tests" may be the problem....

So far, you've described classic symptoms of Giardia. Even though its

one
of the most prevalent intestinal parasites in cats - it usually goes
undetected because "all the normal" floation solutions used to detect
parasites often miss Giardia in cat feces. The provlem is compounded by

the
intermittent excretion of the organism. IOW, even though the cat is
infected, Giardia isn't always present in every bowel movement and fecal
sample. To make matters even worse -- some cats harbor the parasite and
spread the disease without being ill themselves. This can be a *major*
problem -- especially in multicat homes -- and facilities like mine that
handle 1000 cats a year - because the wrong cats are targeted for

treatment
whilr the source goes undetected and untreated. You've got to resolve

this
problem because eventually, giardiasis can lead to chronic debilitation or
worse - euthanasia due to owner frustration over intractable diarrhea and
the inevitable "accidents".
If you have to tell your vet which tests to run, then its time to find
another vet. But its always a good idea to know or at least have a

general
idea of what your vet should be doing - this is one of the ways of
distinguishing a mediocre vet from a good vet. Just for your information,
the *ideal* flotation solution for detecting Giardia in cat feces is zinc
sulfate -- but the sample *must* be centrifuged for 5 minutes and read
immediately. The centrifugation step is necessary to force the Giardia

cyst
to float in zinc sulfate. The slide must be read as soon as possible after
centrifugation because the cysts start shrinking and begin to lose their
identifiable appearance. So, you might want to ask your vet which "normal
test" he ran. If he did use zinc sulfate, be sure to ask him if he
centrifuged the sample - Many vets that use zinc sulfate don't have or

want
to spend the time on the centrifugation step.

Because of the duration of your cat's symptoms and illness, its imperative
that Giardia is either diagnosed or ruled out. The reason for this is

that
was reported to be a drug-resistant Giardia infection that has recently

been
diagnosed in some cats was found to be trichomonosis instead. Unlike
Giardia, trichomonosis has been found to be refractory to treatment with
antimicrobials, and infected cats can continue to have signs of infection

or
be carriers without clinical signs for months to years.

If I were you, I'd seek specialist. Go to
http://www.acvim.org/Kittleson/search.htm and do a search for an internal
medicine Diplomate/Specialist in your area. American College of Veterinary
Internal Medicine Diplomates are about the best there is.



If you can't find an ACVIM specialist in your area, my second choice would
be an ABVP Diplomate/Feline Specialist (American Board of Veterinary
Practitioners). Go to http://www.abvp.com/diplosearch1.htm
http://www.abvp.com/ and do a search for a ABVP Diplomate in your area.

My
third choice would be contacting a veterinary university hospital close to
you..


You may have hit the nail on the head. My girlfriend's kitten had diarrhea
and bloating, so the vet gave Metronidazide liquid to kill an amoebic
infection. Symptoms disappeared within a day after the first dose was taken.

Note that a similar medicine [Metronidazole ('Flagyl')] is used to treat
humans for Giardia ("Montezuma's revenge"; "beaver feaver") and dysentary.


  #12  
Old March 15th 04, 04:31 AM
John Smith
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I was at a cat show and one of the breeders had a flyer that described the
follow. Clumping cat litter should not be used for kittens. The are
trying to clean themselves and ingest more of it than adult cats. Clumping
litter contains clay which starts to line the intestinal walls and also
starts to clump in their intestins. They will get diarrhea trying to get
rid of it. The stool may look like yellow clay. Doctors are just confused
and all tests come back negative. The kitten will slow starve to death.
The doctor should be able to feel clumps forming in the lower intestins.

Clumping litter seems to be fine for adult cats.






"brian" wrote in message
om...
Kitty Problems:

We have a 9 month old, female cat. She is ½ Siamese and short haired.
She was fixed a few months ago. She was originally a stray but is
has been an indoor cat since she was very young. She looks very
healthy, is energetic, and has an extremely good appetite.

She has had a diarrhea problem as long as we have had her (7 months).
She was de-wormed at the vet when she was a kitten and they vet ran
all of the normal tests for parasites which all came back negative.
We feed her Wellness cat food but have tried other foods with no luck.
Recently this problem as gotten worse and she has started having
?accidents? on the floor. Usually we find a ?deposit? in the corner
of our basement. The litter box is located on the other side of the
room. Does anyone know why a cat who never has had problems not using
the litter box would decide to go on the floor when she has a diarrhea
problem? She has only had these accidents when the problem is at its
worse. The litter box is cleaned daily. One thing we?ve noticed
with her is she has very bad gas.

We have another slightly older cat that has no similar problems. The
two cats get along well.

We took her back to the vet last week and they ran all of the normal
tests again. She tested negative again for parasites or worms but
they put her on Panacur to make sure. After the Panacur treatment,
the problem still persists. She had an accident again last night.

Has anyone run into similar symptoms with their cat? She seems and
acts very healthy but I?m worried that this may be a symptom of a
larger problem. Also having never ending diarrhea is not healthy.

Thank you for the help.

Brian



  #13  
Old March 15th 04, 04:31 AM
John Smith
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I was at a cat show and one of the breeders had a flyer that described the
follow. Clumping cat litter should not be used for kittens. The are
trying to clean themselves and ingest more of it than adult cats. Clumping
litter contains clay which starts to line the intestinal walls and also
starts to clump in their intestins. They will get diarrhea trying to get
rid of it. The stool may look like yellow clay. Doctors are just confused
and all tests come back negative. The kitten will slow starve to death.
The doctor should be able to feel clumps forming in the lower intestins.

Clumping litter seems to be fine for adult cats.






"brian" wrote in message
om...
Kitty Problems:

We have a 9 month old, female cat. She is ½ Siamese and short haired.
She was fixed a few months ago. She was originally a stray but is
has been an indoor cat since she was very young. She looks very
healthy, is energetic, and has an extremely good appetite.

She has had a diarrhea problem as long as we have had her (7 months).
She was de-wormed at the vet when she was a kitten and they vet ran
all of the normal tests for parasites which all came back negative.
We feed her Wellness cat food but have tried other foods with no luck.
Recently this problem as gotten worse and she has started having
?accidents? on the floor. Usually we find a ?deposit? in the corner
of our basement. The litter box is located on the other side of the
room. Does anyone know why a cat who never has had problems not using
the litter box would decide to go on the floor when she has a diarrhea
problem? She has only had these accidents when the problem is at its
worse. The litter box is cleaned daily. One thing we?ve noticed
with her is she has very bad gas.

We have another slightly older cat that has no similar problems. The
two cats get along well.

We took her back to the vet last week and they ran all of the normal
tests again. She tested negative again for parasites or worms but
they put her on Panacur to make sure. After the Panacur treatment,
the problem still persists. She had an accident again last night.

Has anyone run into similar symptoms with their cat? She seems and
acts very healthy but I?m worried that this may be a symptom of a
larger problem. Also having never ending diarrhea is not healthy.

Thank you for the help.

Brian



 




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