Diarrhea (sometimes caused by Worms)
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 1998 12:52:10 EDT Subject: Diarrhea Re: FEL-L: Bobcat - to declaw or not LYNX diet
One of the first signs of over eating is diarrhea. Do they have very lose stools, have they been wormed. Are they growing and gaining weight? Kittens this young will eat a lot because they are growing rapidly. Don't force them to take more. Be sure you are supplementing their diet with the correct vitamins. A diet of just beef will cause problems as it will cause a depletion calicium. Rule of thumb: If they do not have lose stools. If they are growing and gaining weight. If they are active and playful. You are on the right track your kits are fine. Just be sure to supplement their diet.
My C.lynx eats several times a day he is 9 weeks old and weighs 3 pounds. They go through growth spirts too and during this time they will tend to want to eat more, I feed my guys more during these times. Sherry :)
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 1998 21:32:25 -0500 Subject: Re: FEL-L: Bobcat - to declaw or not
Thanks for your response. I took your advice and started feeding chicken thighs. I have been feeding deer meat for the past week, about to run out of that though. Is there any type of fish that can be fed? We have an aquaculture fish pens locally, which raise salmon. Is salmon an acceptible diet, not fed 100%, but mixed with chicken, deer meat, rabbit or beaver?
Date: Sat, 05 Dec 1998 13:00:00 -0600 Subject: Re: FEL-L: Bobcat problems
Feed him raw meat. The fiber in processed cat food is what is causing the stinky, runny stool. Add vitamins. There are places you can get raw meat cheaper.
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 00:23:52 EST Subject: Re: FEL-L: Loose stools/Rx
This is what we would do for the loose stools, after running all the tests. and no partsites or blockage is found: Commercial dry food often causes allergic reaction in hybrids and wildcats as well as feral cats. Take kitty off all food for 24 -48 hrs. give only electrolyte solution to drink. I use Merricks Blue Ribbion for calfs because the cats like it. Gatorade or pediolyte will work to if he will drink it. If you use either of these then add Benabac. You can get it at the pet store or feed store. If all else fails go to the health food store and get some non dairy acidophillius for children and add to water. Kitty will try to make you feel guilty as hell for not feeding him but DON'T give in.
Check stools if they are still really runny after 48 hours then keep up with the electrolyte but add to it 1/4 tsp of vegetable laxative like Metamucial, 1/2 tsp of the herb slippery elm (powdered or you can buy the tea and make a tea) using the electrolyte for water and the Benabac or non dairy acidophilous. Give this to kitty for the next 24 hours. Monitor stools. Add to this after 24 hours a little plain baby rice cereal and cooked turkey babyfood not Gerber because it has onion powder in it. Onion powder is toxic. Slowly increase rice and babyfood turkey to the slippery elm electrolyte stuff. stools should firm up. Gradually increase gruel to thick stuff and begin to return to normal diet slowly when stools have been firm for 3 days.
This formula helps to heal the intestines that are damaged by the constant loose stools and adds bulk for stool formation while the intestines are healing. It also helps to aid in the absorption of nutrients that kitty is not getting because of the loose stools. If you think that nerves or overstimulation could be one of the sources of the loose stools then add 1 cap of valerian from the health food store to the electrolyte stuff for 3-4 days. The goal here is to keep kitty hydrated while providing a resting healing environment for the over worked intestines. This usually works great! Let me know If I can be of any further help. Just increase back slowly until you are feeding normal diet again. Sherry:) PS this works with all mammals too not just felines.
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 00:26:59 EST Subject: Re: FEL-L: Loose stools
Melanie..I'm also a lurker(I'd LOVE to have a serval!)..but we do have Bengals. We had a queen go thru a similar ordeal. After her kittens were weaned, she just wasn't gaining weight(she's a tiny cat ~4 lbs) and she had very loose stools. We slowly switched her to a lamb and rice diet which seemed to help. The vet also didn't find anything in her stools or blood work, but he suspected a sort of irritable bowel condition. We put her on an ID canned diet, absolutely no treats(kitty or human). Finally, after a couple weeks of the ID, she's back on the dry lamb and rice and her stools are pretty much back to normal. She's also gaining weight. As soon as she's back 100%, she's being spayed. This experience just took too much out of her.
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 20:45:15 EST Subject: FEL-L: notes on diarrhea...
Sorry if this is late, I thought I had already sent it....
Diarrhea results from excessive fecal water. There are four pathophysiological types of diarrhea: osmotic, secretory, altered permeability (exudative), and altered motility.
Osmotic diarrhea is caused by an increase in unabsorbed solutes within the gastrointestinal lumen, which leads to an increase in fecal water. An increase in unabsorbed solutes may result from dietary overload, maldigestion/malabsorption (e.g., exocrine pancreatic insuffiency [EPI], lymphangiectasia), and small intestinal mucosa disease (e.g., inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]).
Secretory diarrhea is caused by excessive secretion of fluid into the gastrointestinal lumen. An increase in gastrointestinal fluid secretion may result from bacterial enterotoxins, cholinergic agonists, deconjugated bile acids, and hydroxy fatty acids.
Altered permeability is caused by disease processes that damage or destroy the gastrointestinal mucosa, leading to maldigestion, malabsorption, and leakage of fluid, electrolytes, and large particles into the gastrointestinal tract and, subsequently, diarrhea. Altered permeability may be caused by ulcers/erosions (e.g., nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, liver disease), mucosal inflammation(e.g., viral enteritis, IBD), and mucosal infiltration (e.g., lymphoma).
Altered motility leads to diarrhea as a result of decreased fluid absorption owing to decreased contact time between the intestinal absorptive epithelium and the luminal contents (decreased grastrointestinal transit time). The cause is most often a decrease in the rhythmic segmentation and much less commonly an increase in peristalsis.Altered motility may contribute to other mechanisms of diarrhea and is uncommonly the primary disorder causeing diarrhea, such as irritable bowel syndrome and dysautonomia.
Determining the pathophysiologic mechanism causing the diarrhea helps to determine the best initial supportive care for the patient.
Diarrhea should be categorized as acute versus chronic, serious versus nonserious, and small bowel versus large bowel. Acute diarrhea is less than and chronic diarrhea greater than 2 to 3 weeks in duration. Parameters indicating serious diarrhea include loss of 10% or more of body weight, dehydration of 3 to 5% or more, evidence of significant mucosal compromise (hemorrhagic diarrhea), severe electrolyte disturbances, and pyrexia greater than 104 F.
Your vet should be able to determine the differentiating features of small and large bowel diarrhea by looking at the characteristics of frequency, volume, type of blood (if any), presence of mucus, dyschezia, and urgency.
Some differential diagnoses would be:
Extragastrointestinal: hyperthyroidism, renal failure, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, hepatic disease, extragastrointestinal neoplasia, FeLV/FIV- related diseases.
Gastrointestinal: non-specific enterocolitis, food intolerance, food allergy, toxins, infectious diseases such as Salmonella and Campylobacter, parasites such as nematodes, Giardia, Cryptosporidium; inflammatory bowel diseases, and neoplasia.
Primary diagnostics: Database (CBC, chem profile, UA), Fecal, Total T4, FeLV/FIV test.
I don't completely understand the reasoning for the Flagyl. I would have thought deworming (even if negative) with Fenbendazole would be appropriate since it is effective against both nematodes and Giardia. I have also heard of using metronidazole since it has anti-inflammatory gastrointestinal properties. Hhmmmm.
Hope this helps. Most of this info. from "The Feline Patient" and in just about any good book, including "The Five Minute Veterinary Consult". Jill Rose, RN, BSN non-felid owner... :-(
Date: Sat, 06 Mar 1999 22:20:03 -0500 Subject: FEL-L: Caracal with diarrhea: input wanted
Hello!! I would like some suggestions on how to help with a problem I am having with my Caraccal, Taz. He is 7 month old neutered male who has been having diarrhea for the past 2 months. His diet has been Zupreem and Hills feline growth canned since he was 8 weeks old. His fecal checks all have been negitive for internal parasites and bacterial overgrowth. He has been treated with Flagyl for 10 days, Panacur for 5 days and Albon for 14 days. I have tried a high fiber diet (feline w/d) and a low residue diet (Purina EN) Neither diet had any change in his stools. He feels fine, and has been gaining weight despite the diarrhea. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions that anyone has.
Date: Sat, 06 Mar 1999 20:19:00 -0800 Subject: Re: FEL-L: Caracal with diarrhea: input wanted
I had the same problem with my bobcat until I changed his diet to turkey drums and chicken necks. My vet recommended zupreem and the other commercial diets and he never thrived on them. And he also had several other problems as well. When I got to know other exotic cat owners they suggested the meat diet along with vitamin suppliments and he has never had a problem since. He is now almost three years old..........The information from the cat owners is priceless! By the way the chicken necks are very important for the calcium. Just my 2 cents...... good luck!
Date: Sat, 6 Mar 1999 23:40:30 EST Subject: Re: FEL-L: Caracal with diarrhea: input wanted
Taz's Mom, Have you had him tested for cociddia? Far shot but worth investigation.
RX: Try taking Taz off all food for 48 hours supplement with electrolyte water. After 48 hours mix Baby Rice cereal with Slippery Elm and non dairy acidophillus, to the electrolyte water. He will tell you he is starving don't listen.... Be tough. Next day add your zuprem to this a little at a time, each feeding. Slippery elm and the acidophillius helps to heal the bowel from the damage done from the diarrhea. If Taz is over eating the first sign is diarrhea. You may want to cut back on the food intake. The important thing is to heal the gut and keep him hydrated.
This is the formula we use with success regularly, if there are no other obvious problems. Have you had an xray done to determine that there isn't anything UFO in the small intestine? Is Taz stressing out for some reason? Is he teething? Allergy to Hills? All causes diarrhea. Just some thoughts? Sherry:)
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 09:50:13 EST Subject: Re: FEL-L: Caracal with diarrhea: input wanted
Jim & Judy who are on this list had a similar incident with their cougar. It turned out to be colitis ! Lauri
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 08:46:06 -0500 Subject: FEL-L: Worms in Bengal Cats
Hi. I've been lurking on the list now for several months and have finally decided to surface. I am hoping someone on the list can help me with a problem I have been having with a male 1.5 year old bengal cat (who is currently sleeping on my shoulders working his claws in and out of my neck). When I got him he was badly infested with worms. He was to the point where he was passing 2" live worms while he was just laying on a blanket. He had severe diarrhea and the insides of his back legs were raw from constantly being covered with feces. He was skin and bones, but still had a spark in his eye so I decided to give him a second chance at life.
I wormed him with Ivermectin and within in few days he passed several large dead worms. My vet did a fecal about a week after the worming and it showed no worms. I rewormed him again 2 weeks after the initial worming and we put him on amoxicillin with metronidazole because he began passing a small amount of blood in his stool.
His diarrhea has gotten better, but he still is not back to normal. At times it is almost like he cannot control the diarrhea and it seems to just run out involuntarily. He can be laying on a blanket sleeping and the next thing I know the blanket is a mess. My question for the list is what is causing this and will it eventually stop?? I suspect he had some internal irritation/damage from the worms and I am hoping it will heal soon, but would really love to hear others opinions. Other than that he is happy, eats well and is entirely too playful. Thanks for listening!!!
P.S. Other members of my "family" include 2 cougars, 2 bobcats, 1 lazy housecat, 1 jealous dog, and one relatively normal dog, and one relatively normal husband. Caara (and Nitro!)
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 14:20:15 EDT Subject: Re: FEL-L: Worms in Bengal Cats
He may have an irritable bowel. We have a female bengal who was doing the same thing(diarrhea). Our vet checked her out and found no real reason for it(we worm, vaccinate, etc..). We ended up putting her on prednisilone(sp?)..2.5mg a day(she's a small cat ~5lbs) and a bland diet(she's on Science Diet now). It's really helped a lot. She still has loose stools,but no more blood in them, she's put weight back on and her little butt isn't so sore. It's going to take a while for her to be completely normal tho. Perhaps your Bengal ended up with an irritable bowel from the parasite load?
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 13:36:58 -0500 Subject: FEL-L: parasites
Caara/Nitro With our pets which include many birds parasites (worms) are a constant problem. Your vet seems to have things under control. The intestines of that poor cat are probably raw. When the worms get into the body they attach themselves to the wall of the intestines. This is where they feed and breed. Their eggs are then passed through the feces which in this case the cat kept getting re-infested. When you got the cat and the treatment started it should take care of the problem. Things should get better within a week or so. God I hate parasites in animals. Good luck Robert
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 19:52:40 -0500 Subject: Re: FEL-L: Worms in Bengal Cats
Dear Caara, Heavy worm infections in cats are kinda unusual in my part of the country - I think I'd check all of my other animals too. Have you talked to your vet about the continued diarrhea? He might want to prescribe some prednisone (steroidal anti-inflammatory) to sooth the intestines. Your cat may also have lost all of his intestinal microflora. You can try giving him some Benepac gel, some powdered acidopholus in his food, or some yogurt to help replace this. (Again, ask you vet - he may have a recommendation.) A good food for intestinal upsets, that I have had a lot of luck with in my Bengals, is Science Diet Feline i/d. Albon is another good medication for an intestinal disorder, and seems to help the diarrhea as well as killing off coccidia. Also, Tender Vittles sometimes help to firm up a loose stool - - you might try that if he will eat it, most of my Bengals won't, but some of them think its a treat.
Your cat could also have a giardia infection, which can be hard to detect and hard to treat - metronidazole is the drug of choice as far as I know, but there is some resistant giardia out there. Some Tritop ointment on his little rear may make him feel better, as I'm sure it is raw and painful.
Please consult your vet again about this - diarrhea of this severity could be life threatening - he could dehydrate severely in a short period of time. And i'm sure he is miserable about his condition, just so happy to have been rescued that he is ignoring it!
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 21:29:51 EDT Subject: Re: FEL-L: parasites
We have always used Panacur (?) in both our dogs & our cougar with great results. It seems to be gentler than some of the others. Lauri
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 08:30:46 -0400 Subject: Re: FEL-L: parasites
Also- the system can build up immunity to a certain wormer if the parasite problem is ongoing- in horses, they regularly switch chemical classes when worming them. For instance: Pyrantel to Panacur to Ivermectin...
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 12:00:23 -0700 Subject: RE: FEL-L: Worms in Bengal Cats
**Have you tried acidophilus powder? It is easily obtained at the health food store, and is a highly concentrated form of good bacteria.
My Bengals had the same problems you describe. After exhausting the vet's ideas, including the ones you mentioned, I threw away all the meds and started giving very tiny doses (just a small pinch) of highly concentrated acidophilus powder to them twice daily.
After a month of treatment, all cats had fully-formed, blood-free stools. I maintained the treatment for another month or two and all was well. Two years later, noone has diarrhea or blood in their stools.
Also, I found that Science Diet was too rich for my Bengals and tended to give them diarrhea. I switched SLOWLY (very important for Bengals...) to Iams regular and/or Lamb and Rice, they have all done very well.
Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1999 13:03:44, -0500 Subject: Fwd: RE: FEL-L: Worms in Bengal Cats
Has anyone heard of Fast Track? It's a paste, much like peanut butter, that is used for intestinal problems in many animals. (Don't know about felines, I used it in Llamas) It puts the microbial balance back in order. I was looking for info tonight on it but of course, cant' seem to locate it.
Date: Tue, 11 May 1999 22:31:42 -0700 Subject: FEL-L: info request-worming
In your experience, what is the best dosing proceedure for piprazine and droncit in cougars and bobcats - just give with daily feeding, fast first, give a period of time after regular feeding or any other suggestion would be helpful.
Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 09:38:10 -0400 Subject: Re: FEL-L: info request-worming
> In your experience, what is the best dosing proceedure for piprazine
Are you using tablets, or injecting the droncit? With dogs, I might inject it; the injection really stings...if they'll eat the tablet in something sticky they like, I think that's the best bet (actually it's probably TABLETS....I think it's one per 10 or 20 #...). My cats and dogs love cream cheese, and don't usually pull pills out of it...the dogs like peanut butter, as well. Liver sausage might work (braunschweiger, i actually mean) ...some animals find pills no matter what. It doesn't seem to bother their tummy and dissolves the tapeworm, so you don't see anything come out.
Date: Thu, 13 May 1999 00:06:18 -0700 Subject: FEL-L: worming info
The medicine is in pills. I've had very little success with liquid and bobs.
I usually slip the pill into a bit of meat and hand feed the bits to the cats one at a time - having the pill in the 3rd out of 5 or 6 pieces. This usually works excellent for antibiotics. thanks for the data re not appearing to bother the stomach. That helps a lot. The bobs are excellent at finding any pill but given this way with piece number 4 waiting as soon as they take number 3 usually slips the pill by.
Date: Sat, 30 Aug 1997 13:47:20 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Physaloptera infection ????
Does anyone have any information on on a rare species of stomach nematode that would affect felines? (life cycle, host, treatment, history of infestations, etc.) May have contributed to the death of two domestics and a lynx.
Resistent to pyrantel pamoate, ivermectin. Parasitology is pending.
This nematode is interesting in that, it has a head that is shaped ^ like an arrow head, with throny protrusions down the body which is approx. 3 inches in length.
Date: Tue, 2 Sep 1997 12:28:06 -0400 (EDT)
Flagel did the trick. He is back to his old self, always looking for trouble.