Thread: Stupid question about frequent diarrhea

Well, Freyja had the trots again Friday and was also sick (although I'm not sure that it wasn't a hair ball - not seen one for years) so all the food came back up. No problems yesterday so I just put down the faithful RC Kitten 36 and still no problems. Introduced a tiny amount of whiskas back into the diet - still no issues, and I need to do this anyway as it's what Wicca will be used to. Only half a pouch in the am, half in the pm, and plenty of biscuits. So far, so good.

Hi, Karen. Both Hobbes and our "new" lad Paddy have had squishy bums recently.Took Hobbes to the vet where he got a jab and a six-pack of "Sensitive RC Vet sachets". Clearly Hobbes thought these were vile, judging by the look on his face and the fact that he didn't Dyson the bowl clean, but his "problem" went away. A week later, Paddy marched out to his litter tray, balanced himself delicately with all four paws on the edge and let rip, as it were. So we tried him on the remaining "Sensitive" stuff - nix, nada, no improvement.
Went and bought white fish and cooked it simply. Hobbes thought we didn't love him any more, Paddy ate some, but we still have the problem. Now Whisper has a "nasty bum" as well, so I am wondering what exactly they are all snacking on

We do know that we have to keep the two youngsters away from Spike's High Life Tuna - it is WAY too rich for them.

Our vet has two MCs and his final recommendation was to keep a 1.5kg pack of the RC Prescription Sensitive in hand and when this starts, put them on it for a couple of days and stop feeding the wet stuff. Trouble is, four MCs free-feeding on prescription kibble gets expensive and it is difficult to explain to the two who DON'T need it that it is only for the two who DO.

Oh, and Hobbes has, unfortunately, never grown out of "stepping in the poo" and he is 15 months old . He frequently has Very Smelly Feet as a result.

I think we'll have to eliminate the squishy food for a bit and keep them all on kibble - see whether that makes a difference.

If they have diarrhoea then it is likely they are eating more to compensate and this could make the problem worse - I would stop the free feeding and just measure out the portions according to their weight and let them have that in 2 meals per day. That's what worked for mine.

I also give a small amount of wet food and raw minced rabbit in the morning.

Why are you feeding Whiskas? It is made with animal derivatives, and that can mean the remains of other peoples pets!!! Derivatives do not mean offal, it is a balnket term used by pet food manufactureres to describe things that no sane person would feed their pet, like the remains of dogs and cats that have been 'put down' by vets and taken away for disposal! Look it up on the web if your stomach is up to it. Only feed food that has a meat content and it doesn't have to be too high, my MC's can't stomache the really high 'yes you can eat it and yes I have naturally tasted it' food for long without getting the squirts. Our cats are Royal Canin babies so far with no problems at all, please look at the labels, go-cat and the like are muck!

Originally Posted by Tivicoons

Why are you feeding Whiskas? It is made with animal derivatives, and that can mean the remains of other peoples pets!!! Derivatives do not mean offal, it is a balnket term used by pet food manufactureres to describe things that no sane person would feed their pet, like the remains of dogs and cats that have been 'put down' by vets and taken away for disposal! Look it up on the web if your stomach is up to it. Only feed food that has a meat content and it doesn't have to be too high, my MC's can't stomache the really high 'yes you can eat it and yes I have naturally tasted it' food for long without getting the squirts. Our cats are Royal Canin babies so far with no problems at all, please look at the labels, go-cat and the like are muck!

Not sure where you have your information from but I for one find it a bit upsetting your suggesting pets are used in pet food Unless new research has been published, the whole claims about animals in pet food surfaced in the US in the 1990s. There was a study done in 2000 or so which looked for cat and dog dna in pet food and found none.

Animal derivatives is indeed a blanket term referring to animal parts that are not used for human consumption, which can mean intestines, brains, eyes, blood, bone, other offal, etc etc. It really depends on the manufacturer and what of those they use.

Cats and dogs cannot just live of nice cuts of meat alone, they ideally also need the grizzly bit.

If you do have proof of your claim please do post a link to it.

Originally Posted by Louie-Louie

There was a study done in 2000 or so which looked for cat and dog dna in pet food and found none.

This is what seems to be the case..."pets in pet food" is just more ridiculous rubbish you can find on the Internet. Just think about it for a minute. Companies would be doing this only to save money, but where would there be a ready supply of thousands of cats/dogs in one place by a slaughterhouse to make this cost effective? You think companies are sending people out to buy 10 dogs here and 5 there and transporting them someplace else to be butchered, etc.? How would this possibly be cheaper than using the leftovers from processing of cattle and chickens from human food processing? Absurd.

You have to be really skeptical when reading any of the anti-pet food websites. For example, I was just looking at one that slams pet food companies for relying on nutrient assays rather than doing feeding tests to confirm bioavailability of nutrients, but later slams pet food companies that carry out feeding studies for carrying out studies on animals that have some potential to harm them. So pet food companies are damned if they don't and damned if they do, eh? Not a terribly useful point of view, but typical of such websites.

In the US and Canada the term "animal derivatives" is not used, but instead "meat by-products" which is defined:
Meat By-Products - the non rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth and hooves.

This is considered one of the cheaper and least desirable of meat ingredients. However, I have seen what cats eat when they catch things in the wild, and while the above list of potential ingredients might turn our stomachs, these things would likely be tasty treats to cats. And of course the eating of dogs by humans around the world is not uncommon either.

Originally Posted by candes

I just found out that the Temptation treats that altered my Teddys personality are Whiskas. Don't you call Freja Psycho kitty? Could be coincidence.

Don't remember seeing anything about this from you. Our cats love the Temptations and have been eating them for years. Never seen any issue from them.

This is the third day Schrodinger has had the dreaded 'squits' I woke up this morning around 3:30 to go to the loo and it seemed schrodo had beaten me to it, paws completely covered and some nice prints on the sofa, the cat tree, cushions, actually i'm trying to think where it wasn't.

I dropped his back feet into a bowl i'd placed in the bath and cleaned him as best i could on my own and towel dried him, he wasn't a happy bunny but at least he was clean!

Now this has got us both thinking, he had softish stools when we had him on a mix of wet and dry food, so we switched over to a dry mix of primarily RC kitten 36 with a little Porta 21 sensitive added, result = squits.

We're wondering now if we should go back to Porta 21 sensitive and the bozita as at least he didnt have diarrhea.

At the moment we have Porta 21 - chicken and gravy, Porta 21 - Feline Finest Sensible, Bozita, RC Kitten 36. At this rate we'll be able to open our own cat food shop.

Were at a bit of loose end (no pun inteneded ) here as we dont know what we should do. Anyone got any ideas?

Other than the runs he's been great, verbal, loving (in a kitten with razorblade claws kind of way), very active and playful, this has us stumped.

UPDATE::

Just came back from vets and as from tonight we are on "Stool Watch" so that we can pop a clean sample in tomorrow morning. YAY!

We had only one time when a cat got diarrhea all down her back end and then proceeded to wipe herself off by scooting along the carpeting. What a mess! I had to run home between classes since it took two of us to wash her off. Luckily she didn't decide to get on the couches. I can really sympathize.

Do I read right that the one common food in both the soft stool and diarrhea situations is Porta 21 sensitive? You sure that isn't the problem?