Thread: Stupid question about frequent diarrhea

Aww... what a drag. Poor Schrodo!
Good luck with the Stool Watch.... I've had to watch our Monty like a hawk for two days because the little beast decided to delay pooping for a while. But finally I spotted him going to the litter tray and I dashed after him, quickly shoving a saucer underneath his bum. He sat there looking ever so surprised... And boy, it was a smelly business! But at least, I had a clean sample.

In case you are not in a position to watch him round the clock, here's a tip the vet gave us.
Cut a plastic bin liner into strips and scatter the strips on top of the litter in the tray. That way, there will always be some poo clinging to it which has no grains in it.
(In Monty's case this didn't work because he thought the strips were toys. I found them scattered all over the house. But perhaps Schrodo will behave better.)

Also, I second what Louie-Louie said. Do not mix food types, because that makes it impossible to discover which particular food causes the problem.

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!

Perhaps I've taken this just a little personally, but I object to the inference that I am insane because I'm trying to eliminate the cause of my kitten's soft stools; there's a couple of points I'd like to make:
1) My breeder - a well respected breeder in the MC world that I trust implicitly - feeds ALL her cats and kittens on RC Kitten 36 and Whiskas Simply Adult pouches and she recommended that I leave Freyja on the same diet

2) When I first brought Freyja home, I stuck with the above mentioned diet and had no soft stool or diarhea issues

3) For the last two months she's been fed on high meat cat food (i.e. applaws - I mentioned this in my original post) but has had soft stools since being on it

As a consequence of this I thought I'd try her back on her original diet; ironically (and despite the fact that a 'sane person' wouldn't do it) it seems to have resulted in a big improvement.

I am also frankly gobsmacked that you're suggesting that any health authority in England would allow pet foods to be made from dead pets! I can't imagine what kind of PR nightmare the likes of Tesco's and Sainsbury's would have if it got out that they were stocking such pet food.

Karen, as you know, two of our four are from the same breeder as Freyja and Wicca. We also trust her implicitly and now that our three-out-of-four are stabilised so far as the squishy-bum syndrome goes (RC Veterinary Gastro-Intestinal kibble, measured quantities), we are back on Royal Canin and Whiskas Simply Adult for them - so far no issues, especially as we are now feeding them measured amounts so the two "kids" don't overstuff themselves (another cause of the runny tum )

Spike still has his HiLife Tuna and has never had a "bottom problem" on it - cast iron gut, that one.

Frankly, I'm pretty sure that Catherine wouldn't feed her cats and kittens this way if it was likely to lead to squitty bottoms - she has more than just three to clean up!!!

As for the "dead pets in pet food"...........I'm with you and and NCarver on this one, it is an urban myth. The pet food industry is worth millions - no WAY would they risk the ire of consumers, were this found to be true!

If, as NCarver says, you think about what exactly a cat WILL catch and eat i.e. most of a mouse, bat (yes, really) or shrew (the cats I've had, past and present, always left the back end when they DID catch one), a fair bit of a bird, worms, beetles and the odd moth, the fact that animal derivatives are the bits that don't even end up in human cheap processed foods doesn't seem such an issue.

This is not to say that we don't care what our cats eat - of course we do, but I don't think you (or I) should be castigated for feeding Whiskas. It does seem a bit harsh when a). the cat/cats in question are thriving on it and b). it has been recommended by the breeder and c).My vet doesn't see any problem with this regime. His practice SELLS the high-end pet foods, he would benefit by recommending these but is happy for our four to eat exactly what we are now feeding them.

Glad to hear that Freyja's tum is settling down!

Originally Posted by Menolly

Karen, as you know, two of our four are from the same breeder as Freyja and Wicca. We also trust her implicitly and now that our three-out-of-four are stabilised so far as the squishy-bum syndrome goes (RC Veterinary Gastro-Intestinal kibble, measured quantities), we are back on Royal Canin and Whiskas Simply Adult for them - so far no issues, especially as we are now feeding them measured amounts so the two "kids" don't overstuff themselves (another cause of the runny tum )

Spike still has his HiLife Tuna and has never had a "bottom problem" on it - cast iron gut, that one.

Frankly, I'm pretty sure that Catherine wouldn't feed her cats and kittens this way if it was likely to lead to squitty bottoms - she has more than just three to clean up!!!

As for the "dead pets in pet food"...........I'm with you and and NCarver on this one, it is an urban myth. The pet food industry is worth millions - no WAY would they risk the ire of consumers, were this found to be true!

If, as NCarver says, you think about what exactly a cat WILL catch and eat i.e. most of a mouse, bat (yes, really) or shrew (the cats I've had, past and present, always left the back end when they DID catch one), a fair bit of a bird, worms, beetles and the odd moth, the fact that animal derivatives are the bits that don't even end up in human cheap processed foods doesn't seem such an issue.

This is not to say that we don't care what our cats eat - of course we do, but I don't think you (or I) should be castigated for feeding Whiskas. It does seem a bit harsh when a). the cat/cats in question are thriving on it and b). it has been recommended by the breeder and c).My vet doesn't see any problem with this regime. His practice SELLS the high-end pet foods, he would benefit by recommending these but is happy for our four to eat exactly what we are now feeding them.

Glad to hear that Freyja's tum is settling down!

Just been reading this very interesting thread, many years ago I used to feed Iams, and there was a big scandal at Crufts etc regarding Iams using animal derivatives and the reason this was stated was because some one found a Microchip in the food!! I have never know how true it was but I changed foods..

I have just read this website where it kind of states it still goes on..?

Cat Food Uncovered

As a farmer who used to produce food for the table we did have set guide lines to follow for weeks before an animal went for slaughter... and when I had any of my thoroughbreds put down... they where done by the vet by injection.and limed and buried on our land.. to be frank with you I found this for me quite an awful procedure it took my beloved lulu 3 hours to die.. I had one of Ambers pony a welsh crossed with a Shetland who had grass sickness put down by the knacker man by bullet over in seconds... but knew he would end up either in the glue factory or the pet food chain so he was buried on our land along with my girls..

Cat Food Uncovered

I always tell my new owners stick with what I have fed and they will have no problems.. everyone changes their food once in a while.. just always make sure its gradual.. a little at a time..

Here is a link to a report from the US FDA that pretty irrefutably proves that dog and cat tissue was NOT making its way into the US pet food supply as some people claimed:
CVM Scientists Develop PCR Test to Determine Source of Animal Products in Feed, Pet Food

It was a suggestion that this was the case earlier in this thread that I and others were reacting to. Such a claim has absolutely no evidence at all to support it, and the above study to refute it.

This is not to say that all ingredients in all pet foods are something we would eat or even that they are the best thing for our pets. However, one should keep a bit of perspective on this, since they are animals and would be eating things that we would find disgusting in the wild. Actually, my wife is half Greek, and I love lots of Greek dishes...but when we go through Greek cookbooks there are plenty of dishes using animal parts that I would never ever consider eating. When meat was not as plentiful as today, humans ate as much of each animal as possible. Let me grab a cookbook, ah, Entrails on Skewers, using baby lamb sweetbreads, kidneys, and spleen. And I am supposed to be horrified that cats are eating chicken by-products?

My understand for the UK, is that most animals like farm animals, that have died like say for instance while giving birth or from a disease, road kill and also veterinarian animals that are not cremated for their owners actually all get sent to the Maggot Farms.. My EX Husband is in the Oil business, and sometime I had to visit clients, my worst experience was actually at a maggot farm Just the smell.. and believe me in my line of work previously Smell was par for the course..

The discussion I had with the guys that owned the place because I am nosy and I like to know.. is that carcasses are taken to the maggot farms... and apparently other that the epidemic causing, diseases.. it does not matter what they have died from, they are delivered 3 times a week and they are piled up in mounds the hides are taken off and used for glue making and nature takes its course with the rest!! daily the maggots are taken off, etc and then when they are left with the bones these are boiled and also used in glue... so like some have said is " animal derivatives" a myth or true I think it did happen in the past, but not now due to too many strict rules.. and bodies to ensure these rules are adhered too!!.

My boy had this diarrhea problem since we brought him back at 4 months. We've switched from boiled chicken to Equilibrio to Orijen kibbles, EVO, eagle pack and it wasn't improving one bit. All tests return negative so we put him on the Hills I/D but he threw up on that.

He's now on Royal Canin Sensitive and he's doing great! Firm stools, no more poo paw around the hse, what a delight!