Cat Diarrhoea

One of the most common problems incats is diarrhea, the elimination of watery,runny. or soft stools. Usually, the conditionlasts for only twenty-four to thirty-six hours and home treatment is fine, unless the diarrheapersists and your pet gets severely listless. If your cat has bright-red blood in the stools;black, tarry stools; severe abdominal pain; orfever; or if it persistently vomits or attempts to vomit, see your veterinarian promptly.

Sometimes medication such as antibiotics can change the number and kind of bacteria that normally live in your pet's intestines. This can cause diarrhea. If your cat is on medica-tion, call your veterinarian.

Many cats do not have enough of an enzyme called lactase, which breaks up a large sugar molecule in milk called lactose. Consequently, the lactose "pulls" water into the intestinal tract to soften the stools.

Very often diarrhea is caused by diet that is. by eating "exotic" things, such as garbage. tin foil, candy, the family's table food (especially spicy foods), and bones. Excess fat in the diet, or sudden pet-food changes, cansometimes cause diarrhea as well.

Worms and other intestinal parasites canirritate the intestine and cause diarrhea that issometimes bloody.

Kittens with diarrhea may quickly develop a severe fluid loss. Be sure to maintainadequate fluid intake.

However, neither is a common cause of diarrhea. Any cat over seven years of age with diar-rhea should be checked for hyperthyroidism.

Cat Diarrhoea Home Remedies

You can manage diarrhea by changing thediet and giving Kaopectate to coat the intestinal tract and firm the stools.

Except for kittens, who have only a small caloric reserve, no food should be given for twenty-four hours. Do not take away water.

After the one-day fast, you can give small,frequent feedings (four to five small meals) of boiled hamburger or chicken with boiled rice for four or five days. Cooked eggs and cottage cheese can then be added. Be sure to bring the food to room temperature before feeding, because food that is too hot or too cold can causediarrhea. The small, frequent feedings give the intestine enough time to digest the food. Overthe next few days, mix this diet with an increas-ing amount of your cat's regular food.

If the diarrhea persists beyond forty eight hours, contact your veterinarian.

Cat Diarrhoea Treatment

The doctor will conduct a complete physical exam, paying particular attention to the abdomen. Blood tests, a fecal exam, and a urinalysis may be needed if an infectious (panleukopenia) or systemic (kidney disease, thyroid disease, diabetes, pancreatitis) disease is suspected. An X-ray, barium series, ultrasound, orendoscopy may be necessary to define the area of inflammation or the intestinal obstruction (such as string or a rubber ball). Sometimes,intussusception (telescoping of a loop of the bowel into the adjacent loop of bowel) is obstructing the digestive tract. Intestinal obstruction is not uncommon in kittens and usually requires surgery. Tumors of the intestinal tractin cats can be seen in lymphosarcoma.

If your cat is dehydrated, intravenous orsubcutaneous fluids may be required.

Your cat should also be checked for giardia. campylobacter, FTLV, feline leukemia vi-rus, cryptosporidium, and toxoplasmosis if its diarrhea does not respond to treatment or recurs. These diseases are being seen more often.

Prevention

Do not give your cat table food (espe-cially spicy food) or milk if it causes loosestools. Do not feed it bones. They serve no use-

ful purpose but they do splinter, and therazor-sharp pieces can cut or perforate theintestines.

Have your veterinarian check your cat'sstool samples for worm eggs often - particularly at vaccination time.

Do not let your cat play with yarn, stringor any toys they can chew up or swallow. These can cause a fatal intestinal blockage.

Keep all toxic chemicals and plants out ofyour cat's way.

Cats that run loose, unsupervised, canget into garbage, poisons, and other disease-causing snacks. You can avoid these situationsby confining your pet indoors. House cats haveless chance of finding dangerous things to eat.