Cat diarrhea can be a common symptom of overeating or indigestion, but it can also be a harbinger of serious illness. That is why it is worth keeping a close eye on a sick cat in order to bring it to the vet in time. What to give to quickly stop diarrhea?

Cat diarrhea - characteristics

Cat's diarrheais a big problem, both for the animal and its owner. It's worth starting with the fact that diarrhea is not a disease in itself. As a clinical symptom, it can accompany many cat diseases. A cat with diarrhea has frequent bowel movements and its faeces are fluid, watery and unformed. Often the ailments are accompanied by other symptoms: vomiting, abdominal pain and general weakness of the animal.

Acute diarrhea lasts a maximum of 14 days, chronic diarrhea - more than 4 weeks. The latter requires a solid diagnosis, because it can be a sign of many serious diseases.

Cat diarrhea - causes

Diarrhea will not always have serious consequences, but it should always increase the vigilance of the owner. May be the result of normal food poisoning or food intolerance. In kittens and young cats, it is most often caused by parasites, protozoa or worms - then the faeces may have an admixture of blood or mucus and even squirt from the cat's anus.

Read also: Cat worms - how to deworm?

In very elderly cats - diarrhea is often associated with hyperthyroidism or failure of one of the internal organs, such as the liver, kidneys or thyroid gland. Cat diarrhea is also sometimes the result of a bacterial infection, such as salmonella or E-cola (the cat loses weight, lacks appetite, vomiting) or a viral infection: it can then be a symptom of feline typhus (Panleukopenia), feline AIDS (FIV) or an infection coronavirus (FIP). The latter ailment is an intestinal infection which, in addition to diarrhea, is characterized by vomiting. It may subside after a few days, and may develop into a more serious form for which, unfortunately, there is no cure.

Sometimes a cat's diarrhea heralds very serious diseases, such as cancer, enteritis or gastritis.

Some cats also react with diarrhea to vaccination, stress, changes in diet, e.g. after changing food, swallowing a foreign body or eating poisonousa cat of a plant (e.g., dracaena, Bethlehem, or aloe vera).

There are many potential causes of feline diarrhea. Regardless of what causes diarrhea, we should not underestimate this situation, as it can be dangerous for the animal's life.

According to an expertdr inż. Jacek Wilczak, nutrition expert in the Noteć Valley, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences

In the case of cats, frequent causes of diarrhea are inadequate amounts of milk and unprocessed milk products. Some owners are still convinced that it is necessary to give them to the cat.

Adult cats, like all mammals, have a reduced activity of lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose. If the cat has been systematically fed milk products from birth, the activity of this enzyme can be kept low, but sufficient to digest a small amount of lactose. Adult cats that eat dairy products occasionally do not have this ability. Their body reacts to varying degrees of diarrhea.

The solution is not to use fresh milk to feed your cat. However, you can try to give your cat natural yoghurt in the composition of which there is no lactose. Of course, you have to remember that a cat that has experienced diarrhea should not be given milk and its products, even in the smallest amounts.

A cat with a relatively small weight dehydrates quite quickly, especially if it is young (within 2-3 days). This weakens his body, making him unable to fight the disease. A dehydrated cat is apathetic, has electrolyte and acid-base balance disorders.

Cat diarrhea - home remedies

At first, observation is enough. The most common cause of diarrhea is food poisoning, inadequate quality or size of a meal. In such a situation, if the cat, apart from diarrhea, does not have a fever, does not vomit, does not seem lethargic and does not seem sick, it is worth simply starving it. Nothing bad will happen if he only has water for a day or a half.

If possible, we can also try to fight the symptom itself by giving the animal medicinal charcoal, smecta or taninal (available without a prescription). The appropriate dose is half a sachet of smecta and ¼ of a taninal tablet daily. And of course you should monitor the situation all the time.

Cat diarrhea - treatment

It happens that the use of a fast for several hours does not improve he alth. This is the moment when we should absolutely consult a vet and implement appropriate treatment. Especially if your symptoms worsenor worse - more will appear.

Remember, the longer this state lasts, the more difficult it will be for a cat to recover, the more its body will be exhausted. The acute course of diarrhea and the associated dehydration may require hydration and drip infusion of electrolytes, protein, amino acids or vitamins to the animal.

Important

Modern veterinary clinics have equipment that can help diagnose the causes of diarrhea. Blood tests, feces, and in special cases also ultrasound, allows you to quickly determine what we are dealing with and apply appropriate therapy. We are able to know some of the results after a few minutes from the examination, and the diagnosis of the disease is of course the moment to start intensive therapy.

Cat diarrhea - diet

A cat that suffers from diarrhea should be starved. If everything returns to normal after a day, we can try to give our pet an easily digestible meal, such as rice gruel with boiled chicken and carrots, which help to stop diarrhea. If the cat often has problems with the digestive system, it is worth giving him special, easily digestible food with a small amount of fats. To help the digestive system recover faster, you can give your cat probiotics for animals.

Category:

Pets