How to handle diarrhea?

Any recommendations for managing diarrhea? The vet told me about probiotics but they're all very expensive. Im hoping to find a simple/affordable solution. I changed his diet about a month ago from wet D/M to 50% baked chicken breast and 50% Natures Balance Venison.
He seemed to tolerate the diet change well at first but now his poop has changed (very dark diarrhea).
Any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

You can try adding a little bit of pumpkin (you can buy it canned from the grocery store, just make sure it is PLAIN pumpkin, not the pie filling that has spices added!) to his meals. I used to give about 1/2 teaspoon at breakfast and again at dinner, and that always seemed to help with diarrhea. I will add, though, that venison always gave all of my cats very dark poop, and did give bad diarrhea to my kitty with IBD.

As far as probiotics go, right now I am using Renew Life Ultimate Flora 15 Billion, and I really think it helps (my IBD kitty has to be on probiotics all the time or her diarrhea comes back with a vengeance). I shop around for it online to get the best prices, I can usually find it for around 13 -15 $$; I even found it on eBay for 10-11 $$ once or twice.

 

My Geordie had permanent diarrhea due to his IBD, and everything the vet did had zero effect. I'm also on the IBD Kitties facebook group so I followed that group's recommendation -- s boulardii probiotic plus pumpkin. Magic -- no diarrhea since! You can find the instructions on the IBD Kitties website -- I don't know if I'm allowed to put the link here, but a google search should find it. Go to the section on probiotics.

I give Geordie 1/2 capsule s boulardii (that's 2.5 billion CFU) plus about a teaspoon plain canned pumpkin twice per day, mixed in with his food. He likes it! I use NOW brand s boulardii that I get from Swanson -- that's an online supplier of vitamins and so on. Costs maybe $15 for a 2 month supply. You can use any brand of s boulardii but make sure you get one without MOS. I don't even know what MOS is -- but it's very bitter, and if your s boulardii has MOS in it then your cat won't eat it. And make sure you get only 5 billion CFU per capsule so the dosing of 1/2 capsule works out.

 

Awesome. So does pumpkin affect the BG? If so, maybe I'm better off going with a probiotic.

 

Wow I've never even heard of all of those things- I'll have to try them. Do they affect the BG?

 

Hmmm.... I have no idea what the effect on BG might be. Geordie is one of my other cats, he doesn't have diabetes. S boulardii is not a food -- it's not carbs like the pumpkin. So if I had to guess, I would say it shouldn't have any effect. But probably more frequent testing would be a good idea when you first try it.

And a bit of further explanation -- s boulardii is "human grade" probiotics, not the probiotics like fortiflora that you get at the vet's office. You buy it anywhere people buy their probiotics.... your local health food store might have it, though the trick is finding one without MOS.

 

Pumpkin raises Eleanor's BG. Other people have stated that it does not raise their cats BG.....
Slippery Elm Bark powder really helps with Eleanor's diarrhea. You have to get the powder and be sure it doesn't have other ingredients. You can get bulk organic powder at a lot of health food stores. I mix 1/4 tsp in about 2 tsp warm water and syringe it into her mouth twice a day.

 

I just bought SEB for my kitty who has had diarrhea last few days. First time ever! Is this stuff I bought okay (see link below)? Says only ingredient is SEB. I made it into a syrup from the Catinfo websites recipe. And put it over her food. Didn't have syringes. How long does it usually take to start working?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0170MXI7C/ref=sxts1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1473768466&sr=1

 

Thanks for this very helpful info, Julie. Based on your experience, how quickly does SEB start working to help slow/stop the diarrhoea?

Do you (or any other members) know whether you could split the dose to 1/8 tsp and give it four times a day instead of 2? Saoirse's had diarrhoea for 3 days and the pumpkin's not been working. I started her on SEB last night (just 1/8 tsp dose to start). She seems MUCH more comfortable in the hours after the food containing the SEB. As long as it's safe, I'd like to give her a few days of dosing at 1/8 tsp q6 to see whether it would soothe her discomfort for longer. (@Marje and Gracie - if you're around, I'd welcome any advice about SEB you might be able to share, too. )

Useful link on SEB:

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/slippery-elm/


Mogs
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I can't seem to get the Quote feature to work so I hope you see this Mogs.
Sometimes the SEB works within a few hours, other times it takes 24 hours, once it took 36 hours. If Eleanor's diarrhea is really bad I'll give her 1/4 tsp every 8 hours, that works well.
I started Eleanor with 1/8 tsp, she reacts so badly to things that I was worried! It didn't really help with the diarrhea though. That might depend on the cat, I would think if you see improvement with 1/8 tsp it would be fine to split the dose.

I hope it helps Saoirse.

 

I'm a believer in the emergency stop method of S. Boulardii, as is Cheri, and then keeping them on a lower maintenance dose. The S. boulardii should work faster than SEB unless she's allergic to yeast. Here is information on probiotics and just scroll down quite a ways to get to the Emergency Stop instructions. I buy the Rewnew Life S. boulardii 6b CFU and it's not that expensive but worth it's weight in gold.

You can also dose SEB twice a day at 1/4 tsp mixed in enough water to make a slurry and syringe feed it or sprinkle 1/4 tsp on food if she will eat it. It's soothing to the intestines even if it takes longer to get the diarrhea under cot rol but your best bet is the S. boulardii. Insofar as price, there are less expensive but good probiotics and the page I linked provides many options. The way I look at it is pay now for the product or pay later with huge vet bills. Probiotics every single day benefits cats immensely and mine get both the Renew Life Ultimate Flora Adult 15b CFU that Lucy mentioned and the S. boulardii and they are healthy (one is a 14 week old kitten).

Mogs....I'm sorry Saoirse has diarrhea. If you can get the S. boulardii there, I'd try that and dose the SEB twice a day. If you can't, then you can dose the SEB as you suggested.

One extra word on SEB...it should be separated by two hours from any other meds or supplements.

 

I use Nutra Max Proviable DC Probiotic for my cat Shadow. I give him 1/3 a capsule in his morning moist food and. 1/3 capsule with his evening moist food. I have been doing this for two years at the recommendation of his vet. It does not affect his blood count. It is reasonably priced and you can purchase it from your vet or Amazon. I would ask your vet if this is the best/safest option for your kitty before trying it. Hope it helps.

 

@Julie and Eleanor, @Marje and Gracie -

Thank you both very much for the information and advice. Just to confirm, I make sure that there's a sufficient time gap between feeding the SEB and giving Saoirse her ondansetron.

Anti-jinx, the SEB worked a little miracle; the diarrhoea stopped completely after the second dose of 1/8 tsp! And Saoirse had a solid, better-coloured poop today. Needless to say, Saoirse's feeling a lot more comfortable. I'm incredibly relieved. Poop dance!

Question: Is it possible to administer SEB long term? If yes, what are the potential pitfalls? I seem to remember reading here a good while ago that it can cause mineral imbalances and also that it might interfere with nutrient absorption. Is this correct?

Marje, the info you gave on probiotics is very interesting. To date I've not had any success trying to give Saoirse probiotics; they make her nauseated. Maybe when she's stable I might try the recommendations in the linked document.


Mogs
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Mogs

Probiotics are not “one size fits all”. If one doesn’t work, try another. But the key is start small and gradually build up. I made the mistake of starting Tobey on a full maintenance dose of the probiotic that I am now using for him and he got soft stools so I backed off and started slow and then built up and he’s doing fabulous.

I’ve used SEB for a CKD cat for several months to control tummy acid. It is postulated it might interfere with absorption of other supplements and so it should be separately from other sups and meds by two hours. I would probably not give it long term without a break. If she has diarrhea that requires constant administration of SEB to keep it away, she’s got something more significant going on, IMHO.

 

How long of a break? Eleanor's diarrhea starts again if I skip a couple doses of SEB. I realize there is a problem causing it but have no money for tests. Unless it's the probable Pancreatitis causing the diarrhea...

 

Ironically, it's constipation that's normally the issue for Saoirse, Marje.

Update:

More whiffy, loose poops overnight and this morning. Only change yesterday was the food batch. Saoirse had eaten from this particular batch just before the diarrhoea started. I switched her to some of the emergency 'good batch' squirrel stock of pouches I hold in reserve for her for emergencies. Between the return to the 'good' pouches and the SEB the diarrhoea resolved and she was really well in herself. Now she's back to looking subdued and uncomfortable. (For info, Lúnasa's poops have been a bit whiffy and a bit on the soft side when she has eaten food from this batch, too.)

I've only got a couple of 'good batch' pouches left. In desperation at AMPS I tried her on another batch of the Sheba Fine Flakes that she hadn't got on quite as well to see whether it would be an option to tide her over till I can get a different new batch. She ate her brekkie but refused the food from this latest batch. I managed to get her to eat a little of an alternative food I hold in reserve for her (Kattovit Sensitive - this tends to nauseate her a little so I only give it to her in a crisis but she was mid-cycle and I had to get her to eat something.)

The Sheba is the only food she can eat regularly and reliably. It could take a few weeks for a new batch to work its way through to the local supermarkets (and local pet shop can't get stock). I dread times like this. I wish there was other food that Saoirse could eat comfortably.

The only other thing that is different is Saoirse getting better BG numbers. @Marje and Gracie - do you know whether moving to better BG numbers can irritate/inflame things in pancreatitis kitties? It's the only other potential cause of the diarrhoea that I can identify.

Shaking with anxiety again. This is so tough. All things considered, Saoirse was absolutely brilliant in herself for the period when the diarrhoea stopped and she was on the SEB. It is quite soul-destroying not to be able to keep her that way.


Mogs
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@Marje and Gracie -

Couldn't find the Renew Life s. boulardii over here. I have ordered this product instead:

https://www.cytoplan.co.uk/saccharo...=PPCMSN&utm_medium=PPCMSN&utm_campaign=PPCMSN

It has 5 billion colony forming units per capsule but the capsule contents are the pure culture with no additives. Is this OK?


Mogs
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No, I don't think better BGs will inflame the pancreas and start diarrhea. Honestly, I think if a cat has had constipation and now diarrhea, it's most likely a GI issue either acute or chronic.

I think that S. boulardii looks just fine. Great job finding it!

Julie...you can likely give it for a few months and perhaps longer without an issue. The premise is generally that if you have to give her SEB to keep her poos normal, there is another issue and you see already aware of that. Since finances are also an issue, if she were mine, I would,not worry too much on leaving her on it if it improves her QOL and yours. Maybe after a month or two, try taking her off of it for a few days and see how she does.