Diarrhea in cats can be a simple irritation caused by a minor change, or it can be caused by a treatable disease or life-threatening ailment. Persistent, chronic feline diarrhea should always be treated by a veterinarian, who can run a full blood panel to show possible problem’s in the cat’s body. But before running to the vet, there are natural diarrhea treatments for cats that can be tried at home.
1. Slippery Elm Bark is a natural herb that has been used for centuries to soothe the digestive tract. It is found in health food and vitamin shops in capsules and powder form. To treat feline diarrhea, mix about a teaspoon of powder or up to one capsule full of slippery elm powder into water and mix in with the cat’s food. Alternately, the powder can be mixed into wet food. This treatment can be used daily but an improvement in stools could be seen in as little as one day.
2. Check the cat’s food label for any grains and fillers like corn, wheat gluten, and rice. If those ingredients are listed, slowly switch the cat over to grain-free food over a week. On day one, feed the cat 90% old food with 10% of the new, grain-free food mixed in. Slowly increase the new food to old food ratio over the next 5-7 days. Switching a cat’s food too fast can be the sole cause of diarrhea, as their digestive systems need time to adjust to new foods.
Cats are carnivores whose bodies were not made to digest the grains that are added by many of today’s pet food companies as low-cost fillers. This is the case with cats who have IBD, or Irritable Bowel Disease. Switching to a completely grain-free food and eliminating vegetables from the diet often ceases diarrhea and vomiting in these cats.
3. Probiotics can be given to cats with diarrhea to introduce helpful bacteria into the digestive tract. Probiotics made for humans are often more beneficial, because they contain more than one strain of bacteria. Refrigerated probiotic capsules found in vitamin and health food stores usually contain around 7 billion microorganisms per capsule. Half of a capsule can be mixed into the cat’s food twice a day, or mixed with the juice of canned cat food and give via syringe. (Do not mix into tuna juice or human milk; milk made for cats is ok.)
4. Another method to introduce extra beneficial bacteria into a cat’s digestive tract is with plain, fat-free yogurt. Many cats love the taste and can be given one or two tablespoons a day. If the cat won’t eat the yogurt, try mixing it into her food. Only fat-free, plain flavored yogurt should be used.
5. 100% pure canned pumpkin–not pumpkin pie filling–adds fiber to the diet. Pumpkin is a beneficial treatment for feline diarrhea and also helps with constipation in cats. Again, many cats love the taste and can be fed a tablespoon or two per day.
Warnings:
- Cats with diarrhea need extra fluids to guard against dehydration. Dehydration is a serious byproduct of feline diarrhea that will make matters much worse. Canned food is preferred, as it is much higher in moisture. Premium, grain-free canned food will not cause or worsen diarrhea and its moisture content is much healthier for all cats, healthy and ailing.
- Other ways to ensure cats with loose or runny stools get enough moisture is by giving water or cat milk via syringe, or mixing it into canned food. Many cats will also drink more water out of a fountain than from a bowl.
- If none of the above methods of treating diarrhea in cats produces improvement, see a veterinarian.
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My cat had diarrhea for over a year. I tried every
thing the vet prescribed. She lost half of her body
weight. Nothing worked. (Slippery Elm helped but was not enough.) Finally I saw an email from a man who had used Eagle Pack Holistic Solution. It is a
probiotic powder. It worked immediately. She has
not had diarrhea since we have been using it. (4 months). What can I do to help her gain some weight?
Congrats! Are you feeding dry or canned? I would feed canned or raw if I were you (check out this post for more info: https://www.thepawsitter.com/blog/how-i-cured-my-cats-diarrhea-and-saved-his-life/)
The moist food including both canned and dry has better (fresher) fat and water content. Dry food dehydrates. I never feed dry anymore.
However does the vet say she needs to gain weight? Being underweight isn’t necessarily a problem. I will say however that once you find the best food for her, she should appear healthier looking within a month or two.
I was wondering wher you can get eagle pack holistic solution, my cat has diarrhea.
I was wondering where you can buy Eagle Pack Holistic Solution, my cat has diarrhea. Thank you
Where did you find this Eagle Pack Holistic Solutions? I found an Eagle Pack Holistic Transitions powder for dogs specifically for use when switching their food. But not for cats. Did you use the one for dogs?
How is your cat now? Mine is going through EXACTLY the same thing. Going on for about a year, off and on, and she’s lost at least 1/2 her body weight. I’m going to get that Eagle Pack Solution tomorrow. My question for you is, how did you give her the solution?
I personally have not used that supplement. The first ingredient is rice bran. Doesn’t mean it won’t help though. I would just recommend raw before I would try Eagle Pack.
My cat had the same problem, I tried everything and nothing worked. Here’s what I did per my vet; Over a 5 day period I mixed her dry food with a table spoon of canned pumpkin the plain pure canned pumpkin. Everyday I added less cat food, on day 5 I added “Blue Wilderness 100% GRAIN FREE” cat food. For the next 5 days I added less and less pumpkin until she was only eating the “Blue Wilderness 100% Grain Free cat food. It’s been a month and she has has no diarrhea at all.
Blue Wilderness is a little more expensive but well worth it. A 5 lb bag cost me $21.99 and lasted for about 2 weeks, mind you I’m feeding 4 cats with it. They love it too! I can’t stress enough-100% GRAIN FREE is the best for cats!
Sometimes you need to get tests done. That isn’t mentioned. My cats had/have a severe case of empty coli. I used pinamore labs as my vet wanted £100 after already bleeding me dry. They’re now on the right treatment along with probiotics I’ve put in their water.
I did get tests done and I believe that was mentioned. We had reached the point where the only tests left to do were highly invasive, so I decided to test diet change before going that route. The initial diet changes to various limited ingredient and grain free kibbles and canned foods did not help. Finally diet change to raw fixed all issues. Had it not, we likely would have gone ahead with the next steps if I could have afforded it.
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Hello, my kitten (8 months) has had diarrhea since we adopted her (3 months ago) and we took her to the vet after about a week. He said change her diet to Purina Kitten Chow from Meow Mix (for the fact that Purina doesn’t use dyes). We did and now (about a month later) she still has diarrhea. He also prescribed 1 cc of kaopectate twice daily and neither change helped. However, I looked up what kaopectate was and the internet had the general consensus that it was unhealthy for cats. Anyway, we have two other cats and I’m afraid if I purchase raw food, it’d be terribly expensive. I was wondering if there were a cheaper alternative that still cured my kitten.
Hi! If you need to feed dry food just make sure it is grain free. This will be healthier for your other cats. You could also feed some grain free canned food a few times a week and add digestive prebiotic powder to it. You can find that at a site like entirelypets.com probably. Also, a cheap grain free canned food is fancy feast classic, any one WITHOUT wheat gluten in it. Flavors include chicken, beef n chicken, chicken liver, beef n liver, chopped grill. Make sure you get classic, not grilled or flaked.
Rebeca, I thought that too about raw, and I have a feral colony (15 cats…4 indoor an 11 outdoor.) But after losing one to a tumor, another to Kidney failure, and another coming down with diabetes, mega $$$ vet bills for years, I was done with that.
Now everyone is switched to raw, and coats are soft, no more runny eyes, or diarrhea. PLUS I kept track and I don’t spend anymore than I did on commercial, sometimes less. We haven’t been to the vet in a while! I use a mix from Feline Instincts, and buy ground turkey and mix it. http://felineinstincts.com You can also call the number and they are very helpful.
After losing Reo to kidney failure, despite fluids twice daily, the best food from the vets, best care, he died anyway, 6 months after Frankie. I was heartbroken… Raw is best. They are cats for heaven sake! Let me know if I can help further and good luck!
Diane, I too have lost a beloved pet to kidney issues, but when we knew there might be a problem I started treatment. Quinn finally had to be sent over the bridge at 20 years. He was diagnosed with some issues at 2006, when he was 12. This worked for both of us as you will see.
I would take a whole turkey (think Thanksgiving, because we knew all of it would be used anyways), and boil it until the meat would fall off the bones. I would pull off the meat and then put the turkey carcass back in the pot and boil the crap out of it, skin and all (to get all the marrow juices and meat bits and protein out of it). Strain this broth. Then I would mix the broth in the blender with a predetermined amount of his favored cat food from a can (usually about 3 cans of food, 3 cans of broth using the cat food can as a measure,your cats ‘tastes’ may vary)until it was a puree. Poured into ice cube trays…froze them then stored in plastic bags in the fridge (I could make large batches this way). Unused broth was stored as well for later use. I pulled out two cubes in the am and pm, and during the afternoon when I wasn’t working, zapped it in the microwave to slightly warmer than room temp….he would just lap it up! Extra moisture, extra calcium, extra flavor, less preservatives and less corn/gluten products. YOU get to eat the bulk of the turkey :). He had access to dry food if he wanted it since we had 2 other cats, but they were all on Aims. Never could get him to eat just raw or all protein foods, so this worked. When it was time for him to go , we knew it, and it was quick.
I had to figure this out myself through experimentation because he had gotten to the point where he wouldn’t eat anything but would ‘lick’ up the juice only from his favorite canned food (it was a shredded variety with ‘gravy’). Sometimes all you can do is be the investigator and put the numbers together. He gained weight, was happy and healthy for a long time and it was worth the extra effort. My vet commended me on the experiment. I’m sure this could be varied in a lot of different ways (with raw food, mixed onto better quality dry foods). My child is gone now as of March 7th, 2012 but he had a great life until then. That was an extra 6 years in my book!
Hi, My kitten Kaleesi had really bad watery diarrhea. Last night I used a tip I saw on the Internet. Feeding her 100% pure pumkin puree! This morning her stools are formed nicely. They are a bit too soft yet, but much better that the real watery stuff she was doing earlier. This remedy worked for my other kitten as well! Good luck. Make sure the can only has pumpkin in it…no sugar syrup or spices.
The post I wrote is for people who are way beyond pumpkin. Its a good tip for mild cases and healthy cats. I went to raw because all the pumpkin, drugs, tests and money in the world was not taking away my cat’s diarrhea. Nothing did until raw.
coming home from church today , I came across something coming out of the woods. I realized it was a cat looked like she had been hit by a car … I went to go pick her up she was stumbling over to me .. She was Severely dehydrated and Has sever frost Bite .. I gave her my left over Dinner she scarft it Down .She was so Hungry and thristy. I brought her to Petsmart, Looking to see if they could help her. The lady took her back and came out 2 minutes later, She said that she would need alot of care, Saline bags for her dehydration she may not recover. they had said i should put her down!!! Even though she was drinking on her Own and eating .. I left there and returned Home and am giving her tuna from the can with lots of water in it, Had her on a Heating pad with towels , she is and has been warm, she has diarrhea i have medicine for that … got her on half and a quarter of water and pedialite non flavored … I am New at this when it comes too cats with frost bit and Dehydration … I have no money to take her to the vets she is doing alot better .. been constently taking care of her for now 6 hrs need advise …
Hi,
Try giving non fat plain yogurt or mixing in some probiotic powder (not expensive) into her/his food, worked on mine and I give her and him some plain yogurt from time to time just to keep everything healthy. I find it even made their stools slightly less stinky. I’ve had lots of cats over the years and have seen many health problems.
Good luck, Chris.
Do not feed the cat tuna – causes disease. It is ok once in a great while for a treat
Hello,
My 2 newly adopted kittens(from the streets) are having diarrhea, they are just about 2-4 months old. They also have some sort of skin infection that are terribly itchy. We tried an advise from the net to skip their feeding for a day then feed them some half-cooked chicken w/ rice, it worked for almost a week but the diarrhea returned…Their poop is all over the house & my parents are very angry & stressed (partly because we are transfering to a new house). They are now planning to turn them back in the streets, meaning sure death. I keep on persisting them to give the kittens another chance, luckily they are given one last chance…
Please help me save them…. 🙁
……Any advise is welcomed but VETS are OUT OF OPTION because we live in a 3rd world country, we don’t feed our cats any sort of processed food, meaning NO BUYING of proceessed cat food, we feed them tidbits fried fish w/ mashed rice. My mother specially cooks it for them but now she’s very tired of it….
If you have natural ways for diarrhea for cats please inform me…..
I just don’t want them to DIE…. X(
They probably have worms. Most kittens do. I don’t know how to get rid of worms without medicine. Can you order wormer meds online? The cats should NOT get any rice. Cats are carnivores and cannot process grains. They need raw chicken with the bone left in, chicken livers, hearts, etc. Can you feed whole raw fish without cooking it?
Yes, we can buy wormer med here but we already tried feeding them once with them but I’m not sure if it worked .
How many meals should we feed them with wormer med?
Is it really okay to feed them raw fish? Their stomach are quite sensitive, they can’t handle tomatoes, sweet peas, etc.
I think one of the reasons their diarrhea started was when they ate mice.
As I told you before we are moving to a new house, while packing baby mice were found so we tried to feed it to them so when grow bigger their body already knows its scent and taste. Almost more or less 24 hours later their mildly soft poop became water like…
Another question if I may, why can’t the be fed rice? Don’t you know rice is soft when cooked? Try looking in Google you’ll see.”COOKED RICE”
My older cat which is almost 7 human years has been eating w/ rice his whole life. Yet he is eating alright, I don’t know about the weight though because I don’t know the average cat weight (He is blind, for he had sore eyes when he was a baby, they were the first batch of offspring so the mother didn’t know how to tend to them. But luckily we managed to save him, he was typically at death’s doorstep).
I know what cooked rice is, I eat it all the time 🙂 Rice is a grain and cats are carnivores. Cats cannot digest or get any nutrition from rice or grains or carbs. They can SURVIVE like your 7 year old cat, but they cannot thrive or get the nutrition they desperately need when they are sick. Your cat may have gone blind due to a taurine deficiency. Taurine is absolutely a must for all cats. It is found in raw hearts and can ONLY be found in meat. This is why cats cannot be fed a vegetarian diet. They were designed to eat RAW uncooked mice, fish, etc. Of course they can’t handle tomatoes and sweet peas….those aren’t meat. If you found wild mice however, how do you know they didn’t have diseases or didn’t eat rat poison or something? Also baby mice don’t have fully formed bones yet, and the bones are needed to prevent diarrhea.
Cooking the fish just destroys all the nutrition out of it for them. Read my blog post on feeding raw meat for more info. It is the ONLY thing that stopped my cat’s diarrhea. And how much wormer medicine you give depends on the instructions on the product so I can’t speak to that.
Hi Leigh
Just looking for your advice/opinion 🙂
I have a 3mnth old kitten who has developed diarrhea, the vet has given me probiotic paste and Royal canine gastro intestinal – having just read your comments I am wondering if I am better off giving him some raw minced meat instead of the gastro stuff – I was feeding the little boy on Bozita, the vet says he thinks it is too rich for the kitten – but he has been fine on this from a young age. ?? Thank you for any advice x
Hi Samantha. Well I’m not vet and a 3 month old kitten is a delicate thing. I don’t know if the Royal Canine or Bozita you mention is canned or dry and I just don’t like dry for any animal any age when it is sick. Should be no harm in the minced meat but it would need to be balanced. A balanced meal for a cat includes 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% organ, 5% of that being liver. Some people feed these separately on different days during the week. Some people add supplements to just meat. Some examples of such supplements are here: http://cats.about.com/od/homepreparedfood/tp/toprawdiet.htm
hi I have a five month old kitten she as just developed diarrhea she seems ok in every other way, I was reading some of the comments about raw meats for cats and wondering if she would be ok eating thing like that at her age?
Age does not matter. Raw is best as long as it is balanced.
Thank you Leigh I have found this site very helpful, I`ll come back if I need anymore information on such things.
I have a cat that was a rescue and he is an outside cat. He evidently has had an issue with diarrhea for a long time. The vet checked for feline leukemia, worms, and parasites. Nothing showed up in the tests. When at the vets they took the cat’s temperature and that caused the cat to immediately have diarrhea. The cat is friendly, has an appetite and shows no other symptoms. When the cat lays down I have noticed there is some drainage. I’ve got a lot money into this cat and can’t afford to keep putting money into him. My vet is basically just guessing and eliminating causes. I’m on a fixed income and would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks for any help.
Linda
I have 3 cats (14, 8, 5 months old). The youngest has some kind of food allergies (skin irritation mostly), he has been on RC Hypoallergenic food for 2 months, it wasn’t worst but it wasn’t better, so I decided to switch to grain free food. Skin irritation seams better, but the problem is that now all 3 have diarrhea. The 8 month one even had traces of blood in her stool. The thing is, I did not make the adjustment period to the new food. So after few days of diarrhea I started cooking hake and was giving it to them for two days with probiotics. The stool went back to normal. I started mixing some grain free food back but the diarrhea started again, it’s not that severe like the first time, but still I do not know how to proceed? Thank you
My cat is having a diarrhea and our house in under renovation is it because the house is noisy is it the reason why my cat is having diarrhea?
Its very possible. Cats are sensitive to noise and change; some cats more than others. There are tools to help with stress. Like treats called “Composure,” Rescue Remedy (I rub it on their ears) and Feliway plugins.
Past frustrated my 2 cats had chronic diarrhea so I spent $30 each for prescription dewormer plus vet visit Im out of money and the male 10 months old still has it bad! The most loving cat in the world please tell me what to do??
Brenda, if you can’t afford to buy raw food, try to buy grain free cat food. Canned is better than kibble but even grain free kibble might help. Remember when cats have diarrhea they need help to keep them from getting dehydrated, so a little canned food every day is very helpful. One cheaper grain free food that cats love is Fancy Feast Classics like Beef, Beef & Chicken, Beef & Liver, Chopped Grill, Chicken, Chicken & Liver and Turkey. Those flavors have NO WHEAT GLUTEN and are grain free. Be careful though, not all Fancy Feast cans are grain free! Stick with the Classics flavors I listed here.
How long does it take for diarrhoea to heal itself? My kitten was because I changed his diet too quickly. It’s the next day and the stool is still a little soft.
Hi Amy, I just now saw this message! I hope the kitten is healed by now 🙂 If that was the only cause, it should have only lasted a couple days.
I have read all these comments that say Fancy Feist canned cat food is a cheep alternative to raw or more expensive grain free foods. The key word here is “cheep”. When I have had ill cats that didn’t want to eat, I have tried Fancy Feist & I have ALWAYS had problems with that. Diarrhea, allergic reactions etc. Many cats are sensitive to the by-products in the food. This can causes diarrhea, scratching etc. It is not just grain in the food that is a problem, it is the “meat by-products or by-product meal” I had a cat that all of his life, 13 years at that point, would throw-up if he ate more than a couple of teaspoons of food at a time. He had been thoroughly check-out by the vet to make sure there was any health problems. They were not, he was perfectly healthy except for the throwing-up. Finally, I found GRAIN FREE, NO BY-PRODUCT cat food. I put him on that & he never had a problem for rest of his life. He just seemed to be better all around. He lived to be 20 years old! There were not a lot of foods available at that time, there are many now. Wellness is a less expensive grain free, no by-product cat food. In dry & canned Do check the label though as not all of their foods now are grain free. All of my cats seems to like this food over several others & they thrive on it. My cats prefer the ground version instead of the chunked or sliced canned. I add a little water to the ground so it has a little “gravy” to it. They seem to like that.
If you are feeding Fancy Feist or any other food that contains ‘meat by-products or meat by-product meal’ take them off of it! Get Wellness or another food that doesn’t have dyes, by-products or grain & limited ingredients (LID=Limited Ingredient Diet) New Balance is another food that is pretty good & less expensive. You WILL see an improvement.
I have fund a about 3 month old kitten who suddenly developed diarrhea and vomiting. I tried some Sheba chicken food but he prefers natural dry food but eventually he gets the diarrhea back. Any suggestions to help him. My vet is very expensive and at this time the income is rather limited so I am trying to help my kitten as much as possible. Anyhelp would be appreciated. Thanks Vera
hello,
I really need advice here.
my 1 month old kittens have diarrheoa…what should I feed them…does yoghurt help?
Try “Blue Wilderness 100% grain free”. I would also take the kitten to the vet and have it tested for parasites. Sometimes they might have a bug that makes them sick.
I’ve been reading through the posts about diarrhea in cats. We took in a feral cat from our colony last March. He’d had some wounds that we healed previously. And he had a couple URIs I’m sure due to our three months of sub zero weather. We took him to a vet and he got antibiotics and drops for a yeast in one ear. He had some grey diarrhea that went away after the antibiotic was done. I also started feeding canned food that I got from Chuck & Dons. Ialso got a small bag of dry Canidae since I have another cat ( age 11) that had a tendency to urp up foods. And i had to try different foods til one agreed with him. Next time i bought a BIG bag, expensive, of the same. After a week no one ( have a 3rd cat) wanted to eat it. I ended up feeding it to our feral colony and they did not like it. Would it get stale that fast? I keep it in a bin made for pet food. So i went back to Purina One. But now BigPoppa has very lo ose diarrhea. He doesn’t have much of an appetite, but is drinking plenty of water. He is FIV+ and the others have no diarrhea. I’m going to try the pumpkin puree. SugarPop (4 yrold), our only girl loves yoghurt so maybe why she is fine. I’m considering going the turkey routine for them. And I had fed BigPoppa homemade chicken soup when he had the first cold. So assuming i could do the same routine with chicken as well.
Wondering if the Sheba premium is ok. And why are the chunks or shredded varieties are not recommended, as they are not as smelly. I have previously bought wet fancy feast as a treat. The fancy feast dry they like, but i don’t give much as it had by-products and meals, not as much protein.
I also wonder if the turkey stuff with the feral cats would be good. Lately the ones we bring in for TNR, have been ” not very healthy.” And would there need to be any vitamins or minerals we should add. I’ve heard that some brewers yeast in the food would help against fleas.
Thank you for your time. Wonderful reading!
I have read all of the comments about kittens and diarrhea. I have a 12 week old kitten who has diarrhea. I have taken her to the vet and had her checked and all of her test came out fine. I have tried fancy feast and grain free dry, neither have cured the problem. As you have stated many times “raw food”. What kind of raw foods do I feed them? How much and how often? I have three other cats, can all of them be on this diet? Please respond ASAP I don’t think I can take much more of this mess!
Sorry I didn’t see your post until now! How are things going? A little diarrhea is normal in kittens, it usually clears up after they finish their shots and dewormer and their immune system strengthens. However I would suggest reading this blog post for more info on feeding raw: https://www.thepawsitter.com/blog/how-i-cured-my-cats-diarrhea-and-saved-his-life/
She’s doing good! I started her on a 100% grain free diet and its working well! The food I’m using is “Blue Wilderness-100% Grain Free”, she loves it actually all 4 of our cats love it.
Thank you.
About two weeks ago my family took in a cat from outside and she was pregnant and had two kittens. Everything was going good we got her on some kitten food to help her with making milk and everything was good intill yesterday she now has very running mucus stools that small very bad and is really not eating or drinking. What could be doing this? We was putting some water in with her food and everything was good when her stool changed we stop putting water in the food to see if that would help but nothing is right now. What should I do to help her she still is nursing her babies so I’m not sure what to do at this point. We have her on Purina Kitten Chow Nurture. Please help. Thanks
Years ago when I bred cats I had diah. problems all the time. When I took the cats off of the Hill’s(Science Diet) the diah. went away. There are a lot of other reasons for diah. The reason I came to this site is because I have a cat that, I think,ate some dead kittens and I don’t know what to do. He did this outside of course! A neutered in & out cat!!
As sad as that sounds I don’t think you have anything to worry about. He probably eats whole animals all the time, dead and alive. I raised my indoor only cat on whole prey (frozen mice and chicks). It’s a balanced meal for them.
Hi I recently adopted a bengal kitten who is 10 weeks old. Shes has diahrrea (I would describe as yogurt-like). I got her about 24 hours ago. She is litter trained, but doesnt seem to have any control over when she goes. She just goes. I am thinking maybe it is a new environment and she is stressed. She has been dewormed already. Any suggestions? Thanks
Aw, she is so young it could be so many things. Did she have a food change? Was she wormed once or twice? Could be stress, or an illness, how is her appetite?
Thanks! She was wormed once at 8 weeks. I slipped the new food in her meal, but barely any at all to adjust her to it. She was wormed once so far, and is due for another in 4 weeks. She is playful as a kitten normally is (sleeps a lot) and is eating and drinking great
Just a note that I’ve been searching for the Eagle Pack mentioned above and it appears to be discontinued. I’m going to our local Chuck & Don’s to get one that is recommended by their staff, she has a pet with similar issues and it’s working for him.
Am starting to convert my cat to prepared raw from our local raw food store: woodyspetdeli.com. She is not a fan yet but I am mixing it into her regular canned food.
One of my friends out in the country has 8 cats and some were having diet issues. So she started preparing raw for them but found that Woody’s was much more economical and easier to deal with. Most of the cats have switched but they are hunters in the summer, it will be necessary in the winters here in MN to have that option.
When I got my cat in January, she had been on Fancy Feast and was quite thin as she hated the food. I found she liked Nature’s Variety Instinct canned chicken and turkey too, so within one month of her coming home she had gained a whole pound, 8 lbs is a good level given her small frame. That said, she has now had diarrhea issues from regular food changes, is not happy with the same thing so I vary it. That is now upsetting her stomach so we’re going over to raw, no matter how long it takes…
After reading about the Metamucil I ground up some “All Bran” cereal and mixed it in a high quality wet food – 1 tsp of ground bran to 1 tsp wet food – for three feedings and cat was regular by the next day……
Cats are carnivores, so I would not recommend feeding them wheat cereal.
The ALL Bran was only given for 1 day – PLEASE COMPARE TO METAMUCIL and explain how this is better for a carnivore????
Metamucil is made from
sucrose: is a common, naturally occurring carbohydrate found in many plants and plant parts IE SUGAR??
psyllium husk : Psyllium seed husks, also known as ispaghula, isabgol, or psyllium, are portions of the seeds of the plant Plantago ovata, (genus Plantago), a native of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan IE VEGETABLE MATTER??
You’re right, and I meant to include the words “long term.” I don’t use Metamucil either, as you can see in the blog post I use Slippery Elm or probiotics, however thankfully since I’ve been feeding raw food I have had zero diarrhea to treat at all. But I do have some pet sitting clients who use Metamucil as per their vet. Shrug.
Hi, My cat started having diarrhea after he was given antibiotics for his cold and skin problems. He was doing fine all along for the past 2 years on Acana dry food. The vet prescribed probiotics for his diarrhea and that didnt help. Cat is too addicted to dry food that I’ve thrown away who-knows-how-many cans of wet food. We finally managed to see some light with Feline natural freeze-dried raw food. The diarrhea stopped but he’s starting to have constipation instead. I add more than recommended amount of water to the freeze-dried raw. The cat does not terribly love the freeze-dried raw and sometimes i just have to switch back to the dry food which gives him diarrhea, just so that he takes in enough calories and that he gets the bowel moving…. I would really be grateful if anyone has good suggestions to help my cat. Thanks!
Hello! I am glad the freeze dried raw helped. It can be high in calcium for some cats. You can sprinkle a little Miralax or slippery elm into her food and mix it in. Here is info about the Miralax:
https://www.vetinfo.com/miralax-for-cats.html
HELP PLEASE!!! My sister’s fiancé’s brother just died last Saturday & he lived in squalor & had a Maine Coone, male ,7 year neutered sweet tabby cat, My sister & her fiancé already have male & female cats. This sweet, malnourished cat ate 1/2 can from a Health Food Store & I purchased Blue Dry Food for Adult Cats. The next day, he turned his nose up at the other 1/2 can, pushed more Blue Dry out of the dish then he ate & his urine smells very strong. My sister brought over 3 cans of Fancy Feast-Flaked which he wolfed down. Before she left, she gave him another can. Poor Beau couldn’t even make it to the Litter Box & has now selected a Throw Rug as his Diarrhea pooping spot. I know that the Fancy Feast is too rich for his malnourished & very stressed little body. I have cleaned all the poop off of him, but don’t know what to feed this brave lost little sweetie. Please help! Covered in diarrhea & don’t know what to do. (I was just diagnosed with Lupus for my Christmas present.)
I have a 1 yr old cat whom seems still very happy and playful but has had very loose diarrhea.. About 3 days now and I don’t have a lot of money for a vet. I’m really worried about her as my 2 other cats are fine as can be. She also leaks feces sometimes when she’s walking around, leaving droplets behind. I started her on pro biotics from a pet store along with a couple of cans of just chicken mixed with pumpkin..which is what they recommended… Then waled into the vet next store and they told me and gave me a bag of dry food with probiotics and grain free and said there that will help if not bring her in!!! So I’m just up in the air about how to help my poor cat with very loose diarrhea and a lot of leakage. Please help..
It’s so hard to know how to help when we don’t know what has caused it. The plain chicken with pumpkin is a bland diet with a binder (the pumpkin), which is to give the tummy a rest and firm up the stool. I would try that for up to a week to see if that helps. If it does, then slowly start feeding what you want her to eat. Grain free is really best for cats. Chicken and pumpkin is only to be used temporarily. Good luck!
Please help I just don’t know what to do. I have a 15 month old blue point Persian who stools have become very lose (like a puddle) I thought he had picked something up from the garden or sink, as he always has his head in everything and this has happened several times before. But normally corrects itself within a day or 2. This time it seems to be on going, it’s been about 3 weeks since I’ve had a solid poo, I’ve done all the usual no food only water for 24hrs then a light small diet of white fish ( does not like chicken) for 24hrs then gradually over the next 3-4 days mixing his regular food in with the fish to wean him back, normal feed is purina one adult was on kitten before with chicken and whole grains dry food and gourmet perle chicken pouches in gravey( he really likes these) plus white fish that I steam, I also have 2 other cats and there is no problem there, I just don’t understand why he still got diarrhoea when I’ve done all this and have not changed anything in his diet, and when he has been naughty and ate something he shouldn’t have when I’m not looking, it has always corrected itself within 1-2 days, he is very happy in hisself playful loving good appetite, so as you can see I just don’t no what to do? Any help advice would be so very much appreciated. What is this raw diet that’s mentioned? And dry food that has no whole grain in ? Look forward to hear from you.
Did you try the advice of the other people on this blog? …like adding a prebiotic to your normal dry food? It worked for me. I use a powder that I sprinkle on my cat’s regular food that has PREbiotic with PRObiotic and enzymes. It worked within 36 hours. I got it on Amazon.
Thank you so much for your site and advice. My newly adopted kitten got diarrhea one day after we brought her home. After two weeks of nasty, stinky, messy, unpredictable bowel movements, I did a lot of research online and thanks to this web page I discovered that PREbiotics in her food might be what she needed but I could not find many products online and only a few holistic stores that had it in stock, and wherever I did find it, I would be spending tons of money for a food that I had no guarantee the kitty would eat. My only other option I found was to get a liquid medicine from the vet that I would have to force down her throat with a syringe. Been there, done that with other pets and was not going to do it again if I could avoid it. Then I searched for food additives and I found “Probiotics Plus Prebiotics and Digestive Enzymes” by Gradypet on Amazon for less than 10 bucks. 36 hours later and my little kitty has no more diarrhea. Can I keep using this product until all 110 servings are gone? Are there any negative side affects to using it for so long?
I know a few people who give their cats probiotic and/or prebiotic continually. I don’t think there could be any danger in that 🙂
E coli (not empty coli lol) it was also highly resistant to antibiotics. Would only respond to fluoroquinolones. Absolutely nothing else.
Hi,
My cat is almost 6 months old and he has water stool. I took him to the vet before and what they prescribed for him didn’t work. I’ve also tried the chicken and rice for 2 days And that hasn’t worked. He is drinking and eating fine and is playful. He was dewormed a month ago. He is a indoor cat. And I have tried feeding him non wheat,corn,and soy kibbles and that hasn’t helped either. I have given him probiotics and that doesn’t help. I am worried for him and I can’t afford a vet. If I can’t help him my parents said that I would have to return him to the pound… But I love him too much. I have him pumpkin and it didn’t help. He also has been gasy but other then that he acts just fine. No throwing up. Please I need help… He was at deaths door step when I adopted him and I can’t just give him up when he is at the verge of recovery. Please if there is any information on how to make him stop having diarrhea I would really appreciate it… Thank you for your time and patients.
Hi Jordan, he is young, but have you read about raw food? Your cat could possibly have IBD (or something even more serious), but raw food really can be miracle for issues like this. Read my raw food post here.
My cat, Shiloh has had diahrrea for a while now, nothing I do is working. Vets are ridiculously expensive. It’s been getting worse and worse, he doesn’t make it to the litter box sometimes and there is blood in his stool. He was fine for a little while but it’s flared back up again. Does yogurt help? Or pumpkin? Would putting him on a pumpkin and chicken diet help him? He has such a sensitive stomach that I don’t want to feed him raw without looking into it more.
Have you switched to grain free food? Usually cats have sensitive stomachs because of grains and highly processed foods. I was worried too, but raw was the answer for us and it was clear in just 12 hours. Did you see this post I wrote about raw? There is no harm in trying raw to see if it helps. Kibble is highly processed and really hard on cats’ digestive tracts.
I only feed him grain-free. What’s interesting is that he’s a very very active cat. He’s very excitable, drinks tons of water. The only inkling of something wrong is his stool. Every once in a while I’ll feed him boiled chicken and rice and that seems to make him feel better. But it’s really not enough.
Grain free is good but if it’s only kibble, that is still highly processed and if it contains anything like potato or rice, or if the cat is allergic to chicken and it’s chicken kibble, that could all be contributing to the tearing up kitty’s digestive tract. Have you tried switching to a different protein? Cats can become allergic to one protein if they eat it too long.