CATS WITH DIARRHEA

Cats with diarrhea isn’t a pleasant topic but it must be addressed.  There are many different causes of diarrhea in cats, so the treatment varies.  In simple cases of adult cat diarrhea, withholding food for 12-24 hours and providing water frequently, then feeding bland food like boiled fat-free chicken or boiled hamburger and boiled rice or plain mashed potatoes given in small amounts to start may resolve the problem.

Does your cat have smelly poop?  If so, there are a number of reasons this could be happening, such as intestinal parasites such as Giardia.  Giardia can cause foul-smelling feces with or without diarrhea.  Other parasites such as Coccidia and trichomonas are parasites that can cause intestinal inflammation, odor, and diarrhea.

Signs of possible parasitic infection are chronic vomiting and loss of appetite, weight loss, and malnutrition.  Some cats show no signs of disease.

GETTING RID OF PARASITES

De-worming can be done by either oral or injectable medication.  Hookworms are blood-sucking intestinal parasites and can cause anemia and possibly death.  Hookworms are intestinal parasites that live in the digestive system of your cat (or dog).  They attach to the intestinal wall and feed on your cat or dog’s blood.

The eggs get ejected into the digestive tract and pass into the feces.

TAPEWORMS IN CATS

These are long, flat white worms with hook-like mouths that anchor onto the wall of your cat‘s small intestine.  Cats can get infected if they digest an infected flea while grooming, and then the flea can transmit a tiny tapeworm into the cat and grow into a full-sized adult worm.  If treated promptly tapeworms shouldn’t prove dangerous.

With the proper medication, the tapeworms can be killed within 24 hours, and on occasion, a second dose is required 3-4 weeks later.

HOW TO GET RID OF FLEAS ON CATS

Years ago I fell in love with a beautiful Torti cat I saw on Petfinder and decided to adopt her. To my horror, it turned out my beautiful new cat had fleas!  I had never had this problem before.

I had two other cats in my apartment and I was panicking. In my case, I took the cats to the vet for flea baths and fumigated the place with Cedarcide, an all-natural non-toxic product that suffocates the fleas rather than poison them. One treatment and my home were once again free of fleas.

Cedarcide can rid your home and garden of all sorts of pests. It’s available on their website.  You can also safely treat your cat’s flea problem with Flea-Ex, an all-natural, highly effective product.

You can find this and many other all-natural cat products where I shop for mine. My 17-year-old cat, who has chronic kidney disease, was not eating, but after using these all-natural products for cats with kidney disease, she started eating well the very next day, much to my amazement, has continued doing so and got a very good bill of health from a recent veterinarian visit.

If you don’t or can’t fumigate your home:

• Vacuum floors (I put a flea collar inside my vacuum which was recommended)

as well as upholstery and mattresses (I sprayed my mattress with Cedarcide, and never got another flea bite after that one treatment) and you can also spray Cedarcide on your furniture.

• Wash all of your bedding and your cat’s bedding in hot water.

NOTE:  The above-recommended product, Cedarcide, is not only excellent to kill fleas, but works great on all kinds of pests, both indoors and out, and is safe around animals and humans.

 

UPPER RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS (URI)

The upper respiratory tract includes the mouth, nose, sinus, throat, larynx (voice box) and trachea (windpipe.)  Bronchitis and pneumonia are infections of the lower respiratory tract.

DO CATS GET “COLDS?”

Cats do get upper respiratory infections (URI’s.)  What is the cause of URI’s in cats?

There are two viruses that are the most common causes.  They are the feline herpes virus and the feline calicivirus.  These two viruses make up almost 90% of colds (URI’s) in cats.  There are a few other causes, such as feline chlamydiosis, Bordetella, and mycoplasma.  Cats with severe URI’s may be tested for these pathogens, as well as if large groups of cats have been exposed.

SYMPTOMS YOUR CAT MAY HAVE AN UPPER RESPIRATORY INFECTION (URI)

Symptoms may include cat’s eyes watering, wheezing, sneezing in cats, runny nose, sniffling, fever (often evident by loss of appetite, oral or nasal ulcers, raspy voice or loss of voice).

WHEN TO SEND YOUR CAT TO THE CAT CLINIC (OR DOG & CAT HOSPITAL)

If your cat is eating and drinking normally, is active and acting per usual, then most likely your cat will recover on its own.  I personally highly recommend the all-natural cat product on (put  TwoCrazyCatLadies link here).  This is not to replace veterinary care, but the products for URI work well to boost kitty’s immune system.  Fortunately, most URI’s are relatively mild.  A little extra care should take care of kitty for a full recovery.

Although most URI’s are viral in nature, there are times when antibiotics are required to prevent a secondary bacterial infection such as Bordetella and feline chlamydiosis.  Your veterinarian can determine if this is needed.

If your kitty has stopped eating, and the cat’s eyes are watering, wheezing and/or sneezing a lot, not eating, congested so that kitty must keep its mouth open in order to breathe,  please take your cat to your vet as soon as possible.

MY STORY

Many years ago I had put my two cats, Sam and Pinky, into boarding at a brand new veterinary clinic.  I hadn’t wanted to do this but my then-boyfriend didn’t want anyone he didn’t know coming into our apartment while we were out of town.

We were only gone for one week.  When I returned, my little cat, Pinky, had a slightly running nose and watery eyes, but she was eating and behaving fine.  My large male cat, Sam, was so sick it was frightening.  He stopped eating and drinking, stopped grooming himself, and worst of all stopped urinating and defecating.

He would just lie on his back with his mouth open and his tongue hanging out.  I rushed him to the vet I had boarded him at, and was told that, unbeknownst to them, a woman had boarded four cats, one of whom had an upper respiratory infection.  Of course, the vet treated Sam free of charge.

I had to take Sam to the vet every day, and force-feed Sam with a syringe every day.  My other cat, Pinky, recovered quickly and even groomed poor Sam.

Sam eventually recovered.  I bring this true story up as an example of how different the severity of UTI’s can be.  I must tell you that after this experience I refused to ever board my cats again.

To this day whenever my husband and I go out of town, I have a great cat sitter care for our five cats in our home.