There is a disease called antibiotic responsive diarrhea. Maybe your kitten has it.

Has she been FeLV and FIV tested?

At this point, I would go for intestinal biopsies. That means general anesthesia and an abdominal exploratory surgery, but it may be the only way to diagnose your kitten's diarrhea. If she is not yet spayed, it may be a good time to do both with the single anesthetic event.

I generally prefer canned food for cats. However it will not make a difference between canned and dry if the protein and carbohydrate source is the same- rabbit is still rabbit and she will have the same problems no matter if the food is canned or dry. RC does not use any artificial products in either formula, so you aren't changing anything except the moisture content of the food by switching from dry to canned. But I do think you should make the switch because canned in general is better for cats anyway.

I would ask the vet about Vitamin B supplementation because with all her GI inflammation she may be losing too much of it/not absorbing it as much as she needs.

Chronic diarrhea is very frustrating and often the only treatment is a LOT of trial and error. I hope you get answers soon.

If you want to try an uncomplicated raw diet, there are premade, frozen raw diets available at many pet stores and possibly whole foods co-ops, as well.

Laurie

Meghane -

No, I haven't had her FeLV or FIV tested yet. I did manage to get her spayed in the midst of this, though. She'd have to go under again for the exam. They did the extra testing before the spay (on the organs, I believe) and everything came back good.

I just read about the SIBO for the first time and that really makes quite a bit of sense! That would explain why the antibiotics seemed to help but then as soon as I take her off, she gets worse. Theoretically, she could then just do another round (or two) of the correct antibiotic and this might clear up? Is Tylan one of the treatments because that sounded familiar to me. It may have been the antibiotic they initially gave her for stress. I remember it was extremely bitter and a chore to give her. That one didn't do a thing for her. Another treatment I read was probiotics which I've been doing daily.

As luck would have it, they didn't have rabbit in a can! I picked out the duck flavor instead. I was wondering if the additives (like the dyes) in the dry food were bothering her.

I ordered her the feline Transfer Factor. Would that have enough Vitamin B within it or do you think she'll need shots? I did make an appointment for Wednesday for another poo test and I can talk to her vet about all of this. Frustrating isn't the word for this and for a layperson like myself, it just seems like there should be an easy answer on how to fix this!

Laurie- I'm really not ready to get into the raw at this point in time, especially not knowing exactly what she can eat. I know a lot of the Bengal and Savannah owners rave about the raw diet. I've always just given dry food as my resident older cat won't even touch canned. At some point in time it may be something I explore, I just have to try to get to the bottom of this problem first.

Thanks for your replies!

This is just anecdotal, I know but I expect you are ready to try anything.

My cats had diarrhea from mid-November until it finally ended in March. They are outside/inside cats and since the weather over winter was so brutal, they were in the guest house most of the winter. They made a daily mess leaking all over but otherwise seemed healthy. (They were on a straight dry food diet.) I tried worming them but never anything else thinking it would eventually clear up.

Maybe it was coincidence but I made food from ground chicken, tuna, kelp meal and DE and started feeding them that instead of the dry stuff. It started clearing up almost immediately. I am wondering if they just weren't getting enough protein in the dry food which they would normally get from the wildlife they eat.

They are back on the dry food now and outdoors most of the time --- and the loose stools are completely gone.

I went thru an extensive diarrhea thing with my cat. I was also puzzled by the fact that after 10 days on Flagyl, she would tighten up, only to get runny again after a few days off the anti-biotic. My vet told me that Flagyl has an anti-inflammatory componant. If the problem had not cleared up (which it did) the next step was going to be prednisone. When I asked why I couldn't just keep her on Flagyl (Metronidazole), he said that it has possible carcenogenic side affects.

You and your vet sounds like he/she has covered all of the bases. I did put my cat on slippery elm, as well as raw pumpkin added to her Wellness canned chicken, and the same soil based (Forti-Flora) probiotic that you use. She also gets a bit of RC rabbit kibble for snacks. I've kept her on this regimen. My cat was 8 yrs old (got her from the shelter), and not a kitten. Since her problem cleared up before she was treated for T-Foetus (like your kitten was)and did not have a biopsy for other intestinal issues, we'll never know what the problem was. My vet's guess is that it was T-Foetus that resolved spontaneously.

Good luck.

I would hate to post prematurely but today she had a semi-firm poop! I think we just might be headed in the right direction :) Maybe finally, there is an end in sight for this poor kitten.

In my desperation to fix her, I did exactly what you shouldn't do and switched multiple things all at once. I cut her Lysine by 1/4, took her off the Fortiflora and introduced both rabbit and the canned duck. At least now that I don't feel she's in a critical state, (provided she stabilizes), I can make introductions slowly while I continue to monitor her. Something I did has had to have helped her for her to get firm again, right? Oh, I really hope she gets better now.

Carmen - I really feel for you having to go through that all winter. My girl only leaked a few times (on the way to the box) and it was a minimal amount. You were fortunate to be able to get it resolved! Controversy aside, my indoor/outdoor cats never had these issues either. I'm planning on leaving this one as an indoor (except for walking) so hopefully I can get a balanced diet for her.

lfncy - Oh yeah, I have read your postings! I even tried the pumpkin you talked about. The dx between the T-Foetus and giardia seems to be a huge problem. What I just read was the way they make a determination between the two is how the parasite's tail 'swims'. Its got to be an ultra-fresh sample, also so they can see it wiggle. What I've been told (for kittens) is that it can resolve 'spontaneously' after about a year. It doesn't actually go away, they just don't have any more symptoms of it.

I hope I've gotten to the bottom of this, as you did, without having to put her through the exploratory procedures.

I looked on-line and didn't see Wellness in a duck or rabbit formula. That is definitely a brand I would use. I can't keep her on the RX food indefinitely, its premo-expensive and she eats like a chow-hound. If I can rule out that chicken or beef is tolerable, I could try those.

Thanks for the well-wishes! I'll post an update when I can confirm how she's doing.

Well, it was a short lived reprieve for the kitten :( I was so hopeful when I saw she was making progress today. She's right back to having the runs tonight. I'll have to wait and see what the vet can suggest for the next course of action.

New questions!

The kitten is back to a normal, solid stool this evening. Does anyone know if this means, for sure, that she doesn't have a parasite/bacteria infection? (She'll still be going to the vet on Wednesday).

I gave her a can of the rx duck food yesterday and I do believe that is what caused her to have the runs. Not knowing what to feed her, I've kept her on a meat only diet. She finished up her rabbit this morning and I switched over to lamb chops (the butcher was closed to get more rabbit). She's not too keen on the chops but has eaten it with the probiotic flavor sprinkled on. She totally looked better this evening, almost to the point of constipation it was so firm. Does it sound like her diarrhea problems are just related to food now? Any suggestions on what to try to introduce into her diet?

I've had extraordinary results from canned pumpkin (the plain kind, not the pie filling, just says "pumpkin" on the list of ingredients).

Best luck.

Wow! Cross your fingers and wait another day! AFA the food...there are others on the board better versed on the various foods. I choose Wellness Chicken (canned) because it seemed to have the best ingredients at the most reasonable price (I buy the 12.5 oz cans) I don't do any of the other Wellness meat blends.

Also,my cat didn't seem to care the duck or rabbit RC/Rx canned. She did like the RC/Rx kibble, though. I chose the Rabbit because it seems to be a more natural prey than duck.

I can imagine the cost this is incurring but I would give her a day or so on what you've been feeding her. If things stay firm, I would v-e-r-y gradually start to mix in Evo, Wellness, or PetGuard canned in with the fresh meat and see what happens.

Odessa had a similar sudden firming-up. It happened after over 3 months of going thru the same kinds of things...antibiotics, dietary changes, probiotics, supplements, etc. And then...suddenly she had a normal poop and has been fine ever since. The funny thing was, I was on the phone with the vet to make an appt for him to manually extract a stool sample (to check for T-Foetus) when I heard her scratching in the box. Voila! there it was, a perfectly formed brown poop. I swear she heard me on the phone with the vet and that scared the s----out of her!