My Kitty Has Mild Diarrhea

[NashVegas]

I feed her Newman's Own kitten/adult dry food, and the bag I picked up a few days ago has a "new improved taste" sticker on it, and the shape of the food is slightly different.

So I'm thinking that's the most likely culprit.

Can't get her to the vet until Tuesday. I have a few cans of tuna fish I keep on hand for emergencies and I'm going to try to let her eat that until I can get her looked at.

Here's the question: how long should I wait and try to let her tract clear up before giving her food?

[Heidi]

1. Any change in a cat's diet can cause stomach upset.

When this happens with The Wiley and Excellent Cat Named Ginger, we give him a bit of boiled (cooled and shredded) chicken and plain rice (the rice is for bulk) as soon as he's hungry (you can pre-cook it and keep it in the fridge). I wouldn't give a cat tuna that's packed in oil, under any circumstances. That's "the squirts" waiting to happen, in our experience. :scared:

Edited to add: Be sure your kitty has lots of fresh water available. She needs to drink _a lot_ right now to prevent dehydration. :thumbsup:

[NashVegas]

2. It's Packed in Water

I do have some cooked chicken leftover, but it's in a Dijon sauce. Don't think that would be a good idea, either (contains butter).

Thanks for the advice. I'll pick up some tenders later today.

[Heidi]

3. You're a good kitty companion.

I bet your little one would love some water-packed tuna. :thumbsup:

Is it OK with you if we send you and your cat some healing vibes? (I'm such a spaz when Ginger's sick, and we've had tons of that already this year, due to his decision to become a "fightin' cat." :scared:

[NashVegas]

8. By All Means!

We love healing vibes.

[EFerrari]

13. My vet rec'd boiled rice and it works very well.

Then, go slowly back to the last food that worked for the kitty.

:thumbsup:

[AirmensMom]

4. We had diarrhea problems with our cats

until we put them on raw meat and bones. Some cats can't tolerate the grains and veggies in commercial food. Tuna isn't good for cats. You might try some Beechnut baby food, chicken and broth (don't get a brand containing cornstarch or onion). For more info on feline nutrition, check out www.catinfo.org and http://www.catnutrition.org.

[JVS]

5. Oh so cat bodily functions are ok but human ones arent?

Medical advice too I suppose

[Heidi]

6. You could always alert on us,

rather than calling us out, which also is against the rules. :hi:

[JVS]

7. I thought calling out was saying " Hey X and Y, you suck"

i'm just commenting

[NashVegas]

9. I Thought About That

Before I posted.

But since I wasn't asking for advice that might change my course, but when best to put it in action, decided to go ahead and ask.

If you want to alert, alert. In the meantime, a little less sarcasm, please.

[Rhiannon12866]

10. I agree. People are always asking for pet advice on DU, especially

on a weekend or late at night when their regular vet isn't available. I know that I did when I was in a total panic, late on a Saturday night when I couldn't get meds into my sick little dog. I was incredibly impressed with the number and variety of helpful suggestions people came up with. DUers are extraordinarily devoted to their pets and are a true resource. As I'm always telling my vet, "liberals love animals!" BTW, he's been helpful to folks on DU, as well.:-)

BTW, I'd follow the advice on the first post. When my guys have had problems, the vet's put them on a bland diet and recommended giving plenty of water...:-)

on edit: The baby food suggestion is good, as well. My vet said that this is extremely safe for sick cats, since it contains no additives, plus they usually really like it.:D

[LostinVA]

11. When my kitty was recuperating from severe gastritis

She refused to eat the icky smelling, very expensive "high calorie" wet food the vet gave us. However, she LOVED the Gerber's turkey with gravy puree. Ate loads of it, with it's wonderful kitty-needing animal protein. Of course, she was eating several jars a day, at almost a buck a pop... but she's my furbaby.....

So, baby food is a great idea.

[Rhiannon12866]

12. I agree. My vet had me use baby food, mixed with her prescription food,

when my beloved cat was very ill and not able to eat on her own. I had to feed her using a syringe, and the baby food provided additional nutrition and, with a little water, thinned it out enough so I was able to suck it up with the syringe. I had my doubts whether my cat would go for this, but she was hungry, so it worked extremely well and she ate a great deal. I subsequently had to do the same thing for my cocker spaniel. But we do what we have to do for "these valuable little lives," as my friend in rescue calls them...:-)

[SoCalDem]

14. You might want to add a litle cooked rice to the tuna

sometimes fish can give 'em diarrhea..

Mine usually react to "new food" by puking it up all over the place:(