My cat has diarrhea for weeks, eats a lot. Is cryptorchidism related?

Hi there, Sorry to hear about Cricket's inconsistent stools. There are a couple of things that come to mind with this problem in a young cat. I'm glad to hear he is on Revolution, that does eliminate almost all parasites. Coccidia and Giardia are two types of parasites that would need a different medication for treatment, so parasites aren't totally off the list. Some cats have food allergies that will lead to occasional vomit or diarrhea when exposed to a certain protein, and some cats will have irritable bowel disease that responds best to a prescription GI diet. I'd recommend talking to your vet about Cricket's specific case and what their diagnostic recommendations are for him. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

That is a very difficult situation. You may talk to your vet about treating for giardia (even if the test was negative), IBD, food allergies, an aggressive dewormer, running a GI panel, or referral to a specialist in internal medicine. The next step may be biopsies through exploratory surgery or endoscopy. Many cats with diarrhea of unknown cause will respond to a prescription hypoallergenic diet.

Hi. It may be a parasite that isn't picked up on a regular fecal sample. You may need to have a fecal culture done. These more specified tests will check for things like cryptosporidum, c. Diff, salmonella, campylobacter, etc. It may also be a viral infection of some kind that isn't picked up on fecal or blood. I think you should talk to your veterinarian about making sure all 6 pets are treated at the same time, and that the environment is fully cleaned and decontaminated. All bedding and bowels washed, litter boxes disinfected, etc. If you would like to discuss more with more specifics, feel free to open a consultation

If these cats have not been on long-term medication like probiotics and metronidazole, I would start these. Also, all cats might benefit from a food-allergy diet trial like Hills z/d fed exclusively for 8-10 weeks. This helps to rule out food allergies as a cause for chronic diarrhea. If these things don't work, you may have to actually send out fecal tests for culture and sensitivity to have done at an outside laboratory as most vet clinics are only equipped to do basic parasite fecal floats and smears in-house. Your female who is having behavior issues may benefit from anti-anxiety medications like Zylkene or Lorazepam, or even an anti-depressant. Since all three are young cats, it's most likely that they are sharing a parasitic or other intestinal infection that is causing chronic diarrhea, so I think you are on the right tract to continue to monitor for coccidiosis and giardiasis. They may need much longer-term treatment to clear these kinds of infection. Hope that helps!

Please don't waste your money on those expensive grain free foods. They are not necessary to use except in extreme cases of an actual diagnosed grain allergy which is rare. Grain free diets are now linked to causing heart disease in dogs (we are not sure yet about cats). I recommend you discontinue use of that type of food. My suggestion would be to use a long term course of a probiotic called Fortiflora. Put one packet on his food every day for at least one month. This will help correct any imbalance in good vs bad intestinal bacteria. DO NOT use human probiotics or things like yogurt. Fortiflora is the best in my opinion and it is palatable so cats like to eat it. ( http://www.allivet.com/p-1890-purina-pro-plan-veterinary-diets-fortiflora-cat-supplement-box-of-30.aspx ) As for diet. I would use this one: ( https://www.royalcanin.com/products/royal-canin-feline-care-nutrition-digestive-care-dry-cat-food/2555 ) If your local pet store does not have this food they can surely order it for you or you can order it online. If these things dont' help, he may have inflammatory bowel disease or something along those lines. You would need to discuss diagnosis and treatment with your vet. Hope this helps. Best wishes!

He does look very sore and any diarrhoea which lasts more than 2 days in young kittens should be treated as they can rapidly become dehydrated and malnourished if not absorbing food and water sufficiently. I would get a stool sample checked for parasites and also start him on a specialist, highly digestible intestinal diet for 3-5days followed by a good quality kitten food introduced gradually. Probiotics can also be helpful

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. The next steps for me would be a deworming and switching to a prescription GI diet to see if that helps. If no improvement, abdominal ultrasound and full bloodwork are indicated. Best wishes to you and Sven!