My cat has diarrhea, is trembling, and hiding. What should I do?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If he is otherwise normal and still eating / drinking, I would withhold food for at least 8 hours and initiate a bland diet as outlined below. If he continues to vomit even on the bland diet or he worsens, I would get him examined by a veterinarian so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. GENERAL INFORMATION A bland diet is a diet that is soft and highly digestible. It is low in fiber, fat and protein and is high in carbohydrates. Bland diets are generally composed of a single carbohydrate source and a single lean protein source. The most common bland diet is boiled rice and boiled lean chicken breast, without skin and bones. Since bland diets are low in fiber, stool production slows and defecation is less frequent. Bland diets are fed to rest the gastric system and to help promote normal stool formation. Animals that are physically sick should not be fed bland diets as a method of treatment. PRIOR TO FEEDING A BLAND DIET Pets should be fasted for 12 to 24 hours. Young animals should not be fasted for more than 12 hours. Fasting will allow the intestinal system to relax and minimize acid secretions that may irritate and inflame the intestinal lining. During the fast small amounts of water or ice chips may be provided. Never fast a sick animal, it may cause disease progression and death. BASIC BOILED RICE AND CHICKEN BLAND DIET RECIPE CARBOHYDRATE SOURCE: Boiled white rice LEAN PROTEIN SOURCE: Chicken breast, no skin and bones BOILED RICE: 1 part white rice with 3 parts water boiled for 20 – 25 minutes or until the rice is easily crushed. BOILED CHICKEN: De-fat chicken breast and boil in water for 10 – 15 minutes or until the chicken meat is easily pulled apart and cooked all way through. MIXING INSTRUCTIONS: Finely chop the lean protein and mix 2 cups carbohydrate source and ½ cup lean protein source. STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: Bland diets can be premade and stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of 48 hours. The bland diet can be cooked in a batch and frozen in feeding sized portions to minimize preparation time. Thaw and warm the frozen diet prior to feeding. PERMITTED LEAN PROTEIN SUBSTITUTIONS Pork loin, egg whites, low fat cottage cheese. 7% low fat hamburger, plain low fat yogurt. PERMITTED CARBOHYDRATE SUBSTITUTIONS Boiled potatoes, boiled spaghetti, Minute rice. PERMITTED COMMERCIAL BLAND DIETS Science Prescription Diet I/D, Eukanuba Veterinary Diet Low Residue, Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Intestinal HE. FEEDING INSTRUCTIONS Estimate 25% of your animal’s diet and feed that amount of the bland diet every 6 – 8 hours. Smaller animals will require less and larger animals will require more adhering to the same carbohydrate to lean protein source ratio. The bland diet should be fed for 4 -5 days with no treats or other food sources until stools are firm. TRANSITION BACK TO A NORMAL DIET Never transition back to a regular diet rapidly. Transition back to the regular diet over a 1 week period. Start by adding 25% of the regular diet to 75% of the bland diet and feed that combination for 2 days. If stools continue to be firm then continue substituting the regular diet in 25% increments and feeding the combination in 2 day time intervals until the diet is 100% regular diet. Minimize treats for 1 week after moving the diet back to 100% regular diet.

Poor Shadow! I am sorry to hear that he is not feeling well. Until you can get Shadow to the vet (which I definitely recommend) you can with hold food for 12- 24hrs, then offer a bland diet of plain boiled chicken and rice (he may only be interested in the chicken) for about 1 - 2 days. After which you can reintroduce his regular diet. You also want to make sure that both litter boxes are extra clean. Sometimes in multi-cat households one cat decides that he/she no longer is ok using a "used" litter box (cats are wonderful, but have odd behaviors sometimes). It may be worth just keeping them separate so that Shadow has his own personal kitty bathroom until he sees the vet. As I stated earlier, I definitely recommend having Shadow seen by a vet as soon as possible because chronic diarrhea results in dehydration, which in a very small, young kitten we want to address sooner rather than later to prevent progressive potentially severe illness. I hope that this was helpful for you and that Shadow starts to feel better soon!

He might have eaten something spoiled that is causing this. withhold food for 12 hours then offer Jackson boiled boneless chicken and rice every 6 hours in small portions. if he is eating and not vomiting, continue with this diet for 2 days. After 2 days, you can put him back gradually on his normal food. If the diarrhea carries on, take him to the vet to get treatment.

Make sure he is getting plenty of fluids. I would syringe him water and feed him wet food to get more moisture in him. I would feed a diet of chicken and rice and add in a probiotic such as Purina fortiflora which can be found online quite easily or at your local pet store. If there is no improvement or he worsens, I would recommend having a veterinarian examine him so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

withhold food for 8 hours then offer him boiled boneless chicken and rice every 6 hours in small portions. if he is eating and not vomiting, continue with this diet for 2 days. After 2 days, you can put him back gradually on his normal food. If he continues vomiting or is not eating, take him to the vet to get treatment.

If he becomes dehydrated due to the diarrhea he will drink, you can be sure of that. withhold food for 6 hours then offer him boiled boneless chicken and rice every 4 hours in small portions. if he is eating and not vomiting, continue with this diet for 2 days. After 2 days, you can put him back gradually on his normal food. If the diarrhea does not resolve, take him to the vet to get treatment.

Poor Snooby. It sounds like he could have some diarrhea. I can give you a home remedy to see if that helps. Withhold food for 8 hours, then feed a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken (no bones) in small amounts several times a day for a couple of days. Then slowly add back in his normal diet. If the diarrhea continues on the bland diet, he starts vomiting food, stops drinking water, starts vomiting water, or becomes very lethargic, he will need to see a vet right away. Best of luck.