My 9-year-old cat has diarrhea and is losing weight. How can I help?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If Kenzo is losing weight and having persistent diarrhea, I would recommend having a veterinarian examine him and test his stool for intestinal parasites. If he has parasites, he will need to receive the appropriate treatment to treat this. In the meantime, I would initiate a bland diet as outlined below. If the stool tests negative for parasites, then I would transition to a completely different kitten food altogether and see if this helps. 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. Please remember to rate this answer as helpful or not. Thank you! 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.

Congrats on your new cat! A bland diet of chicken will typically help diarrhea if it's caused by an upset stomach or GI illness, but because it didn't, it is more likely due to something else. Zues may actually be suffering from intestinal worms, which is a common cause of diarrhea in cats. I would take him into the vet today for an exam along with a sample of his feces. The vet can examine his feces for signs of worms, and can prescribe a deworming treatment for him.

Sometimes even a simple diet switch from one food to another is enough to cause intestinal inflammation or bacterial imbalance and diarrhea in cats. Though his risk is low, it's also possible he could have an intestinal parasite (cannot be ruled out without a fecal test). You can try adding one tbsp of canned pumpkin to his diet for fiber. If he does not improve soon, it would be best to take him to a vet. Sometimes a short course of medication is necessary to resolve this type of diarrhea.

Poor Lucky! I'm glad to hear that he still seems to be acting and eating normally despite this ongoing diarrhea. Some possible causes of persistent diarrhea include parasites, inflammatory bowel disease, gastrointestinal cancers, liver disease, food allergies, among others. You can try transitioning his diet to a novel protein diet ( http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=34182 ) with one protein source and one carbohydrate source to limit the ingredients that he is exposed to. Mix his old and new foods together over 5-7 days, then exclusively feed a new diet for at least 8-12 weeks to determine if the change has been effective. Also adding a probiotic ( http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=21478 ) may be beneficial. However, if his diarrhea continues or worsens, Lucky will need to go to his vet for further evaluation and testing. I hope that all goes well!

This is a long time for a cat to have diarrhea and the signs of blood and weight-loss indicate that he likely has a disease of the intestines like inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, or dietary intolerance/allergy. Considering that he is very skinny, the best thing you can do is take him to the vet for an evaluation. The vet will be able to help narrow-down the cause of this and prescribe the necessary medication to keep him from losing any further body condition. Without knowing the specific cause of this, it's unfortunately not possible to know what will make him look and feel normal again. For now, you can see if it helps to feed a bland food (cooked boneless chicken or tuna). You can also add probiotics to the food (can get this at the pet store), which has demonstrated some efficacy for improving diarrhea. Ensure fresh, clean water is always available. For more information, I recommend you read the article at the link below. https://www.petcoach.co/article/most-common-causes-of-diarrhea-in-cats/ I hope this helps and Sterling gets better soon.

Unfortunately there's not much you can do at home. Feed her a bland diet of boiled chicken and boiled white rice to help her intestines to calm down. Make sure he is drinking plenty of water. This may help but it will not fix the problem. Weight loss in a cat Pepper's age can be related to many things including kidney disease, thyroid disease, diabetes, cancer and less likely worms. I would assume the diarrhea is related to whatever is causing the weight loss. You should contact the local humane society and see if there are any programs available to assist low income individuals. Pepper needs blood work, a urinalysis and possibly radiographs to figure out whats going on and to see if it can be treated. I hope things work out.

Poor Milo. This frequent diarrhea in a cat his age could be caused by stress, pancreatitis, or hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroidism can be common in senior cats. He needs to see a vet for this problem, and I recommend getting a geriatric blood panel and urinalysis done. These tests are tailored to senior cats and look for diseases like hyperthyroidism. Once the cause of the diarrhea is found, the vet can discuss treatment options. Please take him into a vet in the next few days. I hope this helps!