My cat has soft poop, parasite test negative. What should I do?

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.

Common causes of diarrhea or loose stools in a young cat include food intolerance, food allergies, intestinal parasites, bacterial or viral gastroenteritis, stress colitis, among a few others. Based on her history, stress from the visit or a change in treats may be the cause. You can try a medication like ProPectalin AntiDiarrheal Gel for Dogs & Cats that has probiotics and a small amount of kao pectate in it - it also tastes good. If the diarrhea/soft stools continue next week, or if Pico starts showing signs of lethargy, inappetence, or straining, I would definitely have her checked out by a vet.

Im so glad Porgy did well after the snake bite! How scary. As far as the softer stools you're noticing now that he is using a litterbox indoors- soft stool can be caused by intestinal parasites (which he could have picked up from hunting or from fleas when he was outside), a sensitivity to something in his diet, and even more chronic conditions like inflammatory bowel disease. I would start by dropping a stool sample off with your veterinarian and/or asking for a dewormer. You could also feed him a very bland diet for a few days (like chicken or turkey human baby food, Gerber and beachnut are common brands) and see if that helps solidify the stools. If the soft stool persists then I would have him seen by his veterinary office. Hope this helps a little!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding PJ. You can consider a diet change. If she is a high anxiety kitty, I like Royal Canin Veterinary Diets Calm. It is an anti-anxiety food. You could also add a probiotic such as Fortiflora or Proviable to help with her digestive health. If all of these changes do not help, then I would recommend further testing. There is a parasite known as Tritrichomonas in cats that will cause soft stool. She may also require a blood panel specific to GI disorders. It measures two pancreatic values as well as cobalamin and folate levels. I hope this information helps!

I suspect food allergy or IBD. I recommend you try the following: 1. Change the diet to Purina ProPlan Sensitive Skin and Stomach. I have had a lot of luck with clients using this diet and it has really helped. Change the diet slowly over a week's time to prevent further GI upset. ( https://www.purina.com/pro-plan/cats/sensitive-stomach-skin-cat-food ) 2. Start her on a good probiotic made for cats like Fortiflora. It comes as a 30 day course. I would do all 30 days. ( https://www.proplanveterinarydiets.com/products/fortiflora-cats-probiotics/ ) If after this, no improvement or the problem returns then more testing for IBD would be needed. I would not be worried about the blood unless it persists for days on end. I know it is concerning to you but it is just from the colon being irritated. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Loose stools can be from a number of things including food allergies, parasites, underlying illness, changes in diet, etc. If you haven't changed Felix's food at all, and he's still having loose stool, bringing him or a sample of his stool into your vet for a complete exam and fecal test is a good idea to help rule out common issues.

Sometimes changing the diet helps or adding more fiber to the diet as well can help firm up the stool if there are no underlying causes of soft stool such as an infectious cause like parasites. You can try and add a tablespoon of regular canned pumpkin puree (not the pie filling) to her food to see if that helps firm it up. I would also recommend a fecal test with her veterinarian.