New Cat (2yrs) with diahhrea...is this a diet change issue?

Hello there, I have been looking all over the internet for possible reasons for my Kitties lil' issue.

Poor thing...she's 2 years old, and we've only had her for 3 days. Since her first use of the litter box when she came home she's had some awful diahhrea. So bad so, she's even had a hard time making it downstairs to the litter box to go, a few times having (very small) accidents on the carpet before finally making it. I feel bad for her, it's got to feel pretty awful, and I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions?

We are headed out today to buy some new food for her, as I'm thinking this could be a diet change issue. I don't know what they were feeding her at our local animal shelter, but my Husband brought her home as a suprise for me, and had picked her up a box of 9 Lives Cat Food. Does anyone have any suggestions for something that would be easier on her tummy? I don't know what breed she is, she's long hair, that's about all I know! Thank you anyone who can offer some advice!

 

take a fecal sample to the vet - could be a parasite. There are quite a few intestinal parasites that cause nasty "dire-rear". Start with medical first and if it's not a parasite then worry about food but first have that checked.
And good luck.....cleaning up runny kitty poop is one horrible job

 

Thanks Mary

 

and please let us know what happens...great learning experiences when people come back and share what was/is going on

 

My kitty had diarrhea for nine months after i got her and her fecals kept coming up negative. One of the vets thought maybe it was a sensitive tummy issue and tried to put her on a prescription diet, but she wouldn't touch the stuff. I was feeding her Solid Gold and Evolve at the time, so i really didnt think it was the food anyway. Over the course of those 9 months she had to be treated for round worms, tape worms, hook worms, coccidia and eventually we suspect giardia, but don't really know. A couple of these are sometimes hard to catch in a fecal, so if the first fecal comes back negative, dont be too quick to rule out the parasites. Talk to your vet about it and try not to get too frustrated if they don't catch the problem right away. Good luck! I know it's gross tho. I literally was starting to think that my cat had the permanant runs. But she's been just fine since October so I guess the metronidazole did the trick! FINALLY, lol

 

:m23: and welcome! Congrats on your pregnancy! I hope you are able to stay cool this summer. Diarrhea can be caused by many reasons as stated by Mary and Faeriedust. Hopefully it'll be something simple like a parasite or food change. Besides being seen by the vet, you can give her bland foods for now like baby foods- chicken and rice, or chicken and potato without garlic or onions in it. If it's a food issue, you can ask the shelter what they were feeding her and use 50/50 mix of old and new to get her adjusted to the new foods. Premium foods like Wellness, Solid Gold, Chicken Soup, etc. are best but some cats don't do well with them. If she's a sensitive cat, she may be stressed being in a new environment with new people and a toddler and she may have Iritible Bowel Syndrome/Disease which will take time to resolve. Do you have pics of Katrina? Good luck and I hope she feels better soon!

 

Awww thanks all of you. You seem like a really nice bunch

We did go ahead and try a food change. Picked up some food for sensitive tummy's and she had some real poops! We're still planning to take her to the vet, since it's probably a good idea anyhow seeing as we just got her from the shelter. Our shelter is run completely on donations, so they said that when she was there she ate different food every day. Poor baby I'll let you all know if anything else comes up after she sees her vet.

Thanks to you too vene for the congrats on the baby. I'm so excited!