Hi everyone,

I am new here and posted under Introductions. I am looking forward to getting to know all of you!

My Bengal cat Max is 11 years old. Two years ago we left him at a reputable kennel while we went away on vacation for 10 days. When we got Max home, we noticed he had developed a case of diarrhea, which he had never had before. The vet said it was just stress, which sounded right, and after about a week it went away. A few months later the diarrhea came back again, and again went away in about a week. That would repeat over and over.

Max has never been a good eater. He came to us at age 4 after a Craigslist adoption eating dry Friskies cat food. We was extremely finicky and we could never get him off that stuff until he developed urinary crystals and we had no choice but to put him on canned RX urinary food, which made him vomit. It was awful. We switched brands a few times until we found something he could tolerate. He would yowl terribly after eating as if it hurt him- acid reflux or something?

As soon as the diarrhea started we switched to a gluten free food, and he did very well on it for a while. Then his diarrhea started to come in cycles, sometimes as much as a bout every 2 weeks. We used BM Gold by Pets Well Being, and it was like a miracle. He seemed to grow used to it over time and it no longer works for him. At my wits end in December I got Vitality Science's treatment resistant program. It's a lot of meds to get in him, and he resists! It might work if I could get it in him, but it's nearly futile. We decided to switch his food again, and put him on all dry food Simply Nourish Chicken & Rabbit. Worked miracles! We thought he was completely healed until 2 weeks ago when his diarrhea returned! We cannot seem to get rid of this. Last week with switched to the Duck & Oatmeal flavor of the same brand. Seeing a tiny bit of improvement, but I don't think it will work. Max absolutely 100% refuses to eat raw. He is the type of cat will who literally starve rather than eat something he hates, and he's barely 8 lbs and I can feel his bones when I pet him, so there is no room for that kind of experiment. He has a healthy appetite nontheless. Max drinks a lot of water, but I think it is because he is dehydrated from the diarrhea. When he feels better, he drinks less water, so I don't suspect kidney disease. Urine tests are OK. We've tried canned pumpkin, Benefiber too.

What causes diarrhea to come in cycles like this? I have heard with food sensitivies if you change out their food their system will usually bounce back to normal, and it has up until now. Max is an indoor cat with no other pets. He doesn't seem stressed, and is still very affectionate and happy. His belly gurgles when he lays on my lap, and I know he doesn't feel well. It is Tritrichomonas foetus? Blood, urine and fecal tests (not including TF) have all come back normal. Does TF go in cycles like this?

Please help, I would appreciate any advice. Thank You!

Lisa & Maxcat

Welcome to the forum. I am so sorry to hear Max is having such a rough time with diarrhea. It's never pleasant for humans or the kitties. Know the only way to know if it's TF is to have a stool sample tested for it. It is extremely difficult to clear up TF and it can recur at any time. I'm sure Max sees a vet regularly -- and this is something they should have discussed with you. Diet can help, but eventually the diarrhea comes back. Meds are extremely difficult to get into a cat, however, I've found that syringing the medication into the cat's mouth really helps. If you are attempting to give pills -- that is much more difficult. See if there is liquid medication, which is what I get for mine when he has a bout with diarrhea.

Has the vet mentioned IBD (Irritable Bowel Disease)? There is something going on in the digestive tract -- this shouldn't be hard to diagnose.

I definitely feel for you and Max. I don't know how far you want to take this or what your vet can do to help Max out. Would a CT scan show anything? There are SO many causes of diarrhea in cats. But, Max's vet would know best. I commend you for trying different foods and trying to get this problem taken care of. Hopefully, others will weigh in on this issue and help you as well.

It does sound like it could be inflammatory bowel disease.

My previous bengal Frosty had this from a kitten, he got cycles of it where it would be good for a while then flare up where he would have the diahorea several times a day.

He was finally diagnosed when he was 3, it got so bad he was like a bag of bones, they did a biopsy on his intestine to confirm what it was, then once healed he was put on steroids, chemotherapy tablets and vitamin B injections once a month.

He soon picked up once he started the treatment but sadly his was diagnosed far too late and I lost him at 5 years old, at least I had another happy 2 years with him.

Please ask your vet about this don't delay as it can be serious.

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Clare
Magic (brown spotted boy born 31 March 2012)
Pearl (seal Lynx Point girl born 1 October 2015)
Bristol, UK

I would definitely start by doing some forum searches (if you haven't already) on diarrhea, because this is an extremely common problem. I think the most common causes are food allergies and parasites, but like other said, it could be lots of other things too (e.g., IBD).

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The little monsters 3

Thank you all for your replies.

The vet returned my call last night and we discussed our options. They have known about Max's condition from when it started which was after leaving him at a kennel. At that time, they had done a fecal test and didn't find anything so they thought it was stress. I was able to confirm last night that they just ran a standard test, and TF was never screened. She told me they do not normally test for this, but I can check Max in and they would do a a "colon flush" to get a fresh stool sample and immediately look under the microscope to see if anything is moving to try to diagnose TF.

My husband thinks I should try to locate the breeder and see what their opinion is on veterinary care and testing processes. I have read that TF can be difficult to diagnose and that some tests are better than others.

The vet also discussed IBD/IBS and said we would try a hypoallergenic diet if the TF testing is negative and see how that goes. I would be referred out to a different clinic if more sophisticated testing is required.

Is anyone in Phoenix and can make veterinarian recommendations?

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The little monsters 3

I have suspected that Brian. My cats' fecal test has always come back negative. When they had runny poo as babies, the vet gave them antibiotics anyway and the problem went away. I recently had them tested again because of their constant belly licking and fur removal. Again negative and they told me to start giving them flea medicine. I gave one Revolution topical and the other a Comfortis pill and several weeks later no change in the belly licking. They are removing more and more fur. They are not really itching, but they both bend over and lick their bellies constantly. Something must be bothering them...

Good information, brian12. Thank You for sharing that with me.

The more I think about it, it seems like a parasite. I dropped a perfect healthy cat off at the kennel, and picked him 10 days later with a case of diarrhea. Seems odd that if Max were to have developed IBD that we would have never seen any symptoms prior to the kennel visit. It wasn't his first kennel visit either, and he did just fine without any "nervous" diarrhea on previous stays.

I certainly cannot rule out IBD, it's just awfully strange timing.

Most parasites are transmitted through fecal matter. If Max was separated at the kennel, there should not have been a problem unless there was cross contamination during the cleaning of the litter boxes at the kennel. My recommendation is to continue testing the stool samples -- something has to come back positive at some point. It's not that TF is difficult to diagnose -- it's just a special test that has to be done and most vet offices do not do them in-house. Do not give up on this. Even intermittent diarrhea is not healthy for your kitty as it can allow them to become dehydrated. However, I would think after two years, there would have been some type of diagnosis -- parasite, allergies, etc. to understand what is going on here -- for the sake of your kitty. Keep at it and good luck.

When my Bengal first came to me, she would have intermittent runny stool as well. When I cleaned her litter box, it seemed like she would go several days up to a week or so with normal looking poops, then a couple days of diarrhea, then normal again. I thought and thought and read and read and it didn't make sense that she could have picked up a bug or parasite (dewormed regularly and strictly indoor cat) and the previous owner never mentioned any issues. I had her on a high quality, vet-approved food and I couldn't figure it out ...

Then my kid sister (a vet tech who is also in Pre-Vet) mentioned to me one day that her cat had issues like that and, it turns out, she had a sensitivity to chicken (which is basically in every cat food ...). Out of curiosity, I switched Mika to a poultry-free food and voila. No more runny stool. She is on a primarily fish-based food now and I've had no more issues at all. I have to be SUPER careful though, because they put chicken in almost every soft food (which I offer in addition to her poultry-free hard kibble food). Even the foods that don't mention chicken in the title, often have chicken in them anyways. If I ever slip up and don't read all the ingredients and accidentally give her food with chicken in it, it's immediate runny poops again.

Apparently, chicken sensitivities are more common in cats than most people realize which is weird because it's the go-to main ingredient in most cat foods!

Anyways, it's just a thought. It fixed my little Mika right up ...