There are a lot of people who raise cats at home, and you will encounter many problems in the process of raising cats. For example, today we are going to talk about cat diarrhea. Cats have diarrhea, just like humans, caused by a variety of reasons, such as diet, malnutrition, or disease. Today we will take a look at the causes of cat diarrhea and the treatment and prevention methods for cat diarrhea.
6 causes of cat diarrhea
- Cat’s diet is very unreasonable
- Bacterial infections
- Endoparasites affect cat’s nutrient absorption
- Infected with a contagious virus
- Abrupt temperature changes in spring and autumn
- Lesions in internal organs or glands
1.Cat’s diet is very unreasonable
1.Long-term consumption of cheap and inferior cat food
Inferior cat food often contains a lot of attractants. The main ingredients are soybeans, vegetables and flour. Cats eating this cat food for a long time can cause puffiness, heavy defecation, and loose stools. Long-term feeding may cause cats diarrhea.
2.Accidentally ate allergic food
Cat accidentally eating allergic foods can cause gastrointestinal discomfort, and then cause diarrhea. If the symptoms of allergies are more serious, then you need to send it to the hospital for treatment.
3.Accidentally ate spoiled food
Spoiled food contains a lot of bacteria. When these foods enter the cat’s mouth, esophagus, and intestines, they will leave behind a lot of bacteria, which can lead to cat diarrhea, stomatitis, and other problems.
4.Sudden change of cat food
When we buy cat food, the product details map will introduce what we should do when changing the food, to avoid cats from having diarrhea due to the change of cat food.
5.Feeding dairy products
Adult cats suffer from lactose intolerance and are unable to digest the nutrients in dairy products and excrete them directly, causing diarrhea, watery stools, and soft stools.
2.Bacterial infection
- Salmonella
- Escherichia coli
- Clostridium
- Campylobacter
There are many bacteria in the intestines and stomach, some of which are beneficial and some are harmful. The four kinds of bacteria mentioned above are present in the cat’s intestines and stomach in a small amount, which will make the cat feel uncomfortable. If the number of bacteria is very high, the cat may have problems such as diarrhea, vomiting, and soft stools.
3.Endoparasites affect the absorption of nutrients in cats
1.Ascaris
The roundworm is white in color, with a body length of 3 to 15 cm, and it looks very much like an earthworm. It is not only parasitic on cats, but also mammals including humans. Cats with weakened immunity are prone to be parasitized. The feces of the parasitized cat may cause gastrointestinal problems, resulting in diarrhea, soft stools, and other symptoms, and maybe excreted with eggs and larvae.
2.Hookworm
The main symptoms of cats infected with hookworm are anemia, pale mucous membranes, local skin bleeding, loss of appetite, diarrhea, etc. In severe cases, cat feces may be bloody and smelly.
3.Coccidiosis
Coccidiosis is caused by a single-celled parasite called Eimeria. This parasite has a life cycle of only 4-7 days. It parasitizes the small intestine and absorbs nutrients from it. The parasitized person will have symptoms such as anorexia and diarrhea.
4.Giardia lamblia
Giardia lamblia is a protozoan parasite mainly in the small intestine and occasionally in the large intestine. It is very easy to infect cats and is invisible to the naked eye. Giardia lamblia can cause chronic diarrhea, which may be accompanied by clinical symptoms of vomiting and indigestion.
5.Tritrichomonas
Tritrichomoniasis is highly infectious and invisible to the naked eye. The clinical symptoms of cats after infection are blood and mucus in the stool, which smells very foul, and occasionally flatulence occurs.
4.Infected with a contagious virus
1.Pan-leukopenia
This virus is highly infectious and dangerous. Cats may have five main symptoms after infection: fever, diarrhea, vomiting, depression, and dehydration.
2.Feline Leukemia Virus
The feline leukemia virus is different from feline leukemia. The former is a disease of the body and belongs to a virus, so you should not confuse them. This virus is more likely to cause cats to suffer from malignant tumor diseases (leukemia, lymphoma) and so on. Infected cats will have a fever, colds, diarrhea, and other symptoms.
3.Feline immunodeficiency virus (cat AIDS)
The mortality rate of cat AIDS is not high. Cats infected with cat AIDS can live a normal life, and the virus cannot be transmitted to humans. At present, there are related vaccines to prevent this virus, and the infected cats have loss of appetite, diarrhea, weight loss, etc.
4.Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP)
FIP is extremely harmful and highly contagious. Infected cats will have symptoms such as poor spirits, diarrhea, lack of shine in hair, and fever in the early stages.
5.Feline Coronavirus
The main mode of transmission of this virus is fecal-oral transmission. It spreads quickly in the environment of many cats. The symptoms include fever, sneezing, and diarrhea, which may turn into FIP in the later stage.
5.Abrupt temperature changes in spring and autumn
People are prone to get sick during the change of seasons, and cats are also the same. Sudden cooling may cause the cat’s immune system to decline, causing the cat to suffer from diseases such as acute gastroenteritis, colds, and fever, and causing diarrhea in the cat.
6.Diseases of internal organs or glands
Cats have many organs and glands. One of them has symptoms such as inflammation, which may cause the cat to have diarrhea, and will be accompanied by symptoms such as loss of appetite, vomiting, sleepiness, and lack of energy. Therefore, you need to take the cat to the hospital regularly for check-ups.
What to do if cats have diarrhea
- Consult a doctor to determine the condition
- Take the cat to the hospital or treat the cat under the remote guidance of the doctor
- Treat the cat and observe whether the condition is getting better
Step 1: Consult a doctor to determine the condition
First of all, if the cat has symptoms of diarrhea and soft stools, contact the doctor as soon as possible, and tell the doctor about the cat’s recent diet, mentality, and other conditions. The doctor will tell you whether to take the cat to the hospital for examination and treatment based on the actual situation.
Step 2: Take the cat to the hospital or treat the cat under the remote guidance of the doctor
After you communicate with the doctor, when the doctor thinks it is necessary to go to the hospital for examination, you can directly take the cat to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment. When the doctor thinks that the diarrhea is caused by other conditions and the problem is not serious, he will tell you how to treat the cat at home.
Step 3: Treat the cat and observe whether the condition is getting better
It takes some time to observe whether the treatment is effective. If the cat’s condition improves after treatment, then the treatment is proved to be effective. If after treatment, diarrhea and other conditions have not improved but worsened, then you need to take the cat to the hospital for professional treatment.
Precautions & related issues for cats with diarrhea
1.Cats with long-term diarrhea need to be observed for dehydration
When cats have diarrhea, their stools will be watery, which proves that the intestines and stomach have not fully absorbed the water in the food residue. The water intake in the body becomes less, which will naturally cause the cat to become dehydrated. There are three common observation methods for cat extraction, as follows:
1.Observe the hydration of the cat’s body to determine whether to travel
Hydration is a parameter in skin biology. Gently pinch the cat’s skin and then loosen it, and observe the speed of the skin’s rebound. If the rebound speed is fast, then it proves that the cat is not dehydrated. If the skin rebounds very slowly, then the cat is in a dehydrated state.
2.Touch your cat’s gums to see if it’s dehydrated
The cat’s gums can also be used to detect whether it’s dehydrated. Normal cats’ gums are smooth and not sticky to the touch. The gums of dehydrated cats will feel stickier to the touch.
3.Determine whether the cat is dehydrated by looking at the cat’s eyes
Cats with severe dehydration will look flatter and have smaller eyeballs when viewed from the side. The eyeballs of normal cats are full when viewed from the side.
If your cat is dehydrated, you need to rehydrate it quickly. Subcutaneous injections and intravenous injections are common ways to replenish water. You can take your cat to the hospital for rehydration.
2.Do I need to fast during the treatment of cat diarrhea?
When the cause of the cat’s diarrhea is judged (not caused by disease or parasites), and the cat is in a good state of mind. You can fast the cat for 8-24 hours, then feed a small amount of canned staple food that is rich in water and easy to digest and absorb, and add a small number of probiotics appropriately. Fasting is to reduces the burden of the cat’s gastrointestinal flora. After digesting and excreting the remaining food in the intestines and stomach, feeding a small amount of canned food and probiotics can adjust the balance of the intestinal flora.
3.Things to know before using cat antidiarrheals and antibiotics
Cat antidiarrheals and antibiotics are medicines and need to be used under the guidance of a doctor. The role of antibiotics is to destroy bacteria. Both beneficial bacteria and harmful bacteria will be eliminated, and long-term use will produce drug resistance, so you should pay special attention when using it.
4.What should I do when a kitten has diarrhea and soft stools?
If the kitten has diarrhea and soft stools, you need to take it to the hospital for examination in time. The kitten’s immune system is immature, and it is easy to get sick or contract infectious diseases, so you must be very careful about the abnormal excretion of kittens.
7 ways to prevent cat diarrhea
- Give the cat a warm nest
- Choose the best cat food you can afford
- Avoid feeding cats allergenic or toxic foods
- Deworming cats regularly
- Regularly add probiotics to cat food
- Take your cat for regular checkups
- Take your cat to get vaccinated regularly
1.Give the cat a warm nest
When the season changes, there is a big temperature difference between day and night. You need to prepare a warm and windproof nest for your cat to ensure that it will not catch a cold or fever due to a sudden drop in temperature.
2.Choose the best cat food you can afford
Cats are carnivores and have high demands on eating. You can’t choose low-quality cat food, but choose cat food with balanced nutrients to ensure that the cat will not be malnourished.
3.Avoid feeding cats allergenic or toxic foods
Avoid cats from touching or eating allergic foods. For example: if your cat is allergic to shrimp, then you should not feed it shrimp. In addition, do not let cats eat plants in pots. Most plants in pots are poisonous to cats.
4.Deworming cats regularly
The method of deworming is very simple. Deworming can prevent cats from growing parasites and ensure their health.
5.Regularly add probiotics to cat food
For cats with sensitive stomachs, they may have loose stools and stomach troubles from time to time. Adding a small number of probiotics can improve this situation.
6.Take your cat for regular checkups
The physical examination can detect some diseases of the body, but the price of physical examination is not cheap. So if you have enough money in your wallet, you can consider taking your cat for a physical examination.
7.Take your cat to get vaccinated regularly
Vaccination can effectively prevent infectious diseases so that when a cat has diarrhea, you can be sure that it is not caused by an infectious disease.
This article talks about the main causes of cat diarrhea and ways to prevent it. The most important thing is not how to treat diarrhea, but how to prevent it. We hope this article can be helpful to all the owners.