This post is purely for sharing. Every cat is different, so if your cat has diarrhoea, kindly consult a vet for a proper diagnosis and professional advice.
Again, for the benefit of new readers, here’s a very quick backstory: Robin’s family was my rescue and they were rehomed. I just brought them back last week and found that Robin was malnourished and has chronic diarrhoea. I have since already taken Robin (and all of them) to the vet’s for a check-up. Robin was given a B-12 injection, dewormed and prescribed 8 days of Metronidazole (already 5 days on it now). He is also malnourished (very thin at only 3.4kg), but is thankfully active and has a good appetite. A full bloodwork was done on him. Thankfully he is not anaemic although he looks a bit pale. His kidneys and liver are fine, from the bloodwork. Robin just turned 2 years old on 6th June 2022.
Okay, so what am I doing for his chronic diarrhoea now?
The vet says it might take up to weeks to resolve it. Poor little fella.
The diarrhoea was so bad upon his return home. He was dripping liquid stools all over the room. And it wasn’t even after a meal. It was whenever and wherever. The Metronidazole worked wonders on that same day I started him on it, but the diarrhoea came back after that, not in full force, but back, nevertheless. He is no longer dripping liquid stools now, but after every meals, he would go to the litter box and pass out liquid stools.
The vet advised to carry on and finish the Metronidazole. I could add probiotics as well. So that’s when I remembered Saccharomyces Boulardii (S. Boulardii for short). A friend introduced it to me when Indy had his diarrhoea last time (For Indy, it turned out to be food allergy – too long on chicken caused his diarrhoea. Switching to rabbit worked and resolved it, but not after weeks and weeks of tests after tests that did not uncover anything wrong with him.). S, Boulardii did not work for Indy. In fact, it made the diarrhoea even worse. I used Jarrow’s at that time, bought online. But I remember checking many reliable websites and it is highly effective for diarrhoea in cats.
So I was game to try it on Robin. Who knows it might work for Robin, right?
I consulted my (brilliant – yes, that he is) pharmacist and he attested to the fact that S.Boulardii works very well for diarrhoea in humans. He was so kind that when he heard it was for my cat, he offered to give me four sachets to try (newly expired in Feb 2022, but he says this probiotic lasts and assured me it is good).
Last night, I gave Robin half a sachet mixed with some food. He didn’t suspect a thing and gobbled everything up. I checked later in the night and there was no diarrhoea.
This morning, I checked and there was no diarrhoea.
This looks promising.
But remember, the Metronidazole also worked wonders on that same day and the diarrhoea was reduced to only one drop by night time. From a whole floor of diarrhoea to one drop at night, but….it was short-lived. The diarrhoea came back, not in full force, but it still came back where after a meal, Robin goes to the litter box after about 3-5 minutes, and passes out liquid stools. And it stayed that way, persistently, stubbornly.
Anyway, this morning, I gave him his Metronidazole and I know that some antibiotics can destroy probiotics, so I waited until lunch time to give him the probiotic mixed with some tasty wet food (steamed chicken with pumpkin and canned chicken). I thought he would gobbled it up, as always, but I was wrong.
Guess what? Robin isn’t as hungry as before anymore! So he sniffed at that centre-piece which had the probiotics and ate around it!!
Sigh….pandai dia.
I went to feed the rest and came back later and by then, he had already finished all the food EXCEPT that centre-piece…..
So I went downstairs and encapsulated another half sachet (yes, I only gave him half, to play it safe even though my pharmacist says there is not overdosing on this probiotic, and he said one sachet should be okay). I put the powder in a capsule and fed it to Robin. Luckily I managed to pill him.
Now, it’s just a wait-and-see game.
If there is still no diarrhoea by tonight, that would be good.
Then, there’s still waiting for tomorrow….
I hope it works!
If not, we shall have to explore something else or just wait it out, as the vet says. Wait until the gut clears out all the gunk.