# Ragdoll Kitten and stomach problems



## echo82 (Oct 29, 2013)

Hi all,

New here but hoping someone can help! I've got a 6-month old Ragdoll kitten who I adore and is very cute, but has one very big problem.

Almost since I've had him (nearly 2 months now), he's pretty much had constant diarrhoea (and I mean literally every time). Not wanting to put too fine a point on it, being long haired it sticks and ends up getting walked all over the house ....

He's been to the vet several times with it and is in otherwise perfect health. He's had worming powder (Panacur), but the vet thought it most likely to be the food (he was on Whiskas with the breeder). Since then I've tried several of the better known brands (Bozeat, James Wellbeloved) slowly changing over each time and even a week just on dried food but no difference (dried food just decreased the quantity not the problem!). 

Last time the vet gave him some Hill's Prescription I/D and a probiotic powder but again no difference. He's not done any tests yet as he's fairly certain it's a food issue, but nothing I've tried helps!

It's gotten to the point I'm not really enjoying having a kitten, as I spend most of the time following him around cleaning up after him ....

Any suggestions gratefully received!


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## Buttons1 (Sep 2, 2013)

Sorry to hear you are having problems. 

My 9 month old cat had been having diarreoh on and off and the only thing that has worked has been switching him to a raw diet.

He now has natures menu raw and natural instinct raw plus natures menu and hi-life pouches (hi-life isn't raw but he seems to tolerate it ok).

I get all of this from two different local pet shops.


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## Dave the Brave (May 27, 2013)

The only thing that's helped Baby Dave too is giving him mainly raw food.

I'd really want fecal samples sent off for testing though.

You should also test for Tritrichomonas Foetus which some kittens have and there have been some recent threads on this where you can get more information.

Adding a teaspoon of Pumpkin Puree to each of Baby Dave's meals for several days really helped him too x


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## LOOPYLORO (Oct 22, 2013)

You need to take a sample in for testing - make sure they test for TF as well. You will need to pool poop samples into one pot over 3 days and refrigerated in between. A raw food diet will only mask the problem if it IS TF

Loopyloro
X


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## moggiemum (Mar 28, 2013)

agree with above, test for TF, raw food is good, my cat was retching and coughing for a couple of days i gave him a raw chicken neck -he coughed up a furr ball, he s thankfully never ever had diaorraeh and he s 3yrs old , i hope you all get some relief soont


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi echo,

I recommend putting your kitten immediately on plain poached or boiled chicken for a few days. This is the standard initial treatment for diarrhoea to see if it is diet related or not. Also give him lots of the lovely nutritious water you cooked it in, to drink with it, as this will rehydrate him. (he is losing a lot of fluids as he has chronic diarrhoea)

Once his stools are normal (formed and firm without being hard) you can gradually start introducing other foods, one by one, a spoonful at a time, alongside the chicken.

There are lots of good quality kitten foods on line at Zooplus. I feed my 
5.5 mth old kittens Grau Kitten, Lily's Kitchen Kitten, Carny Kitten, Vom Feinsten Kitten, Rafine Kitten, and Catz Fine Food (which is for all stages of development).

Probably the safest to try first would be Grau Kitten, as it is a food I have found is very well tolerated . There is a grain free one and one with rice.
Perhaps try the grain free one first.

Grau Gourmet Grain-Free 6 x 200g at zooplus

There is also Macs Kitten available from The Happy Kitty Co. 
but I see it is out of stock atm. It does contain rice, so perhaps best left until his gut is more stable.

There is Wainswright's Kitten Food from [email protected], a good quality food that contains no grains.

Wainwright's Kitten Salmon With Vegetables Pate 90g | Pets at Home

Also Hilife Kitten Food from [email protected], but it contains tapioca, which although a lot better for her than wheat or maize may possibly cause a problem if she is sensitive to all grains.

HiLife Natures Essentials Selection for Kittens 8 x 85g | Pets at Home

If his bowel does not settle on a plain poached chicken diet then it would suggest it is not just diet related and it would be best to have some faecal samples tested at a lab for parasites and bacterial infection. Samples over 3 days must be collected for testing.


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## echo82 (Oct 29, 2013)

Thanks all,

It seems like the best thing to do is to just feed him the boiled chicken for a few days to see if it clears up. If it does, then just try to find some food he will tolerate - I had no idea the raw was so cheap and easy to do.

If not, I guess it's back to the vets for more tests. The TF link is interesting - a lot of it seems very similar, but there are some differences (it's constantly liquid - he's not been solidly for weeks - and not that bad smelling (relatively speaking of course!). I'll suggest he gets tested for that too.

He doesn't seem to be in any distress about it, he just hates being cleaned up after he's used the litter box! A few times it's been so bad I've given up and just given him a bath in the sink ...


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## Dave the Brave (May 27, 2013)

Try some Pumpkin Puree mixed in with the chicken. It really helped Baby Dave quickly.

Also have you tried Pro-Kolin paste?


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## echo82 (Oct 29, 2013)

Thanks - I'll pick up some pumpkin puree and give it a go.

He's got Pro-kolin powder at the moment, but no real difference again so far.


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## Dave the Brave (May 27, 2013)

As someone said to me, make sure it's plain, 100% pumpkin puree and not the spiced version


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## nicolaa123 (Mar 30, 2012)

Raw food helps in so many cases of a dicky tummy..

Try the boiled chicken and see if the poo firms up..

I know how a runny bum can get you down


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## meg2 (Oct 25, 2011)

i can't recommend it enough about raw chicken, it really does work if you kitten have a intolerance to certain grains. 
all of the advice you have been given really works.
mine was on boiled chicken with warm water added, poppy ate all the chicken and drank all the juices, so she was getting plenty of fluid, as that is another worry that your kitten is dehydrated.
if your kitten is fine on chicken and the diarrhea stops then very slowly start to add a good brand of food to the chicken. good luck.


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## echo82 (Oct 29, 2013)

Hi all,

Quick update -

Finished the vet food & probiotics - no difference
Fed him for 4 days on just boiled chicken - no difference
Back to regular food & added pumpkin puree - slightly odd, improvement but it comes and goes - alternates between loose and at least semi-formed

Back to the vets today, and he got a steroid shot. Mentioned TF, and the vet didn't seem to have heard of it! Picked up some sample pots, so if no improvement over the weekend will get a full set of tests done.


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## LOOPYLORO (Oct 22, 2013)

Please ask for the full range of tests including the PCR test for TF.

I had 7 weeks of bloody, stinking diarrhoea - normal bacterial tests (for giardia, coccidia etc) came back clear so then I sent sample off for TF. It came back positive and I am now half way through a 14 day course of ronidazole capsules. After day 2 I have hard poops and no bloid or smell.

Make sure your kitten has been off antibiotics for 2 weeks before sampling (or you may get a false negative). Then take poop samples over 3 days and pool into one pot refrigerating in between. The poop cannot have any cat litter in it. I found the easiest way was to wait for them to go in the litter tray and then I grabbed a piece of plain paper and collected the sample on there and then transferred to the sample pot.

Good luck and let us know how you get on

Loopyloro
X


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## Buttons1 (Sep 2, 2013)

This is the one that we used.

Libby's Pumpkin Puree - Waitrose

I put a teaspoon down then put the rest in an ice cube tray and froze it so that it's handy if he has any bout of diarreoh


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

> Mentioned TF, and the vet didn't seem to have heard of it!


Change your vet. This isn't new any more and both TF and Giardia are obviously widespread. Lord knows there are enough posts on this forum alone to show that. Either vets aren't keeping up to date or it suits their purposes to have clients pay for multiple visits to get a proper diagnosis. Either way it isn't good enough.


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## we love bsh's (Mar 28, 2011)

meg2 said:


> i can't recommend it enough about raw chicken, *it really does work if you kitten have a intolerance *to certain grains.
> all of the advice you have been given really works.
> mine was on boiled chicken with warm water added, poppy ate all the chicken and drank all the juices, so she was getting plenty of fluid, as that is another worry that your kitten is dehydrated.
> if your kitten is fine on chicken and the diarrhea stops then very slowly start to add a good brand of food to the chicken. good luck.


not if the intolerance is chicken though,iv had a cat intolerant to chicken.


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## LOOPYLORO (Oct 22, 2013)

How is it going? Are you taking samples in for testing? Please DEMAND a TF test. If need be take the info of the forum on TF and show your vet if they've not heard of it. Either that or change vets to one who is more up to date. I was lucky - I went in thinking I'd have to demand a test and had practiced all weekend how to pronounce tritrichomonas foetus (I'd got as far as "try tricky" lol) but he mentioned it first and knew all about it

Loopyloro
X


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## moggiemum (Mar 28, 2013)

in the old days the first thing a gp did for a poorly child was prescribe an all round wormer and a tonic, lots of people have giardia too.


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## gilldancergirl (Jun 28, 2011)

Hi echo82,

Firstly hope your wee fluff ball gets better soon. Secondly I just posted a thread about cat allergies and then saw this further down and thought I should share with you my story about my wee 3 year old Ragdoll Indy.

Like your wee fluff ball my Indy was on whiskas at breeders and had stomach issues pretty much as soon as I brought him home. He had quite bad diarrhoea at about 4months old and I was really concerned. The vet gave me the RC sensitive chicken and rice and also a pro biotic paste which I gave him twice a day to ensure he stayed hydrated. After about a week he improved however since then it has been a bit of a nightmare getting him on a food he can tolerate. I suspected he had a corn allergy so have been very careful about his food from early on and after a lot of trial and error with different brands and flavours of foods I thought I had it sussed. Got him on a food he would eat and he didn't have the runs with (lamb flavoured grau or macs). However over the past year he has been to and from the vet with ear problems and over the past few months eczema! After getting allergy tested he is allergic to lamb, beef, milk and corn. Poor wee soul has been allergic to lamb all this time and that's what i have been feeding him 

Anyway my point is just be wary he doesn't have food allergies as this can present in so many other ways than just an upset tummy. My wee guy hasn't had the runs since he was tiny but his food allergies presented in other ways. Hope you get to the bottom of it xx


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## we love bsh's (Mar 28, 2011)

gilldancergirl said:


> Hi echo82,
> 
> Firstly hope your wee fluff ball gets better soon. Secondly I just posted a thread about cat allergies and then saw this further down and thought I should share with you my story about my wee 3 year old Ragdoll Indy.
> 
> ...


out of interest how much did the allergy test cost and how is it done?


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## gilldancergirl (Jun 28, 2011)

Hi it was fairly expensive, bout £260, as they test for everything. Indoor & outdoor allergens like dust, pollen, even human skin cells as well as food allergens! I am claiming it back through my insurance though so it's only costing me my excess. Have u had other tests carried out to determine the cause of the tummy problems? It might b worth exploring them first but if there r problems in the future it might b worth bearing in mind a food allergy? My vet tried several things & it wasn't until the skin & ear problems started that it became apparent it was allergies.


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## gilldancergirl (Jun 28, 2011)

Oh sorry forgot to add its a blood test


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Milk, wheat, corn are fairly common food allergens for cats. I wouldn't feed any of them to my cats as a matter of course.

Of the meat proteins beef is the most common allergen in cats. (2 of my cats are allergic to beef). Lamb is a very unusual one, and many sensitive diets for cats are in fact based on lamb because it so low statistically in causing an allergic response. But of course any individual cat can be allergic to almost anything.

Bear in mind *blood tests for allergies will NOT identify foods your cat may be INTOLERANT of*. The only way to identify those is to put the cat on an elimination diet for 6 weeks where you feed one novel protein (a food the cat has never eaten before e.g. horsemeat, venison, kangaroo, reindeer), and then if symptoms subside you gradually re-introduce other meat proteins, one at a time, every 2 weeks, keeping a log of symptoms as you go along.


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## echo82 (Oct 29, 2013)

Hi all,

Thanks for the continued advice! No improvement over the weekend, so just dropped off a set of samples to do a full battery of tests on.

If they come back negative, I guess it's back to testing different foods again. I've tried poultry-based ones, as well as fish, grain-free and also just plain boiled chicken. No different on any of them! The only thing that has changed his "output" is adding in the pumpkin. I've got some lamb-based ones I haven't tried, so might give those a go for a few days.

Thanks


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## LOOPYLORO (Oct 22, 2013)

Great news you have the sample in for testing. Do you know what they are testing for? Hope there's a PCR test included for TF.

Please let us know when you get the results back.

Loopyloro
X


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## echo82 (Oct 29, 2013)

I asked for everything, and they said they would get a full work-up done, including giardia, TF etc - so fingers crossed!


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## LOOPYLORO (Oct 22, 2013)

I know it sounds stupid but I was hoping the test came back positive for TF for my two because by that point, the vet had ruled everything else out. I just wanted to get a diagnosis so I could start treatment. 

Fingers crossed you find out the cause and get it treated so your kitty can be on the mend soon.

Lisa
X


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## echo82 (Oct 29, 2013)

And the test results are back and positive for TF! Definitely relieved that at least we know what it is now.

The vet seems to have read up on it and is recommending not treating. He thinks managing the symptoms with diet is the best as the side-effects of treatment are not worth the risk with an otherwise perfectly healthy cat. I see the point, but it's easy to say that when you don't have to put up with the symptoms!


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## LOOPYLORO (Oct 22, 2013)

echo82 said:


> And the test results are back and positive for TF! Definitely relieved that at least we know what it is now.
> 
> The vet seems to have read up on it and is recommending not treating. He thinks managing the symptoms with diet is the best as the side-effects of treatment are not worth the risk with an otherwise perfectly healthy cat. I see the point, but it's easy to say that when you don't have to put up with the symptoms!


OMG!!! Sorry but your vet is WRONG. If left, TF can cause serious bowel problems. Treatment is 14 days of ronidazole capsules 1 a day and 30mg per kg cat weight. The capsules have to be taken whole and allowed to dissolve in the tummy so you cannot break open. They are teratogenic and possibly carcinogenic so wear gloves when handling. The worry is that ronidazole can cause psychological problems but this is very rare and was mainly when the advice was to give a larger dose of ronidazole. My two were fine and all well.

Please please print off some info from here and demand your vet gets the ronidazole asap

Loopyloro
X


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

> as the side-effects of treatment are not worth the risk with an otherwise perfectly healthy cat


Your vet is reading out of date material. In the early days of using ronidazole the drug was a 10% compound which led to inaccurate dosing. Nowadays they use 100% which is accurately compounded. The published possible side effects are now almost unheard of. The benefits FAR outweigh the risks these days.

If you don't get treatment your cat may become asymptomatic but will not be cured. Either educate or change your vet.


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## LOOPYLORO (Oct 22, 2013)

Read this link and print out for your vet

Tritrichomonas foetus infection in cats | international cat care

Loopyloro
X


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## LOOPYLORO (Oct 22, 2013)

Hi Echo82

Just wondering if you ever got your cat treated for TF and how you got on with your vet?

Please let us know

Loopyloro
x


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## echo82 (Oct 29, 2013)

Evening,

Apologies for the lack of updates. Firstly, found some food that he will tolerate better so that's helped with the symptoms at least.

I told the vet I wanted the treatment and he was very helpful arranging it, sorting out doses etc.

He's halfway through the treatment at the moment. It's not resolved it, but the combination of the treatment and the food is definitely helping. I'm hoping the rest of the course will sort it out.

No side effects yet, but since I've definitely noticed a change in his behaviour. Since I started it, he's become much more lively - jumping around, play fighting, racing around the house (like a "normal" kitten!). He wasn't placid before, but it's a noticeable difference. I do wonder if he was feeling bad before and now feels better. The downside is he's expending all the energy and now won't stop eating - he'll basically eat as much as I want to give him!


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## LOOPYLORO (Oct 22, 2013)

So he is half way through the 14 day course of Ronidazole? 

My two perked up and were MUCH more playful and their appetite also increased hugely.

Glad to hear he's on the mend

Loopyloro
X


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## echo82 (Oct 29, 2013)

Yep, although I only have 12 day's worth of tablets to give him. Turns out they're a bit big for him and he managed to mangle two of them and I had to throw them away!


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## LOOPYLORO (Oct 22, 2013)

One of mine did that to one of the capsules. It took me 10 days to work out a way to perfect giving them to him. He was a nightmare! I tried scruffing, creeping up on him when he was dozing (worked once), 3 of us pilling him (one holding him in a towel, one opening his mouth and one putting the pill in) before finally towelling him quite firmly, laying him on my knee face up then one person gently opening and holding his mouth whilst I put the capsule in quickly. The other kitten was no problem and I pilled him every day on my own with no fuss at all. Luckily my vet gave me 2 spare capsules.

The stinky, bloody diarrhoea stopped on day 2 of taking the Ronidazole. I really hope your kitty gets sorted out soon.

You may need to speak to the vet about getting the 2 mangled capsules replaced as they should really have the full 14 day course.

Let me know how he gets on 

Lisa
X


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## echo82 (Oct 29, 2013)

Thanks - the vet actually had some spare from the original order, so I've picked up a couple to replace them.


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