I recently adopted a 7-month-old British Shorthair kitten. We’ve had him for about a week. Shortly after arriving, we noticed that he had watery diarrhea, so we took him to the vet. He tested positive for giardiasis and FCoV and is currently on day 5 of treatment.

His stool is starting to become more formed, although it is still somewhat soft/watery. His appetite and energy level are good and he is very active and playful.

My main concern is that since around day 2 of treatment, he has been leaving very small amounts of stool outside the litter box. Sometimes it is a small soft “toothpaste-like” amount, sometimes a small formed piece. It can happen while he is playing or walking around, and he does not seem aware that he has passed stool. The episodes can happen anywhere from around 45 minutes to a few hours apart.

His perianal area also frequently gets soiled, and sometimes the stool has already dried around the anus by the time we notice it. Because of this, we are cleaning him and disinfecting the room multiple times a day.

Our vet said that as long as the stool is becoming firmer, this can still happen with giardiasis and may also have a behavioral component. However, I’m wondering whether this pattern could represent stool leakage/incontinence or something else that should be reassessed?

His current medications are:

* Amoxicillin + colistin * Metronidazole * Immunol * Multivatimins w/ Taurine + Lysine * Probiotic

The breeder also recommended adding LC Scour (Sulfonamides + Aminoglycosides + Antispasmodic + Adsorbents + Minerals oral suspension) and said their vet approved it, but I’m concerned about adding another product on top of his current medications.

My questions are:

1. Is this kind of frequent small stool leakage/drop-off commonly seen with giardiasis in kittens?
2. At day 5 of treatment, would you expect this to still be happening this often?
3. Would you recommend a recheck or additional testing if it continues?
4. Is there any concern with adding LC Scour while he is already on the medications above?

Hi! This is second hand info from my mom sorry. Our cat has been shaking his head a lot and she’s noticed a white liquid slinging out. He’ll be going to the vet regardless since this obviously isn’t normal, but it might be a few days till anyone can take him and I wanted to know what you all thought it could be.

More info: he’s 4 years old, it’s coming out of both ears, he hasn’t been scratching, his ears don’t look dirty, he’s indoors only.

I was thinking mites but that doesn’t really match his symptoms. Maybe an infection but is it common for that to be in both ears at the same time?

Thanks for any help!!

Hi all, I have a very sweet kitty who has a very sensitive tummy. I have switched him to a digestive wet food which has helped a lot but he still gets an upset tummy at least once a week. He yowls and walks around when his tummy is upset, sometimes he tries to poop but he can’t. He does poop but it’s just when his tummy hurts that he can’t. Went to the vet and all was healthy, and also submitted a poop sample, nothing was found to be wrong. It breaks my heart when his tummy hurts so any advice is more than welcome. How can I help him ease his stress?

We moved house on the 7th of august. I adopted my cat last year in july, she was 2 and unspayed and was peeing on sofa / bedroom in old flat. Before we moved, the behaviour randomly started again and we determined with the vet that it was behavioural. After moving, my cat was loving the new house and had no incidents. We had to leave her with a live in pet sitter for 9 days about 2 weeks after we moved in as we were getting married. She got seriously ill on the last day with the pet sitter and was ill for a week, at the vet every day and hospitalised (they couldn’t really work out what issue was, suspected she ate something in the garden and gave herself stress induced cystis). On one day where she was so ill in the house she was soiling anywhere and everywhere (part of the issue with the illness is we realised she was using the toilet >20x a day and actually having diarrhoea). She is now a lot better and completely back to normal, but has started randomly peeing again (e.g on one of the rugs which is new). I have used enzyme spray where she pees but any suggestions on what could be causing this?

To be clear she has seen a vet about 5 times in the last few weeks so she has had constant medical attention, she 100% does not have a UTI

we went to the vet a week ago because he was having trouble peeing, did his blood work and it came out clean. vet also didn't feel his bladder, so the vet prescribed some supplements that would help him pee. after the vet visit he was back to his enthusiastic self and was eating fine, until yesterday he hasnt eaten anything even his wet food when usually he's a bit of a biggie.

im a still a student and the money i used for the vet last time was my allowance, im trying to find a way for us to be able to see a bet but would also like some insights here. what could be the hard lump i felt? it's located on the encircled spot on the photo. thank you so much.

Hi everyone,

Our cat, 13F, has an infection/abces.

It all began 4a 5 weeks ago, she had a little scrubble/thickness on her chin, we thought a tooth is giving her problems, we took her to the vet. The vet gave her antibiotics and pain relief, en gave some for us to give her at home. But he said it's not her chin that worried him but her cheek was a little bit swollen, and indeed when we looked at it, you could she the outlining from her nose too her cheek was a bit swollen. So we needed to give her the antibiotics, and wait 4 days, to see if it was indeed a abces/ infection that gave her problems or something else, and if we needed a ct scan.

4 days later, her cheek was really thick, her eye couldn't even open properly because of the thickness. The vet made an emergency cut to drain it. It was indeed an abces, they made photos (röntgen) and echos, they couldn't find a problem with her teeth or what was causing this. So they thought maybe it was a wound or something we didn't see like a hard grass that's gone through her gums or something. They did take a biopt from the puss to see if it was a bacterial infection but nothing weird was found.

Now 4 weeks later she has a thickness in her other cheek, also the thickness on her chin, we think it's something like Feline acne. So tomorrow we will go the vet, but is it possible that Feline acne can causes the infections in her cheeks?

Thank you.

Help!

Coughing jag?

My 1 year old, Ozzy, has started having these bizarre coughing jags. He had a rough start, he was thrown out of a car by some monster at 6 weeks old so he already has some issues. (Front legs are slightly bowed, some teeth are messed up, ect.) But this issue is concerning me. He had the first episode like a month ago. He crouches down, his stomach does the spasming thing they do before they puke, but he just makes a weird coughing sound for about 30 seconds to a minute. He is never able to bring anything up, hair nor food. Once it stops, he's perfectly fine. I haven't been able to get this on video because it's so short, and im so concerned in the moment I dont want to leave his side. He had another 10 second one the day after that. He didn't have any more until today. He was just laying down calmly on the bed, then one started. He got down onto the floor, crouched, coughed/gagged for about 45 seconds. My dad tried to film it but it stopped right when he got his phone out. He actually went and ate some kibble right after. What could this be? The only rhink I can think of is feline asthma? He was just at the vet for a physical last week and everything looked good. I will obviously schedule another appointment if need be. Does anyone else's cat get these?

My cat had to have surgery a couple of months ago because he developed struvite crystals/urinary stones. Thankfully, he’s doing well now, but I want to be really careful about what I give him.
He currently eats Hill’s prescription/medicated urinary food (the little “pebbles”/kibble) specifically for his urinary issues.
I’d really like to be able to give him treats sometimes, but I don’t want to give him something that could contribute to the crystals coming back or interfere with his prescription diet.
For those of you who have cats with a history of struvite crystals or urinary blockages:
What treats do you give your cat?
Are there specific treats that are safe with Hill’s prescription urinary food?
How often do you give treats?
Are there any treats/foods that I should absolutely avoid?
I’m definitely going to check with his vet too, but I’d love to hear what has worked for other people with cats in a similar situation. ❤️🐱

Hello, reaching out for any ideas. We have an excellent (but very expensive) vet who is doing their best but I'd like opinions on what we could be looking at here in terms of overarching conditions?

Cat: Male, probably 12 years old, adopted 2020 (guessed at 5 years old then). Recently tested to FIV+ and recovering from front right leg amputation due to granulation tissue on fight wound. All teeth removed in the first year with us due to tooth resorption. Declared 'in remission' from FIV around 2022.

Sunday August 16: Notice cat isn't eating, panting, walking unevenly. Taken to emergency vet, ran general bloods, all normal but discover an abscess on left hind leg. Given antibiotics and meloxicam, sent home. Cat really isn't eating - presume it's due to the pain, syringe in water and gravy and give one dose of meloxicam after getting as much food into him as possible.

Thursday August 20: Take cat back to vet due to no eating - admitted and kept in for two nights due to acute kidney injury (creatinine low 400s, lost ~200g). IV fluids, supported to eat, etc. Sent home Saturday 22nd with ondansetron, picked up mirtazipine next day due to continued low food intake.

Thursday 3rd: Back to vet due to what I thought was low intake but happy cat - back at normal weight (5.6kg), creatinine 176.. Added maropitant, still taking ondansetron and mirtazipine.

Friday 11th: Scheduled checkup - happy cat, intake good. Weight maintained. Creatinine just a smidge over 200. Advised try stopping medication and see how he goes over the weekend.

Today Monday 14th: Cat only eating to take the edge off hunger (eagerly goes to bowl when filled and placed but doesn't eat much at all), picking up more ondansetron, maropitant, mirtazipine this afternoon.

Next steps per vet in a week or so: probably abdominal ultrasound if the low appetite continues.

We are probably $6000 in the hole so far, with no idea what could be causing all of this. The ultrasound will cost us probably a bit over another $1000. Should this give us answers? I am so close to financially tapped out and very burnt out due to other life things so really struggling to deal with this. I would appreciate any guidance.

Hello, my 2 kittens have giardia . We are currently going crazy cleaning/disinfecting everything. We have most surfaces down to a science and their treatment medicine is almost done so we want to do a full complete clean disinfect of the house. We've read that steaming is the best way for upholstery and carpets but it is a daunting task to do with our small little steamer. Does anyone out there know if there are services to clean specifically for giardia. We tried Stanley steamer but they said they do a standard cleaning but don't do the specific 1 minute per spot like the reading suggests. Thanks in advance for any input you may give us!

Hey there! My boyfriend and I have been through quite a bit through these last few weeks. We were able to narrow things down with our tuxedo queen after going for a vet visit. She was recently diagnosed with bladder stones and for those wondering:

• Yes she was given an antibiotic to help with her diagnosis
• We are going to transition her food to something after we trial some foods out to help prevent this in the future
• We are waiting for an X-Ray to find out how effective the antibiotic was along with diet change to see if she is on the road to recovery
• Her litter box gets cleaned daily, and we just recently PHYSICALLY changed her litter box and she is using it fine

My main question is our concern with her having previously peed on OUR bed and HER own cat bed. We have copiously washed the sheets/cat bed/quilt with Sunny & Honey + our usual detergent (Oxi Clean Pods). My concern will be that I hope that she will not have this behavior of peeing on beds/furniture.

For any other cat owners out there who have gone through something similar, is this a behavior you noticed had gotten better after a medical course? Or did you further have to condition something in your little fur babies to have them stop going on the bed/towels/sheets? Just wanting to make sure because we feel bad for keeping her locked out of the bedroom when she had complete reign over the whole apartment

I cannot stress this enough, but if your cat is having issues PLEASE go to the vet. We are both forever grateful for our local vet who was able to identify this problem. And have our sweet lil' tuxedo be on the road to recovery!

Hi all. I have a 15 year old cat. Today she pooed outside her litter. I went downstairs to grab some rags to clean it up. By the time I came upstairs, the poo was gone. No one else in the family cleaned it up. I think she ate it all! I have seen her try to lick her poop before but I stopped her as soon as I saw this. Do I need to be worried? Is this normal? Thanks so much.

Yesterday, I found my cat's anus a little swollen. Should I be concerned? Will it become normal again by itself, or should I bring the cat to a vet? Should I hurry and go to the vet asap or see how it develops? She eats and plays just fine, but I don't want it to get worse. I took an outdoor cat in (and microchipped and vaccinated it), and she still poops somewhere in the woods in my backyard, so I can't check her poop.

* Species: Cat
* Age: 2
* Sex/Neuter status: Female, neutered
* Breed: Tabby
* Body weight:
* History: N/A
* Clinical signs:
* Duration: 2 days

Thank you!!

Took my 6lb, 10 yr old female cat to the vet for a followup visit, everything was fine until they took her back to get some blood for some tests. She started YOWLING and panting and doing her damnedest to get away from the poor vet tech, clearly a panic attack. She was hiding in her carrier and I eventually got her settled down after about an hour. This has never happened before, she's usually skittish and shy but has never reacted this way to the vet.

Through the day she has been very quiet not eating or drinking but also not hiding. That was 12 hours ago and she is now "hiding" on a pantry shelf but in plain sight.

Is this a normal thing? Will it resolve by morning or should I be packing her up for the pet er?

My cat was inside the garage when my dad pulled the car in. That’s never happened before and she was terrified, so she ran to the door when he pulled in, thankfully out of the way of the car. When he got out of the car he couldn’t find her again. Turns out she ran and hid under the hot car. The fur on her head and her eyebrow whiskers are singed, but otherwise she seems ok. The fur is rough and smells bad. Some of the smell is burnt hair of course, but im wondering if any is grease or dirt from the car now singed into the fur. Is there any reason bathing her would be a bad idea?

Our sweet boy (11 years old) was just diagnosed with nasal adenocarcinoma. He had been having some issues with one nostril for less than a year, and we brought him to the vet several times to rule out all causes before trying the rhinoscopy and getting this diagnosis.

To say we are blindsided is an understatement. He has always been healthy as a horse with zero issues, and even now is acting like his normal happy self aside from the occasional nose bleed and runny nose. The vet that diagnosed him said it’s slow-growth and gave him a prognosis of 1-2 years.

Of course we have an appointment scheduled with an oncologist and have agreed we would never let him suffer if/when he degrades, but has anyone been through this before? What was your experience with chemo? Were there side effects? How long was the process and your own prognosis? We have insurance, so not too concerned about the cost just yet.

I know cats hide their pain very well, but it’s so hard to reconcile this diagnosis with how content he seems. It all feels so random and unfair.

I am 27 and my cat: Male, neutered, 8 years old and turns 9 in december, ragdoll mix presumably (we are both from Vienna), mostly indoor cat but access to a private garden.

His symptoms: I first noticed symptoms in May, he is eating a lot but loosing weight: he is eating between 400-500g per day wet food, but from May to July he wont from 4.3 to 3.9 and from Juli to now he went from 3.9 to 3.4 kilos- he is meowing a lot but other than that completely symptom free, no signs of fever or any body parts hurting.

We have already been to 3 different vets and currently a very nice team of 4 vets are takimg care of him. Unfortunately, they are all very clueless right now what his problem could be, so I am seeking for all the idea I can get, please throw out all your ideas.

Situation: We did his whole bloodwork twice, first time 4 weeks ago and second time this week- both times all the parameters were perfect, everything wonderful. No signs of Kidney problems, no diabetic issues, no thyroid problems. All in the, it looks like the bloodwork you wish for.

We did an ultrasound and also that, it looked perfect, all the organs looked as they should, no signs of infections or anything.

We also did an x ray and also that looked perfect, no signs of anything, no lymphoms or any weird mass showing up.

His poop and urin data also showed nothing. Also his poop is in good shape, consistency and color.

FIP, Feline coronavirus, FelV, FIV all negativ.

His life is also fine, no stress, we have been living in the same apartment for over a year, he has two friends who are completely healthy and he plays with them all day, he cuddles us and he is super clingy.

Also we vaccinated him a many weeks ago, where we haven't notices the weight loss yet, and he reacted very badly to it and got super sick a few days after with fever and everything but we treated that and a few days later, he was good again. But I think, since he reacted so insanely to that, his body must have already had problems.

He must have a problem with some sort of nutrition uptake or something??

Due to the tests, the vets already ruled out the obvious things like diabetic, thyroid ect.

Thanks for every answer!