9 month old Hugo has diarrhea and I don't know what to do!

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  • 28 November, 2013 at 12:16 pm #795770
    jessica
    Participant

    Hugo is the second cat I have ever had, and I never saw many health issues with my first cat. Hugo is energetic, loving, and just a happy guy overall. 4 days ago he began having diarrhea, and at first I thought maybe he had just gotten into something while we were asleep that I left on the counter, but it has continued and has now become “explosive”. I don’t know what to do, I want to bring him to the vet as soon as possible but this is difficult over the holiday weekend. I am also wondering how much concern I should have. The other major change is that although he is a kitten my hubby wanted us to try to switch him to adult food due to his size (he is a rather large Bengal mix) of the same brand of his kitten food. This switch happened about 2 weeks ago, could this be the source of his poopy problem (like an allergic reaction?) even though it has been going on this long? I have been reading about doing a fast? should I? and what are some good ways to make sure he doesn’t get too dehydrated? seriously ANY advice would help. He is acting completely normal but the bathroom is the only issue. And I am just worried.

    29 November, 2013 at 1:27 am #795824
    jcat
    Participant

    The switch could have caused diarrhoea but since it was two weeks ago and the diarrhea only started four days ago, I think it’s highly unlikely. Is he still eating and drinking fine? If so, it’s not such a problem (although if he is eating dry food, stop it and give him wet, dry food will dehydrate him more). I’ll give you the tent test to make sure he doesn’t get dehydrated and, if he does, you can start mixing extra pedialyte into his wet food or give it to him.
    The tent test is to test for dehydration:

    Tent test: pick up a good pinch of kitten’s skin at the neck and let go.If it snaps back immediately, she’s hydrated okay. If it takes a little time to go back down, or, worse, it stays up in a ‘tent’ shape, she needs fluids, such as pedialyte (from the supermarket, children’s aisle) or home-made pedialyte below.

    Note, in the United Kingdom, pedialyte is called Dioralyte. Also known as rehydration salts.

    Home-made pedialyte formula (from World Health Organization)…no preservatives so short life-span

    * 1 cup water (boiled then cooled)

    * 2 tsp sugar

    * 1/8 tsp salt

    * 1/8 tsp baking soda

    * (this Pedialyte formula gives needed electrolytes & some sugar for energy)

    Combine all ingredients and warm slightly.

    Make new after 24 hours.

    29 November, 2013 at 1:28 am #795826
    jcat
    Participant

    Also click on the diarrhea tag, that will bring up plenty of other threads with good advice. If he has picked up a stomach bug then yes, the best way to get rid of it can be to starve it but I’m thinking that’s more likely with vomiting than diarrhea. Continuing to eat wet food will help to keep him hydrated. What you would do is just give him pedialyte for 12 hours until the diarrhea stops, then introduce some bland food (eg boiled chicken) for another 12 hours, then gradually reintroduce his normal food. But if he’s happy to eat wet food, I’d let him continue to.
    Keep the emergency vet clinic number by the phone just in case but probably it will right itself in a few hours, just keep an eye on him. If after 12 hours, he still has bad or explosive diarrhea, then a vet visit is called for.

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