View Question

Chronic Diarrhea In A Cat

by CorinneC - January 4, 2025 View Case Report

Luna is an 11yo FS DSH tabby that I have seen on and off for 4 years. When I first met her she was on a pretty lousy kibble diet and had had chronic URT infections with chronic diarrhea and occas projectile vomiting. She is really hard to examine as she spends most of the appointment hissing and growling at me! I cannot get decent tongue or pulses on her. At the time she seemed like a typical Damp Heat kitty so I put her on San Ren Tang and had her change the diet to at least a good quality canned only. The owner is a little difficult in that she will only try things once and then give in to her cats, so Luna wouldn't eat with SRT and she apparently stopped. I didn't see her for 2 years (Nov 2023)! Cat continued to have diarrhea (reddish-brown liquid, squirts out acc to O), URT mucoid discharge. At that point she was being fed dry Performatrim Ultra GF, Orijen Red GF, canned Nat Balance duck, Perf Ultra chicken pate. O says she was super fussy so can't get her to take to raw diet but I think the expense is hard for O as well. O tried l-lysine for months, never made a difference. If Luna eats or drinks too fast she regurgitates (mostly dry), ~once/week. On PE, doughy inflamed intestines, pulses well toned; tongue pink, sl swollen, moist but still hissy. Bloods NAF. Rec'd stop all dry food, too heavily processed and full of filler, creating too much inflammation and Rx'd Wei Ling Tang this time.

Did not see again, nor hear from until this last Dec 8th. O away for the night, came home to massive amounts of D+. Started cleaning it and she had more D+ on top of cleaned area. Over the weekend started V+, to point of projectile V+. Still has an appetite, drinking water, but haven't seen her urinate much. O started feeding her smaller portions more frequently because if fed too much too quickly she V+, mostly fed Nat Balance canned (had been V+ on TikiCat). This quelled the V+ but she was hiding under the bed. Doesn't like new kitten, but he tends to avoid her. Gets really angry with him if close. O thinks has lost wt (went from 3.66kg Nov/23 to 3.03 now). Prior to Dec 8th, has had D+ but in litterbox. Tried probiotics but as soon as she tasted something in food she stopped eating, including past herbs. Had still been V+ as well, usually late in to am, occas projectile V+ if ate too fast. Senior panel and fPL all WNL.

Cat so fussy and resists TCM, O feeling desperate and thought she was bringing Luna in for euthanasia. Have not tried steroids, rec at least try short term to see if we can make her more comfortable. Also started her on Vit B12 injections. The B12 and Prednisolone def helped with appetite, energy, and stopped any V+, but D+ persists. I really want to take another stab at this cat with herbs, but I need advice. With her growly irritable nature is this a XYS cat? Or was the SRT the right choice initially with her URT issues?? And maybe this is a dilute in water kinda gal? can you remind me what you do with this?

Thank you in advance and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Corinne

by naturevet

January 8, 2025

Hi Corinne,

I would look at Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang as the next thing to try, since:
- the cat appears to have maybe responded to Spleen tonification with WLT?
- it harmonizes the Liver and Spleen, and this cat appears to have serious anger issues
- it's well indicated for problems worsening over the winter months (which seems to be when the owner is driven to seek you out)
- it helps deal with stress, which apparently is a trigger given the worsening with the owner's departure
- it helps bolster immunity to deal with chronic or recurrent Wind invasions, such as the URTI

To make a homeopathic version, get a hold of the Kan product (called Lift the Qi). Shake the Kan product, then take 1 ml and put it in a 50 ml glass bottle with a dropper (or something like that). Add spring water to bring it up to 50 ml. Succuss about 200 times, by thwacking the sealed bottle down repetitively on a resilient surface, like a phone book (if anyone still has those). After 200 smacks, it should be looking pretty frothy.

Have the owner wet the mouth with it two or three times a day. It's very watery, and no swallowing is required, so it shouldn't be too hard to do. If we are lucky, then maybe after several days, some positive signs will be seen. At that point, she can seek the lowest required frequency of dosing to continue those improvements.

Other formulas can be tried as homeopathics, too, like Xiao Yao San (Happy Wanderer) and even Protect the Middle (Huo Xiang Zheng Qi San). Given the mental emotional aspect to the case, though, I would start with Lift the Qi.

Hopefully this helps! Let us know how things go!

Steve

by CorinneC

January 11, 2025

Thanks Steve! So much! This has also helped me with another chronic diarrhea cat actually, similar signs. I wish I could see what you see! I feel like in so many cases I am missing the signs. The other cat is a nasty angry Ragdoll MN of all things. Has to be sedated just to examine poor dude. Lift the Qi is on his schedule for Monday too! I wonder if one other kitty with what I thought was just a dermatitis that gets aggravated by stress would benefit with this too? She started last Fall, interestingly, with overgrooming, esp her back, and it did not get better over the Spring-summer so my colleague actually put her on Prozac, only minimal improvement but she seemed "happier". She will groom until she has stropped her fur and skin down, poor gal. I then tried San Ten Tang but no better. Now I'm wondering about stress and Wei Qi deficiency??? I may be able to get all these cats settled and happier with one bottle!!!

You're one in a million (and Karen too!)
Corinne

by naturevet

January 11, 2025

Hmm. I have had good luck in some overgrooming cats with Xiao Yao San, which bears close resemblance to Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang, so there is another option for you!

Let us know how things work out with this trio of kitties!

S

You must be logged in to reply

CuredCases.com