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Chronic Diarrhea In A Cat

by JULIE SCHELL - November 8, 2009

Hello,
I have a very interesting case!
I have been treating a 12 yerar old neutered male cat with a year long history of unformed diarrhea, usually at night but sometimes during the day. His appetite is poor and he has a very thin body. He only eats some cooked fishes and chicken, and canned 'fancy feast-type' food. I did a full Western and Eastern work up. Blood profile , rads, ultrasound were all normal. Urinalysis showed bacteriuria sensitive to cephalexin so I gave him Convenia injection (injectable cephalexin). I'm still awaiting results of his fecal testing (its hard for the owner to bring us a sample because he is out of town and the cat wouldn't defecate at our hospital even though we kept him overnight). His pulses are slippery and weak and slightly fast. His tongue was pink with a bit purple/red but very wet with lots saliva. He vomits occasionally (not hairballs) and has tenesmus, sudden urges to defecate and meows while defecating. This cat is cranky during his exams, but is calm when left alone (Metal constitution?) and he lives with another cat who fights and stalks him. I started him on acupncture strengthening SP and Blood and to help dry the Damp (Bl20, St36, BL17, GV4, ST40, BL18). I prescribed home cooked foods and Wei Ling Tang and a stress- reduction program so that the cat he lives with is not able to stalk him. Unfortunatly, the owner is unable to give the Wei Ling Tang- the cat is very difficult to give meds to and doesn't eat well. He will eat 'Fortiflora probiotics' so we have him on those. I also gave him vitamin b12 injection. We've been working with this cat for 3 weeks now. He is starting to eat canned a/d food now (prefers that to cooked chicken/fish/home made food). I asked the owner to get the Wei Ling Tang mixed into honey or maple syrup to see if he will be able to syringe it, but this cat is quite fiesty and bites the owner. I guess we will have to rely mostly on acupuncture for this guy? I reallly appreciate your suggestions! I wonder if I should attempt another type of herb formula but to me, being Damp and Sp deficient, Wei Ling Tang seems to fit well.

Thank you very much!
Julie

by naturevet

November 8, 2009

Hi Julie,

For those cranky cats, there are some options, and they often revolve around homeopathy. I try many of them on WLT, but wonder if there is too much Heat (reflected in the rapid pulse and red tongue). SMS is another option, but tastes even worse.

One strategy, whichever one you choose, is to create a homeopathic version of the formula. The steps are as follows:
1. Take about a ml of the tincture versions of the formula (made by Kan - we can send you some if you like) and mix it in 50 ml of spring water in a small glass bottle.
2. Succuss by striking the bottom of the bottle containing the mixture against a resilient but firm surface, like a phone book. Do this about 200 times. The mixture will then look very foamy and taste quite dilute, making it easy enough to administer to the cat
3. Dose is about 1/2 ml TID. You can even at this point often get it in the food
4. Store in the fridge. Replace after 21 days.
5. Have the owner succuss the mixture again before each use, about 15 times or so against a resilient surface, perhaps the palm of their hand. After the succussion is complete, they can draw up their dose.
6. People also report that you can do this effectively with our granular extracts, about 1 or 2 tsps per 50 ml.

Hopefully that gets you somewhere with this cat. They can be tough cases. Lastly, in cases like these, we've used homeopathic Colocynthis successfully to stop the abdominal pain and colitis. Herbs are more likely to work at least somewhat, however.

How well do the herbal homeopathics work? About 85% as well as the full strength version. So I prefer full strength if I can use it. But at least this method is quite easy to use for cranky cats.

Steve

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