Cat diarrhea symptoms can be many and can be complex. This is because cat diarrhea is not a primary problem. It is a secondary problem to another problem that is affecting your cat. For example, the Uremia of kidney failure is a common cause of diarrhea in cats, as is liver disease (hepatitis) and Addison’s Disease. Cat diarrhea can be caused by a sudden inflammation of the pancreas or by pancreatitis, by hyperthyroidism, feline leukemia or feline immunodeficiency virus.
The Most Common Cat Diarrhea Symptoms
As you might imagine, the most common symptom of diarrhea in cats is a loose, runny stool. If you notice that your cat’s stool shows these signs, you should keep a close eye on her litter box. If you’re lucky, the diarrhea will have been caused by spoiled food or food poisoning and Mother Nature will soon take care of the problem. However, if you see a pattern of diarrhea – with it often affecting your cat, you will need to get your cat to a vet for diagnosis and treatment.
Vomiting is also a sign of cat diarrhea, and so is a loss of appetite. Your cat may be experiencing abdominal pain or show signs of dehydration. Other common cat diarrhea symptoms are bloody feces, lethargy and a high fever.
Other Signs Of Cat Diarrhea
There are other signs that you cat may be suffering from diarrhea. For example, mucus in its feces, weight loss, tiredness, feces straining or the cat cleaning itself excessively around its bottom – these could all be signs of cat diarrhea.
When To Take Your Cat To The Vet
If your cat is suffering from chronic diarrhea, it is losing fluids and can become seriously dehydrated. In addition, it’s losing vital nutrients such as salts and sugars called electrolytes. If you ignore the problem, your cat could become dangerously ill and even die.
This means it is very important that you get the cat to your veterinarian immediately. Ditto if the cat shows severe (explosive) diarrhea. The same is true if the diarrhea worsens, is bloody or the cat shows other symptoms such as vomiting, fever or trouble walking. A cat with diarrhea will naturally drink more water than usual but if it’s drinking an obsessive amount of water, it could be suffering from diabetes – yet another reason to get it to its vet.
What Causes Diarrhea In Cats?
Since cat diarrhea is not a condition but, rather, a symptom of a condition, it can have many different causes. However, these causes can be lumped together into some general categories as follows.
Minor Causes Of Cat Diarrhea
- Stomach or intestinal viruses
- Stress
- Intestinal parasites
- Dietary indiscretions (i.e., eating garbage or other offensive or irritating materials)
These causes are called minor because they are relatively easy to cure. For example, stomach or intestinal viruses can be treated and quickly cured with antibiotics. Intestinal parasites can usually be cured with a simple deworming. And Mother Nature will usually take care of any diarrhea caused if your cat has eaten spoiled food.
Major Causes Of Cat Diarrhea
There are many major causes of cat diarrhea. These are called major because they typically aren’t cured by Mother Nature or by an antibiotic. These major causes include:
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Neoplasia Hyperthyroidism
- Loss of pancreatic function
- Bartonnella
- Eosinophilic Enteritis
- Hyperthyroidism
- Feline leukemia virus
- Feline immunodeficiency virus
As you might imagine, these major causes can be diagnosed only by a veterinarian and usually require serious treatment, up to and including surgery.
What Are The Complications Of Cat Diarrhea?
If your cat has an intestinal inflammation, this can causes its intestines to thrash about so vigorously that they literally ties themselves in knots or fold up on themselves. Both these conditions are life threatening.
How Your Cat Will Be Treated For Cat Diarrhea
How your cat will be treated will depend entirely on the cause of its diarrhea. This means there are almost as many treatments as there are causes. Some of the most common treatments are the antibiotics and deworming mentioned above. If your cat has one of the major causes of diarrhea, the treatments can consist of dietary manipulation, exploratory surgery, intravenous fluid therapy or medications called motility modifiers.
Cat diarrhea is no fun for your cat or for you. However, most causes of the diarrhea are not life threatening and, with a little help from you veterinarian, can be cured quickly and easily.
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