Conference misery::feline

    Hi,
    
    Worms are very common in strays and outdoor cats and sometimes they
    can be very hard to get rid of.   A few years back I had a major
    problem with Roundworms with all my cats....and after multiple
    weeks of deworming them we still had a problem.  WELL...(this is
    gross) but what had happened was I did not keep one of my strays
    confined as long as I should have and he gave the roundworms to the 
    rest of my cats...and before long I had eggs in my carpets. (yuck!!)
    I had had a very extreme case of roundworms.....and somewhere in
    the old notesfile I documented how I finally got rid of them.
      
    I'm glad your taking him back to the vets to be examined...because
    there is a possibly that it could be something else.   One trick I
    learned from Tufts University for diarrhea was to use canned pumpkin
    in with the wet food.   I was totally AMAZED how this worked and 
    you might want to mention it to your vet.  I ALWAYS keep canned
    pumpkin in the house now.
    
    Please keep us posted....
    
    Sandy
    

    
    	Canned pumpkin? That looks like what he's eating now....
    
    	Jebb and Tiggr are indoor kitties only, and Jebb was at a
    	shelter for at least 3 months before I got him. I shudder
    	to think the poor little guy has had worms that long?!
    
    	I'll try anything at this point though, so canned pumpkin
    	it is....
    
    	Thanks!

    When you buy canned pumpkin make sure you buy the one that
    has ingredients of just pumpkin and not the kind that adds spices.
    When they have diarrhea All I do is add about 1/2 tsp in with the 
    normal wet food once a day.  there is limited taste/smell...so the
    cat won't even know it is in there.
    
    I personally know the PB shelter tests/deworms all cats before 
    they enter the shelter...so there is a possibility he had them...
    they were gone...and he got them again.
    
    Since your cats are sharing litterboxs....you might want to bring
    a stool sample with you for your other cat so that can also be
    tested.   Worms spread very easy in litterboxes.....
    
    Sandy

    You may want the vet to check your cats stools for an organism called
    "Chalmidia" (sp?).  I adopted a kitten from a Shelter several months
    ago and she had this (although the shelter had wormed her - this needs
    to be treated differently).  My vet said it's very common for shelter
    cats to have this.
    
    Symtoms are diarrhea and a weakening of the immune system.  My little
    guy needed to take 1/2 a pill a day for 10 days and have her stool
    rechecked.  She is now EXTREMELY healthy and growing like a weed.  Her
    appetite improved tremendously once cured.
    
    Linda

    
    	Linda,
    
    	Thanks! I'll take your note along with me. I'm not sure
    	what the "routine" stool test checks for, but I've got
    	a few questions prepared for tonight.
    
    	Heidi

    Linda,
    
    Do you mean Coccidia?  Chlamydia is an eye infection in cats.

    One of the effects of overactive thyroid is diarrhea.  All of my
    Maynard, Mass, cats had thyroid problems.  Try boiled milk and mashed
    potato.  Just half a teaspoon full in a saucer of milk.  I found it
    went down better than rice.  

    When we got Oliver from a rescue shelter, he had diaorrhea and we
    suspected worms. He was also ravenous (which is how he got his name).
    The vet gave him an injection of anti-biotics and we had to put him on
    a diet to clean his tummy out a bit. 
    Day 1, we had to starve him (utter hell!). He wasn't allowed anything
    at all for 24 hours.
    Day 2/3 was boiled ground rice, weetabix or similar, made with water,
    not milk.
    The next days were gradually building up his food, firstly boiled
    chicken, then boiled fish, then onto meat etc. I think the diet lasted
    a week, maybe two weeks.
    The basic idea was to give his tummy a chance to rest and clear itself
    out and he received a further injection of antibiotics during the week.   
    I'll see if I can find the diet sheet tonight and, if I can, I'll enter
    it. 

    Forgot to mention that Oliver was four months old and that he was also
    wormed twice during that time.

    
    	Well, I took the "kids" to the vet last night and she still
    	doesn't seem overly concerned .... come on! Diarrhea that
    	lasts a month plus can't be healthy!
    
    	Anyways I'd brought along a stool sample with me and she
    	examined it then and there for any obvious parasites, they
    	would test further this morning for roundworms, etc. Though
    	she couldn't see anything she mentioned a parasite found in
    	stagnant water (common to shelter cats) and decided to go
    	ahead and treat him for this. Jebb has to take 1/4 pill 
    	of Flagyl twice a day for 10 days, she said I should see
    	results in a few days and asked me to call her on Monday.  
        He also got some antibiotic ointment for his runny eye, again
    	she requested a report on Monday. Poor guy came home a rather
    	unhappy kitty; thermometer up his rear, pill down the throat,
    	and ointment in his eye ... he may not talk to me for days!
    
    	Tiggr was healthy, happy, and overweight. He only weighs in 
    	at 14lbs now, down from 18 last year, but she suggested he
    	lose "a few more" ..... he got a rabies shot and didn't flinch,
    	but was REAL glad to leave there.
    
    	I asked about canned pumpkin and the vet looked at me like I
    	had three heads. She suggested I don't do anything different 
    	during the 10 day medication period for process of elimination
    	if nothing else. Please keep the ideas coming though, cause if
    	this doesn't work I'll be trying each and every one of them.
    	I appreciate each and every idea ... and so does Jebb!
    
    		Heidi

    A few back:
    
    Yes, I meant coccidia (my kitten had both so I got my "c's" mixed up!
    
    Linda

    
    	Just an update on Jebb ...... the loose stools returned once
    	again much to the dismay of Whitney and me. Poor little Jebb
    	didn't seem too happy either. Whitney seems to think that only
    	wet food is edible so of course Jebb gets his fair share.
    
    	Anyways, thanks to another note in this file (though I can't
    	remember which one) I again tried the rice (didn't work),
    	and even the pumpkin (didn't work & smelled!) and then tried
    	the Tender Vittles (Voila!).  Both cats are chowing down the
    	Tender Vittles with vigor, and no more soft stools.  The
    	smell is still a little strong, but I think with time as Jebb
    	adjusts more it may pass.
    
    	Thanks again to the Feliners!
    
    		Heidi

   Well, I took the girls (Missy & Patches) to the vet's again on Friday
   night - they've been having off/on loose stools/diarrhea and I'd brought
   2 samples to be checked but nothing showed...........

   the vet said they *might* have giardia (sp?), something that has been
   the problem with some of the PB Shelter cats - it's also something that
   can be "dormant" for a while and then flair up - he did say he could
   run a blood test to be sure but why put the kittens thru that when it's
   a quick 5-day treatment and it either works or doesn't...........

   so the girls are both on Flagyl for 5 days at which point he said if
   they're still having problems, we'll next try a change of diet (Tender
   Vittles or the like)...........

   only problem is, the pills (only way the medicine comes) are very BITTER
   TASTING and both girls HATE them - it used to be really easy to give Patches
   pills (she was on Albon for a few days) but after this, I don't know if
   either of them will EVER want me to "pill" them again !!!!!!!  Any hints
   on easier ways to go about this ????  We've been trying to coat the half-
   tablet (come in 250 mg tabs, broken in half and 1 half broken again so
   they both get 3/4 of one tablet) with yogurt, which they both love but
   the pill starts to dissolve before they'll swallow it and hence, they get
   the bitter taste - horrible to see them drool/froth with the taste !!!

    Misha was on flagl when he had inflamatory bowel disease.  If he spit
    the pill out, he would work up a lot of foam in his mouth.  The only
    thing we did was, hold him, open his mouth, drop the pill in, straight
    down the middle of his throat, then hold his mouth closed and stroke
    his throat until he swallows and his tongue flicks out.  We tried
    coating the pill with butter, but it made a mess on our hands and on
    Misha's face as he struggled.  Bob discovered that wrapping Misha up in
    a towel, keeps him calm and usually quite easy to pill.
    
    Good luck.
    
    Steffi 

    
    
    	Hi,
    
    	Giving "Pills" to the kitties is a tough job. I found by
    	holding them by the neck (like how a mom cat would hold the
    	kitten) takes the fight out of them and allows for the 
    	pill to be quickly placed on the back of the tongue. Then relaxing
    	the hand that has holding  the neck and stroking the chin to get
    	them to swallow works fine. This procedure only takes a few seconds
    	and the fingers have fewer battle scares. Now that my 2 are bigger
    	I would only hold them by the back of the neck just enough to get
    	the pill in, their feet are still on the floor. Then they get
    	hugggggggsssss
    
    
    	Mike

        the key is to pop it so far back in the throat that he    
        doesn't even have to taste it.   If by chance you miss the
        first time...let kitty calm down completely before attempting
        it again.   Once they get that taste....they fight like
        crazy.  You could always get one of those pill poppers too!!!
    
        My sisters kitty was just recently put on Flaggl for diahrea
        too and she's sixteen years old and fought like crazy when
        it was pill time!!
    
        Sandy

    Otis is impossible to pill ... he acts more like Gentle Ben (the bear)
    than Otis the cat!  But, he's not at all gentle about it at all.
    
    Abigail is a dream.  She literally puts her head back.  I do have
    to coax her jaw open, but once I do she swallows it immediately
    and then after I hug and kiss her ... she looks for the treat(s)
    which are usually deli ham and turkey breast.
    
    M