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Does this make me a bad pet owner?
My cat has had awful runny/loose stools off an on for a few months, but recently they have been every time she poops. I took her to the vet and they looked at a sample, ran some tests, and we tried medications to help with the runny stools and to increase the good bacteria in her digestive tract.
We had been feeding Chicken Soup, then switched to California Naturals (because I was worried she might have a food sensitivity). The switch did not help. We have also tried Wellness Core, but this only lasted until about halfway through the switching process when she started having some awful urine-related problems (spent 4 days running to the litterbox every few minutes and peeing in random places when she couldnt make it there- had her tested for a UTI, everything seemed normal on the tests, stopped feeding Wellness Core and the symptoms resided).
Now the vet would like for me to try a diet that is less rich by feeding Purina One.
If this was your pet, would you give the Purina One a try? I know it is not a good quality food, but I want my cat to have properly formed stools. I am just so frustrated with the situation that I think I am going to do it. I just already feel guilty.
Re: Does this make me a bad pet owner?
no, you have to do what works for YOUR pet. I think that you should try the lower quality food and see if it helps. Try switching back to the higher quality in a few months as PP said, but if the loose stools come back just feed the lower quality. Many pets live long lives on the low quality anyway... it's not guaranteeing anything by feeding high quality. I personally just feed high quality bc i feel better doing so, but I also keep in mind that my child hoot cat lived 16 years on meow mix and my dog lived 12 years on Purina dog chow.
Try it! Don't feel guilty. You are trying to make your pet feel better.
I agree that many pets live long lives on low quality food. Our Lhasa Apso lived for 15 years eating Iams twice a day, every day. See if it helps.
- Martin Luther King Jr.
I saw this and had to speak up. I had a cat who was very healthy her whole life, until for a few months she started having diarreah very frequently. I took her to the vet, they did blood tests (everything was fine), tried changing her food, nothing helped. She continued to have loose stool, and was losing weight.
I got the idea to get an ultra sound for her, and they unfortunately found a stomach tumor. She passed away not that long after that, and I was very upset with my vet for not suggesting an ultra sound sooner. When they found the tumor it was too late for my kitty.
I really tried everything that I could do for her, but I didn't know it was that serious until it was too late.
I don't mean to scare you, but I would highly recommend getting an ultra sound if changing your cat's diet doesn't improve her stool. It may be something more serious, and if you can find out the problem early enough you can help her.
Thanks everyone. I do plan to try it for a bit to be able to say that I did. Hopefully it helps. My vet has been pretty dependable and I figure I can at least try implementing her suggestions.
I am so sorry you lost your cat.
I definitely know there are many, many serious things that could be wrong with her- cancer or otherwise. Given her other symptoms (gas, ect) and demeanor (still gaining weight properly, very active) the vet strongly suspects a food sensitivity, but is on the lookout for any other possibilities. Our vet is paying very close attention to our cat and is speedily moving through the diagnostic process. I will ask her if she thinks an ultrasound is necessary. Snickers is quite young (11 months today), so the likelihood of cancer is pretty low. Given some other variables though, even if it is cancer we might not be able to do much. She has some heart problems and the vet is very hesitant to put her under anesthesia. I trust my vet to do what is best for our cat, but I know I have to advocate for her the best that I can, so thanks for reminding me that I should ask about other diagnostic tests.
Random, actually, but we need to schedule our cat with her specialist for a cardiac ultrasound, I wonder if she will take a look at her digestive system if our vet writes a referral. The specialists main area is oncology, but she has been seeing our cat for her cardiac problem.