Indy’s Close Shave

Yesterday, I made a VERY wrong call on Indy’s diet. I erroneously thought that after one week on raw chicken fillet and Cubgrub Chicken, it might do Indy some good if I introduced a new food to him. Since everyone was on a trial protein rotation yesterday, I didn’t want to exclude Indy too.

It was a very, very wrong call.

Indy ended up with very loose stools (also blood-tinged) about 2 hours after ingesting the new food. That would be either (1) caused by the new food, (2) his condition going back to square one which would have been a total nightmare, or (3) his condition going back to square one BECAUSE of the food change. I hoped it was due to (1). Immediately, I put him back on his raw chicken fillet and Cubgrub Chicken. Absolutely no new food for you, Indy.

I monitored his poop-spot all day. By late evening, I found another soft stool at his spot. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as the ones in the morning. However, this one was buried quite deep at Indy’s poop-spot. If I hadn’t dug deep enough, I wouldn’t have found it.

Then, I made another calculated call. I’ve been reading this: https://www.foodfurlife.com/my-cat-has-diarrhea—what-do-i-do.html#/ and adhering to it as closely as I can. It says that S.Boulardii can be given at double the dosage if required.

It can be given at “therapeutic” doses as discussed above twice a day (and doubled if you see improvement in stool but diarrhea or soft cow patty stools have not resolved).

So I gave him one more half dose (not double, but one-and-a-half for the day) at night.

Somehow, I had some confidence that this might be the right call.

This morning, I got up at 5.00am to check and yes, there was a single stool very near Indy’s poop-spot. But before we get to that, Indy preferred his raw chicken fillet this morning and didn’t eat much of the Cubgrub. I let him choose.

The stool I picked up looked like this (on the right):

If indeed this is Indy’s stool, then it is a vast improvement from the previous ones in the last 2 months. The stool did not smell too. Update: It’s NOT Indy’s stool. I was fooled. 

The stool output from the rest of the cats look exactly like this. Once on raw food, they excrete less frequently, less volume and when they do, the stool would be slightly dry and crumbly. The reduced frequency and volume is because raw food is much better absorbed by the body. That’s what the literature says. Also, it will not be foul-smelling.

I cannot say that I am 100% sure this is Indy’s stool as it was found NEAR his usual spot. But I certainly hope it is.

I shall monitor the sandpit and Indy’s movements for the rest of the day.
Update: I found soft stools at 10.50am later. 

Today would be Indy’s 4th day on Metrogyl. There is still the big acid test next week when Indy finishes the Metrogyl – will the problem return?

Was it bacterial overgrowth in his gut that led to this problem? I also noticed that previously, besides the foul-smelling stools, Indy also had pretty bad breath. The bad breath disappeared when he started on Metrogyl. So, maybe the bacterial overgrowth hypothesis is right. Maybe we just need the help of medicine to clear off the bacterial overgrowth.

As for Cleo, she also ended up with loose stools yesterday after trying out the new food. I tried to give her the S.Boulardii for it but she thought I was trying to kill her, so that did not work at all. Thankfully, Cleo’s stools are back to normal today.

Protein change is so tricky. And yet, protein rotation is recommended and is beneficial to the cats. I think maybe I shall stick to Primal Turkey for now since everyone seems to be okay with it (by this, I mean it produces normal stools) though they don’t really like it that much.

Ginger, on the other hand, has been okay with various kinds of protein change. He took Quail, he took Coco&Joe’s Chicken & Fish. His stools have been all normal.

I would just have to learn who is okay with what food and find the best possible diet plan for everyone.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2019/11/02/indys-close-shave/

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AnimalCare is a registered society that promotes caregiving to street animals and helps in their neutering and medical needs. AnimalCare has a Medical Fund, Food Fund and Education Fund.

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