I don't think the problem is food (and I'm the mean first PP). The problem is that the cat is sick. Switching to a higher quality food might be a good idea to prevent future long term health issues, but for right now, the cat needs to go back to the vet. If he has had diarrhea for this many days, he may also need a fluid injection from beign dehydrated. Call the vet and explain that the medicine is not helping. They may want you to wait out the 7 days or you may need to come back in for something else. OTC medicines are a waste of money--you have no idea if the quality is good or if it's just a markup. I'm not saying $200 is chump change, but in the realm of vet visits, it is not extremely high. I feel lucky when we leave a regular visit under $100, and anything under $300 is a "whew!" moment.

In the mean time, if his anal area is red, it is irritated and painful. You could put some vaseline on it and it might comfort him a bit.

Try the prescription food for gastrointestinal issues. You can get the prescription for it from the vet and go to Petsmart.

Last time we had diarrhea issues, we put our cat on high fiber diet, and it cleared it up. After 2 weeks, went back to regular food and he was fine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purina is not low quality food. Much better to spend your money on an RX than on organic pet food.

If your heart breaks for him, you will take him in. Now. The vet will let you make payments.

The vet I use will not allow me to make payments. But I will take him back if it doesn't clear up over the weekend. I heard that the Purina One Beyond was just a step above grocery market brands. I have tried to feed them better, they just don't want the other food I have tried.

Cats are notoriously finicky. That doesn't mean that the foods they don't like are bad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northside is not accepting new patients unfortunately (we live nearby and would love to switch to them)....

Oh, that is a real shame. They are fantastic. We live all the way out in western Fairfax County and we still travel there to see them for our 3 cats. Well, if you (OP) cannot get into Northside, other vets who are fantastic with bowel and diet issues in cats are:

Capital Cat Clinic
923 N Kenmore St
Arlington, VA 22201

(703) 522-1995

http://capitalcatclinic.ca/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/capital-cat-clinic-arlington

Thank you. I will give them a try if problems persists through the weekend.

Capital Cat Clinic recently changed names and phone numbers, although Dr. Brown and most of the other vets are still there. New contact info:

http://www.novacatclinic.com/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northside is not accepting new patients unfortunately (we live nearby and would love to switch to them)....

Oh, that is a real shame. They are fantastic. We live all the way out in western Fairfax County and we still travel there to see them for our 3 cats. Well, if you (OP) cannot get into Northside, other vets who are fantastic with bowel and diet issues in cats are:

Capital Cat Clinic
923 N Kenmore St
Arlington, VA 22201

(703) 522-1995

http://capitalcatclinic.ca/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/capital-cat-clinic-arlington

Thank you. I will give them a try if problems persists through the weekend.

Good luck. Keep us posted. (I am the 9:39 and 9:33 poster.) I know it was so stressful when we were trying to figure out what was going on with our little one, and what a relief once we finally got it under control. So we can help you continue to try to brainstorm other ideas! Don't want this poor little kitty to be in this much pain! Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northside is not accepting new patients unfortunately (we live nearby and would love to switch to them)....

Oh, that is a real shame. They are fantastic. We live all the way out in western Fairfax County and we still travel there to see them for our 3 cats. Well, if you (OP) cannot get into Northside, other vets who are fantastic with bowel and diet issues in cats are:

Capital Cat Clinic
923 N Kenmore St
Arlington, VA 22201

(703) 522-1995

http://capitalcatclinic.ca/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/capital-cat-clinic-arlington

Thank you. I will give them a try if problems persists through the weekend.

Anonymous wrote:Purina is not low quality food. Much better to spend your money on an RX than on organic pet food.

If your heart breaks for him, you will take him in. Now. The vet will let you make payments.

The vet I use will not allow me to make payments. But I will take him back if it doesn't clear up over the weekend. I heard that the Purina One Beyond was just a step above grocery market brands. I have tried to feed them better, they just don't want the other food I have tried.

Anonymous wrote:Northside is not accepting new patients unfortunately (we live nearby and would love to switch to them)....

Oh, that is a real shame. They are fantastic. We live all the way out in western Fairfax County and we still travel there to see them for our 3 cats. Well, if you (OP) cannot get into Northside, other vets who are fantastic with bowel and diet issues in cats are:

Capital Cat Clinic
923 N Kenmore St
Arlington, VA 22201

(703) 522-1995

http://capitalcatclinic.ca/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/capital-cat-clinic-arlington

Northside is not accepting new patients unfortunately (we live nearby and would love to switch to them)....

Agree another visit to the vet is in order. Ask about irritable bowel disorder too. Our cat has it and can only eat grain-free foods or else she vomits and has diarrhea. Once she is on high-quality grainfree foods, though, she is a different cat. IBD can be triggered by stress so you got to get this under control and keep it under control. We even keep her on Prozac to keep her as calm as possible so as to not trigger episodes. Sometimes IPD can also be idiopathic, though; it can flare up at random times. One vet who is great with those mysterious bowel issues with cats and kittens is Dr. Fiona McClure at Northside Veterinary Clinic:

http://www.northsidevetclinic.com/

Purina is not low quality food. Much better to spend your money on an RX than on organic pet food.

If your heart breaks for him, you will take him in. Now. The vet will let you make payments.

You are correct, for most people $200 maybe isn't alot of money. It is for me though. Yes, it is a pain cleaning up crap all over the place, and I do feel for his pain. From the time I get home from work I feed them and I cuddle the little one because I know he is in pain. My heart breaks for him because I don't know how to help him feel better. Like I said, the worm test came back negative from the vet, and she did give me the Drontal meds for both cats. He's taking that other medicine now. Yes, that is a low quality food, but I've tried all the organic food, and higher quality and he won't eat it. Well he will if I refuse to give him anything else but that doesn't seem right either. I have a $20 bag of that Blue kitten food that he doesn't like. I've only had him for 4 months and I know changing their food can also upset their intestines, so since I've had him I've tried about 4 diff high quality foods. This purina stuff seems to be all he will eat.
Anyway, I will wait until this 7 day regiment is over and see if any improvement. And I won't let anyone make me feel bad, because I love that little kitten and I'm in tears every night just thinking about his discomfort, as he cuddles with me.

Anonymous wrote:You need to take your kitten to the vet. If you can't afford it, why did you get a pet? (and almost $200 is not what I would call a "high" vet bill for a kitten). Take the cat to the vet, tell you can't pay for treatment and want to give him up. Or have him euthanized.

The diarrhea wouldn't be bad except that it's inconvenient and gross for you? Yeah, I guess that the fact that it's painful for your cat is irrelevant.

I agree. If you think $200 is a lot, you have no business having a pet to begin with. Please, take that poor animal back to the vet.

For future reference, over-the-counter dewormers are probably not very effective. If your animal has worms, it needs medical attention and an Rx.

And why are you feeding your kitten crappy food? Good-quality food is not crazy expensive.

You need to take your kitten to the vet. If you can't afford it, why did you get a pet? (and almost $200 is not what I would call a "high" vet bill for a kitten). Take the cat to the vet, tell you can't pay for treatment and want to give him up. Or have him euthanized.

The diarrhea wouldn't be bad except that it's inconvenient and gross for you? Yeah, I guess that the fact that it's painful for your cat is irrelevant.

Originally I thought it was worms because I thought I saw somethign white moving in stool and my older cat starting having loose stools too, so I bought some over the counter meds for tapeworm and gave it to both of them. The older cat loose stool cleared up within a day, but not the kitten. Then I started thinking that maybe it wasn't tapeworms and I should take him to the vet. I went with sample of stool and doc said he seemed ok, but gave me drontal to give both cats, and sent stool out for tests. Tests for worms came back negative and she gave me some metrodiazole (sp?). Kitten has been taking this for 4 days now and no improvement. Medicine is for 7 days which will end on Thursday. I have not changed his food. I don't give a high quality food (Purina One Beyond), but he's never had a problem with it before.

Is there anything else I should try? I really can't afford to go back to vet. Between OTC meds and the vet visit, it has been almost $200. I just don't have that type of money. The diarrhea wouldn't be that bad, but he makes such a mess. He never gets it in the litterbox and I guess it drips because it's everywhere. I have to keep him in basement now, because poop is always "leaking" out his butt (which is red, nasty looking). I'm tired of cleaning up crap all over the floor. Any suggestions? Thanks.