got the test result

Question
QUESTION: Hi Jana,
I took kitty to new vet.  He palpated her tummy extensively. They had a record of her weight from 2005 and it was 9.6.  It is currently 9.2.  So he said since the loose stools & carpet soiling has been going on for a year, and no weight loss and no palpatable mass,that this was a positive thing.
He did the thyroid test, mostly b/c I wanted it I think.  He later called me with the result that it was just slightly off (something like that--I can remember his exact words) to the degree that treatment isn't warranted.

He said her coat/hair didn't look all that bad and he wasn't concerned about it, sighting the fact that she's an older cat.  

He said she could have irritable bowel syndrome or something called giardia.  And to come back in 2 weeks and he will do another blood test and also test her stool for gairdia.

I'm absolutely kicking myself now for not insisting he just give me the medicine for it.  The online Vet, Dr. Hines, mentioned metronidazole (Flagyl).  I looked it up one 1-800-PetMeds and they sell it but only with a prescription.  

This vet I took her to is only in office on Wednesdays--it's not his practice, he just covers the regular vet's Wednesdays.  So I called the office and asked them if they could reach him to OK a RX for the Flagyl.  I wasn't thinking straight yesterday!  I should have asked him for it.

He did say to add poultry/canned food to her diet... chicken or turkey.  I bought a few cans of Science Diet chicken and turkey when there yesterday.  He said give her a half of a can and also the dry.  So stupid me!  I did and she had diarrhea everywhere in the dining room when I got up this morning.

The vet yesterday said to put some feliway on some cloths and put them on the floor where she's going.  Also, get a covered litter box for the dining room.  

I really DO NOT WANT TO ENCOURAGE HER TO USE THE DINING ROOM, so I have resistance to that idea!

A cat psychologist who works for Tree House Animal Foundation called me back finally and she said that if the cat is getting older and not feeling well, she feels very vulnerable.  And when I'm sleeping she feels that I'm not around to protect her from a bear jumping through the wall or something.  I don't know about that!  I leave a light on in her litter box area at night.  It's got to be wee early morning hours around daybreak when she goes on the dining room carpet.

She, too, said put a liter box in the dining room, but not a covered one.  I really don't know if I'm going to do that.  Even tho I clean the carpet and don't see or smell any residual stool on the carpet, I think she can and it stimulates her to want to go there.  The cat psychologist didn't think that was the problem tho.

The vet said to use vinegar and water on the carpet so that kitty can't smell it.  I have some and can do that.  And also I ordered Natures Miracle carpet shampoo, but haven't used that either.

Now I've gotten sick with a head cold and feel awful and am too weak to deal with anything today... I'm getting old too!  And every time she soil's the carpet, I age a little bit more!  

Anyway, I called the Vet's office where I had her yesterday and asked if they could please contact the Vet she saw yesterday and tell him the wet food gave her bad diarrhea and to ask him if he will OK the prescription for
metronidazole (Flagyl).    It is nearly 3 pm and I haven't heard back and really hope they're not going to blow me off!  I will call again later or tomorrow if I don't hear back by the end of the day.  I am so darn frustrated with all of this.  

Do you know if this metronidazole (Flagyl) has side effects?  He said to bring a stool sample next time so he can check for that giardia.  Does she have to have that in order to take that Flagyl?  On the pet meds website it said that its for irritable bowl and/or unknown intestinal issues.  What harm could it do?  Can I put it in her food?  Like--it it a pill I could break up into her food?  

Joy

ANSWER: Joy,
Flagyl is a great drug for these problems but it is very hard to give to cats.You CANNOT break it or put it on food- it makes the cats foam at the mouth something terrible and it is hard to stop it once it starts. We have had to wash out their mouths to make it stop.

I think there is a liquid form of it for cats but I am not sure.
Giardia is a protozoan disease. Protozoans are like little animals, they are not bacteria type bugs. It causes weight loss, diarrhea, and sometimes vomiting. The fact that she hasn't lost weight would indicate that she probably doesn't have it. You have to take in a really fresh stool sample.

Switching foods that fast are sure to give her diarrhea Joy. Boil up some rice and mix that into her food for a few days. Warm it up before you mix it in.

Rice water also helps. Irritable bowel symptoms are intermittent diarrhea coupled with regular stool or constipation.

This poor cat is really getting the work over for some carpet soiling! I still think this could be as simple as a substrate issue or where the litterbox is. I would put it where it's quiet and yet accessible to her. Sometimes just being out of the limelight helps.

If her thyroid is a little off but not bad, that could account for the coat issue but if he feels the rest of her is okay, I wouldn't treat it either. The treatment can be very hard on the cat. For some reason, the pills can cause a lot of vomiting.

Vinegar and water barely work. I use to use a product we sold at the vets called urine-off. It works really well.

So call the vet and ask them if they carry this- it will help keep her from going back to the same spot.
I hope this works for you- keep me posted. Another thing I wanted to mention was to ask the vet to check her for coccidia.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Jana,
Well, I'm still going crazy here.  I was an absolute idiot, not thinking AT ALL.  The Vet on Wednesday said she needs a rabies booster and would I like it given then?  At the moment I thought may as well, then I don't have to deal with the drama of getting her in the cat carrier and her crying all the way to the vets office.  

But HE (the vet) should have known better than to give a sick cat with a borderline thyroid issue, low range of normal WBC count who is very stressed out a rabies shot.
Now her diarrhea is worse!  I'm thinking it could be from the rabies shot.  What do you think?

An online vet says give her catfish and mashed potato and peas.  I did. and crushed up the Flagyl and put it in.  Also today gave her a tablespoon of fancy feast wet food with a little more of the pill.  He said 1/10 of a whole pill per day, for 10 days.  

So now you are saying that YOU CANNOT PUT FLAGYL INTO FOOD?
My goodness... how am I supposed to get it in her then?

Do you mean to say that the flagyl won't work if a small amount is put into food?  Do you know why?  Otherwise, how do you get it into them?  

I bought a covered liter box and put it in the dining room and now am going to pray she uses it!  

Her diarrhea has worstened since getting the rabies shot.  She got the shot Wednesday and this is Saturday... and still has diarrhea.  

I gave her the stupid catfish and peas yesterday and maybe that gave her diarrhea too.  

I may try the rice, maybe she will eat it.  I am very confused and feel so sorry for her.  

Thanks,
Joy

Answer
Joy- if she is eating the food with the pill in then keep giving it to her. I just meant that it will make them foam at the mouth if they bite into a pill.
The stress that her immune system is going through from the vaccination along with the diarrhea already there is making it worse. It will slow down if you keep things constant and stop trying new foods on her.

Stick with one thing- be it fish and potatoes and peas or what ever she will eat. Just stay with that for a week or more and add a bit of rice into that. The rice will help with the diarrhea and so will the potatoes.

This has really gotten over blown at the vets. Do not let the vet give her any more vaccinations and you are correct- he wasn't thinking very clearly. Let him know that too! (nicely).
So keep up what you are doing, give her the same food daily with her pill and watch how much water she drinks.
Sometimes Flagyl makes them thirsty. Keep me posted!!