The Diarrhea Disaster and What Finally Helped

When Checkerboard and Grace came inside, they came in with severe diarrhea. I thought it might be the stress of the change. A few days later, I discarded that theory and had them tested for worms. They did not have worms. Their food hadn't changed. The vet suggested pumpkin and other high fiber foods. That helped a little bit so I knew we were headed in the dietary direction but way too much fluid was still being lost and dehydration was an issue for Grace. Occasional sub Q fluids have been a stop gap measure for the dehydration so I kept trying. I tried several different things and while all may have been good for the cats, none of them solved the diarrhea problem. The changes were all made gradually. These are they:

* probiotics, a few different brands

*grain free cat food

*rice in their regular catfood

*barley in their regular cat food

*bone broth and rice paste

*digestive ease cat food

*baby food chicken and rice

*baby food turkey

*pumpkin puree

What ended up being the most effective treatment is a paste made of pumpkin seeds, pumpkin puree and a few drops of water to make a paste. I pureed these ingredients in a food processor until the mixture was as fine as I could get it. 1/2 teaspoon mixed in with their food once a day and 1/3 cap of unflavored metamucil twice a week has straightened them out. This is a relief to all of us.