TBT: This is about pudding-poop and is a bit icky, So feel free to skip it if you want.
Last Tuesday and Wensday, I suddenly saw little quarter/nickel sized clusters of "chocolate syrup" on the floors around the house. Which as I cleaned it up was obviously cat poop. And the litter box had a shiny wet poop in it. Then Thursday and Friday nothing. Ok somecat ate something they shouldn't have but was over it.
Saturday night (after the vet was closed of course) there was more and another oily litterbox poop. I couldn't figure out who it was. All The Mews seemed to be eating and acting normally. And all of their butts were clean!
Last night after I fed all The Mews dinner. I discovered more. Marley, Loki, and Binq ate in the kitchen as usual. Lori ate in the bedroom (as she often wants to do). The 3 stayed around me in the kitchen. After they finished eating (in about 5 minutes) I went to retrieve Lori's bowl.
And there it was. A small trail of chocolate syrup from where Lori ate, down the hallway, and near the litterboxes. And an oily poop in there and Lori cleaning herself right next to it!
Obviously, Lori is the one having a problem. I will be calling the vet as soon as they open to ask if they can see her today. If not, I'll ask for suggestions. Maybe there is an off-the-shelf product from PetsMart that will help some if they are booked for a few days. Maybe they can just give me a quick prescription to try for a few days.
I desperately hope it is not serious. Oh please, please, please, please, please! Some cat vet sites say it can be anything from temporary to a sign of a fatal condition. If I lose a 3rd Mews since September, I will just fall apart...
I'll add more to this after I talk to the vet later.
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OK, we have a 2 pm appointment. I have a detailed list of everything I can think of that might be affecting Lori. I hope something is obvious that can be cured easily. It is just past 7 am, I've been up all night with worry. At least I can get 5 hours sleep now, knowing the vet will see her soon. I am setting 3 kitchen timers next to my bed to make sure I don't oversleep. They beep loudly and relentlessly.
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UPDATE: OK, we just got back from the vet. First, I need to explain that the hospital has 3 regular vets and the Board-Certified vet guy who runs the place (aka Doctor for convenience here on out). Today, Lori got examined by The Man Himself. He is quite a "personality". He's almost 'Hawkeye' from M*A*S*H.
A year as a client, and I had never even seen him before. That he personally examined Lori was probably because the regular vets were all booked, but he was concerned about the diarrhea.
So here is what happened, in the best order I can recall...
1. Vet technician ushers us into an exam room, weighs and gets Lori temperature, takes the diarrhea sample I brought, scans the detailed notes I brought. Leaves.
2. The Doctor enters the room. Scans me briefly. Firm handshake. I'm not being sarcastic, he was really a very nice person. He sure asks some good questions, too. But it was kind of like facing a lawyer. And at the start he said "those were some very good observations in your note". Yeah, they were.
3. So he did the routine exam "feel up" (Lori passed). Asked a lot of questions, but more perceptive ones than the regular vets have ever asked. For example most vets just ask if a cat ever goes outside. If so, lots of shots. The Doctor asked about outdoor contact. "Did she fight with or groom or get within a few intruder cats? Well, no, Lori stays on the deck if she sees an intruder. So he said, OK, she doesn't need (2 shots about exposure to other cats).
4. Then came the regular questions. Vomiting (no). Unusual thirst or lack of (no). Eating (very well as long as he gets her powdered freeze-dried chicken sprinkles on top - she's addicted). Poops (normal until last week). Activity (great inside and out). Attentiveness (good). Types of food (all canned with an occasional kibble tossed across the floor for fun. Doctor hates kibbles as regular food but said a fun few were fine.
5. Doctor admired her teeth and gums, weight, alertness, and general body firmness.
6. Left for 5 minutes and came back with 2 meds. "Loperamide", 1/2 tablet ground up in small amount of 1st morning food (to encourage eating it). Doctor says it has little flavor and cats accept it easily in canned food but morning is best because they are hungrier. The 2nd was "Proviable-Forte" (a pro-biotic). That needs one opened capsule a day mixed into her late night dinner.
Doctor only gave me 3 Loperamide tablets. but since they are halved each day. that is 6 days. If she isn't back to normal litterboxstools by then, I need to bring her in for some more serious tests.
Funny exchange there. He asked if I knew what a pro-biotic was. I replied that 75% of my diet is fresh veggies and fruits, and I work in the garden so Im am exposed to all sorts of biotics. And haven't been sick since flu when I was 12. He gave me a "thumbs-up".
7. Doctor repeated all the med instructions (which are also on the packets). He said "I can tell you know what you doing with cats". Yay.
8. Doctor said that 99.9% of cat diarrhea is from something they ate. Not stress, not some plant, not a disease. But there is always that .1% so he checks carefully asking a lot of questions.
9. BTW, I had mentioned to him that Lori was stressed by the new cats in the house and that I was giving her the leftover Laz chill-pills (Fluoxetime). He said that was OK.
10. Lori's diarrhea sample showed no problems. And I brought one in from Loki (possible shelter cat parasites or "something". That was negative, too. That was good because in multi-cat households with csts sharing space and litterboxes "if one has something, they all do".
11. The checkout was weird. The cashier thought I was charged 2x for one fecal test. I tried to tell her that there were 2 and there was no problem, but she rushed off to ask the Doctor. When she came back, she said it was there policy to charge only 1 test. How many vets would have a staff that tried to lower your bill? I love that place!
12. On getting home, I gave Lori the half Loperamide pill even though it wasn't "morning". It was her first meal of the day though and she didn't object to the med. Yay!
13. So for a week, I have 3 meds for Lori. Doctor will call me in a week to ask how things are going with Lori. And he seems to mean "him". Not that I can read minds, but he was clearly fascinated by Lori.
Maybe he had never actually seen a Tonkinese before. He kept stroking her between parts of the exam. And while Lori doesn't quite have the utterly mink-like fur that Iza did, her fur is close. I mean, she IS a Tonkie.
14. I hope the meds solve her problem. On the more practical side, it would be nice not having to worry about where I walk in the house. But the more important thing is her health.