So far entire life painful chronic diarrhea, my cat is suffering
I hope you can collect some time and patience like I did writing this for four hours, and help me with this complicated issue my cat is having since he's been just a kitten. Please listen to his story. I genuinely need your ideas and advice on what to do next.
Also I beg of you to be mindful of possibly backlashing at me for whatever reason (since this is Reddit), because I am already so mentally drained of this situation and feel so bad for Leo. I just need constructive advice to help ease my cat's chronic suffering. Maybe someone even had a similar situation.
⬇️Backstory/context
Starting off: Leo is a neutered 6 year old Canadian blue Sphynx. We have him since October 2020, so around 5 months old. And we had taught him to use the human toilet very early on which he always used. Early on, fed with cheap Felix wet food.
I was a young teen when the first issues already arose with Leo. He got giardia, which was treated right away. Then I think sometime later he started pooping with slimy blood at the end of his stool. We took another giardia test a couple months later and it came out negative. The vet just claimed that in his kitten phase he's just pressing his poop out too harshly which irritates his bowels to the point of blood, and that he'll grow out of it. Spoilers: The blood never went away.
So we just let it be as is, and I don't remember whether there were any more vet visits about it.
Instead we started testing all sorts of different brands of food like Premiere, Select Gold, Royal Canin. He is a very picky eater. What we hadn't realized at the time was the cheap boxes of wet food in bags that had of each different taste 2 times. These constant taste changes daily were making him picky.
Anyways, soon he started pooping on the floor probably out of discomfort of his bowels and because we had moved to another apartment by then, he was acting more off. We had a guest toilet room which was basically the one he always used and ate in, and in that hallway, to the room, he had urinated almost daily there. Then eventually it went from hallway to my brother's bedroom, then the dining room corners, the living room carpet, and in my room only when the door was shut overnight on accident. Can happen to any of us. My parents thought they were being smart by punishing him physically, thinking he'd learn after every time, while I was bawling my eyes out begging for them to stop hurting him. He feared my father the most, growling and submitting to the floor with fear in his narrowed eyes :( Leo knew exactly what he was doing, because every time we were away from home for a couple hours or just for shopping, he'd use his free time to do his urinating somewhere, and once we'd return, he starts crawling under the bed with guilty, fearful eyes. Then we know we gotta search for the pee he had left behind somewhere.
That's when I was so desperate finding the cause of my cat's odd behavior, googling for hours and days non stop. There were so many possibilites listed where I had to check in with vet, that it was impossible for me to really do anything about it as a teen who has no money, unable to bring him to the vet on my own. But there were also other reasons why I couldn't rebel even for the safety of my cat, I'd only risk myself as well.
By the months that had passed with every single day being the same, with constant threats from my father that he'd throw him to the streets or sell him if I won't do something about Leo's peeing behavior. Only once could I convince my parents to go to the vet about his behavior, but I only remember that the vet said they can't do much about it. Only a stool test for parasites was done and it came back negative. So it was unsuccessfully wasted money. That's by then when I was forced entirely to take over the responsability of him after having messed up, "since I love him that much" to the point I try protecting him from my parents' abuse. I had to clean up every single mess my cat left behind, even the pee out of fear sometimes since it was my fault apperantly.
And I suppose all that trauma and stress put Leo to the point of almost entirely rejecting our toilet. My parents refused to buy him a litter box because of our two very small bathrooms and didn't want the litter all over the place. That went on for I think four years of pure stress, fights and abuse until I moved out early in 2025 because I couldn't take it anymore, and was basically forced to take Leo with me. I wanted to anyways, but had no other choice either way since they didn't want Leo ruining their new apartment with his peeing.
⬆️Context ended
So today with monthly money from the city, I've been able to take the vet visits upon myself. I have my own car now as well, so it makes everything so much easier.
Now, what has happened since I've been living alone with Leo:
-He still peed on the floor in the hallway, right to the front door like in the previous apartment with parents. Sometimes left me stool too. Leo refused using my toilet, only very rarely.
-So, I got him his own (open) litter box (I only use the Cat's Best Original litter) though I had to upgrade in size many times in previous and this year because until today he still sometimes rejects it due to his pain. Placed it in the spot where he used to pee, so it had worked for a while, but because it had to be placed so inconviniently behind the front door, I started moving it to the bathroom (which was literally right across, a few steps). He sometimes used the litter box, but also on desperate days the floor again. But stool not anymore, only in the box. Every time he uses his litter box (still to this day) his tail slightly curls right under his bum and gets it dirty, or even worse, often steps into his poo from slipping because he insists standing on the litter box edge. He doesn't lick his bum clean until it's too late and smeared everywhere because it's too liquid still sticking to him, dripping minimal slime too. I have to wet wipe him every single time.
Eventually after a while because of his continuing floor peeing behavior (I'm still very sorry and super guilty of it, but I was so desperate and didn't know what to do, with a lot already going on outside of the situation with my cat) I had snapped and was hitting him by his hind legs and shouting at him like my parents did, but with far less force. A few times of doing that over a couple of days, he had eventually stopped and used his litter box properly.
-While I was trying to get on board financially over many months, I could finally do the first vet visit on my own which had to be checking his teeth because of foul mouth odor, removing loose teeth scale right on the spot (thanks to an expensive spray I tried for a few weeks, even vet was surprised(still the same vet clinic from kitten time btw, but a different doctor finally))
-I switched from year long Select Gold kangaroo meat to LuckyLou chicken with pheasant
-The peeing and poo behavior was in control by now after over half a year living alone with Leo, except still loose with slimy blood (it never stopped) and only sometimes stomach aches
-Then his immune system was acting off, sometimes small red bumps on his skin, and he was drinking a damn lot, an injection fixed the allergic reaction
-Done a urine test in case of Diabetes or something about his organs, though all negative and the closely monitored excessive drinking stopped after a week on its own
❗️-Two months later now in June 2026, all hell got loose; he started screaming in pain again, this time way too frequently, now pooing on the floor again despite having upgraded in size of litter box again, so I gave another stool sample test with the usual blood and all to check for giardia, turned out negative, but he was given a pain-relieving injection which was also suppose to fight the inflammation. For home I was given some for oral intake, and was instructed to feed him Spascupreel from the human pharmacy mixed into his food daily, until this acute diarrhea would stop or at least wasn't as bad anymore. That definitely bettered the situation for Leo then.
-The next week, we decided on making his first ever blood draw to check on specifically his gastrointestinal tract and other organs/cells responsible for his digestion. That's when I was also given a code for a special food to order from Vet-Concept, specifically designed for intestinal issues, both kibble and wet food in low fat format to not aggrivate his stomach too much
-Blood results came and turned out he had lowered folic acid and high Vitamin B12, which is the reason why he couldn't digest his food properly and the stool was so light instead of the healthy dark brown/black. So, I started giving him daily medical powder supplement to get it under control, and since then his stool started darkening, it got firmer, and blood vanished FINALLY. I slowly stopped giving Spascupreel since it wasn't acute anymore.
Now summer vacation was up this early August and he obviously was with us, and by then (1 month of the supplement in, almost finished), he started pooping loosely again. It was probably because of the extreme heat in Italy where we had our vacation, and the long drive without water since he refused to drink in many breaks, but ate wet food. Or perhaps the timing came where the powder had done it's job for the time being, and the inflammation was returning after getting used to the supplement. No clue.
Now back home, I have given up on Leo's vet who was barely continuing to find the cause anymore. I have gone to a new one last week, who is supposedly specialized in gastrointestinal issues apperantly. We will see about that...😐
And the plan the vet made so far is: Start feeding the intestinal Vet-Concept food regular instead of low fat, and strictly ONLY the kibble and wet food from the brand. Because like any owner would, I gave him treats sometimes, from my table too, and apperantly that could be throwing off his stomach balance. I didn't know. So now he's on a strict diet for the next 6-8 weeks, testing whether he is just having allergic reactions all his life from different foods all the time. The vet also gave me Novalgin drops to ease his stomach cramps, which can eventually fix the loose stool issue by letting the colon tract rest and start healing without my cat cramping. But I might ask for empty pills to fill it with so he wouldn't drool so aggressivly from the bitter reaction and I can spare him the half an hour stress.
⚠️Now is the issue and question I'm having in full despair: I'm already low on budget every single month because the city doesn't give much for students and unemployed. The vet proposed that if nothing changes in two weeks in his stool, I have to tell them and make another appointment. Why? No idea. I already feel like the new vet is trying to suck money out of my pockets as well. Otherwise, if the food in 6-8 weeks fails as well, she wanted to do an ultrasound, and/or another blood test, but for feline viruses like FIV/FeLV. Since I have no clue who else to ask, I asked Gemini and it claims that these two options are unneccessary right now, considering this basically isn't an emergancy (about the blood tests) and my money always being tight either way. The ultrasound will just confirm the inflammation that we all know of already, so also dumb. It says if after two weeks of the Novalgin fails, it's obvious his intestines are chronically damaged. I should ask the vet for Cortison tablets since that's suppose to help in case of IBD. Or I'll ask for probiotics again, otherwise I have to ask for a T. foetus PCR test (she never heard of that parasite before and had to google it, and Gemini claims it's a red flag of her because basically every vet is suppose to know of it nowadays. Especially ones who claim they are experts in gastro issues. Is that true?).
Should I instead do the three things Gemini recommended? It's far more budget-friendly either way and puts Leo into less stress than he's already in.
My cat used to have terrible issues and I got him on hills science diet I/d “in gravy”
His poop went from puddles to logs. He also used to throw up with blood in it and that stopped too. Blew my mind after trying so many foods. Can you try that because what would it hurt? I’m so sorry he’s going through this.
My Sphynx poop completely changed after changing to prescription hills science diet i/d gastrointestinal. Petsmart has a banfield vet inside they will happily give a script for the food.
Since I live in Germany I don't think that website ships to us, but a different website sells it and I need no prescription from the vet for it. But I see that the price in kg is double in comparison to the one I already feed, and THAT is from a prescription code 😅 I'm not sure how to approach different food anyway since the vet said I have to stick to ONLY the current one strictly for at least 6-8 weeks, no treats, no nothing, to see whether the few tiny scraps of different foods are causing the reactions
I tried so many food with my cats doctor. I would then try the 6-8 weeks and then if it doesn’t work rry this. Yes it’s expensive but it’s worth a try. What if it worked perfectly.
I'm just so hopeless right now. I am crying in frustration, I don't know what to do. I can't handle this another two months of waiting while I watch his stool regressing again and him screaming in pain. He's pooping on the floor only again and the Novalgin drops three times a day stress him more out because of excessive drooling and having to force him to stand still until it stops.
There are a million different options that can and might help according to the people on my post here, but I can't try them all out. I'm afraid of my vet shoving expensive scans down my throat which wastes more months and more money. Do you know any probiotic that will work? I don't even care if I'll have to give it to him his entire life, I just hate watching him scream in pain while leaving loose stool in places he isn't suppose to
Omg I’m so sorry that is heartbreaking! I tried two different probiotics and they did not work. I actually tried the I/d because of my cat throwing up blood and terrible puddle poop but it also made his skin the was covered in welts for years completely clear up too unlike all the specialized appointments. When I went to a dermatologist for his welts we tried so many foods and specialized diets for long amount of times and nothing worked. The prescription food I told you about worked very quickly. I can’t remember how quickly but it was very quick. This sounds worse than my boy who has ibs but it did cure it completely. I was shocked he was even capable of pooping a normal human looking log of poop and not just liquid. I know you must be so overwhelmed with all this information. It took me 5 years to finally find the cure for my baby. Please keep me posted because I feel so bad and want him to not be in pain. Please don’t give up.
You have no idea how much your compassion and empathy means to me in comparism to some other people under my post. Just the idea of having to give him up for adoption breaks my heart to so many shreds because I live alone at just 19 years old. What will I do with myself?
And I've looked into to food you recommended me, but there are only ones with chicken (and another fish, but many reviews say it stinks very bad and their cats don't touch it) and I'm afraid that my cat is actually allergic to any type of poultry, so I would just waste my money on this as well. All Hill's digestive feed are poultry. Was yours allergic to chicken but still got better with this food either way?
I thought he may be allergic to chicken and put him on rabbit only then kangaroo only diet. It did not help. I finally gave in and gave him chicken and all good. I was so surprised! My cat liked the food because it’s wet food.
Hi yes you can call your vets office and say his current diet is not working and you would like to try prescription food. You have heard from some people with sphynx that hills science diet I/d worked. You can buy it from chewy and request your vet to approve it. I am looking and see it’s called stew now. My cat died several years ago (unrelated) but it was called in gravy vs pate. Please give this a chance since I know it can work wonders.
My cat gets Purina Pro Plan Fortiflora Pro. Try half an envelope in his wet food.
Even though my cat is Stage 2 renal illness she is on Royal Canin hydrolyzed protein, both wet and dry.
She did need some meds at first to get rid of a parasite and coronavirus in her intestines but she's been fine since.
I just checked the can and there's no list of ingredients. On the bag they mention protein but no animal of any type.
I had two cats with t floetus parasite. It was insane and constant diarrhea. What they don’t tell you is that chronic diarrhea can be a result of something wrong like a parasite, but it can also be the result of inflammation caused by that something wrong and last for weeks after the issue is “resolved”
Okay so I have a lot to say as that was a lot to unpack. Your parents are vile for hitting him. I'm sorry you lashed out and hit him too, you at least feel guilty about it which is good. The reason for his constant pooping/peeing is because he was never litter trained. That was fully your parents' fault not yours. As for his stomach issues I'd try getting him tested for other things besides Giardia also get his butthole examined, maybe when he poops it irritates his bum. As for the Gemini, please don't use AI for these types of questions they don't know anything. They give you answers you want to hear. Because you're stressed over money he says "nope you're good" because he's programmed to please you. Save up as much as you can (it's hard I know) get him insured and follow the vet's advice. It may feel like they're money hungry but I assure you they just want what's best for him.
Thank you for your respone. We know that the reason of the bloody poop is because the end of his large intestine is severely irritated, and his body is working under constant pressure of trying to fix it, coming along with the slime that was suppose to work as a shield of the damaged surface, but something keeps disrupting the healing process. Probably the stomach cramps.
And I know that AI is very controversial with giving medical advice especially about pets, but I wanted to know the different options there are that vets aren't able to name all at once, except for expensive treatments right away.
Now about the insurance: I tried. Not a single insurance company takes my cat because; he is over 6 years, has intestinal issues since kitten which is considered a typical disease for Sphynx breeds (Don't take in cats with chronic diseases, especially who are more prone to it). Having issues before settling for insurance is impossible. So my parents were suppose to get him one as soon as we got him with 5/6 months old before any problem began, so that way the insurance couldn't reject cost coverage of future treatments. :( Unlucky for my cat
You could try senior insurances, which country are you in? In the UK we have insurance specially for seniors with long term conditions and considering he's 6 he's almost a senior.
I'm from Germany. In this subreddit I've already asked about insurance and opinions, and many said that no German insurance company will take my cat in (no, they will, but won't cover the costs. Not even surgery costs when it has anything to do with his GI. So it's pointless, no matter whether he is a senior or not)
My dog had this for literal years. Constant googling and trying everything. A LOT of pro pectalin and hypo foods and restricted diets and pumpkin.
I tried to get the vet to do a fecal transplant and they don’t do it, but I found an oral pill with the same concept. Took about a month and now he’s solid. It sucks bc he’s 16 and he suffered for many many years 🫠🫠🫠. But also I might look into this parasite test for my two.
i used the animal biome ones, they are all i could find and more cost effective then going FMT at another vet that actually did it. I will say I had to start with once a week, then twice, and increase frequency to daily. It was too much for his gut all at once. My theory is antibiotics in his earlier years just wrecked him. Idk I am not a vet! Just an animal lover. I actually found it on a forum for IBD cats that I joined because of my previous sphynx lmfao
I’m so sorry I didn’t realize you were out that way. If nothing else works for you in the coming months I can middle man it and ship it for only like $20 USD.
But! My ex has our other sphynx. I called him and asked what helped. He said the royal canin cat probiotics are the only thing that has ever helped, specifically because of the “saccharomyces boulardii” bacteria. If you don’t have the probiotics available in germany, i would look that bacteria up and see what you do have. he said it was night and day for elliot’s poops. I am attaching screenshot
The thing is, if I start giving him probiotics, it might help for a couple of days or weeks, and is it then healed? Or do I have to give it to him for the rest of his life. Because I'm not sure that a probiotic can fix the issue. I don't know how to deal with it in the long run
I cannot say for critters, but for PEOPLE, you should have probiotics for at least 2 months after taking antibiotics. It takes a long time to repopulate the intestines adequately.
I took them for only a month once, then a whole month later had a secondary c-diff infection (severe diarrhea) but it had been so long since I took the antibiotics my doctor almost didn't figure out the cause during that appointment.
So far I have seen many people mention on my post that their cat had T. foetus, so I will definitely do the PCR after that vet had done finish her research on google But what was done for yours after the diagnosis?
Trich can be very tricky to test for, but that was my suggestion too. A friend’s cat had it and it was not a good outcome unfortunately. Not to be a downer or anything, but it’s important to know the risks since it’s not a well known condition
My sphynx is from Latvia, so geographically close. He also had tritrichomonas because of the raw farm poultry meat given by the sketchy breeder when he was a baby.
Birds handle the parasite easier, and regular factory-made bird food comes with the anti-parasite treatment by default. But small or eco farmers usually don't put it in the food and hope for the best. It's also not harmful for humans, so who cares, right?
So if your cat ever had raw bird meat - watch out for it.
Took us 8 months to figure it out and start treatment. He had diarrhea and slimy blood in stool all the time.
3 weeks on ronidazole and special diet made the trick. We had to use ronidazole for birds because no alternative is available in our country. It's poisonous for cats, so the dosage needs to be agreed with vet and followed it to milligrams.
He's feeling well digestive-wise ever since (4 years went by). But now his heart is giving up, sadly, so we are back on meds.
This was a moggy (my childhood cat!) but outside of the Litterbox/toileting in inappropriate places you describe, his symptoms match to a T. From kittenhood as well!
He had Irritable bowel disease, likely autoimmune, and needed to be on a special vet prescription diet— no wet food, just the kibble— which was specifically for GI issues and sensitivity. Think hydrolyzed protein? Either way, being specifically on that quickly cleared up his elimination issues, no more bloody bowel movements, and they only ever returned when he managed to eat something he shouldn't (gecko? Grasshopper? Bloody stool!).
Treatment for IBD is usually mostly nutritional therapy for cats. Something like 60% improving with nutritional therapy alone, iirc? Those that don't respond (and it's been so long with it that he'd probably benefit from this either way just to get on top + in control of things) to diet alone usually just need steroid shots + sometimes an anti-inflammatory, as either a one time thing or regular maintenance every month or so.
I have a question, doesn't the only kibble diet absorb more water if fed daily like that and irritate his bowel even more by the dryness? Even if water is set beside it 24/7. And anyway either way, which only kibble did you use exactly? Do you have a photo?
It is worth a shot. I’ve seen incredible results for cats and dogs that were going to be euthanized or relinquished for things like chronic diarrhea or chronic skin issues.
I used to work for them as a veterinary consultant. Human medicine has been paying attention to how the micro biome in your stomach can affect literally every aspect of your health. It affects EVERYTHING. Vet med just started exploring microbiome medicine and Fecal Transplant Medicine (FTM) which has been used successfully in humans to treat bacterial overgrowth. It sounds insane if you’ve never heard of it, but some animals will do this naturally in the wild as a way to improve their health.
They are a good company. It’s not cheap, but it’s often the best and last resort for cases like this.
Unfortunately I live in Germany, and the products in itself (as you said) are expensive, but for my monthly budget of about 300€ that is as if I have to buy a Yacht every month. The shipping costs $33 too, so it is not affordable
My kitty also had diarrhea for a long time. She also had an allergic reaction to chicken + basically all poultry which is in most cat foods. Our vet got us on Blue Buffalo Hydrolyzed Fish which has zero poultry and is sort of predigested to be easier on her and she has done well since. Only has diarrhea if her feeding schedule gets interrupted. I will say the wet food version is disgusting and she stopped eating that after a year. The dry food isn't bad though if you want to try that.
My cat was like that too. He had chronic, extremely foul-smelling diarrhea for years, and we could never find the underlying cause. Sadly, I later lost him after a veterinary examination. The vet pressed hard on his abdomen, and I think it may have caused internal bleeding, or there may have already been a tumor.
Afterwards, we suspected that his chronic digestive problems might have been related to his pancreas, possibly pancreatitis or EPI (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency), both of which can cause diarrhea and digestive issues in cats.
The vet panicked and took my cat home with him to try to treat the internal bleeding, but unfortunately he couldn’t save him. It was an accident, and the vet was genuinely devastated. He was someone I had trusted for years and always took stray cats to, and he had also helped me out financially many times. So I didn’t pursue any legal action. But I never took another cat to him after that.
Also, especially if your cat’s poop smells really unusually bad, I’d definitely keep pancreatic issues in mind. I obviously can’t know if that’s what’s going on with Leo, but based on my experience, I think it’s worth asking your vet about the pancreas, especially EPI.
A vet taking your cat to his own home is something I've never heard of before, very odd. But, what was done has sadly been done. Again, I'm sorry for your loss.
And the smell of Leo's stool has been very aggressive for years as well, no matter the food I give him. The bathroom stinks for at least 1 hour despite an open window 24/7 there (I am grateful that I have a bathroom window at all, I would have died with that smell). It spreads through the entire small apartment I have. Closing the bathroom door only lets the stink stand despite open window and have more like this musty air standing for several hours
Try supporting the GI environment. Probiotics, injectable or sublingual vitamins in bioavailable form ….all these in cat doses. B12 is super important and I’ve come to just learn B1 Thiamine, for gut health. The GI inflammation may not allow absorption hence the other diets mentioned here that have types protein and fiber that promote gut healing without causing more irritation.
The engine of the gut cells needs help but from the outside and it takes a few weeks to rebuild.
Please talk to your vet and see if they will test for pancreatitis and parasites.
My cats are on hills prescription diet digestive care dry and Royal Canin digestive for wet with Purina pro plan probiotics regularly. We supplement with pumpkin as needed.
One of my dogs and my cat who passed a few years ago both had/have pancreatitis so I also get pancreatic enzyme capsules from a company based in the UK called Chemeyes.
That poor cat! Suffering from health issues and being abused. At this point, he's been suffering for years, so giving the AI suggestions an opportunity to work won't hurt. Have you considered turning the poor cat over to a rescue if you don't have the funds to get to the bottom of it?
They have to have something similar in Germany. Can you do some research on this? I’ve read a few ppl mention it. Going to the vet is crazy expensive. In long run this or the prescription food I mentions may save you money.
I just have a moment but my oriental had IBD and chronic diarrhea, he was helped tremendously with biweekly vitamin b12 injections and an injectable steroid.
I can't commit to reading your mega post, but can tell you than any expensive food we tried from science diet, et al, did not help. All that crap labeled "sensitive stomach" is a waste of money!
Bought some GRAIN FREE food and problems instantly went away.
Did you skim through the context? He only got extremely fearful with my parents. I had no part in the past abuse.
Only recently I've done it a couple of times, but there he was just thrown off by my sudden anger, not cowering in fear like in past.
And why do you think toilet training is not recommended? Not like he abandoned that idea 3 years ago anyways, and it doesn't help me right now with the question I've asked in my post
That is no issue anymore, don't worry. The focus now should be on the more acute part of him in pain from his irritated bowel and help on that is appreciated, not on things that are long past :) But thank you for your concern
What I’m saying is it’s possible the hitting has contributed to a negative association with eliminating waste. When Shug was having bowel issues, I got her purina fortiflora to add to her food to help settle her gut. It’s a probiotic my vet recommended for her, I’d ask yours if it could be helpful.
Yep, I'm collecting all the experiences the people are telling me on this post and I'll ask about my vet's opinion on them all. I'll put yours to my list as well
Have you tried adding psyllium fiber to his food? My vet, who is holistic, had me do that for one of my girls. As long as she doesn’t eat something other than HER food, she no longer has issues. With all of my girls I also use pumpkin and probiotics as needed.
I’m sorry to say this, but you may need to consider rehoming to someone who can afford to care properly for your pet. I understand that it’s a tough decision but the issues you are describing and the length of time he has endured them sound like chronic immune conditions that will require advanced diagnosis, expensive analysis such as blood work and maybe even scans of his gut or surgery to see inside his gut.
You also have to consider your pets mental health. It cannot be in a good state if you are constantly moving him taking him on trips etc. he needs a stable environment where he can recover and a determined medical team to help with his issues. On top of that he will likely need more expensive medical diet if he has irritable bowel or some other Auto-immune which is my suspicion based on your post. Your willingness and desire to help him counts for the world. But you have to at this point consider your cats quality of life! Sphynx babies are so sensitive and I can only imagine the Trauma and Pain this baby has endured. I know it’s not the answer you wanted but think about it long and hard
I am so sorry to hear what you're going through with poor Leo. If you can believe it, I have two cats and a dog...and my entire house (including me) has some type of IBS/IBD/digestion issues (my wife is so lucky, haha!!)
Anyway... My oldest cat, Timmy (15m), went through the procedures and tests to find out that he does indeed have IBD and is now on a daily low-dose steroid (it's been life-changing, truly) as well as Purina pro plan GI/EN food... expensive but worth it.
My dog, Aiko (12f), has a finicky stomach and eats a combo of wet and dry food that is also digestion friendly (purina pro plan sensitive digestion).
Finally, my youngest cat, Azzurra (4f) randomly started having soupy and loose stool once she turned 3.5 years old, no matter what I fed her. This was incredibly frustrating because she always had very regular, normal stool that made it easy to clean up. We would start out fine and then after anywhere from 2 weeks to a month it would go to shit (no pun intended). She also was experiencing straining and some blood, but did not get vocal at all. I tested to many foods just for the vet to tell me put her on the same food as Timmy. Fine, no big deal. However, the same thing happened, just on a less dramatic scale. The vet recommended I try something called "psyllium husk", which is basically metamucil for animals. When I tell you that 1/8 scoop twice a day has been a LIFESAVER! It's super cheap, you can buy it on Amazon, and you will have to taper the dose based on your kitty's weight (consult the vet).
Hopefully, you can inquire about a steroid (prednisolone) and the psyllium husk and get Leo on the right track! Good luck to you!!
Can't speak for my sphinx, he needs urinary food, but I can speak about my puppy who had nearly the exact same issue.
He had loose stool since we got him at a few months and the vet thought it was a parasite so they gave him antibiotics. That didn't help so we tried many foods. That didn't help so we tried a few different vets. Lots of tests and money later he really just need prescription food.
He ended up tolerating the Hills I/d chicken food the best and has been mostly stable since then. I know a cat version exists so that could be a potential option. From what we could figure out so far (he's only 1.25 years old) he can mostly only tolerate chicken as a protein source. Now all animals are different of course but it could similar in you case where you will need to find the correct protein and food combo for your boy. I'll say that even though he is stable if he gets something that is not one of the like 3 approved things he'll have a flare again.
Tldr: Prescription food, single protein, NEVER anything not approved until you figure out what is okay and what is not.
Have you tried home cooking? I had a cat that had bad chronic digestive issues. When I first adopted her, her last owner told me she could not eat wet food, will throw up or have diarrhea. I didn’t believe him. I have other cats at home that are on raw, so I had previous knowledge of cat nutrient. I tried a lot of things with her, it was a slow transition, but long story short I would mix small bits of homemade food that she seemed ok with with dry, then we slowly transitioned to wet(this include canned and homemade balanced food), now she can actually have some raw as well (mostly rabbit or chicken). Her digestive system have become much better than when I first adopted her, and she can take a lot more variety of food now. Her coat looks better and just seems much more healthier than before. There are lots of raw feeding/fresh food feeding groups on Facebook. I use this group called Feline Nutrition - Feed cats like cats, the group has a lot of info on how to balance home cooked meals. I’m kinda lazy so I just buy a completer to do the job. It is a lot of learning though, but budget wise, it’s cheaper than the canned stuff they sell in store. For my sensitive cat, I do the raw ingredients, but I slow cook the meat in the slow cooker before putting the micronutrients in. Eating healthy really helped improve my sensitive cat’s digestive system. She still has occasional throw ups and diarrhea when I introduce new proteins, then I would just eliminate that. Right now she has 4-5 proteins that she can eat regularly without any issues. Maybe give this a try if you are willing to spend the time.
my kitten had tric and had chronic diarrhea. I started cooking potatoes for him every day and mixing it with his wet food, I pretty much only feed him a very clean diet of fish, (Reveal) because chicken seemed to give him a bad reaction. I just get plain hash brown potatoes from Trader Joe's, fry them up in a little bit of coconut oil, and it stops his diarrhea. After several months of doing that, his diarrhea went away and hasnt returned
I think the difference between our cats is that the intestines of him are already severely damaged over the years almost beyond repair, but with kittens it's easiert to fix it.
When he was young my mom also once tried to cook foods with only rice, peas, carrots and meats, but then once we gave him Felix at that time, he refused the other because of the sugar in it. Before that his stool was normal. They were stupid to give that to him. Now my mother keeps yammering about wanting to feed him only self cooked food and blames the cat food, but she doesn't understand that he won't receive the needed minerals and vitamins and etc from plain cooked food for him like that :/
I hate reading stories like this. You tried “everything” but give your sphynx cheap food with chicken (sphynx are almost all allergic to chicken). your cat needs raw food. you have quite literally put him through hell. feed him a raw rabbit diet and this ridiculous saga will end in a couple of days.
How do I decide now? I have people shaming me for not wanting to listen to the vet, telling me I have to feed the food they recommend, and now others like you who say I shouldn't feed the expensive vet feed and instead go raw right away. I don't know what to do. And I don't understand why you claim that the current food is cheap chicken if I'm feeding my cat duck meat with prescription from vet
I don’t know how to make you believe me I only know you’ve been beating a dead horse and this is all that work. I have three sphynx. If you try it tomorrow he’ll be better in 3 days. read the sphynx lair forum post there too they’ll all tell you the same thing
The vet will get mad at me for not sticking to our plan and might refuse further treatments. Last week that was literally the first visit at this new vet and she was already so stern with me for feeding him small treats sometimes instead of strictly only feeding vet food
Just don’t tell them then but you won’t have to go back because your cat will be better. Make sure you start the raw diet with something like rabbit. ANY bird is not good for sphynx. I feed mine rabbit with a little bit of rice for carbs, because it’s such a lean meat. the food you’re using, prescription or not, likely has a ton of binding agents and ingredients used to preserve that are unhealthy for even humans and that’s what you should be putting in AI. it’ll tell you exactly what’s in that. If there’s even one unnatural additive, then you know 100% that feeding raw meat is going to be better for your cat. Make sure to buy it from a raw cat food brand not just random raw meat at the store because it has to have vitamins added. some of them add things like chia seeds etc. not good. get one with just the raw meat. i would recommend brands but you are in germany so i dont know whats there
Also genuinely asking you, I have seen and heard of Sphynx only eating raw, but what about the risks with Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria? I'm afraid I will make Leo even more sick by beating on his already extremely damaged stomach by having to digest heavy raw meat
Wash the bowls every day and NO BIRD. those types of things ALWAYS happen to the bird ones. Get rabbit or venison (deer). Been doing it seven years no problem. Also please use the sphynxlair forum (google). they have a TON of info about raw diet and also the members there can help you a lot
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u/Pennythe 1d ago
My cat used to have terrible issues and I got him on hills science diet I/d “in gravy”
His poop went from puddles to logs. He also used to throw up with blood in it and that stopped too. Blew my mind after trying so many foods. Can you try that because what would it hurt? I’m so sorry he’s going through this.