Most cats experience a brief episode of diarrhea from time to time, and the cause is often something benign, like a too-sudden change from one brand of food to another. But causes of cat diarrhea also include dangerous, even fatal, health issues, so it’s important to know what clues to look for. Ongoing diarrhea may indicate an underlying chronic illness. How do you know what’s causing your cat’s diarrhea? When should you see your veterinarian? And how can you help your cat feel better?
Diarrhea—meaning stool that’s softer and wetter than normal—actually includes a range of consistencies, from moist shapes to watery liquid. When it begins suddenly and lasts for less than two weeks, diarrhea is described as acute. Diarrhea is considered chronic if it continues or recurs over a period of three weeks or more.
A healthy, “normal” cat poop is generally dark brown, firm (but not hard), and shaped like logs or nuggets. Moist logs or even a wet “flop” from time to time probably isn’t cause for alarm. But if your cat has very soft or liquid bowel movements for more than a day or two, it’s important to identify the underlying cause, since diarrhea can sometimes indicate serious, even potentially fatal, health situations.
Is your cat producing soggy logs, soft piles, or puddles? To determine where your cat’s stool falls on the scale, check out our Cat Poop Chart.
Tips for Stopping Your Cat’s Diarrhea
Whether the cause of your cat’s diarrhea has been identified or is still under investigation, there may be several ways you can help your cat feel better. Here are some tips:
Avoid medications unless prescribed by your vet. Never give your cat any human anti-diarrheal medication, since many of these products are toxic or fatal to cats. Avoid antibiotics unless they’re absolutely necessary, since most antibiotics can worsen or cause diarrhea. If your cat has a bacterial infection and your veterinarian determines that antibiotics are necessary, it’s important to support your cat’s gut health during and after the course of medication.
Feed the right diet. Check with your veterinarian before making any changes to your cat’s diet. If your cat’s usual food is high in carbohydrates, ask about gradually adding more protein. Make sure you’re feeding a high-quality, cat-appropriate diet. It’s probably best to eliminate treats and any other extras until the diarrhea has been resolved. And always provide your cat with plenty of fresh water.
Don’t withhold food. Fasting your cat for a few hours is often recommended for vomiting, but it’s unlikely to help diarrhea. (Never withhold food from a cat for any reason for more than 24 hours; insufficient nutrition over just a few days can lead to a potentially fatal liver condition in cats.)
Add fiber and prebiotics. Adding certain sources of fiber to your cat’s food—particularly the prebiotic fibers inulin and psyllium—can improve diarrhea both by absorbing excess water in the intestines and by providing food for beneficial bacteria that live in the intestinal tract. Always start with a very small amount of any fiber.
Especially if your cat’s diarrhea is a result of a course of antibiotics or an overgrowth of E. coli, Gut Maintenance Plus (GMP) for cats can help. Containing the probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii, the prebiotic MOS, and a bacteriophage co*cktail called PreforPro®, our GMP product was specifically designed to resolve diarrhea caused by antibiotics or E. coli.
Studies have shown that S. boulardii is safe and effective for preventing and reducing diarrhea from multiple causes, including antibiotic usage. As a probiotic, it’s especially helpful for regrowing gut microbe populations that have become imbalanced.
S. boulardii is also included in our KittyBiome S. boulardii + FOS Powder. “FOS” stands for fructo-oligosaccharides, which are tiny, soluble fibers that have been shown to improve gut health when added to a cat’s diet. Research has found that FOS offers greater benefits for cats than other prebiotic fibers, and there’s even evidence that adding FOS to a cat’s diet leads to a decrease in harmful E. coli bacteria.
Test your cat’s gut health. Gut microbiome testing can tell you a lot about what’s going on in your cat’s digestive system and how to correct certain problems. By identifying all the different kinds of bacteria in your cat’s gut, our easy, noninvasive Gut Health Test can determine whether those bacterial populations are present in balanced amounts when compared to the gut microbiomes of healthy cats.
Like humans, cats depend on the bacteria that live in the GI tract to help digest their food and extract its nutrients. A diverse, well-balanced gut microbiome also supports the immune system, keeps your cat’s coat healthy, and even promotes a happy mood. But when some beneficial bacteria populations go missing, the microbiome becomes imbalanced, and important digestive and immune functions may no longer work properly. The earlier you can catch an imbalance with microbiome testing, the easier it will be to resolve.
Your cat's microbiome test report will give you customized recommendations on how to best restore and maintain your cat’s gut health. If an imbalance is detected, the report may include dietary recommendations, which often is all that is necessary to adjust the balance among your cat’s resident gut bacteria groups. Transitioning to a higher-protein, lower-carbohydrate diet, for example, may improve your cat’s gut health by encouraging the growth of the important Fusobacteria group, which thrives in a high-protein environment.
For cats with chronic diarrhea caused by more serious microbiome imbalances or IBD, our KittyBiome Gut Restore Supplement can help bring balance to the gut and relieve symptoms. Offering the benefits of fecal transplant in an oral capsule, our Gut Restore Supplements provide the gut with missing beneficial bacteria and crowd out harmful ones by seeding it with an entire community of healthy cat-specific gut microbes.
