Although it’s usually categorized as a sign of trouble, it can frequently be caused by ingestion of a specific food for example.
How long does diarrhea in cats last?
Diarrhea in cats can last somewhere between a day or two, or for a few weeks. An occasional occurrence isn’t that serious. It can be usually caused by minor changes in your cat’s diet or other minor causes that pass on their own.
If it occurs for more than a few days, it might lead to dehydration as it contains an increased amount of liquid. You should have plenty of fresh water available for the cat and avoid giving it food for up to 24 hours.
If there is a specific case present and other symptoms are occurring consult a vet. The vet might prescribe certain medication that has a more increased effect.
As for home remedies, adding half a teaspoon of Metamucil in your cat’s food can have a normalizing effect, especially on the soft stools.
Causes of cat diarrhea
The most frequent causes are the harmless ones. If there is a certain change in diet either by you or the cat going outside and eating random foods, it can lead to diarrhea.
The issue with this cause is that it will take a while before you find out what exactly caused it. Spoiled food can also be an issue just like with humans. You might want to start avoiding the super cheap brands of food if your cat has this problem.
Outdoor cats are more exposed to diarrhea as they ingest unpredictable things and don’t really have a fixed diet. They might ingest something they don’t intend to, for example rat poison or something else that is harmful.
Cats with longer hair, who have frequent hairballs, might also have a more increased rate of diarrhea as hairballs can cause ingestion disturbance, at least the ones the cat doesn’t cough up.
Hold the milk!
Many cats are lactose intolerant and this is mostly the cause of diarrhea in cats who can’t take large amounts of it. No matter what television has taught us, we shouldn’t feed them milk without finding out if they can take it.
They will want to eat milk products but that doesn’t mean their bodies can tolerate them. Kitten diarrhea is also a frequent issue because cat owners think cow milk is a valid replacement for cat milk, which clearly isn’t the case.
You can get kitten milk if it’s available in a nearby supermarket. Kittens who have diarrhea longer than 24 hours need to see a vet specially if accompanied by other symptoms.
If there is a chain of symptoms occurring alongside diarrhea, you should definitely go to the vet. Vomiting, dark-colored or bloody stools, decreased appetite, weight loss or any other similar symptoms mean there is something more going on for example kidney disease or liver disease. Should diarrhea cause a severe case of dehydration a completely opposite effect will occur and you’ll have the problem of cat constipation.
Healthy cat with diarrhea
If your cat seems healthy but has been having diarrhea for a prolonged period of time without any consequences, you should take it to the vet to see what the causes of it are.
As mentioned previously, if your cat has diarrhea, then it’s probably not a reason to worry. However if your kitty is showing signs in their diarrhea such as blood or if she’s had diarrhea for over 3 days, it may be a good idea to take her to the vet for a checkup.
