My cats have developed scours over the past few days. First one and now all of them have it. I have changed nothing in their diet. I have tylan 200 here, as well as penicillin and oxy-mycin 200. I do not know about doses or if any of these may work. Any help would be appreciated.

-- Cassandra Burbank (dchugh@trib.com), November 02, 2001

Answers

Have these cats had their inoculations? It could be distemper if they didn't.

-- Ardie from WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), November 02, 2001.

Start with the simple things. Have you wormed them recently with a prep that gets both kinds of hookworms? I would suggest pyrantal pamoate. Piperazine doesn't get enough of the hookworms. If they're snotty you may have to treat them for a respiratory infection. Often a half cc. of Pennicillin G under the skin twice a day for a week will clear this up and you often don't have to go to the tougher drugs. Vaccination is a good reccommendation if you haven't done that. Good luck. By the way a dose of a good probiotic ( like PB8 ) can sometimes clear up non-specific diarrhea. Last but not least, you could be dealing with coccidiosis and a 7 day course of Albon usually will clean that up.

-- Sandra Nelson (Magin@starband.net), November 02, 2001.

It may be a simple stomach bug .Are there any other systoms ? Fever ? Runny eyes or nose ? How are they acting ? Are you sure they did not get into anything ? Have you put any poison out for mice ? What does the poop look like ? Blood or mucus in it ? Does it have a strange odor ? Sorry to sound gross but we really need alot more info to even take an educated guess.~ Patty

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), November 03, 2001.

Cassandra, If you were a client of mine on the phone, the first thing I would ask is: are they all eating well and acting like they feel ok with no vomiting etc? If so, then hold off food 24-36 hours and try again. If they are SICK-acting, get them to the VET posthaste. Are vaccinations current? Panleukopenia is a possibility if they are not, and it is DEADLY. What are you feeding? Diet problems are behind most of the diarrhea I see in practice. DO NOT go giving antibiotics on your own, whether by injection or orally!!!!! Most diarrhea I see will not respond to antibiotics because it is not due to bacterial infection. Parasites such as Giardia or Coccidia are a possibility, but your vet would need to diagnose. I see lots of diarrhea when canned food is fed, rather than kibble, when food containing fish is fed, and when people food is fed.

-- Catdoc (kestrel91316@aol.com), November 08, 2001.