My Cat Has Diarrhoea but Seems Well

A cat with diarrhoea that is otherwise bright, eating, drinking and behaving normally is in a much better position than one that is hiding and refusing food. It is reasonable to watch this cat for a short while, provided you know what you are watching for.

Why the cat being well matters

Diarrhoea on its own tells us the intestine is irritated. It does not tell us how much. When a cat keeps its appetite, keeps drinking, keeps grooming and keeps its usual routine, it suggests the problem is confined to the gut and the rest of the body is coping.

That is the picture in the mild causes: a recent change of food, a small amount of something unsuitable, mild stress, a mild worm burden.

What to do while you watch

• Keep water available in more than one place
• Feed small portions of a bland food several times a day
• Do not withhold food for a full day
• Keep the tray clean so you can see each stool
• Change nothing else at the same time, so you can tell what worked

The two day rule

Give it two days. Most simple diarrhoea settles within that.

If it has not settled by then, it needs looking at, however well the cat seems. Chronic diarrhoea in a bright cat is a common presentation of intestinal worms, giardia, food intolerance and early inflammatory bowel disease, and none of those resolve on their own.

Stop watching and call if

Blood appears in the stool, or it turns black and tarry. Vomiting starts. The appetite drops. The cat starts hiding, or sits hunched. The gums feel dry or tacky. Or the cat is a kitten or over ten years old, where there is much less room to wait.

What to bring

A fresh stool sample, and a note of when the diarrhoea started, what the cat eats, whether the food changed recently, and when it was last wormed. Those four facts shorten the diagnosis considerably.