Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

didie271 · Joined: 18 Sep 2006 Posts: 32

Dear doctor,

i have a cat which was a stray before. kept her for about few months
already. she was skinny, but due to her good appetite, she has gained
her weight tremendously.

she had this one problem which had been going on since i've adopted her.
she had sort like a diarrhoea thing. when she went for the spaying/neuter
op, i had metioned this to the vet. they gave her a prescription - vit B complex. and i've been told that she will recover very much soon.

i also gave her a tablet- once a month for deworming. n still, the diarrhoea thing is there. pity her coz she cant help it sometimes where her faeces will simply dripping just like that. her rectum is kind of swollen too.

due to her condition, her faeces is more smelly compare to my
other cats. and i'm afraid my family member cant stand this foul smell
anymore. so, please help.

didie271 · Joined: 18 Sep 2006 Posts: 32

dear doctor,

is it that a stray cat always carries this kind of sickness - diarrhoea etc. ?
coz, a vet had explained to me that my cat yang satu ni ada diarrhoae
coz she ate dirty things - eating rubbish n stuff la in order to survive.
so she will need some time to be healthy back since only now she
ate the real deal food. is it true?

i pity her that's why. nak kata dia sakit, she would be the most
active & playful cat in the house. tapi bila dia pegi litter box & try to buang air besar, sometimes she would be like struggling to do it
tapi takde yang keluar. n there r times bile angin je yang keluar.
kesian dier..

doc, is there any possible medication to cure her? i was hoping
that there is. since i am planning to visit another vet by end of this
month, maybe you can give any tips or advice for the time being.

thank u so much 4 ur kind attention.

Dr Nat · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 1834 Location: Klang Valley

To know what medicine to give, first, you must know what is the cause of the problem. There are MANY causes for diarrhoea. The common problems, especially when the cat is a stray, is caused by parasites or food intolerance. Usually, giving it good food plus a good deworming program is good enough to cure it. But, you must know also, not different worm tablets will kill different worms. What type of tablets do you give and how much?

But, there are so many other causes for diarrhoea. Visiting your vet again might be a good idea, since they have the medical history of your cat. But, visiting another vet will also give you another point of view. Whatever you choose, this definitely will require a few visits to the vet to find out the source of the problem, and then to cure it.

didie271 · Joined: 18 Sep 2006 Posts: 32

dear doc,

thanks a lot for helping me out. with ur tips, i've ran through
the internet to the search for this parasites thing. and i
think that is definitely my cat's problem. from what i've
learn, is it true that the ribbon-like thing from the cat stool
is what they called as the tapeworm? and as for the medication,
what do vet particularly use in treating this? coz it says in the
internet, that the tapeworm thing can be cured with few drug therapy.
and, somehow how would it cost?

Dr Nat · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 1834 Location: Klang Valley

Tapeworm can come out from a cat's anus looking like cucumber seeds. You may see a little 'rice grain' crawling around.

Like I said, diarrhoea can be caused by more than just parasites. Furthermore, the longer you delay treatment, the more dehydrated your cat will be. And dehydration could lead to death.

If its possible, try bringing the ribbon-like thing to a vet for confirmation first before you try out anything on your cat (or a sample of your cat's stools). The worst thing you can do is to give her the wrong medication at the wrong time.

How much would it cost, would really depend on what procedures were done on the cat, the diagnostic tests and the cost of the medicines. And all that depends on what disease your cat has. If you are worried about the costs, discuss this with your vet first. But limiting your budget would only mean that some tests or procedures are skipped.

fhinz · Joined: 25 Aug 2006 Posts: 295 Location: KL or Miri

does this "rice grain" looks like ulat sampah? u know, crawly white things?
I tried to search about cat's tapeworm. Does the tapeworm looks like this one?

or maybe this one?

(I'm sorry for the yuckies pics)

Dr Nat · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 1834 Location: Klang Valley

Top one is tapeworm, bottom one is a roundworm.

Tapeworm comes in segments. Most of the time, those segments breakup inside the cat's colon, and will come out as 'rice grains'. Actually, they kinda crawl out. Each of those segments are full of eggs. They are just waiting for another victim to come along...

didie271 · Joined: 18 Sep 2006 Posts: 32

went through the internet to look for info regarding
this tapeworm thing but never actually see any pics
of one. and 2 c those pics, is still ok with me. but, to
know that each segment of the tapeworm r full with
eggs, my hair was kinda stand oredi.... yucke... cant
imagine if they r actually crawling out to look for a
new 'home' .... :!:

anyway, the good news is my cat had this bacteria
infection. went to c the vet yesterday. being admitted
for about 2 days, my cat is fully observed and now
she's under the treatment of antibiotic & some injection.
phew.... at least not the worm thing.

will b taking her home tomorrow. hopefully she'll b fine
after that :|

Dr Nat · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 1834 Location: Klang Valley

Good to know your cat is doing well :)

A tape worm is basically very flat and long (that's why they call it tapeworm). And each worm can break off in segments like this:

Each of those segments comes out of your cat/dog and it look like cucumber seeds or rice grains. They virtually sqeeze out from the anus. And the process is quite itchy. And no, they are not the "ulat sampah" or maggots (although can be similar looking in some ways). The "rice grains" look like this:

Each of those 'rice grains' is just waiting to "pop" open. Inside those 'rice grain' are thousands of egg packets, which carries several eggs inside each packet. If you saw one egg packet under the microscope, it will look like this:

If you want to know how it spreads or to know more about tapeworms, I found this informative website on tapeworms: http://www.s-h-l.com.au/tapeworm.htm Take your time to browse through it.

didie271 · Joined: 18 Sep 2006 Posts: 32

my cat was diagnosed for IBD by the vet. if I'm not
mistaken IBD - inflammotary bowel disease. she's on
medication for a week before we'll b heading to
the vet again to check/ensure that all the bacteria are
gone for good.

some how, i think that nasib baik la i bagi my cats
the deworming tablet. the least i can do for them.

should i want to continue with the deworming tablet,
what is the correct time duration to give the tablets?
like deworming jap, do they need to eat the tablet once
a month?

Dr Nat · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 1834 Location: Klang Valley

When you buy your deworming medicine, ask the vet. They can assess the status of your cat, take into consideration the type of deworming tablet, and help you make a shcedule that will suit your cat.

A little note about IBD. This is a difficult disease to cure completely. What is done most of the time, is to just get the disease under control. For example, putting her on a special diet, medications, and most importantly - to seek treatment each time it flares up again.

didie271 · Joined: 18 Sep 2006 Posts: 32

went to visit vet again last saturday. n, i brought some stool sample as well. the vet said ( after checking the stool sample ) that i need to finish
up medicine - anti-diarrhoeal suspension esp for IBD - if im not
mistaken. he said the bacteria is still there " tapi ada sikit saja lagi."
asked me to complete the treatment.

Should i 've finished the medicine, do u think the IBD is still there?

Dr Nat · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 1834 Location: Klang Valley

If it really is IBD, then yes, it could come back again later on. If it is just bacterial enteritis, then it should be gone once you've finished your medication.