Diarrhea, allergies and prednidale

OK, so in a nutshell, my 3 and a half year old Maine Coon male has a sensitive tummy. It first became apparent he had some health concerns when he was just a year old. So I don't waffle on, here is his history in chronological order..

Early 2012 - started to get very serious skin complaints - scratched himself completely raw around the hear, ears and neck. I had to put socks on his back feet to prevent him tearing himself to bits. Very skinny and underweight. Multiple trips to the vet eventually led him being referred to a specialist who suggested a food allergy. I decided I would start by cutting out ALL fish products, as he ate a lot of fish. His skin cleared up, he gained a few kilograms and the skin complains have never returned, even though I treat him once a week with a bowl of tuna (his dry food now contains no fish products at all).

This year, I moved into a new home with my girlfriend, who also has a cat (a year younger, also male, both are neutered). We were nervous about the move but were very lucky, there has never been a fight and the cats are the best of friends (they sleep together, play together, groom each other).

Around about the time of the move Mylo started getting terrible diarrhea. Like so bad, it's hard to deal with day to day. The smell is unbelievable and he gets it all over his bum and sometimes paws too. No other adverse symptoms, he still plays, eats, drinks, eyes are bright. I took him to the vets and they said he was completely healthy, and prescribed him prednidale 5mg tablets. On the tablets, he is fine, he has even gained some weight and looks very healthy. After a few days of being off them, it's back to square one.

Does anyone know of the long term effects of being on this drug permanently? Or know of any food that is kind to sensitive tummy's as well as being 100% fish free (no fish oils)?

My dilemma is this - when on the pills, he eats what he wants, is a healthier weight, and my home is not turned upside down by his rotten rear end. The alternative is to try him on different foods which he may not eat (lose weight), the other cat may not eat, and may make no difference to his diarrhea problem.

Any help or advice would be appreciated!

Stress, stress, stress.... I have 2 Maine Coons, one with the occasional diarrhea (ibs) issue and the other without. Moving into a new home is very stressful for cats as everything they know (smell) was taken away and he was put into this foreign world that smells odd and there was another furry thing there also that doesnt smell like him. It's hard for us humans to understand how much of a culture shock this was for an animal as there isn't a good way for us to explain it to them. Even though the two cats get along (which is great) he may still be confused as to his new world, smells, sounds etc. Was there another pet in your new home prior to you moving in? Do you find that he isn't pooping on a regular routine? When our MC is having issues he tends to avoid litter box to poop, he generally always peed in the box, but won't poop in it because he associates it with pain. So we take him into the bathroom close the door, put him in the box and then turn away and let him do his business. The key is to.be calm, quiet and act like its a reward, don't scare him, maybe pet him a few times, and probably until he gets used to the routine you will have to put him in the box a few times. After you get successful results a few times you will read his body language as to when he actually has to go and when he doesn't need to. We always do this at bedtime as that seems to be his scheduled time to poop. Usually we only have to do this for a few nights, but there's been times its been months. Be sure to scoop the box prior to bringing him into the bathroom. If we don't scoop the box first, he won't go. If all it takes is for us to spend 5 min or less a night taking him to the bathroom, it's far better than cleaning up the stinky mess.

We don't know for sure what triggers these issues, hairballs seem to be associated. We notice a day or 2 after a good brushing will cause a hairball and then we get poop issues. A vet told us that any minor disruption to the normal digestion tract causes and imbalance, so a hairball could trigger it. Also, he doesn't like hairball and could block his intestinal tract which causes a backup and then comes the ibs.

General rule of thumb for multi cat households, 1 litter box for every cat +1. Remove the lids & make sure they are large enough for your cat to get and move around comfortably. Too small they may avoid it & lids trap their odors and they tend to not like small confined spaces. Make sure the other cat isn't a litter box hall monitor. We have 1 of those and the other one tends to have to sneak to the litter box when the other one is preoccupied. This only leads to him holding it longer and if you gotta go this could be an issue. And lastly, the litter boxes can never be clean enough. If you wouldn't go in it, why should they?

I hope this helps a little? Remember to have lots of patience and be reassuring any negative action will only make the problem worse.

Good luck & I dearly love my little giants!

I have never had this issue (touch wood) but reading your post I read up on prednidale
"Prednidale 5 is indicated in the treatment of inflammatory and allergic conditions in cats and dogs."
So the idea I think is to understand exactly what Mylo is allergic to. For example I was thinking about any milk produce (most cats are actually very lactose intollerant), which seems to fit with the symptomes you discribe? You don't give him any human food? He doesn't have access to anything like that that he can steal from your new home cupboard? Anything you can think of that's different from before?
also a suggestion - if you like - you might want to try some mail order cat food, that only has real meat in them - they're not even necessarily more expensive - Lately I ordered some of Lily's kitchen cat food on Amazon (in the UK) - the price is I think exactly the same as if you bought from a supermarket, and there is not even a posting price added.... This being said, Neevie hated the chicken (it's made of real chicken yes, but only the guts and stuff that's not consumed by humans...) I'll try to order beef next...

A late reply but better late than never... I have been feeding him Purina EN Gastroenteric dry food for about 5 weeks.. For now no wet food although he always steals a bit from the other cat.. Problem is 100% solved. He goes to the toilet just once a day now and it's solid and formed. They love the food and the 2 of them are going through about 3kg a month. Could not recommend this food enough for cats with IBS symptoms!

Hi I have a new kitten who is about 13 weeks now. Since the day he came to live with us he has had runny stools. like pudding. He has been to the vet multiple times for this and treated with 3 different medications. We have changed his food once on the recommendation of his breeder who said some of the other cats had this at the time he was placed with us. But her treatment fixed her cats within days. Same treatment for us did not work and same food. He is happy and playful, but also this causes messes with dirty feet,etc. Any ideas on what to try now
?? we have dewormed twice even though no sign of worms, and he has had other meds.

my 3 year old MC's are both really food sensitive; I feed them purina sensitive biccies and Applaws canned plain chicken. They get sick with furballs, especially now as its shedding season, but I remedy that with 'Mark and Chappell, Hairball Remedy Healthy Bites' which seem to do the trick. Neither the MC's or my moggy suffer with runny bums so I can't help there, but diet could be key - what are you feeding your MC kitten?

there is another thread somewhere, where I explained what my breeder advised:
no dry food in the first year
no wet-food in gravy, only jelly - especially no kitten with gravy, it is rather rich and harsh on their tummy.

I would advise trying to switch for a week:
week one: only wet food in jelly (see how that goes)
if not resolved: week 2: only dry food (see how that goes)
if not resolved: week 3: try cooked meat? boiled chicken, boiled steak, etc? see how that goes - beware, don't add anything like garlic or onions, just boil separately from your own food, because a lot of things are really really bad for them (garlic and onion are poisonous in the long run)