Need Help for Mysterious Kitty Illness - Gets Sick Every 3 Weeks
I have a cat who has a mysterious condition: every 3 weeks, as if scheduled by a clock, he has vomiting and diarrhea. He has it for 1 to 3 days, then he's apparently perfectly healthy until the next episode three weeks later. This has been going on for 6 months, right after I moved from Houston to Westlake, Oh, right outside of Cleveland. I have spent over $1,000 at the vet on tests and exams, which have come back negative. At no time does he appear sick, or lethargic, nor does he have a personality change. I have changed his food, trying everything, including prescription food. To this date, I have not gotten any cause for this malady, nor any solution. Help.
CT
04/04/2022
Hi JT,
Sorry to hear about your cat. Well, I don't know if this will help, but I'll put it out there.
I have a dog who is now 16+ with an anal gland tumor. For years, he would also get diarrhea like clockwork every few weeks. I could never figure it out and thought it might be related to his thyroid meds, which started to bring on the diarrhea cycle much faster as he got older. Then he was diagnosed last August with an anal gland tumor and the vet warned me that things would start to get backed up when the inoperable tumor grew and when it did, I should expect diarrhea or force it out with remedies because you don't want an animal to get backed up like that.
It's very possible that my dog had some sort of blockage for years and I never knew. At any rate, now I try to preempt the diarrhea by holding a hot water cotton compress (torn from a cotton roll) on his bum outside in the yard to help move things through. I do this 2-3 times a day. The vet told me to do a warm water compress for an impacted anal gland and it works fabulously well on getting a bowel movement in a dog.
The other trick I learned is that an ice cube on the bum for about 10-20 seconds will also cause the bowels to be evacuated asap. In my dog's case, a warm water compress doesn't always work, so this has become my recent step 2.
So I'm just wondering if your cat is getting partially backed up. It might take 3 weeks, just like it did with my dog.
Anyway, a stab in the dark. Hope you get some helpful answers!
