Cats with Poor Gut Health: Dealing with Diarrhea and So
1. Food Intolerance
Cats are naturally carnivorous creatures with a relatively short digestive tract, about half the length of a rabbit's, primarily designed for protein digestion. If their diet includes an excess of starches, plant materials, or too much fat that cats cannot digest, it can lead to soft stools and diarrhea.
2. Food Allergies
Cats can be allergic to a variety of substances, including proteins, and some may react to dairy products or grains. If these ingredients are present in their food, they can also trigger diarrhea in cats.
3. Food Poisoning
Consuming spoiled food can cause acute poisoning in cats due to excessive bacteria. Some common plants like snake plants, lilies, and peace lilies, if ingested by cats, can also lead to poisoning, resulting in diarrhea and vomiting.
4. Health Conditions
Various health issues can cause diarrhea in cats, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), feline distemper, hyperthyroidism, liver disease, kidney failure, and parasitic infections.
Aside from these causes, sudden changes in food and environment can also easily lead to diarrhea in cats, as their digestive systems lack the ability to adapt to changes effectively.
For instance, a cat that has been eating a particular brand of food may suddenly be introduced to a highend, highprotein formula by its owner, who has spent a fortune on it. The owner believes this will be a treat for their pet, only to find that the cat experiences diarrhea almost immediately. This has led many cat owners to mistakenly believe that highprotein cat food causes soft stools and diarrhea. But is the cat really unable to enjoy such a nutritious diet? The issue is not necessarily with the food.
Cats rely on various digestive enzymes and gut bacteria within their digestive tract to process food. If a cat is weak or has been on a single diet for a long time, leading to insufficient digestive enzymes and gut bacteria, their digestive system may become unbalanced with even slight changes in diet or environment, resulting in poor digestion and diarrhea. Therefore, it's important to transition to a new food gradually, allowing at least a week for the change, and to also care for the cat's gastrointestinal health to enhance its adaptability to digestion.
How to Nourish Your Cat's Gut Health?
The cat's digestive enzymes are not easily regulated, as this is largely controlled by their genetics. However, the gut bacteria can be artificially balanced. The most effective way is to feed your cat probiotics.
What are Probiotics?
The cat's digestive tract is home to a vast and diverse community of microorganisms. The beneficial ones are known as probiotics, while the harmful ones are called pathogenic bacteria, and there are also neutral bacteria. Common probiotics include lactobacillus, bifidobacteria, and streptococcus, which participate in digestion and improve the gut environment. However, factors like the cat's constitution, diseases, and medications can lead to a deficiency in probiotics.
For example, excessive use of antibiotics can destroy both harmful and beneficial bacteria, as antibiotics do not differentiate between them. Common cat medications like Cephalosporin are often overused by cat owners. To protect the cat's gut probiotics, it's best to use these medications sparingly.
Cat owners can choose a reliable probiotic supplement to help balance the gut bacteria and improve the cat's gut adaptability. It's recommended to opt for probiotics from reputable health supplement companies or wellregarded pet probiotics like Purina Pro Plan's Active Probiotics.
