What should I do if my cat has soft poop? This is probably the most common problem faced by poop scoopers. Don’t panic if it happens occasionally. If it happens frequently, you should pay attention to it.

1. Why does soft stool occur?

The causes of soft stools are widespread and numerous, and may not only be problems with the digestive system.

01. Improper diet

(Food intolerance/sudden food change/food with too high fat content/food spoilage/food poisoning)

Note that diet is the primary cause of gastrointestinal diseases in cats, which usually causes acute diarrhea. For example, feeding human food, suddenly changing food, or eating too much hair removal cream or nutritional cream may cause soft stools. Generally, after stopping feeding, it can recover on its own within a short period of time.

02. Internal parasites

The main symptom of parasites is not that you won’t gain weight if you eat it dry as everyone thinks, but diarrhea and even blood in the stool. And some parasites cannot be eliminated by conventional deworming drugs. Therefore, even if you perform internal deworming on time, you cannot be sure that your cat is free of parasites.

03. Cat plague

I believe everyone has heard of the bad reputation of cat plague. Feline distemper, also known as feline panleukopenia, is caused by parvovirus. It can cause diarrhea or even bloody stools, anorexia, vomiting, a sharp decrease in white blood cells, and a high infectious and fatal rate.

Kittens that are less than three months old and have just been brought home need to be carefully considered.

　2. What should I do if my cat has soft stool?

Step one: Have you been vaccinated?

No → Go to the hospital (especially kittens, they need to go to the hospital)

Beat it → Step 2

Step 2: Have you experienced vomiting or loss of appetite?

Yes → Go to the hospital

No → Step 3

Step 3: Is it frequent watery diarrhea?

Yes→Go to the hospital

No → Step 4

Step 4: Stop all suspicious snacks

Only feed the food you usually eat

Step 5: Feed some probiotics

If the stool is loose, you can add an astringent and antidiarrheal drug, such as "Smecta". Generally, a quarter bag to a bag is sufficient, twice a day, and can be adjusted according to the cat's weight and the effect after taking it.

After these steps, mild soft stools caused by diet will generally improve within 3 days. If there is no improvement in 3 days, it is recommended to go to the hospital for a check-up.

3. Be careful of two misunderstandings!

NO.1 Is it necessary to eat and drink?

A lot of information has this point of view: whenever diarrhea occurs, food and water should be stopped immediately.

This is an outdated and incorrect view. Research shows that recovery from illness is faster after proper eating than without eating. Strict fasting and water fasting are not only not beneficial to intestinal recovery, but may also lead to dehydration and hypoglycemia.

The correct way to "rest" the intestines is:

Feed easily digestible, less irritating food in small amounts and frequently. For example, enteral prescription food, or just feed it the staple food it usually eats. Do not feed it too much and too miscellaneous.

▷ Unless eating causes severe vomiting or explosive diarrhea (this situation requires prompt medical treatment), it is not recommended to fast for a long time.

NO.2 Can you give me some gentamicin first?

Gentamicin is a common drug used by people for acute diarrhea. Some people think that it is also effective for cat diarrhea, but this is not the case. In fact, not only gentamicin, but also all antibiotics should not be given in a hurry. Antibiotics do not have much therapeutic significance in most cases of unexplained gastroenteritis.

Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic and is nephrotoxic. If the dose is not properly controlled, it may cause acute kidney injury.