hi-i saw other cat questions so i hope its ok to ask a cat question,please?I lost my 3 collies all in a year,a couple of years ago,i still miss them dreadfully,they were literally my life.However although i desperately wouldve loved a pup,i think im too old and wouldnt be there for her in the end-i could imagine how confused a dog would be if its owner wasnt there-also you dont know what might happen. After a while i got a couple of kittens,fell in love n suddenly all my worries about being too old vanished.somehow Ive ended up with 11,and i love each one.to be honest,one is my daughters and another is my grandaughter,who i know will look after my cats if anything should happen to me.  .Apart from the first two,the others ,i basically helped someone out (same mum),especially the last 3 who i found out a day before,were going to a  shelter.so yes im a bit of a sucker!
the question id like help with,one of the last batch,Rufus developed diarreaa a week before he was to be neutered,along with his 2 sisters .it cleared up and he was neutered the next week.since then ive been battling diarroea ever since,two of the others got it,a kit and a year old boy.theirs has cleared up,his is intermittant,i have him on prokolin advanced and probiotic powder(purina fortiflora)its gone from brown water to fairly firm but it does this then somethng breaks through and it starts again.   When i first took him to the vet she thought it might be an allergy,which would mean a special diet-the logistics of keeping him off the others food is worrying with so many.if it turns out to be an allergy,does anyone have any advice please?and would prokolin still work?thanks,and sorry for the rambling post ive missed you guys!xxx

Its quite a few years since I had a cat. I remember one that I had couldn't eat anything with liver in or liver flavoured or he got the runs. I did have to check any cat food I gave him to make sure none was in it.

Allergy seems to be the go to atm for upset tummies. has the cat had a stool sample tested for parasites etc ? not just a standard one but other things too. You could try a hypoallergenic diet and put them all onto that. certainly wont hurt the others . unfortunately that isnt cheap and best finding one on zooplus or similar as from the vet they are astronomically priced. Don't worry that it isn't hills or purina the two favourites of vets.
Prokaolin wont make any difference if the root cause is an allergy.

I hope they are all neutered now and . sound like people know you are a softie with animals and need to get their animals neutered before anything happens and to stop any future pregnancies and they come knocking at your door .
I am doing some bits and pieces for small local cat rescue and the numbers of unneutered cats and subsequent kittens is horrendous. I gather this year has been particular bad according to most charities they have been very lucky you hav ebeen able to help

Sorry for the loss of you dogs . I  know how hard the loss is , especially as I lost Brooke a few weeks ago

Unlikely to be allergies. Sorry to have to say this but 11 is far too many . Cats get very stressed when they are in large groups. Rehome half of them for a start. Isolate the ones with diarrhoea
Feed only boiled chicken or boiled fish for at least 5 days. Only feed half of a normal portion and add an extra meal instead. Make sure the daily food intake is less than normal.
I bred cats for 40 years and usually rehomed breeding queens after spaying to keep numbers low. I never had more than 4 in the house apart from litters.

I took on a rescue kitten many years ago and he was also having lots of upset tummies.  He had every test imaginable and everything came back clear.  In the end the vet suggested I just give him some natural yogurt.  I'm not sure if this worked or not but he loved the yogurt (it made giving him a pill a doddle because he knew it would be followed with some yogurt) but eventually he grew out of the upset tummies and lived a long and happy life.  I do agree that, unless you have a very large house and garden, 11 cats is rather a lot.

i would love to work for a charity like you,in fact id love to run one(thanks for your reply)and im so sorry to hear about poor Brooke-you had her at  a similar time to me having River if i remember rightly,a lovely dog,i swear theres no pain like it. Yes,they are all neutered and chipped,and seem to be regular visitors to my lovely vets,poor Dave had to have all his teeth out aged one-gingivitis something,he recovered very quickly. i know it would make sense to rehome some,but im afraid i cant do it-theyre people to me.the house isnt massive,a 3 bed terrace,but they have the run of the place(often having a party in my bedroom at 3am!)and a catio outside, the older,ones in order,scruff(already named by my daughter,dont blame me!)rosie,dave,blackberry,silver and daisy do go out as well but most stay on the garden,just dave seems to wander further.
im taking young rufus to the vets on monday,will report back-whatever he needs he will get.im lucky hes fit and heathly apart from the runs!finally-its nice to"talk" to you again,thankyou,pam xx
ps it was just one girl,who bred the kittens,kept saying she was going to get mum spayed,but money was tight,she d 3 kids and was on her own,she was lovely,really,but anyway,the shelter will have had mum spayed now-they suspected she was pregnant again too  Mind you,the cats protection stopped helping with neutering which wont have helped the shelters.

that was lucky!unfortunatly not one of mine like yoghurt!typical!im glad it worked for you though!xx

hi,thanks for replying,i dare say i have got too many,i doubt anyone would argue with you but im afraid i love each one-how could i choose? so far ive no problems,perhaps because the older  ones are allowed out-the catio was built after they had been used to going out and i just couldnt harden my heart enough to not let them out-i tried,but the scrabbling at door and pitiful look and miows,well,i caved,
thanks for the dietary advice,i will give that a try,although i m taking rufus to the vet on monday,hes the only one with trouble,now.thanks again,pam xx

sorry chris-no hes not  had a stool sample done yet,perhaps she ll suggest it on mondayxxxx

> blackberry,silver and daisy

Reminds me of Watership Down

That's brilliant that you built them a catio too, friends of mine have just cat proofed their entire back garden, great idea to keep cats and birds safe

Idealy I would like to cat proof my whole garden . Unfortunately it's would have to lose a few trees and shrubs so hoping to build a catio next year.
So far the pair of them are happy with the run of the houae

> hes not  had a stool sample done yet,perhaps she ll suggest it on mondayxxxx

I'd not wait for this to be suggested - ask for it to be done.  JMO

Re catios - if this will be big, you may need to check re planning permission.

aw i would love to do that! especially as one of the strays i feed has taken a dislike to my Dave!

Really? i never gave that a thought! its on the back and cant be seen from the street.I know you cant have garages over a certain height in the front, but mine is only about normal room size.oh dear!xxx

all under control,rufus has some new prokolin type medication,which i actually got into him,ive got a list of the 3 best hypoallergenic cat foods to try and he ll be having a stool sample done as soon as i can arrange it,is £300 a pretty normal fee for this?.hes lost a bit of weight which is worrying

I don't think you'll need planning permission if it's not a permanent structure, I'm assuming it's wood and wire? Screwed onto wall? No foundations etc?

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=Planning+permission+for+a+cato

This should give you all you need to know.

I cat proofed the entire garden. Have a look at Protectapet and another one Katzecure. I have used both in different parts of the garden. One apple tree proved so problematic that i had to fence it off. Another one I cut it down. My cat is a Bengal and very athletic.

yes !just wood and mesh,no foundationsxxx

update,just sent rufus s stool samples off.in a way i hope it is a curable infection and not an allergy. thanks to everyone for advice xxx

Good luck allergies are a right pain

thankyou !xxx