Dr. Dan Christian specializes in small animal medicine, with special interests in behavior and nutrition. He has been instrumental in establishing animal behavior residencies for veterinarians at leading veterinary schools and developing innovative programs with veterinary organizations in the United States. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Animal Hospital Association, and the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association. During his professional career, Dr. Christian earned the American Association of Feline Practitioners Award. He has also appeared as a guest on television and radio pet health programs nationwide, and to has authored numerous articles for pet health magazines.

Q: I adopted a cat from the Humane Society a few months ago, and she is an absolute joy. She is a Siamese-domestic shorthair cross. The problem? She has yet to have a normal bowel movement since I have brought her home. Her stool is runny and diarrhea-like and has never been otherwise since she has lived with me. I had originally started feeding her a premium dry food and switched to a hypo-allergenic food on the advice of my vet. She has had blood work and stool samples done, and everything has come back normal, but there has been no change in her habits. Leukemia, distemper, etc., were all ruled out by the tests. She is an otherwise happy and healthy cat, and doesn't seem to be affected -- except that she drinks a lot of water. Can you think of any reason for Maggie's problem? Is there something else that I can try? Is this normal?

A: Congratulations to you on finding your feline friend at the shelter. There are so many cats who need good homes, and this is a great place to locate a new kitten or adult cat. Unfortunately, many cats will develop intestinal, respiratory or other mild complications when they are housed in this type of communal environment. Most of these conditions are transient, and with proper veterinary care can be cured and forgotten.

With the situation of chronic loose stools (which is certainly not normal), after all other medical diagnostics have been exhausted, you may consider having your veterinarian try a dose of parasite medication, which will often improve some cases of non-specific diarrhea. In addition, some parasites such as giardia will often not show up in every stool sample, so this approach may help.

If all this fails, you may try changing brands of food, as there may be a food intolerance to one of the ingredients that is causing the problems. In almost all cases like this, a little persistence will pay off and your cat will return to normal status.