Diarrhea is the body's reaction to something it doesn't want inside. The intestines speed up and avoid reabsorbing water in order to expel the undesired entity. Once it's out of the body, diarrhea usually goes away on its own. Your cat might get diarrhea for this reason, or it might be caused by stress, a diet change or an allergy to food. If the loose stools are caused by illness or allergy, it might take a few days for the diarrhea to pass. One of the dangers of prolonged diarrhea is dehydration, so you have to keep an eye on your cat's bowel movements and make sure his water bowl is always full.
To deal with your cat's diarrhea, you may want to let his stomach settle by not giving him anything he has trouble digesting. That means no dairy products; even if your cat loves a saucer of milk, his lactose intolerance doesn't. In fact, dairy is often a cause of kitty diarrhea in the first place. Also, foods with dyes can hurt your pet's stomach and cause loose stool. It's hard for his stomach to handle "nonfood," so you should avoid giving it that challenge when it's trying to overcome the challenge of diarrhea. Even though changing brands can also upset your cat's stomach, it's probably worth it to switch to a brand without dye. It will stop the current problem and prevent future ones. Other food-related options are giving your pet easy-to-handle foods like white rice with boiled meat; you can also just hold off feeding your cat for a day to let the intestines settle down. Make sure your pet gets water, but withhold the food. Then ease him back into food with bland rice and boiled meat. You might also want to try adding a half-teaspoon of Metamucil laxative to your cat's food.
If the diarrhea is severe and lasts for more than 24 hours or has blood in it, you should call your vet.
