12 week old kitten crying in litter box

My 12 week old kitten Makani has always cried when he has to use the litter box, but now he is crying while using the litter box. His stools almost look like a cow patty, and he drags his butt on the carpet after he gets out. Other than this, he acts like he feels fine. He is eating and drinking like nothing is wrong and running around like normal. I called the vet and they said watch him to see if he gets better over the next 24 hours and to bring him in if he does not. He received worm medicine at his last vet visit at 10 weeks. Any idea what would cause this? The vet didn't sound too worried, but I am.

Yes, there are other vets I could take him too, but I have no reason to believe this vet is blowing me off. They have been wonderful with my other cat and with Makani as well, even going so far as to call after his first round of kitten shots to make sure he was doing fine. Sometimes I feel like I am just overreacting. He is on no medications and has always turned his nose up at canned cat food. He eats Science Diet Kitten Formula and my adult cat eats Science Diet Indoor Cat Formula. He does like to "sample" her food quite a bit here lately, so I am wondering if his stomach is irratated from the different foods.

Anything odd with such a young kitten concerns me. While I would probably not rush to the vet at the first sign of runny stools, coupled with the crying I would go ahead take him in as soon as possible.

Did they prescribe a 2nd round of worm meds?

I think you could have an idea about the food. If you can keep him out of the other food I would do that.

Some cats, especially kittens will just eat the plain canned pumpkin straight...if the wet food mix is not an option. Offer it on your finger or a spoon to make it more tempting for him. He might like it. A little bit goes a long way.

EDIT - I agree w/Laureen on the wet/dry/& food brand issues.

He's only had the one round of worm meds, I believe he is scheduled to get that on his next visit.

I have made several attempts, but he will not touch wet food at all. I'm currently at work, but plan to evaluate him when I get home and decide whether to take him to the vet today or not. As I said earlier, except for when using the litter box, he is as active as normal, and was even enjoying some water when I was leaving home from lunch.

What food do you recommend? Coco (my adult cat) has a sensitive stomach. Makani will eat anything that doesn't eat him first. Living in small town Alabama can make it difficult to find some brand of food.

Kitty crying when trying to use the litter would throw a red flag up for me as well. I definitely would take him back to the vet if he were mine.

You could try some baby food (without onions or garlic) to see if you can get him to eat that off your fingers. If you manage that, you could then encourage and direct him to his dish with some of the baby food in it. If that worked, then stirring in a bit of pumpkin would help with the diarrhea.

Thanks for all the support. I took Makani to the vet this evening and he is doing fine. He had impacted and infected anal glands. The vet drained those and put him on an antibiotic for the next week, as well as giving him a pain relief shot to ease the pain. He should be back to normal in a few days.