Unexplained Weight Loss (kind of)?

Hi, everyone.

I have been fostering a pair of kittens, Herbie and Margarita, for about 3 and 1/2 weeks now. When we first got them, Margarita was having trouble with watery stool and a very irritated bottom. She was on amoxicillin, and after a few days was completely better, but it came back a bit a few days after she finished the antibiotic. I brought them both to the humane society I volunteer for, and she was given amoxil, a stronger version of what I had her on for the stool issue, and I was told to give it to herbie also, because they had just started to sneeze a little, and she said it would help with a possible URI.

They have not sneezed for several days now, and are continuing to be given
.14 ml amoxil twice a day. I noticed yesterday, however, that Margarita felt slightly thinner than usual, so I weighed her. Five days beforehand, she had weighed 24 ounces, and Herbie had weighed 35 ounces (he is a week older than her, and just naturally a bigger kitten). Today, she weighed either exactly the same amount, or a about half an ounce below that, while Herbie had gained 4 ounces. She is 7 weeks old, very active, and is eating and drinking grooming herself and going to the bathroom extremely well. I don't have any answers to the question of why she has not gained weight, except that it could be the medication, or possibly because we recently gave her and Herbie a lot more space to play, and they have been running around like little maniacs for the past three days

Is it possible that she is simply over-exerting herself, and she will hit a stride soon? For right now, we are watching her closely and monitering how much she eats. Please let me know if you have any ideas about what could cause this.

-Chelsea

Has their stool been thoroughly checked for protozoa and other parasites?
One possibility, is with all that antibiotic the good gut flora will be rather low - get a probiotic such as Bene-Bac. Are they both on a good kitten food? Are you giving them kitten formula too? At 7 weeks old, they would still need it.

I have already had thier stool be checked out for parasites, and they have been given dewormers at the appropriate ages. As for the food, they are eating pro plan dry kitten food (it is what all kittens at the shelter eat), have access to it all day, and once a day, I add in some warm water and forti flora, which I am assuming would help her with the aforementioned bacteria.

As for the formula, she was weaned right before I got her because they believed this was contributing to her digestive troubles, and a similar story was given for why she doesn't eat wet food.

I don't think it is parasites, because of the fact that Herbie is doing so well. I could be wrong, but seeing as though they have been housed together and used the same litter box for about 3 weeks now, wouldn't he be infested, too?

Originally Posted by 89chelsea

As for the formula, she was weaned right before I got her because they believed this was contributing to her digestive troubles, and a similar story was given for why she doesn't eat wet food.

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Let me guess... they believed that the wet food was directly causing diarrhea? For some reason people believe this just because the food is wet, when that's really the best thing for a cat with diarrhea. There's also the possibility that she can't tolerate one of the ingredients in the dry food that was also in the wet food - a grain, soy, possibly even chicken.

She should not have been weaned at... what? 3 1/2, 4 weeks?!
Another formula should have been tried or a mother cat that would be willing to nurse her.

Originally Posted by 89chelsea

I don't think it is parasites, because of the fact that Herbie is doing so well. I could be wrong, but seeing as though they have been housed together and used the same litter box for about 3 weeks now, wouldn't he be infested, too?

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It's possible that he's just not showing the signs as much as she is. And it's also possible that her GI is just not as strong/tolerant because she was weaned too early.
Protozoa are sometimes harder to catch on tests. Also, regular worm meds won't kill them. There are a few threads that mention people dealing with hard to treat diarrhea that's caused by tritrichomonas foetus (search "tritrichomonas").

okay, I will call my contact at the humane society first thing in the morning, and let her know what has been going on, because it does seem to me like she has a 'weak constitution', so maybe a different, more easily tolerable food will help. Thanks so much for your help, strange_wings!!

If anyone has any other thoughts or ideas, please let me know, so i can lay out all of my ideas about the causes to the vet.

Aside from trying a probiotic for her, I can't think of anything else at this moment.

I use Eagle Pack's Holistic solutions for my cat that has a sensitive digestive tract - I found him outside at 10 weeks old and have no clue as to what he ate before I found him, so his GI has always been easily upset. With that probiotic and digestive aid I was able to stop his diarrhea and he hasn't had any for a while now.