Is this considered straining?

sarahp

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In the last few days, one of my foster kittens has done a lot of scratching in the litter, mewed, squatted, produced nothing, and repeated this process a few times before getting distracted and going to play with his sister.

He's just done it again, and I managed to catch it on video so you can see what's happening. He ended up with a pretty loose stool this time.
I have recently changed their dry food to a higher quality food - Purina Kitten Chow to Eukanuba Kitten Food, but their tinned food has remained the same - Nutro Max kitten food.

I'm guessing it's either too much tinned food (they're getting a 3oz tin between them morning and night, which I guess I'll start cutting down), or a reaction to the new food, maybe I changed over too fast, and he's mewing and scratching lots because he has an upset tummy?

Otherwise it's some sort of UTI. Any thoughts? Should I just keep an eye on him, or take him to a vet straight away?
 
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sarahp

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Ok, it should be available now.
 

mews2much

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Take him to the Vet. That is either a Uti or Blockage. That is with Coco does with her bladder problems. Males can block fast. BTW he is a Oreo look alike.
 
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sarahp

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Given he had diarrhea at the end, you don't think he could have just had an upset tummy?

I have seen him pee since with no problems.
 

aswient

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Hi, It might be his bowels, he might feel the diarrhea coming on, but it kind of looks like a UTI problem, I have 2 males that go on like that, they have UTI. Watch him for a while to see if he does have diarrhea. But if you see he's really not urinating a nice amount, it could be a UTI problem.

He is such a little cutie pie. Good luck.
 
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sarahp

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Problem is that if it IS a UTI I'll probably have to take him to the shelter, and put him through their adoption program rather than finding a home and doing the adoption privately


These little guys have cost me a fortune, and I'm already out of pocket - I can't afford to spend any more on them
 
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sarahp

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Originally Posted by aswient

Hi, It might be his bowels, he might feel the diarrhea coming on, but it kind of looks like a UTI problem, I have 2 males that go on like that, they have UTI. Watch him for a while to see if he does have diarrhea. But if you see he's really not urinating a nice amount, it could be a UTI problem.

He is such a little cutie pie. Good luck.
He definitely had diarrhea - if you put the speakers up, you can hear the sound of the diarrhea right at the end...
 

tamgirl99

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My kitten has diarrhea off and on and will do this as well. It looks to me like it's only related to the diarrhea, but the only way to say for sure is to take him in to the vet. Is he doing this every time he goes to the litter box, or only when he has the diarrhea?
 
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sarahp

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It's only been a very recent thing, and I haven't been watching him the entire day. He urinated before with seemingly no problem, but I didn't see how much he did.
 

tamgirl99

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Originally Posted by sarahp

It's only been a very recent thing, and I haven't been watching him the entire day. He urinated before with seemingly no problem, but I didn't see how much he did.
I would watch him like a hawk over the next few hours to make sure you see him urinating okay. Otherwise, take him to the vet asap. The reason I think it's only related to the diarrhea is not only from my cat's experience, but from the fact that most cats only do one or the other in the box at a time, not both in the same location. At least that's the way my cats work. Good luck and keep us posted!
 

sharky

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Have you found a normal amount of pee clumps??

if so likely it is too much new food

do you have either pumpkin or squash on hand
 
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sarahp

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I just scooped and analysed the contents (ahh the joy of being a kitty parent...), and there was no nice big round pee clumps in that litter tray since I scooped this morning (I have one tray with clumping litter and one with clay - he uses the clumping, and his sister uses the clay), but there was 2 big loose diarrhea type stools. There was definitely pee clumps when I scooped this morning though.
 

tamgirl99

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Make sure you see him urinate again tonight at some point. Also make sure he is drinking a lot of water as he could start getting dehydrated from the diarrhea.

By the way, he is such a cutie!
 
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sarahp

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He just scratched lots more in the litter tray and did a more solid poop, but still soft. I'm going to stop with the tinned food for a day and see what happens.
 

cc12

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I would say that it could be food related like IBD.
Lucia was doing the same thing and it stunk to the heavens. It was a horrible smell. It ended up that she has IBD. She can not tolerate anything but raw food. She can't even have treats.
Stop the canned food and see what happens. Although the canned food would be good because it is hydrating but it could be a case of needing to switch to a new canned food. Then stop the dry and see if that is the culprit.
With the Lucia the very next stool was hard. Her diarrhea cleared up right away.
 
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sarahp

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Actually he has had bad gas the last couple of days as well...
 
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