What is considered healthy stool?

As a first time cat owner, I have difficult time to tell if my kitten's stool are healthy.

The first few days, one of my 2 kittens, Panther, had hard stool.
Then I have seen stools with consistencies of toothpaste like, soft served ice-cream like, and watery. But the hard solid ones never appeared again.

Right now, both kittens have toothpaste like stool, is this considered normal?

Cheetah, the one used to had watery stool is now having toothpaste like stool, but he has been eating more now. And they are all playful.

Should there be anything I should worry about?

No, that is not normal, but sounds to me due to a change of food?
Did you change their food since they came to you, and how long ago was that?
If you don't transition the food slowly, this can go on for a couple, or even a few weeks.
If this is due to food changes, a good probiotic can help - I like Bene-bac, it has done wonders for my cat, I give him 1/4 tsp every day, and more during crisis (diarrhea), or food changes.

Originally Posted by carolinalima

No, that is not normal, but sounds to me due to a change of food?
Did you change their food since they came to you, and how long ago was that?
If you don't transition the food slowly, this can go on for a couple, or even a few weeks.
If this is due to food changes, a good probiotic can help - I like Bene-bac, it has done wonders for my cat, I give him 1/4 tsp every day, and more during crisis (diarrhea), or food changes.

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The volunteer at the shelter told us to give them Wellness and Royal Canin Kitten food. We gave them as instructed. Then we found out Cheetah was having ice cream like stool so we asked the vet at the shelter about it. She said Cheetah had diarrhea when given Wellness at the foster home. And the cats were given California's Natural at the shelter.

Then we took away Wellness from Cheetah's diet and replaced it boiled chicken breast. After a week, when Cheetah's stool started to turn toothpaste like, we visited the vet and they were given deworming medicine. The vet also asked us to slowly replace the chicken with canned food in the diet, and we did so, by adding about 1/2 teaspoon each day.

About 4 days after deworming, Cheetah was having watery stool, I called the vet, and he asked me to give him baby food. I have been giving Cheetah turkey and turkey broth baby food and the stool has been changed to toothpaste like after 2 days.

What have never changed is their dry food, it has been Royal Canin kitten, and that is what the shelter said they have been eating. They have a bowl of dry food available to them all the time. I also started adding Eagle Pack holistic supplement into their 1/2-3/4 cup of dry food (to be shared between 2 kittens) for 2 days now.

Originally Posted by koobe

The volunteer at the shelter told us to give them Wellness and Royal Canin Kitten food. We gave them as instructed. Then we found out Cheetah was having ice cream like stool so we asked the vet at the shelter about it. She said Cheetah had diarrhea when given Wellness at the foster home. And the cats were given California's Natural at the shelter.

Then we took away Wellness from Cheetah's diet and replaced it boiled chicken breast. After a week, when Cheetah's stool started to turn toothpaste like, we visited the vet and they were given deworming medicine. The vet also asked us to slowly replace the chicken with canned food in the diet, and we did so, by adding about 1/2 teaspoon each day.

About 4 days after deworming, Cheetah was having watery stool, I called the vet, and he asked me to give him baby food. I have been giving Cheetah turkey and turkey broth baby food and the stool has been changed to toothpaste like after 2 days.

What have never changed is their dry food, it has been Royal Canin kitten, and that is what the shelter said they have been eating. They have a bowl of dry food available to them all the time. I also started adding Eagle Pack holistic supplement into their 1/2-3/4 cup of dry food (to be shared between 2 kittens) for 2 days now.

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Ok - on the first line you say they were eating California Natural at the shelter - then on the last you say it never changed, since they were eating Royal Canin.
Can you please make this clear?
What DRY food were they eating at the shelter, and what are they eating now?

Originally Posted by carolinalima

Ok - on the first line you say they were eating California Natural at the shelter - then on the last you say it never changed, since they were eating Royal Canin.
Can you please make this clear?
What DRY food were they eating at the shelter, and what are they eating now?

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At the shelter, they were given both dry food and wet food. Dry food has been Royal Canin Kitten, and that is what they are eating now.

Wet food in the shelter was California's Natural. After a few changes, as mentioned in the last post, Cheetah is having Turkey baby food and dry food. Panther is having 1-2 oz of Wellness and dry food.

ok... Make sure the baby food is onion and garlic free.

I would leave them on dry only for a while, to see if the stools come back to normal. This can take a couple of weeks.
Then I would add a wet food again... There are cats that don't do well on wet food (rare, but happens, a few here in the forum), and the qty needs to be lower, or taken away completely.
Whatever you do, I would not be changing it all the time; at least for a while until they get better.
Holistic Solutions should help you...

Originally Posted by carolinalima

ok... Make sure the baby food is onion and garlic free.

I would leave them on dry only for a while, to see if the stools come back to normal. This can take a couple of weeks.
Then I would add a wet food again... There are cats that don't do well on wet food (rare, but happens, a few here in the forum), and the qty needs to be lower, or taken away completely.
Whatever you do, I would not be changing it all the time; at least for a while until they get better.
Holistic Solutions should help you...

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Thank you, Carolinalima. When the cats are sensitive to wet food, do you know what in the wet food are they sensitive to? The fat, maybe?

Originally Posted by koobe

Thank you, Carolinalima. When the cats are sensitive to wet food, do you know what in the wet food are they sensitive to? The fat, maybe?

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I am not sure... I know snake_lady has a cat like that, and so does Sarahp - you can PM them, or do a search... Snake_lady reduced the amount of wet, and Sarahp's kitty is on dry only - apparently he can not tolerate it at all. You might also want to PM Sharky - she would know better than a lot of us here...
Some cats for some reason just don't take it well to it, not sure why though.

what wet foods were given? I often suggest an all meat to start as they are normally very basic ( ie beef broth , beef and beef liver for ingrediants) ... vs the typical beef, chicken , chicken liver , fish

Originally Posted by sharky

what wet foods were given? I often suggest an all meat to start as they are normally very basic ( ie beef broth , beef and beef liver for ingrediants) ... vs the typical beef, chicken , chicken liver , fish

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Right now Cheetah is having turkey and turkey broth baby food as wet food.

Cheetah was given Wellness at first, which he is sensitive to it.
Then he was given chicken breast, and then tried a little bit of AvoDerm fish and crab.

how much at one time?>

perfect poop resembles a tootsie roll

Originally Posted by sharky

how much at one time?>

perfect poop resembles a tootsie roll

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Cheetah has about 3 oz of turkey baby food at one meal. 2 times a day.
He also eats dry food time to time.

Originally Posted by sharky

how much at one time?>

perfect poop resembles a tootsie roll

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Cheetah's stool has been mustard in color since day 1 I have him.

texture wise . varing shades of brown are normal.. thou if stool is that light I would have some blood work done... it can be a early sign of liver issues

3oz may be too much at once try half of that

Originally Posted by sharky

texture wise . varing shades of brown are normal.. thou if stool is that light I would have some blood work done... it can be a early sign of liver issues

3oz may be too much at once try half of that

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Thank you, Sharky. We are going to bring the kitties to the vet to have their vaccine on Thurs. I will suggest a blood test to the vet to see what he says.

read the second ? on this link

http://www.kittencare.com/tummy_troubles.html

Originally Posted by sharky

read the second ? on this link

http://www.kittencare.com/tummy_troubles.html

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I have read this link before. Cheetah was dewormed last week, so can we rule out the possibility of having parasites?

I just looked at his belly, he is having a very huge belly. He had big belly last week, but after the deworming, and when he was eating less chicken (because he was bored of it), his belly was back to normal. Today, I saw him eating dry food after I gave him 3 oz of turkey. I guess that is why his belly is so big.

He constantly wants to eat. He might not finish his food, but whenever I put the bowl down, he wants to have the first few bites.

Originally Posted by koobe

I have read this link before. Cheetah was dewormed last week, so can we rule out the possibility of having parasites?

I just looked at his belly, he is having a very huge belly. He had big belly last week, but after the deworming, and when he was eating less chicken (because he was bored of it), his belly was back to normal. Today, I saw him eating dry food after I gave him 3 oz of turkey. I guess that is why his belly is so big.

He constantly wants to eat. He might not finish his food, but whenever I put the bowl down, he wants to have the first few bites.

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Not all the way... trichinosis( I cant spell if you have not noticed ), coccidia and giardia do not always show on typical fecals NOR do wormers kill these

Originally Posted by sharky

Not all the way... trichinosis( I cant spell if you have not noticed

), coccidia and giardia do not always show on typical fecals NOR do wormers kill these

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The vet report from the shelter has a log saying "9/15/09 fecal and giardia from Antech = negative/negative."

I hope it ruled out something.

Originally Posted by koobe

The vet report from the shelter has a log saying "9/15/09 fecal and giardia from Antech = negative/negative."

I hope it ruled out something.

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Most likely giardia and basic worms are not the issue... ie many fecals do not check for tapes ..

Sept was a long time ago