New Kitten Diarreah

Hey All

First time kitten owner, she's super cute. I'm very glad to get her cause she really makes my parents happy!

Question though, we got her from a pet store and we purchase a Purina Kitten blend kitten chow for her. I think that was a poor choice and ppl at other pet stores tell me its a horrible brand of pet food for her.

She was on it for about 7 days before I got her the brand she was eating at the pet store (Nutrience Kitten food), but my problem now is that I think her diarrhea is pretty bad. So much so that her back side is swollen and she leaks stool. I think the poor thing has such a sore bottom at this point, she's not able to contract her backside. Aside from the messy stool, everything else is fine, she has awesome energy levels for a kitten

Any tips? I have a vet scheduled for her tmrw, and I've changed cat food for her. But anything else I can do to make sure she's going to get better and retain proper litter box habits?

I feel absolutely terrible, the guy at the pet store said she'd have diarrhea for a day or two but I didn't think it'd be this long.

8 wks. Got any tips to alleviate the diarrhea?

Originally Posted by jhwyungTj

Any tips? I have a vet scheduled for her tmrw, and I've changed cat food for her. But anything else I can do to make sure she's going to get better and retain proper litter box habits?

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Make sure you tell the vet to check for parasites and protozoa. She may not have came from the best of breeders (hopefully at worst she's from a small BYB and not a mill type) and I've even seen cats in pet stores with tapeworms... So you need to make sure she's clear of all parasites.

The other problem is that you keep switching her food. Many cats cannot take sudden changes, it will cause diarrhea. You need to pick a food and do your best to stick with it. You vet may help guide you in this if they feel she needs a food to settle her GI down.

Anytime time lines on how long it'll take to calm her GI down? I've switched back to the pet food she was on at the pet store.

Any times on calming her down?

Feeding her a teaspoon of pumpkin puree each day can help add fibre to the diet and firm up her stool. Whatever you do, don't change her food again - changing the food can do bad things for their system. Once the diarrhea has stopped, you can slowly change to another food if you prefer - but you need to add a little of the new food to the old food, and over the next couple of weeks slowly add more new food, and use less of the old food until you have changed completely to the new food.

The vet will be able to do stool samples and give her a general check - she may have some sort of intestinal parasite, as someone else mentioned. Unfortunately there is no time line - it depends if she has some sort of bug, or if it's just stress from being in a new home and new food. If it's a bug, she shouldn't too long to start improving, and if you stick to the food she's on now, and add some pumpkin, you should start seeing improvement before long as well.

Good luck, and keep up updated. Oh and we like kitten photos

Sarahp has given you good advice. The only thing I would add is that you need to get plain canned pumpkin - NOT the pumpkin pie mixture. You will probably find it in the canned vegetable section of your store versus the pumpkin pie mixture which is most often found in the baking section.

How should I feed her the pumpkin puree? Just spoon a bit with her dry kibble?

Her name is Q Tip

You could try just giving it to her plain and if that doesn't work, mix it with the dry she usually eats.

Cats seem to like pumpkin puree You can also feed her a bit of high quality tinned kitten food each day (which I like to give kittens anyway to ensure they're getting enough fluid, which may be even more important if she's having a lot of diarrhea), and put the pumpkin into that.

And yes - you need pure pumpkin puree, not the pumpkin pie stuff with extra spices and stuff like that.

squash baby food stage one( check labels only the one I know has no other ingrediants) can also work

It's probably most important that she be checked for all the intestinal parasites such as giardia, coccidia, and a couple others. Some are very difficult to find, and any one of them can kill a kitten (most adults are immune or strong enough to fight them off).

So I went to see the vet, the tests came back negative and the kitten is clear of parasites and such. I got some special vet formual wet food from and some pills (forgot what they were, Im at work right now). So I think it might of been her diet that messed up her GI. The only problem is that her backside is worsening, she doesn't have much of an ability to contract her sphincter anymore. So when we feed her, she eats and poops little drops of feces all over the floor. I even observed her once walk into the corner of the bathroom and drop a load in the corner!

The vet said that it might be because her back side is very sore from the constant diarreah and can't really contract anymore. I wanna try to control her from going and dropping little blobs of feces every where, anyone got any ideas or experiences?

Help!!!!!!!

This seems very, very serious to me, have you tried getting second or third opinion from other vets, just to see what a broader range of experts has to say on this?

I'd keep her on whatever she was eating while at the pet store, she was doing well on it and was used to it.

Is the pooping situation slowly improving or staying the same, or what?

Make sure your kitten is getting enough water because they can become very dehydrated quickly. Also never just switch a cat's food. You must gradually change it by mixing the old 3/4 to new food 1/4 over about a weeks time. My little midnight had this for about a month. We finally put him on a high fiber food and it went away. Good luck with your little one!
Best wishes,
Connie Edwards
http://connies-cat-secrets.com

At this point, I'd stay in very close contact with the vet (yes, any good vet's office is used to getting lots of calls from worried owners) and keep them up to date on the kitten's progress. I'd stick with the prescription food at the moment, unless she refuses it or gets worse - cats often do develop upset tummies when the food is changed, even if you're giving them what seems to be the best food in all the world. Prescription foods are developed for very specific conditions, so the vet probably has a particular reason he wanted to try her on that one. I've used Hills W/D when my girl had some poo issues from antibiotics - it helped, and then she went back to her regular diet just fine.

Did the vet mean she'd never be able to contract her sphincter, or just because it's sore and hurts her at the moment? See if you can clarify that with him when you call with an update. Also, don't be afraid to ask for a second opinion - , any good healthcare professional will not be upset if you just want to get a fresh pair of eyes to look at the situation.

Did the vet tell you how to clean her so she's a little more comfortable?

Good luck - I know it hurts you to see her in such discomfort.

Originally Posted by jhwyungTj

. I even observed her once walk into the corner of the bathroom and drop a load in the corner!

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I'd say that one was behavioral it sounds like she went there with intention.

Also, if you wan to minimize the mess try to keep her contained to a small room without carpet at least until her sphincter recovers. I'd ask the vet if he thinks this is permanent or temporary since that is something to know if this is going to be on-going and permanent or just a temporary thing.

Just be sure to get every spot she has accidentally got and the corner where she pooped with something with enzymes(Nature's Miracle or whatever) or she could interpret the smells with it being a proper spot to go and you don't want that to happen. I had to get a few spots on the couch from Attitude having runny poop from antibiotics and it sticking to her long fur and her getting it on me and the couch.

If it gets in her fur gently wipe it with a warm washcloth and be very very VERY gentle. I know if I accidentally get Attitude near her rear portal(or the comb does when I am combing the hair back there to part it away from the rear portal) when I am cleaning her, it hurts, so I can't imagine what it would feel like if it's already sore so do not touch her rear portal(the hole) when cleaning her, avoid it at all costs. OK, actually I might know what it feel like, I think to say I have a child and mastitis at 3 weeks postpartum(no symptoms so they did everything, I still had stitches so the poor doctor almost got kicked in the head from her having to do a 'full' exam down there, the women know what I am talking about) and I got blocked up from the antibiotic and I swear I tore a stitch(I didn't really it just felt that way) when I finally got 'unblocked.' Anyway I was very very sore in that area, and the irritation of all of this made it worse. Talk to the vet and see if he thinks applying warm compresses down there might help her in soothing some of her pain or if there is anything you can do to make it feel better.

If your vet can't give you answers find a new one. You do need to be in very close contact with the vet, at 8 weeks it is very easy for her to become dehydrated. Mine were still nursing at that age(on top of the dry kitten food) so I don't have much experience with kittens that young with intestinal issues but you need to stay in contact with the vet and tell them if it's getting worse, if she gets dehydrated it can easily be fatal with her being so small. I think Attitude was like 2.8 lbs at that age, not sure if QTip is around that size, but an 8 week old kitten is tiny. It's just like with a human baby, when they are small they get dehydrated easily(trust me my human baby had the stomach flu at 3 months old.) Dehydration can cause death so you have to make sure that you keep in very close contact with the vet and get him in immediately if it gets worse or she starts showing signs of being dehydrated(pinch the skin above her spine if it 'tents' and stays that way she is dehydrated, it should spring right back) or she becomes overly lethargic or just seems 'sicker'. I hope this issue resolves itself quickly, diarrhea is the worse, been there with all my babies whether they had fur or skin, and it's a mess with both.

Taryn

No advice other than to say that I'm glad you are taking her to the vet! She might be dehydrated after all of that diarrhea.

Also, you didn't mention, but are you giving her milk? If so, most cats are lactose intolerant and can't tolerate dairy products such as milk and it will cause them stomach cramps/pain, gas and diarrhea.