My 9 month old started getting diarreha all of a sudden Help!

Ok, I have 2 female 9 month old sisters.  I got them when they were 4 months old.  They are spayed, and utd on all shots and have been wormed. They are inside only kittens and the only pets we have in the house. There last vet check was June 2012.  Everything was great.  My kittens started on Blue Buffalo kitten and in June slowly introduced to the adult Blue Buffalo per the vet.  They do not eat wet food.  They have 2 kitty water fountains and 4 litter boxes that are cleaned 2 times a day. 

2 days ago I started to notice little mud pies in the litter box.  Not the normal at all.  I then noticed which one had the diarreha.  I started to watch her more closely and make sure she was eating and drinking.  That has not changed at all.  She is still active but instead of being very hiper, she is being more of a lap kitty.  I called the vet and he told me to wait a couple of days to see if it got worse.  I dont feel comfortable doing that so I called again to make a appointment and was told to again wait. 

Can anyone out there help me think of something that could be going on. My girls are named Reba and Barbara Jean and I love them like my kids. 

Could it be stress?  (Reba is bigger than Barbara Jean and sometimes gets rough with her and I have to break it up with a water bottle)

Could it be heat?  (We had 1 day that was 80 so I opened the windows and turned on the fans.  It stayed 75 in the house because of the breeze)

Help 

Sounds like they should be treated for parasites. They can get that from anywhere, even if they are indoors only. I don't like that your vet told you to wait. Jeez! Is there another vet in your area? You also said you weren't comfortable waiting. Why are they only on dry food? That's not good for them, there isn't any moisture. I know they have diarrhea but dry food isn't going to take care of that, there's another reason for it. But dry food only diet is not good for any kitty. I'd call another vet if you can sweetie. 

I was told by the vet that the wet food causes plaque build up around the gumline of cats which can cause serious health problems.  I was told that since my kittens have been on Blue Buffalo since I got them, it was the best that I could give them. 

When my girls had their spay surgery, I was told to give them 1 spoonful of wet to help get their meds down.  I gave them Fancy Feast kitten.  I was back at the vets the next day and found out that Barbara Jean had a food allergy.  And she is the one with the diarreha now. 

I just got off the phone with another vet and he is requesting copies of the girls vet records be sent to them and I am taking in a stool sample.  They told me not to worry but that is harder to do than say. 

Would both of them have diarreha if it was a parasite?  They share everything.  Only Barbara Jean has it.  Not Reba.

Can you suggest a wet foot that would be good for them since they eat a holistic diet?

That's a complete lie about the plaque build up. That's old school thinking that most vets don't recommend anymore. Yes, there are plenty of other better foods. Nature's Variety, Wellness, Weruva, Merrick, Evo just to name a few. Try one at a time and go slow. Yes, if one has something to do with bacteria it can easily spread to the next. When you get them medicine, I'd change out the box completely with new litter and scrub it down with a mild soap first. 

I'm so sorry you and your baby are going through this! I'm glad you've found another vet, and will be getting a stool sample in there. It is possible it's parasites of some kind - some can be latent, and flare up under stress. But given your follow-up post, I suspect the problem will turn out to be the food, given she apparently has allergies. That she was doing well on the Blue Buffalo doesn't mean it isn't the problem, as these things can "morph." :nod:

So many of us have learned the hard way: vets typically receive very little in the way of nutrition training. Most vets sell prescription diets, and the information they receive about cat nutrition is often from the companies promoting their products. Not all vets push these products, but they're often... "misinformed" and not current on research. The funny thing is, when it comes to just thinking about a cat's dietary needs, a little common sense is really all that's needed. Cats - and all vets know this - are obligate carnivores. In the wild, they eat small mammals. When people put up fences around their gardens to protect them from wildlife, they're not putting up those fences to protect their peas, carrots, and corn from cats. :lol3:

Yes, they derive dental benefit from eating their prey, because they have to chomp the bones. But kibble, unless it is specially formulated to provide dental benefit, just shatters if a cat even bites down on it. It doesn't scrape up against the gum line at all. It's the same idea as suggesting that a human eating a pretzel will provide dental benefit.

Because cats are obligate carnivores, their digestive systems never evolved to properly digest carbohydrates. There are lots of studies indicating the benefits of peas, corn, etc. But cats simply do not efficiently metabolize them. Further, cats are descended from desert animals - the African Wild Cat, in fact. Again, they have evolved to derive all of their needed moisture from the food they eat. Of course some cats do drink water, but unlike dogs, cats typically have no thirst drive. Cats that eat a diet solely of kibble will typically be slightly chronically dehydrated, and over time this can take a damaging toll on their organs. It is likely one of the reasons so many kitties suffer from chronic renal failure.

Some cats do just fine on kibble - other cats simply do not do well on highly processed food that contains veggies and fruits. It's just like people. Some do just fine eating just about anything, but other people get heartburn any time they eat something deep fried.

A cat's digestive system is so highly specialized for utilizing meat, that they cannot synthesize vitamin D3, they cannot synthesize taurine from its building blocks, they cannot synthesize vitamin A from carrots or beta carotene (any time you see carrots in a food, it is filler; any time you see beta carotene in a food, it is for color. Check ANY canned or kibble - all of them will have Vitamin A in the supplements); cats lack the digesting enzymes necessary to derive benefit from omega 3s from ANY plant source (flax being the most commonly used in cat foods).

So when feeding a kitty, it's really best to look for a canned food with a short ingredient list. Ones that are high in protein, and low in fiber and carbohydrates. Grain free, as you have been feeding, is best - but not all grain-free foods are low carb. Wet foods your kitty may do well on are Weruva Paw Lickin' Chicken or Weruva Nine Lives Liver; By Nature 95% meat foods, Nature's Variety Instinct canned foods, and Before Grain canned foods.

If you want to learn more, you might find this site helpful: http://www.catinfo.org It is written by a vet.

Vibes you're able to get to the source of the problem in your kitty!

Test results came back and no parasites.  Vet said may be stress.  Asked about wet food and he suggested EVO.  But he did say about 1 spoonful every morning.  I am in a small farming community and a pet store is very far away.  We don't even have a walmart.  We do have a Tractor Supply Store.  Can anyone suggest a wet food that can be purchased from there.  I went online to see what they have and it is just so overwhelming since they have been eating only dry. 

I'm glad you got a stool sample in & that it was negative, so that much is ruled out.

As far as wet food goes - the best wet food is one your kitties will eat. You will find varying opinions on what is the best wet food. Generally speaking, it's best to look for wet food w/o by-products in the ingredients list.

That said, my kitties eat Friskies canned food. With as many cats as I'm feeding I need cheap wet food, and they don't often eat the high quality stuff I buy. So I settled for a low quality wet food.

Barbara Jean is allergic to fancy feast, friskies, and whiskas.  Reba can eat anything.  They are the only two pets we have.  We pay $20 for a 7lb bag of the Blue Buffalo which last about 2 weeks.  We dont mind paying the money.  In the long run it keeps them healthy.  We just want something that they like to eat and that is good for them.  It is still cheaper than when my 3 kids lived at home before college. lol!

Actually, Nat, Friskies pate style foods aren't that bad. They're high protein, low-carb. Yes, they've got by-products, but by-products aren't something I really look to avoid in a cat food. I avoid "meals" - the rendered stuff. :nod:

I'm pretty sure Tractor Supply sells Friskies pate-style foods. :nod: I buy them from the supermarket for the ferals, but I think I've seen them at Tractor Supply.

The other food that your supermarket will probably carry is Fancy Feast - just look for the "classic" style foods, and buy them when they're on sale. :nod: And it's best to avoid feeding "fishy" foods more than once or twice a week.

As I said Fancy Feast, Friskies and Whiskas she is Alergic to.  Our tsc store has Nutro, Eukaneuba, and Diamond.  Can anyone suggest out of those.  I see that Blue Buffalo has a wet but LDG said carrots were fillers and the wet has more than the dry.

Since it happened after you changed their food, it could be simply too rich for her tummy.  We try to feed grain-free, but I have one who will get diarrhea if he gets all grain-free, so he gets a prescription dry food in addition to his mainly wet food diet.
 

Oh sorry, we were posting at the same time and I didn't see your post where you mentioned that.

As to the carrots, I have no idea how much is in any of those foods. But since dry food is often the culprit when there's a problem with diarrhea, and she is eating some Blue Buffalo wet already, a good place to start is eliminating the Blue Buffalo dry food.

If that doesn't resolve the problem, given she's had problems with all of those wet foods, we can then take a look at the ingredient lists to see if we can find a common denominator. :nod:

LDG said:

Oh sorry, we were posting at the same time and I didn't see your post where you mentioned that.
As to the carrots, I have no idea how much is in any of those foods. But since dry food is often the culprit when there's a problem with diarrhea, and she is eating some Blue Buffalo wet already, a good place to start is eliminating the Blue Buffalo dry food.
If that doesn't resolve the problem, given she's had problems with all of those wet foods, we can then take a look at the ingredient lists to see if we can find a common denominator. :nod:

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I very much agree. :nod: