4 month old kitten: Frequently loose stools after diet change?

Hi everyone,

I am new here so I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, sorry. 

Anyways, I took in a 2 weeks stray kitten, I found lying underneath our car about 4 months ago, she was doing very well until now. I haven't be able to get her vaccinated or dewormed because of financial issues but I did take her to a local "vet" at a pet store nearby.

She is about 4 months old now, I am sure to take her to a real vet for a rabies shot within a period of 5 days or so, my main concern is that she started to have loose stools since the last 3 days, once I switched her food. She did have a soft but formed type of stool before with Whiskers Cat food but now I switched it to Meow Mix, I'm really concerned since she is getting it frequently like 4-5 times a day (usually she would get it only twice at the max.). She only eats dry food and always makes it to the litter box and covers it up after. Her stool isn't watery, its mushy, brown and sometimes formed but always soft. I've noticed it to be smellier than usual as well.Her body temperature seems to be normal to touch and she hasn't being sneezing or vomiting. She does love to play around and drink lots of water though.

I am usually away for college and work for a total of about 12 hours, 5 days a week, so I haven't be able to keep that much of an eye on her. I really don't know anything else except for the diet change that might be troublesome since she has been a strictly indoor kitten. I have seen her eating hair and other stuff lying around sometimes so I've been keeping her in a dog cage until I'm able to take her to the vet. What should I do for now? And could this somehow be fatal? 

You can't just switch cat food like that - you need to do it veeeeery slowly. Instructions should be in the package, often is..... It should take at least one week, but better is 10 days or so. You add a little bit of the new food, while decresing the old food by a bit everyday, until all you have is the new food.
Switching food abruptly is diarrhea for sure :nod:

Also, is this food an all stage food - is it good for kittens? Make sure it is - kittens have higher nutrional needes than adult kitties - she should get kitten food......
No, it is not fatal, it is expected....... But not good, nonetheless..... A probiotic could help her - you can get Bene-Bac at the pet store (they sell in the small animal session/ferrets, rabits, such NOT the ones for reptioles!!)

Kitty-Kat said:

I have seen her eating hair and other stuff lying around sometimes so I've been keeping her in a dog cage until I'm able to take her to the vet.

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Can you kitten proof one room and make it safe for her instead of locking her up in a cage 24x7?
I hope you don't intend to keep her locked up for a long time.... Kittens are a lot of FUN, but they are also curious and yeah - they will get in trouble. Don't let stuff laying around, and make sure the room is safe for her...... She doesn't need to be locked up

Carolina said:

You can't just switch cat food like that - you need to do it veeeeery slowly. Instructions should be in the package, often is..... It should take at least one week, but better is 10 days or so. You add a little bit of the new food, while decresing the old food by a bit everyday, until all you have is the new food.
Switching food abruptly is diarrhea for sure

Also, is this food an all stage food - is it good for kittens? Make sure it is - kittens have higher nutrional needes than adult kitties - she should get kitten food......

No, it is not fatal, it is expected....... But not good, nonetheless..... A probiotic could help her - you can get Bene-Bac at the pet store (they sell in the small animal session/ferrets, rabits, such NOT the ones for reptioles!!)

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I did switch it according to the package but over 3-4 days instead of a week since she eats a a lot. 

And it is special kitten food "With high quality ingredients and 37 essential nutrients that kittens need for healthy growth"

This is the first time I've ever switched brands though she is hopping around and playing with very much energy as usual.

I'll try to find the probiotic you suggested at the pet store but I doubt they have it.

Carolina said:

Can you kitten proof one room and make it safe for her instead of locking her up in a cage 24x7?

I hope you don't intend to keep her locked up for a long time.... Kittens are a lot of FUN, but they are also curious and yeah - they will get in trouble. Don't let stuff laying around, and make sure the room is safe for her...... She doesn't need to be locked up

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No, I actually let her out soon after she started meowing to get out. 

I don't know, a friend of mine suggested to keep her in a cage in case she has worm or parasites. 

Do you think its because of the food or something else?

I would say the soft poop is definitely because of the food change. Put her back on the Whiskas and see if the soft poop goes away to confirm this. Then, switch her much more slowly this time, take at least a week to make the full change. If the soft poop does Not go away, then a vet visit is in order. :nod:

Don't let the food's claim fool you though. It is not as special as it would like you to think. It doesn't have any chicken meat in it, only organs and by-products; same with the turkey too, only by-products.

Minka said:

Don't let the food's claim fool you though. It is not as special as it would like you to think. It doesn't have any chicken meat in it, only organs and by-products; same with the turkey too, only by-products.

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That's what I was going to say.... If the first one is kitten food and she was doing well..... Sorry, but both are pretty low quality..... I am sorry to say, but Meow Mix is by no means an upgrade :/
Well..... all you got from that one was a nasty diarrhea hun. Pet food marketing SUCKS!

Yes, I am sure it is because of the change of the food. Any cat will have that, especially little kittens.

Carolina said:

Sorry, but both are pretty low quality..... I am sorry to say, but Meow Mix is by no means an upgrade :/

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Really?! I was told that Whiskers and Meow Mix were among the best quality cat food at the pet store. 

I'll try to get better quality cat food as soon as I can from somewhere else and hope the diarrhea goes away.

Which ones would you suggest for a 4 month old kitten?

And should I actually buy another Whiskers as well, just so I can transition her to the new food? Because that would seem like a waste of my limited money.. 

Since she hasn't been wormed worms might be part of her problems, but if you change food and she gets the runs that pretty much suggests the food is the problem.

Please get her wormed when you are at the vets, it shouldn't cost much.  I gather US vets are in the habit of wanting to look at the cat's poo first.  In the UK they simply give a pill, not sure if the US (or parts of it) have specific problems that have to be looked for before worming.

Yeah, many vets here want a stool sample. But it's not necessary to spend the money on it.

In fact, you can try calling around to local vets - let them know you're a college student on a very limited budget. You rescued a cat that is now X months/weeks old, weighs about X pounds (hopefully you have a scale: stand on it, weigh yourself. Pick up kitty, weigh both of you together, and then subtract your weight to get kitty's approximate weight) - and you can't afford a wellness exam, but as she lived outside, you assume she needs to be treated for internal parasites: roundworm and tapeworm, and you'd like the most cost-effective way to do it.

FYI, treatment for roundworm should be done three times - at a MINIMUM twice. Most vets will provide either Revolution (topical), or Panacur (liquid oral); sometimes Strongid-T (also liquid oral if I remember correctly). These only kill the adult worms. So you have to give three weeks between treatments, so the eggs can mature. Two treatments is sometimes enough; if you want to be sure, do three. Tapeworm you can kill with one pill, Droncit.

But without the charge for the exam, the deworming treatments should be affordable.

If you want help choosing an affordable healthy kibble, keep in mind that a kibble that is higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates will provide more nutrition for your kitty; she will eat less of it, so even though the up front cost of buying the bag may look more expensive, it may actually cost less to feed it.

I did an analysis of a number of dry foods (the cost of feeding, based on manufacturer recommended feeding amounts, though kittens need more than adults). I don't include nutritional information, other than the amount of carbohydrates on a dry matter basis. But a food that is lower in carbohydrates will have more fat and protein, which cats use more efficiently anyway. IDEALLY you want a grain-free food that is ALSO low in carbohydrates. It is difficult to find a kibble that's low in carbohydrates, but just do the best you can with your budget. Hopefully this will help you find a food that's better for her long term health that you can afford. The spreadsheet is here (a PDF): http://catcentric.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Dry-Kibble-Table-1.pdf

I also compared canned foods. There's a table that includes both: http://catcentric.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Combined-Products-Cost-Comparison-1.pdf (Just bear in mind that many of the foods you can purchase on sale, so feeding something like Fancy Feast pate foods or Friskies pate foods often do not cost as much as indicated - and local prices WILL vary; and many online sites, like PetFoodDirect will also have promotions or "autoship" savings where you automatically get 15% off).