Kitten won't eat wet food unless hand-fed?!

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum, and I'm a first time mum to a now 12 week old little short-haired boy called Tom.

I got him at 8 weeks, and he is tiny [he only weighs about 2.2lbs, but he was the second biggest in the litter], although the vet has said he is healthy and gaining weight as he should be. He is currently on a mix of high quality wet and dry food, which he was on prior to coming to live with me (James Wellbeloved Kitten for dry and Hi-Life Kitten for wet).

Over the past couple of days, Tom has stopped clearing his bowl of wet food- when I come home from work or get up in the morning, his wet food has been virtually untouched, but he will eat his dry food (I have it on an automatic feeder so he gets dry 2 times a day, and I put wet out myself two times a day). He seems to only eat his wet food if I pick it up and give it to him- then he'll pull it out of my hand and eat, but he won't eat from the bowl!!!

I'm getting a bit worried now, because, on top of that, he seems to have mucus in his stools that I've noticed over the last couple of days. Could they be related??

I have booked a vet appointment for after work today, but in the meantime, can anyone give any suggestions and/or advice regarding the food or stools issue?? I'm actually panicing slightly about it now- I've never had a cat before but my brother has 3 and none of them have ever been like this with the food issue!!!!

HELP?!

Not sure if you've already been to the Vet by now or not since I don't know where you are located, so my post may be moot. 

Sometimes kittens just get finicky about what they eat, or it could be that once you  hand fed him, he so enjoyed it that he wants more of that special time .  The good news is that he WILL eat when you personally present it to him.  Until he starts eating it on his own again though, you might want to increase the number of times the feeder distributes his dry, because kittens need lots of food since they are obviously still growing

As to the mucus in his stool, that could be a sign of parasites, or it could just be something working it's way thru his system.  When mine get a little "off", I used to give them a little plain yogurt (now I give them daily probiotics), but with a small kitten, it's probably best to have him checked out, as you planned. 

Congratulatons on your new furbaby, by the way!  Is that his picture dressed up like a bee?  That is an adorable picture

Let us know what the Vet says. 

Thank you That is him in my picture- Mr grumpy bumblebee (he did not enjoy that photo session!)

So I've been to the vet (I'm in the UK, so took him after work) which I'm glad I did as when I got home, there was a little bit of blood and mucus in his litter tray. The vet tested his stool but no parasites, and it seems he has colitis and his guts are rather inflamed. I feel terrible that I didn't realise that sooner, but he's been fine with going to the toilet and he's just as playful and affectionate as always.

Is it normal for kittens to have colitis? And will it potentially be a lifelong problem?? The vet gave me antibiotics, a pro-biotic and Hills Science Plan food for him for two weeks, but I was wondering what the opinion is about the whole boiled chicken and rice thing? I work during the day so I can't put that in an automatic feeder but is it a good idea to supplement his food with it?

Also, one more question- can this be caused by food? When I got him, Tom was on some Pets at Home own brand dry food and hi-life wet food. I changed the dry food due to smelly gas and very soft stools and read reviews from people saying their cat/kitten had the same problem on that brand. Is it likely that the dry food could have been the cause?

Sorry the post is so long, I'm a first time mummy and I just worry about everything!!

The boiled chicken with rice is good when a cat has diarrhea as it usually will bring their systems back to normal.  However, it is not nutritionally complete, so you don't want to feed only this for very long, especially for a kitten.  What is the Hills food that he gave you to feed for two weeks? 

Well,it IS fairly common for kittens to have digestive issues, I just don't think I've ever heard anyone say "colitis" before.  It can be a one time thing, or it can go on for his entire life (from what I just googled ), but if you can figure out what caused it, you may be able to prevent it from occurring again.  In my opinion, it IS caused by food.  Some cats are very sensitive to certain ingredients like corn, soy, even fish!  Others aren't.  And almost all dry kibble has corn ...lots of it!  And cats do not need corn.  For that matter, they don't need grains, but for some reason, when they have diarrhea, the chicken and rice mixture is good for them (I can't tell you why, I'm at a loss on that one myself )

Ok, did your Vet tell you not to give the probiotic at the same time that you give the antibiotic?  You need to allow at least 2 hours in between giving those two things, otherwise they offset each other. 

Now, you probably don't want to hear this...lots of people freak out, but probably the very best food you could feed him would be raw meat (but nutritionally balanced, which we can help you with).  We have several members who have had cats with irritable bowel disease cats who have switched to feeding raw, and their cats have done amazingly well.  Here is a thread that talks about one member trying to convert her cat, but in it it mentions several success stories:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/252819/starting-my-ibd-cat-on-her-transition-to-raw  And one thing to remember while reading that thread is that kittens are usually very easily converted to a raw diet

Now that you have a diagnosis, you might want to start up a new thread about Kitten with Colitis to see if there are any experts out there who know more about this .  I'm sorry I don't really know much other than what I am finding by searching google.  I did also find this thread:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/249615/is-this-colitis-help-advice-is-appreciated

Keep us posted.  for a quick recovery

Thank you for your advice, it was really helpful

The vet did say it would be fine to give him both the pro-biotic and antibiotic at the same time, but for best results, a couple of hours apart- in the morning I have to do them together because I already have to be up at 5am to get to work and I don't think I can manage getting up an hour earlier to try and get Tom to take his medicine! It's very traumatic experience though, he really hates it. I think I will start up a new thread for advice on food etc, thank you so much!!