I've had a kitten for 6 days and think he is sick. Diarrhea, lethargic......Need opinions please!

Last Friday (Jan 25) a 3-4 month old kitten ran into my house when I opened the door to go to the store and I decided to take him in and care for him.

A couple days later I took him to the vet just to see if he was chipped, he wasn't. They didn't really do an exam on him but I'm going to tomorrow, especially now because I think he may be ill.

When I first got him I was feeding him Whiska pouches and he ate them fine and liked them, then when they ran out I stupidly bought a Walmart brand of cat food called Special Kitty and he didn't like it, I tried feeding it to him for 2 days just to see if maybe he'd get used to it, he didn't, so I got a refund and bought a different brand.

Today is when I switched his food brand, but today he has loose soupy stools, and a grumbly stomach and he even pooped on my bed while meowing and pooped on the floor, and when I pick him up poop comes out. This is troubling because he's yet to poop or pee outside of the litter box. I think he is pooping on accident, he doesn't mean to do it. When he's closer to the litter box today he goes there, but he was upstairs when this happened. Sorry to be graphic. I don't know if this is caused by the Walmart brand food or what.

Today besides that he has been really lethargic and doesn't want to play, didn't even want to eat his treats, he IS eating some food though, and I've seem him drink water.

Also one last thing, often times today his 3rd eyelid will be visible in the corner of his eyes, covering some of his eyes. He never did this before today.

Anyways do you guys think this is just a stomach bug caused by crappy food? Do you think this will pass? If he is not better by tomorrow I'm rushing him to the vet.

Sounds like the food didn't agree with him. :nod: The best discount brands to feed are the Friskies pate foods, or when on sale, the Fancy Feast classic pate foods (and best to avoid fishy flavors). But I would get him to the vet tomorrow, kittens that young can go downhill pretty quickly. He's likely already dehydrated and may need hydrating fluids. Can you buy a baby syringe at a pharmacy - or a dropper - and put little bits of plain baby pedialyte into the cheek of his mouth to supplement the water he's drinking?

Or you can make homemade pedialite: http://www.ehow.com/list_6980293_sources-electrolytes.html

"Home-made Electrolyte Drink

According to the Mayo Clinic, you can also create your own electrolyte drink at home. But the ingredient amounts need to be exact; if they are not, this drink could be harmful. To make your own electrolyte drink, put 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 3 tablespoons of sugar in 1 quart of water and mix."

You might also want to consider using a human acidophilus probiotic. Look for one that is 5 billion CFU (low end of adult, or a child's dose). That you can just sprinkle on his wet food, if he'll eat.

LDG said:

Sounds like the food didn't agree with him.

The best discount brands to feed are the Friskies pate foods, or when on sale, the Fancy Feast classic pate foods (and best to avoid fishy flavors). But I would get him to the vet tomorrow, kittens that young can go downhill pretty quickly. He's likely already dehydrated and may need hydrating fluids. Can you buy a baby syringe at a pharmacy - or a dropper - and put little bits of plain baby pedialyte into the cheek of his mouth to supplement the water he's drinking?

Or you can make homemade pedialite: http://www.ehow.com/list_6980293_sources-electrolytes.html

"Home-made Electrolyte Drink

According to the Mayo Clinic, you can also create your own electrolyte drink at home. But the ingredient amounts need to be exact; if they are not, this drink could be harmful. To make your own electrolyte drink, put 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 3 tablespoons of sugar in 1 quart of water and mix."

You might also want to consider using a human acidophilus probiotic. Look for one that is 5 billion CFU (low end of adult, or a child's dose). That you can just sprinkle on his wet food, if he'll eat.

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Thank you for the reply. I can go to Walgreens and get that stuff. How much Pedialite would I put into the syringe to give to him? I feel so bad for him. He keeps having diareah

LDG said:

Sounds like the food didn't agree with him.

The best discount brands to feed are the Friskies pate foods, or when on sale, the Fancy Feast classic pate foods (and best to avoid fishy flavors). But I would get him to the vet tomorrow, kittens that young can go downhill pretty quickly. He's likely already dehydrated and may need hydrating fluids. Can you buy a baby syringe at a pharmacy - or a dropper - and put little bits of plain baby pedialyte into the cheek of his mouth to supplement the water he's drinking?

Or you can make homemade pedialite: http://www.ehow.com/list_6980293_sources-electrolytes.html

"Home-made Electrolyte Drink

According to the Mayo Clinic, you can also create your own electrolyte drink at home. But the ingredient amounts need to be exact; if they are not, this drink could be harmful. To make your own electrolyte drink, put 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 3 tablespoons of sugar in 1 quart of water and mix."

You might also want to consider using a human acidophilus probiotic. Look for one that is 5 billion CFU (low end of adult, or a child's dose). That you can just sprinkle on his wet food, if he'll eat.

Click to expand...

I got the Pedialite and the probiotics but the one I got only says 2 billion CFU. I couldn't find a 5 billion one. It was only 2 billion or 100 billion. Also I accidentally got tablet form, but it can be crushed. Is that okay?

About 1/2 a teaspoon full of rehydration fluid at a time I reckon.  Your kitten is tiny.  Do you know how to check if he is dehydrated by lifting the scruff of his neck?  It should ping straight back.  Give him 1/2 teaspoon every 30 minutes or so until he is properly hydrated.  Too much isn't good for him hence the small frequent quantity, and the frequent checking.

And yes, you can crush the tablet for the probiotic. As it's 2 billion CFU, and it's best to start slowly anyway, use just the one first. If it doesn't help within two days, give it to him 2x a day. :nod:

Were you able to get a vet appointment today? :cross:

OrientalSlave said:

About 1/2 a teaspoon full of rehydration fluid at a time I reckon.  Your kitten is tiny.  Do you know how to check if he is dehydrated by lifting the scruff of his neck?  It should ping straight back.  Give him 1/2 teaspoon every 30 minutes or so until he is properly hydrated.  Too much isn't good for him hence the small frequent quantity, and the frequent checking.

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Yes I knew about the neck thing and it bounces back, but I've yet to see him drink. I couldn't find a syringe at 2 stores so I just hoped he'd drink it mixed with water in his water bowl but I've yet to see him touch it. 

I don't think the probiotic is working either because he eats so little at a time. He eats a couple bites, leaves, then comes back for more, leaves, ect...

I woke up to diareah all over the house and poop on my walls and it's horrible. I'm taking him to the emergency vet if he doesn't improve today.

Update: Took him to the vet. They did a bunch of blood work and it came back normal. They wanted to do a fecal test, but couldn't because his poop was so watery and mucusy, but they suspect he has worms. The vet said there is a 99% chance he does because "all strays have worms". Although I haven't seen any in his poop, and he hasn't vomited. Anyways they gave me antibiotics. 10cc's of it once a day for 10 days. I really hope it's worms and not something else.......Anyways, they also gave him fluids even though he was hydrated they said, now he has a weird water pouch on his side LOL It's pretty weird. When Phoenix got home, I fed him and he ate most of it, so yay. I also found out that he is 6 months old, not 3-4 like someone told me here. So I need to get him fixed right away when he gets better!


Picture taken at the vet.

Phoenix is so tiny and adorable. I hope he feels better soon.

I am not sure if this is appropriate for a younger kitten so you may want to run it by your vet first.  When my senior kitty had the same type of poop issues and stopped eating I cooked some plain chicken breast and fed it to him for a few days to settle his tummy.  After that I was able to get him to eat his wet food again and the poop accidents stopped.

It is very common for strays to have parasites.  Poor little man.  Hope he's feeling better soon!
 

My spouse is freaking me out saying it looks like he has roundworm, now I think I have roundworm. He keeps pooping all over the house, he's covered in poop, he won't take a bath. I don't know what to do. This is my first cat I'm going to quarantine him to 1 room and unfortunately it's carpeted. I don't want to touch him. I'm so scared, ugh.

Will laying down newspaper help? Or better yet, puppy pee pads?

A warm washcloth will help clean him up. Also, sometimes antibiotics cause diarrhea so that may continue until finished with the med.

peaches08 said:

Will laying down newspaper help? Or better yet, puppy pee pads?

A warm washcloth will help clean him up. Also, sometimes antibiotics cause diarrhea so that may continue until finished with the med.

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We put down cardboard because we didn't have any newspaper. I try to clean him but he just meows and tries to get away, he's covereddd in it, I feel so bad for him. I woke up this morning and the room I quarantined him in his covered in poop, ugh.

I know he doesn't just love it, poor little guy! You could try hot toweling too. Get a bucket of water as hot as you can stand it, dip the wasclith in it and wring it out well. Then rub the cloth on the soiled areas. Remember the hot cloths on airplanes? Same concept. Wash your hands afterwards with soap, use 10%a bleachwater to clean the bucket, walls, and cloth. Maybe Lysol on the carpet? I don't know about that one.

peaches08 said:

I know he doesn't just love it, poor little guy! You could try hot toweling too. Get a bucket of water as hot as you can stand it, dip the wasclith in it and wring it out well. Then rub the cloth on the soiled areas. Remember the hot cloths on airplanes? Same concept. Wash your hands afterwards with soap, use 10%a bleachwater to clean the bucket, walls, and cloth. Maybe Lysol on the carpet? I don't know about that one.

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I've been getting hot/warm paper towels and trying to wipe his feet and butt down but he just meows, so instead of that today I filled a bathtub with soapy water and just dipped him in lol he freaked out of course, but at least I think I got a lot of the poop off. Wow this cat seems harder to take care of than a baby!

peaches08 said:

I know he doesn't just love it, poor little guy! You could try hot toweling too. Get a bucket of water as hot as you can stand it, dip the wasclith in it and wring it out well. Then rub the cloth on the soiled areas. Remember the hot cloths on airplanes? Same concept. Wash your hands afterwards with soap, use 10%a bleachwater to clean the bucket, walls, and cloth. Maybe Lysol on the carpet? I don't know about that one.

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Lysol is toxic to cats. Cleaning with soap and water followed by an enzyme cleaner would be better.

What antibiotic did the vet give you?  I'm wondering if he's trying to treat for some of the more common intestinal parasites.  Does the poop have any particular color or odor, other than what you'd expect?
 

GoldyCat said:

Lysol is toxic to cats. Cleaning with soap and water followed by an enzyme cleaner would be better.

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I hope not because I've been using Lysol spray to clean his poop O_O Oh lord.

Edit: I read that Lysol USED to be toxic to cats, but not anymore because it doesn't have phenols anymore. Don't know if that's true.

mrblanche said:

What antibiotic did the vet give you?  I'm wondering if he's trying to treat for some of the more common intestinal parasites.  Does the poop have any particular color or odor, other than what you'd expect?
 

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The antibiotic is called Albon. The diareah is super runny and like.....yellow brown....maybe it's a side effect to the meds, who knows.