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

Auroraei said:

Anyways they gave me antibiotics. 10cc's of it once a day for 10 days.

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Are you sure it's supposed to be 10cc a day? Most antibiotics I've been given for my cats are 1cc once or twice a day.

Auroraei said:

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.

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I've never used lysol because I can't stand the smell of it for myself, so can't help you with the ingredients. I would read the ingredient list on the can and check out all of them for toxicity. Cats are so sensitive to a lot of things, there might be something besides phenol that is harmful.

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.

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Albon is typically used to treat coccidia, which is microscopic intestinal parasite.  And I think it's typical for kitties with coccidia to have yellowish poop. Do you remember your vet mentioning anything about coccidia?

GoldyCat said:

Are you sure it's supposed to be 10cc a day? Most antibiotics I've been given for my cats are 1cc once or twice a day.
I've never used lysol because I can't stand the smell of it for myself, so can't help you with the ingredients. I would read the ingredient list on the can and check out all of them for toxicity. Cats are so sensitive to a lot of things, there might be something besides phenol that is harmful.

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Yeah it's 10cc, the vet told me specifically, and it's also written on the bottle. I also double checked online the dosage and it was correct.

I'll check the ingredients! Hope it's not bad.

Krysta said:

Albon is typically used to treat coccidia, which is microscopic intestinal parasite.  And I think it's typical for kitties with coccidia to have yellowish poop. Do you remember your vet mentioning anything about coccidia?

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Albon treats a large variety of bacterial infections, including coccidia, but it's not just for that. The vet mentioned any parasite being a possibility because he didn't get to run a stool sample. If in 10 days the antibiotics don't work, he said to come and get a fecal test done.

I feel for you, cause when I first got my little guys they had giardia. They always made it to the litterbox, but there was poop all over the walls in there, and they would leave little smears of poop wherever they sat. They were treated with metronidazole and twice with panacur, and still had runny poo-- raw food and probiotics helped more than the meds did.Sending vibes your way that the Albon does the trick! 

Krysta said:

I feel for you, cause when I first got my little guys they had giardia. They always made it to the litterbox, but there was poop all over the walls in there, and they would leave little smears of poop wherever they sat. They were treated with metronidazole and twice with panacur, and still had runny poo-- raw food and probiotics helped more than the meds did.Sending vibes your way that the Albon does the trick! 

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Awww poor little guys! Glad that worked for you. I hope this stuff works for me.

Today Phoenix doesn't seem to want to eat, he ate yesterday though and drank. Maybe he is just tired. He has been sleeping all day on a heating pad I put in his room for him. He also hasn't pooped yet today (although the room was a disaster this morning). We'lllllll see.

Phoenix on his heating pad.


The room he's quarantined in lol I live in Florida so I opened the blinds and window to make it comfy in there.

Please, please, please don't use anything but some soapy water to clean up Phoenix. I know some of these harsh chemicals are supposedly safe, but even so, they can do some real damage. Please don't use anything on a cat, especially a young kitten, that you wouldn't use on a baby. :heart2:

To clean up the carpets, walls, etc. please get a good enzyme cleaner. I think Urine Off or Stink Free are sold at pet stores. Urine Off works well and smells like soap.

Albon does not treat "parasites," it treats only protozoan type parasites. Round worm or others are only treated with Revolution, Advantage, Frontline or Drontal (though most roundworm are resistant to drontal at this point).

You and your spouse do not have round worm, unless you've been eating his feces. My husband and I have been rescuing for 10 years, and we've never gotten any type of parasite from a cat, and we've had kitties with some pretty nasty ones. The vet is correct - if a cat has been outside, it most likely has that type of parasite. But Albon doesn't treat for that.

What's bothering me about all of this is.... he ran into your home over a week ago. He lived there for a week without diarrhea, correct? He had normal stools? (That doesn't mean he didn't/doesn't have round worm or tapeworm). So if he wasn't sick with coccidia then.... why is he now?

Are you still giving him the probiotic? What are the ingredients other than the probiotics themselves? And because he's now on the antibiotic, it's important you know that they should be given at least 2 hours apart.

It's a good sign he hasn't had diarrhea this morning. :nod: But it is possible the problem was the food, and now the antibiotics are giving him diarrhea. What are you currently feeding him?

You need to call the vet or the emergency vet and let him know he's still got this diarrhea problem going on and you NEED to get something for that.  If he's eating some wet food, you can try adding plain yogurt or plain canned pumpkin (pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie spice).  If you can't find the pumpkin, you can give squash baby food.  Just give him about a teaspoon per serving on food.  Mix into wet food and serve.
 

Poor little guy doesn't look like he's feeling very good, does he?

LDG said:

Please, please, please don't use anything but some soapy water to clean up Phoenix. I know some of these harsh chemicals are supposedly safe, but even so, they can do some real damage. Please don't use anything on a cat, especially a young kitten, that you wouldn't use on a baby.

To clean up the carpets, walls, etc. please get a good enzyme cleaner. I think Urine Off or Stink Free are sold at pet stores. Urine Off works well and smells like soap.

Albon does not treat "parasites," it treats only protozoan type parasites. Round worm or others are only treated with Revolution, Advantage, Frontline or Drontal (though most roundworm are resistant to drontal at this point).

You and your spouse do not have round worm, unless you've been eating his feces. My husband and I have been rescuing for 10 years, and we've never gotten any type of parasite from a cat, and we've had kitties with some pretty nasty ones. The vet is correct - if a cat has been outside, it most likely has that type of parasite. But Albon doesn't treat for that.

What's bothering me about all of this is.... he ran into your home over a week ago. He lived there for a week without diarrhea, correct? He had normal stools? (That doesn't mean he didn't/doesn't have round worm or tapeworm). So if he wasn't sick with coccidia then.... why is he now?

Are you still giving him the probiotic? What are the ingredients other than the probiotics themselves? And because he's now on the antibiotic, it's important you know that they should be given at least 2 hours apart.

It's a good sign he hasn't had diarrhea this morning.

But it is possible the problem was the food, and now the antibiotics are giving him diarrhea. What are you currently feeding him?

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I'd never put chemicals on my cat, I haven't been using anything like that on him so don't worry! lol

And yes Jan 25th is when I got him, then a couple days later all this started happening. He was fine before. He got loose out of my house 1 night for like 4 hours and we found him and later that night he had diareah and thats when the fun started. I don't know what triggered it.

I stopped with the probiotic because he's on Albon now and I didn't know if I'd need it. Would probiotic firm up his stools, or just make them looser? I know diareah is a side effect of Albon. I'm going to call the vet tonight and ask what counteracts it.

stephanietx said:

You need to call the vet or the emergency vet and let him know he's still got this diarrhea problem going on and you NEED to get something for that.  If he's eating some wet food, you can try adding plain yogurt or plain canned pumpkin (pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie spice).  If you can't find the pumpkin, you can give squash baby food.  Just give him about a teaspoon per serving on food.  Mix into wet food and serve.
 

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Diareah is a side effect of Albon, but I'm going to call the vet tonight and ask what counteracts that, because it's icky.

Also, what does yogurt or pumpkin do? He's eating wet food

mrblanche said:

Poor little guy doesn't look like he's feeling very good, does he?

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He's getting better, he's eating, drinking, ect.....just has diareah. I think it's from the Albon

Oh also, I have no idea if he really has roundworm. My spouse just looked at his poop and claimed to have seen a tiny tiny worm then decided it was that, of course freaking me out in the process.

UPDATE: Called the vet, they basically said that yes it's an Albon side effect, and nothing will counteract it. Probiotics won't help, ect, it's just the medicine doing its thing and it should clear up when the course is done.

Oh my gosh!  I can't believe the vet blew off your concerns!  You need to get a second opinion and ask for a different med that will stop the diarrhea and get a different antibiotic.  Kittens who are already not doing well DO NOT need to be battling diarrhea, which could lead to dehydration.  You don't need to deal with the constant cleaning up of diarrhea.  Please call a different vet or an emergency clinic and get something different that will help your kitty and decrease your stress level.
 

Auroraei said:

Oh also, I have no idea if he really has roundworm. My spouse just looked at his poop and claimed to have seen a tiny tiny worm then decided it was that, of course freaking me out in the process.

UPDATE: Called the vet, they basically said that yes it's an Albon side effect, and nothing will counteract it. Probiotics won't help, ect, it's just the medicine doing its thing and it should clear up when the course is done.

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That's weird - Albon is supposed to STOP the diarrhea, just like Metronidazole... If I were you, I would be going to a different vet..... I wouldn't have a kitten with severe diarrhea for that long..... Besides the drag on you, it is just dangerous for the kitten.

Albon is an antibiotic and has anti-inflammatory effects on the gut (which is why it is one of the antibiotics used as a treatment of IBD, again simmilarly to Metronidazole). It also treats coccidia..... But it will not treat the other parasites. Did your vet give the kitten anything for parasites? Do you know?

Something that helps GREATLY with diarrhea is Diagel for kittens:
Diagel for kittens up to 6lbs
Diagel for kittens over 6lbs

You can get it online or from your vet. It is all natural and expensive, but the weight is worth in GOLD. It really works, and works fast. BUT you HAVE to treat the underlying issue - if this is parasites, for example.

Diagel will heal the intestinal tract and solve the problem if the issue is salmonella or e-coli, diet or stress related. It will help to stop the diarrhea until you treat the problem too.
In a case like this, I would give it for a few days, every 12 hours.

But in any event, I would go to another vet and get a fecal done. And I would go rather quickly

Carolina said:

That's weird - Albon is supposed to STOP the diarrhea, just like Metronidazole... If I were you, I would be going to a different vet..... I wouldn't have a kitten with severe diarrhea for that long..... Besides the drag on you, it is just dangerous for the kitten.

Albon is an antibiotic and has anti-inflammatory effects on the gut (which is why it is one of the antibiotics used as a treatment of IBD, again simmilarly to Metronidazole). It also treats coccidia..... But it will not treat the other parasites. Did your vet give the kitten anything for parasites? Do you know?

Something that helps GREATLY with diarrhea is Diagel for kittens:
Diagel for kittens up to 6lbs
Diagel for kittens over 6lbs

You can get it online or from your vet. It is all natural and expensive, but the weight is worth in GOLD. It really works, and works fast. BUT you HAVE to treat the underlying issue - if this is parasites, for example.

Diagel will heal the intestinal tract and solve the problem if the issue is salmonella or e-coli, diet or stress related. It will help to stop the diarrhea until you treat the problem too.
In a case like this, I would give it for a few days, every 12 hours.

But in any event, I would go to another vet and get a fecal done. And I would go rather quickly

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I don't get this He isn't pooping excessively like it was the other day, it seems to be slowing. I was told by the vet that Albon treats a wide variety of parasites.....and the vet I went to is top notch and rated highly :\ Sigh.

Auroraei said:

I don't get this He isn't pooping excessively like it was the other day, it seems to be slowing. I was told by the vet that Albon treats a wide variety of parasites.....and the vet I went to is top notch and rated highly :\ Sigh.

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No it doesn't.... It treats coccidia, and is an antibiotic. Like I said, IMHO I would look for another vet. Albon does have anti-inflammatory properties on the gut, and it will help with the diarrhea.... but it is usually used in cases of inflammation, such as IBD.
If your cat had been diagnosed with Coccidia, then it would make sense. But there is a lot of other parasites that it doesn't treat.
One pill of Drontal would had treated your baby (if the problem was parasites).

He needs a fecal to be properly diagnosed.

PS. Vets who are very good on paper not always are the best vets. Once I had one of those..... GREAT on paper - AWESOME ratings. I have no doubt my cat would be dead had I continued going there.

In addition to all the good advice on here I would highly recommend you start buying specially formulated kitten food, which will cater to his nutritional needs for a cat his age and size. If you can get hold of science plan, they make both wet and dry foods - best to mix it up a bit and get some fibre in him. Don't give him yoghurt though as cats can't digest dairy very well, if at all and it could make the problem worse. Remember to introduce new foods slowly as well - mix a little more of a new food each day into his old food so that his system has a chance to adjust. You have had him maybe a week and already changed his food twice, from what I can see, this process should take a week to change his food once... So I don't think his tummy can cope. Now that he is also dehydrated, there is a special food in the science plan range for cats who have been ill over a longer period (it is a wet food designed to replenish all the lost vitamins and minerals etc) that I would recommend. I have previously had experience with kittens who couldn't tolerate the whiskas and kitekat pouches - we consider them candy for cats. Great as a treat, but not for use every day. Maybe it is a combination of a parasite, the medication AND a food intolerance that is doing it. Bear in mind though, I am no expert - I can only give you the benefit of experiences and what I personally know works - but I would agree that you most definitely NEED a new vet for him. Get well little Phoenix xxxx

Totally agree about boiled breast of chicken.  My 10 month old kitten still has diarrhoea issues but seems okay on boiled chicken when he gets an attack.