Diarrhea and FIP in 7 1/2 week old kitten?

Hi everyone, I'm new here and desperately seeking help. We adopted our sweet baby Koda one week ago. He is a 3/4 Maine Coon 1/4 Ragdoll mix. The morning after we brought him home we noticed that his BM were a bit softer then those from the day before, and attributed to change in diet and stress of being in a new environment. As the days passed they got worse until he ended up with full blown runs. The previous owner indicated that he had not received shots or deworming but that both parents were utd on theirs. I'm assuming worms are the problem, and took him to the vet this morning for evaluation and treatment and to get his first set of vaccinations.

The vet, after asking some questions about his history and diet tells me he suspects FIP, and that I should be prepared for him to pass. I was floored. The doctor only did a physical exam, which mostly was focused on thumping and feeling Koda's tummy. He said that his abdomen appears to be distended and that because of this he feared FIP. I asked if parasites were an option and he said yes, but if the runs do not stop within 3 days then there is nothing he can do for him.

There were no fecal or any other labs done, except they did swab his ears, that's it. He prescribed 6 days of Albon and 3 days of Panacur, nutri cal, and Royal Canin Gastro Intestinal canned diet.

I've spent my entire day since getting home scouring the net for info on FIP. My kitten does not have any of the symptoms other then the liquid stool. He eats and drinks like a champ, is playful and healthy looking in every way, and I honestly don't see that his tummy looks very distended at all. It looks like a normal kitten tummy, not at all like any of the photos I've seen. I also could not find any instances of such a Young kitten passing so soon. I'm feeling emotionally beaten up, I just can't wrap my head around this. The vet made it sound doubtful we would be back for our follow up visit on Thursday, like he can pass at any given moment.

Has anyone else gone through something like this? I don't understand how the Dr came to this option when the cat is not showing more then one symptom. Any thoughts?

Sorry for the long post

Well that just sounds crazy. I'm so sorry this vet completely freaked you out, and potentially for no reason.

I guess go ahead and use that food - it's very expensive for what it is, but being basically chicken and rice, it probably won't aggravate things, anyway. :cross: If he has coccidia, the albon should treat that. The panacur will treat giardia and other things, if those are causing the problem.

There's no way to diagnose FIP. Blood work combined with symptoms and how the kitty looks and feels can point to it, but it's a really dodgy thing to diagnose. Trust your instincts. :heart2:

And please, please, please seek out a new vet. Basically this vet is just throwing medicine at your cat, covering most of the bacterial/parasitic bases. This isn't so crazy, because many of these things are shed as cyst-like things, and when kitty has diarrhea, they don't necessarily shed and can't be found other than by sometimes four, five fecal labs, and that can add up.

But this is also going to wipe out all of his healthy gut bacteria. He's just a baby, so I'd consider feeding him some yogurt with live cultures in it a few times a day, to help replace his healthy gut bacteria.

Just for your future knowledge, any responsible breeder will keep the kitten with their mom until they're 12 weeks old. Also, any responsible breeder will not mix breeds. Your baby is literally a baby; many are still nursing from mom at this age, even though they're eating more solid food as well. :heart2:

OK, I just checked at http://www.ahvma.org/Widgets/FindVet.html (The American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association). You have three holistic vets within about a half hour drive from you. Click on small animal, then Chinese Herbs, then your state.

Given the descriptions of the two in Carrollton and the one in Plano, I'd chose http://www.alternativeveterinaryhospital.com/

The Dr. Shawn in Plano will likely push his products; the other one in Carrollton doesn't list conventional medicine.

We've worked with traditional vets and a holistic D.V.M. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but holistic vets that stay current on traditional medicine offer more options for treatment. :heart2:

Sorry - just thought I'd mention something else. We rescued an FIV+ kitty - an older feral cat. He had explosive diarrhea when we rescued him. The traditional vets we worked with could not resolve the problem. After six months, we sought out a holistic vet. She had him fixed up inside of four days, basically. Even when using traditional meds, holistic vets have supplemental/supporting therapy options that can really help our cats heal. :heart2:

Oh Gee, you are in the Dallas Area, PLEASE, bring this kitty to my vet! Dr. Escobedo. He is the BEST vet you will find around - look no further - he is IT. I will PM you the information!!

LGD, and Carolina, thank you for all the thoughtful advice and for helping put my mind at ease. I just don't see a kitten on his deathbed when I look a Koda, and I will definitely be seeking another veterinarian for him. I will keep his follow up appointment because I really want to get a better understanding of his reasons for rushing to judgement of a probable FIP diagnosis. I was uneducated at the time and nearly speechless from shock at the first visit.

Update for today - he still has the diarrhea, but less frequent. But he is bouncing around and acting like a perfectly healthy kitten. He does Not like the canned food from the vet, he sniffs it and paws the floor next to his bowl and tries to cover it up. I'm going to head out to one of the big chain pet stores to see if I can find a different kind of food for him. Any suggestions of a particular brand that would be good for upset tummy?

LDG said:

OK, I just checked at http://www.ahvma.org/Widgets/FindVet.html (The American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association). You have three holistic vets within about a half hour drive from you. Click on small animal, then Chinese Herbs, then your state.

Given the descriptions of the two in Carrollton and the one in Plano, I'd chose http://www.alternativeveterinaryhospital.com/

The Dr. Shawn in Plano will likely push his products; the other one in Carrollton doesn't list conventional medicine.

We've worked with traditional vets and a holistic D.V.M. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but holistic vets that stay current on traditional medicine offer more options for treatment. :heart2:

Click to expand...

If you are talking about Dr. Shawn Messonnier, this is the Holistic vet I took Bugsy for his raw diet and natural stomatitis drops. He is very famous, but I don't know if I would treat an animal in dire conditions with him. Honestly.

You are right - he will push his products - which are not really his - it is just his labels..... He knows a lot though..... so it is not all bad. But it does become commercial IMHO.... I stopped going there.

What I like about Dr. E. (my vet), is that is while he is "traditional", he will treat your animal traditionally and if you want, with herbs too. Bugsy was treated under his supervision in many different ways - with herbs, Chinese, supplements, and of course he is fed raw. He is very open minded. He navigates through both Worlds. He will research treatments on his own time to make sure he is doing the best thing for your baby.... I don't know how that man sleeps.... Because judging by Bugsy, appointment time was the least amount of time he spent with us. He put a LOT of effort making sure Bugsy would be ok :heart3: He is a heck of a vet!

I know nothing of the second clinic you posted.....

I'm glad he's doing so well. I hope it stays that way!

Koda's mommy, for information on healthy food for cats, this is the best site: http://www.catinfo.org

The best long term foods for him are canned foods that are grain-free, low carb, and meat-based. If you can find By Nature 95% meat foods, I'd recommend those. Or Before Grain (also 95% meat foods). It's actually best to have a number of brands in rotation (again, long term, not now).

If I were in your shoes, I'd feed him kitten glop (with the acidophilus capsule contents added) for a few days to let his tummy settle: http://www.kitten-rescue.com/what_to_feed.html

Personally, I see no reason to go back to the same vet to find out why they were thinking FIP. Given he didn't take the time to explain it to you in the first place, and didn't explain what medicines he was giving you and why, and what testing is normally done and why he wasn't doing it is enough to me to not want to waste my money going back. But that's me.

Kitties can go downhill very quickly. So if you see any changes in behavior, I'd do something immediately. And if he's not eating, that is not OK. He's too young. I hope you found something he likes. In a pinch, you can run out to get plain chicken babyfood. If you have access to Beechnut, that's the better choice over Gerber's, as Gerber's is now adding corn starch to the food. It's not balanced for a cat, but for short-term use, it's better than nothing.

Just reading your original post makes me want to throw up. I would change Vets immidiately. Hope your baby will get better, now I will read all the replies

Thank you all for your help and all the useful information. Koda is doing great! He had his first normal poo on Wednesday and has been having them ever since. I took him to another vet who said he appears to be a normal healthy kitten in every way. Nothing to remotely indicate FIP. Because he was treated with dewormer and antibiotic without any prior testing we won't have answers to the cause, but I'm just grateful he has a clean bill of health.

I also changed his diet so that may also have helped.

Thanks again to everyone for all your help and support!