Kittens Have Loose Stools

So, I just recently (yesterday) noticed that both of my kittens (about 9 weeks old) have loose stool. They've been dewormed and had their first shots. They eat a mixture of different wet food plus Nature's Instinct Raw (frozen raw). The wet food they've been getting is Innova Evo, Tiki Cat (which they had been getting since I brought them home) Halo Spot's Stew, Nature's Instinct Canned, Authority Turkey Giblets, and Authority Chicken (no wheat gluten in these). There might be one wet food I'm forgetting (I'm at work). Any way, I think the diarrhea started yesterday or the day before. My boyfriend feeds them during the day when I'm at work, and so I don't know if maybe one of the foods is giving them diarrhea? Should I try switching to just Tiki Cat for now (it's pretty expensive) or should I try chicken or turkey baby food? What should I do? I get paid on Friday, and then they go to the vet on the 6th for their second round of shots. Any ideas? I've read that canned pumpkin (NOT pie filling) can be helpful. Should I add this to their food?Thanks

It could be one of the foods you are feeding. With such a variety of brands, it will be hard to tell which one is suspect. Try to remember which one was fed the meal before they started having the problems. Pumpkin is good for regulating the fiber, but I don't know how fast it would start working.

I think it might be one of the foods as well. I've ruled out Tiki Cat because they didn't have problems on that one when I first started feeding it to them, and I think I can rule out the Evo because I went through two large cans without any diarrhea, I think it might the authority. It's kind of hard to narrow it down. I think I'll try and monitor what I'm feeding more closely. Can raw cause diarrhea?

Of all these foods, I would have suspected the Evo because it is so rich.  But you said you didn't think it was that.  Raw doesn't usually cause diarrhea, but at this point, anything is possible.  Are you using probiotics along with the raw?  You might try adding about 1/2 capsule to their food and see what happens.  (I give my adult cats 1 full capsule every day, so I'm thinking 1/2 capsule should do it for tiny kittens.  Oh, and I give them the same one I take myself...this one )

I would probably cut down on the vast variety right now until the problem goes away, then slowly add more cans to the mix, but keep track of what happens with what brands and proteins you are feeding. 

I'm pretty much broke until Friday, and so I'll have to feed them what I have, but if the stinky and loose poops continue, then I'm going to buy only Tiki Cat and Evo and see if it improves. I've only been feeding Chicken/Turkey/Beef/Duck flavors, but maybe I'll stick to just Chicken and Turkey for right now and see if anything improves. I haven't been given them any probiotics, but I will definitely look into that. Should I add any canned pumpkin to their diet? That's something I can afford to get today.

I don't think it would hurt to add just a little bit of canned pumpkin (maybe a teaspoon per day for such little babies) to their food).  But I just had a thought.  I don't really think Tiki is that good for kittens because it's so very low in fat and calories for growing kittens.  Just my humble opinion.  As long as you are giving them EVO too, that's ok, but if the lose stools continues, I wouldn't feed them Tiki only while trying to figure out what the culprit is.
 

Today I bought turkey baby food and beef babyfood. The only ingredient in each is the meat + broth. I was planning on feeding that with the canned food + pumpkin. Right now in he cupboard I have one small can of tiki, two cans of spot's stew, and one can of nature's variety. What should I do until Friday?

Feed them what you have. Friskies would have been cheaper than baby food and is more nutritionally complete.

Friskies is full of fillers and wheat gluten. I'm trying to simplify their diet. I have some of their normal cat food. I'd never feed my cats Friskies.

Just throwing out a suggestion.

I'm not sure that giving them baby food is a good idea (someone can correct me if I'm wrong). Cats need a balance of bone, meat and organ or they can develop severe health problems. In fact, there was recently a thread or two about someone who was giving their kitten mostly just meat to eat, and the kitten developed a serious disease because of the unbalanced diet, which contained almost no calcium. Also, if the problem is loose stools, calcium might help with that. Pure meat just doesn't contain the calcium cats need.

StealthKitty said:

I'm not sure that giving them baby food is a good idea (someone can correct me if I'm wrong). Cats need a balance of bone, meat and organ or they can develop severe health problems. In fact, there was recently a thread or two about someone who was giving their kitten mostly just meat to eat, and the kitten developed a serious disease because of the unbalanced diet, which contained almost no calcium. Also, if the problem is loose stools, calcium might help with that. Pure meat just doesn't contain the calcium cats need.

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Don't get me wrong, I'm not feeding them JUST baby food. I'm mixing it with the Instinct Raw and pumpkin. I might have misspoken, but they're not getting only baby food. I only bought it to mix in, because the raw might have a higher organ content than desirable.

I think you're talking about Nature's Variety Instinct raw? That product actually has a higher than 10% bone content, which is actually known to cause constipation, so I don't think that's the cause of the diarrhea.

Yeah, that's why I'm feeding that mostly to see if their poop firms up. They seem to be doing better today. They've been acting completely normally throughout the whole thing. Running around and playing and being themselves. I think it may have been one of the other foods that caused it. I'm going to stick with the raw mixed with turkey baby food for now, and see how they do. This weekend I'll pick up some more of the Tiki cat since they seem to have been doing the best on that.

NullEntropy said:

Yeah, that's why I'm feeding that mostly to see if their poop firms up. They seem to be doing better today. They've been acting completely normally throughout the whole thing. Running around and playing and being themselves. I think it may have been one of the other foods that caused it. I'm going to stick with the raw mixed with turkey baby food for now, and see how they do. This weekend I'll pick up some more of the Tiki cat since they seem to have been doing the best on that.

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Glad they are feeling better. Wanted to mention my cat got sick on authority and actually my dog also got super sick too as she stole some off his plate (she is obsessed with cat food and once in a while gets past me and steals some but usually only gets loose stool that time she had terrible green diarrhoea for a week). 

Oh and for the pumpkin make sure it is not pie filling. I would for sure pick up some probiotics too.

I've been through a whole diarrhea debacle with my kitten and it turns out she can't eat chicken or turkey. Keep that in mind, but I'm not sure how common it would be for both kittens to have that problem.