Diarrhea

We have a kiten who is about 10 weeks old. A couple weeks ago he had diarrhea to the point where it would just come right out of him. There was also a couple accidents on the carpert (we have a dog and 4 cats so I'm assuming it was the baby who couldn't make it to the litter box).

I took him to the vet who was able to get alittle stool from him, which he didn't like. LOL They checked for parasites and he had none. They gave me flora flora to put on his food twice a day. They also gave him deworming medication and gave me another one to give him in 10 days. (He had worms before we adopted him and only had one dose of deworming medicine, which the vet said should have 3 or 4 as a kitten.

About 4 days later, he was still having diarrhea. I called the vet and took a sample of his stools in so they can check for Coccidia and Giardia (I think that's what they checked for) which he didn't have.

They started him on Metronidazole suspension which he's been on twice a day for about 5 days.

Is stools are better, alittle firmer but they are still soft and smells really bad. He's been eating, drinking, playing and acting normal.

Is there anything else the vet should check for?

Are kitten's stools supposed to be soft until they reach adulthood?

Any information will be appreciated.

Thank You,

Bernice

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It could be a food intolerance.  What is he eating?  Is he able to get to the dog food?
 

I work for a small rescue and have seen lots of kittens with diarrhea. There are several avenues that you can venture.

1.)Have the vet send out a PCR GI panel. This will test for cryptosporidium, tritrichomonas, campylobacter, Giardia, Coccidia and other parasites/protozoans. It is more sensitive than what can be done in a vet clinic.

Also, just because your kitty doesn't currently test positive for a particular parasite doesn't mean he doesn't have one. Some parasites are difficult to catch in the shedding stage.

We have used Panacur (a dewormer) when metronidazole doesn't work; but, we suspect a parasite

2.) Yes, he could have a food allergy/intolerance. You could try putting him on a limited ingredient, grain-free diet. I have seen food allergies in kittens as young as 8 wks.

I hope your kitten gets well soon!

savingpaws said:

I work for a small rescue and have seen lots of kittens with diarrhea. There are several avenues that you can venture.

1.)Have the vet send out a PCR GI panel. This will test for cryptosporidium, tritrichomonas, campylobacter, Giardia, Coccidia and other parasites/protozoans. It is more sensitive than what can be done in a vet clinic.

Also, just because your kitty doesn't currently test positive for a particular parasite doesn't mean he doesn't have one. Some parasites are difficult to catch in the shedding stage.

We have used Panacur (a dewormer) when metronidazole doesn't work; but, we suspect a parasite

2.) Yes, he could have a food allergy/intolerance. You could try putting him on a limited ingredient, grain-free diet. I have seen food allergies in kittens as young as 8 wks.

I hope your kitten gets well soon!

Click to expand...

Thanks. I feed him Blue Buffalo Kitten Food. All my animal eat Blue Buffalo. He doesn't get into my dog's food. She gets fed twice a day and when I feed her, I make sure the cats don't ge into it. I'll ask the vet about the parasites you stated.

Thanks for reponding back so fast.

Bernice

Keep us posted and let us know what you find out.

The more in depth parasite test is a good idea because the in office tests often have false negatives. 

Some posters had some issues with the blue buffalo food a few months ago you might want to read through this thread (http://www.thecatsite.com/t/258997/blue-buffalo). 

I would advise feeding a bland diet of just boiled chicken for a week and getting a human grade pro-biotic and digestive enzymes.  S. Boulardii has been used by a lot of people on here and you can read through this thread talking about the dosage for kittens (http://www.thecatsite.com/t/262945/dark-brown-eye-crust-in-corners-of-eyes#post_3390900). 

I have had good success with vitality science products and you may want to look into them (http://www.vitalityscience.com).