Still loose stool and stinky

Hi there

We have switched our kittens who will be 5 months old onto a different food slowly I might add. We have done so because they have very loose stool and stinky. They are on fully new food as of yesterday. How long before we can expect a change in stool is there is one? It's very stinky and soft still! We were told at the Animal aide that if we gave them canned food they would have diareha. But I have heard so much good things about an all wet diet. I would eventually like to feed them all wet but haven't done this yet due to the loose stool. I went all grain free when I switched them from science diet. dry to Merrick kitten but have switched them to a vet brand ( yes I know not the best but it was a switch which we needed to try.) I am alt a loss now and no I don't want to do. but may be we have to wait longer to see if the new food helps.  They love wet food which I give breakfast and dinner time and they will eat the dry stuff too. So so far they will eat whatever I give them they don't seem picky so far. I hope to find something that will work so as to not keep switching their food which I hate doing on them. I feel bad for them and hope they are not suffering. They act normal but have the soft stool and they have heaps of energy!

The vet brand probably has grain in it; I'm not sure that food will help at all.

You might try a novel protein, one the cats have never had before, like lamb or venison.

I think it's an allergy to something in the food, perhaps an additive, preservative.

Also, have they been checked and double checked for worms?  (Lots of false positives lab resutls.)  Some worms evolve in the stomach in cycles/stages; maybe the final stage is hitting right about now.

PS:  you might also try the boiled chicken and rice diet for a few days.  If that clears up the stool problem, it most probably is food related.

Ritz said:

The vet brand probably has grain in it; I'm not sure that food will help at all.
You might try a novel protein, one the cats have never had before, like lamb or venison.
I think it's an allergy to something in the food, perhaps an additive, preservative.
Also, have they been checked and double checked for worms?  (Lots of false positives lab resutls.)  Some worms evolve in the stomach in cycles/stages; maybe the final stage is hitting right about now.

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They were checked before we got them and then I took a stool sample in a week or so ago and that gave back negative. So then a diet change was recommended. Yes it has grains in it the new food and I was not crazy about changing bug we had to try something. My husband is against an all wet diet as he said that is not possible for us but I think we could do it at least switch to mostly wet once we can find something that works and know the amounts to be feeding our kittens. If I am totally honest this is getting very frustrating!

Please try a plain boiled chicken diet for a few days if their problem clears up like Ritz said it is food related. Probiotics and digestive enzymes also really help in these situations. I have had great results with vitality science products (http://www.vitalityscience.com) and when either my dog or cats have loose stool I give them their luxolite product (http://www.vitalityscience.com/v/AllProducts/luxolite/white-bentonite.asp)  and it resolves their issue within 24 hours. 

Have you had them to the vet and had a fecal test done for parasites?  If so and it came back okay, have them checked for tritrichomonas foetus.  Having diarrhea for so long can lead to dehydration.  I'm concerned that something else is going on medically that is not being addressed, especially since their is such a strong odor and the diarrhea isn't stopping.  You really need to talk to your vet about this.  If you don't get any help, talk to another vet and continue looking until you find a vet who will address the issue.
 

Yes came back negative. I think in a few more days a vet visit is needed!

Did they test for tritrichomonas foetus?  That requires a special PCR test, not just the normal fecal float done in the office.  It also tests for giardia and other hard to get rid of parasites like coccidia.  I would take them sooner rather than later because diarrhea is so uncomfortable for kitties and as I mentioned previously, can lead to dehydration, and the vet can possible give you something to help stop the diarrhea. 

Here are a couple of helpful links for you.

Tritrich info from Texas A&M Vet school:  http://vetmed.tamu.edu/gilab/service/assays/tritrichomonas

Info on coccidia http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/infectious-parasitic/c_ct_coccidiosis#.Uh4mVH_KE1I

For what it's worth, canned food does NOT make a kitty have diarrhea.  Feeding kitty an exclusively canned food diet or mostly canned food diet is much better than an all dry diet or a dry diet with a bit of canned food as a treat.http://catinfo.org/

I agree with stephanietx. Have them do a special test to check for those other parasites. My kitten had a few negative fecals and finally giardia showed up on this last one. She also had loose very stinky poop. We also thought it was the food because all the fecals were normal and she had been wormed twice. I definitely think there is something going on inside because it seems odd that more than one kitten is having the same symptoms. 

I also agree with the advise about retesting. Giardia often had on and off symptoms and you need to have a more comprehensive like ELISA test because there are a lot of false negatives. Take a look at this article and video for more information. Please read (http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/03/19/giardia-infection-on-pets.aspx)

newkittyowner said:

Yes came back negative. I think in a few more days a vet visit is needed!

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T. Foetus, giardia & cryptosporidia: these are all parasites that require or can require a more sensitive test that may need to be done numerous times to determine if they are present. When the stool is soft or runny, the cysts are often not removed from the colon into the stool. There are TCS members that have had to take in up to four fecal samples before the parasite was found; previous fecals were all "negative." Yet the kittens still had runny stool. Also, coccidia and clostridium require the more sensitive test to be identified. It is not uncommon for a rescue kitten to be infected with more than one parasite/bacteria.

Of course, if the food change was with a dry food, that could in an of itself cause the problem. Rapid dry food switches can also cause diarrhea.

If you don't want to spend the money on the PCR test of their stool, please put them on a diet of boiled chicken with a human probiotic of 5 billion CFU of an acidophilus supplement that contains L. acidophilus & B. Bifidus (or try the product recommended by Franksmom), with half the probiotic given in the morning, and half in the evening. If the problem is the food, their stool should firm up in a few days. If the problem is parasites, this won't help much. This is not a diet to be fed long term, it is not nutritionally balanced. It is just a short term tool to help identify the source of the problem. It is considered a bland diet, and helps upset tummies settle if the problem is the food.

The food change was done with dry and wet. The dry was changed very slowly over 7 day. What is the cost of this test you guys talk of? Trying to convince my hubby a vet visit is needed. On the next visit I will evaluate my vet as he was fine with us feeding an all dry diet. I know in my heart that isn't what I want to do so added the wet and want to increase it at some point. Don't want to stress them even more though.

I don't know where you live. Here in northern NJ it's around $140. For a friend in the Dallas/Ft Worth area, it's around $180.

Wet food does not cause diarrhea. Certain ingredients can cause diarrhea though!

I think it was the carrageenan in some of the canned that caused my cats' chronic diarrhea. Switching to raw fixed it immediately. I would definitely give the boiled chicken and rice a try. Or just boiled chicken.

...though unless the food itself has a problem, it's unlikely that more than one kitten is reacting to specific ingredients in a food...

LDG said:

...though unless the food itself has a problem, it's unlikely that more than one kitten is reacting to specific ingredients in a food...

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With having two kittens it's hard to know if it's more than one kittens problem. I don't know who's poop it is or if it's both kittens. I am sad as it is that they have loose stool but if it's not food related I will be sad about that cause I have changed it on them. My husband said he saw some firmer poop today but agrees that if it's not better in a day or two to make an appointment to see the vet. 

Wouldn't it be nice if cats could tell us what is bothering them lol, I am not making fun of the situation at all but it's true it would be great and easier! It's like my son when he was a baby couldn't tell us and I wish he could but at least now he can most times!

I can't remember how much the PCR test cost but the ELISA is around $40 at my vet in Iowa. It test for antigens specific to Giardia so it is very accurate.

LDG said:

...though unless the food itself has a problem, it's unlikely that more than one kitten is reacting to specific ingredients in a food...

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That's what I ran into and why the vet and I had such a hard time figuring out what was wrong! Gadget had nonstop diarrhea, the other two alternated having formed stools. It was so frustrating.

rosalie68 said:

I can't remember how much the PCR test cost but the ELISA is around $40 at my vet in Iowa. It test for antigens specific to Giardia so it is very accurate.

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That's the problem - it may be something other than giardia.

newkittyowner said:

With having two kittens it's hard to know if it's more than one kittens problem. I don't know who's poop it is or if it's both kittens. I am sad as it is that they have loose stool but if it's not food related I will be sad about that cause I have changed it on them. My husband said he saw some firmer poop today but agrees that if it's not better in a day or two to make an appointment to see the vet. 

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Yep, with 8 cats, I understand the problem in poop identification.

newkittyowner said:

Wouldn't it be nice if cats could tell us what is bothering them lol, I am not making fun of the situation at all but it's true it would be great and easier! It's like my son when he was a baby couldn't tell us and I wish he could but at least now he can most times!

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HOW many times have we all wished that??????? !!!!!!!