16 week old kitten and worms

I asked this question at the vet and kind of got an answer. 

We got Sam a month ago from Animal Control.  Our city had just opened up this very pretty new shelter- we were looking for a "friend" for Holly, and the price wasn't bad.  He had beginning shots, we paid $50 to get him neutered (I think he was about 14 weeks at that time).  He also had parasites.  Roundworms, coccidia (sp) and one other parasite (I think there was 3).  I know for a fact there were roundworms b/c we kind of worried that Holly would get them, but it turns out her flea medicine has preventative for that parasite (and we had her tested anyways).  He took medicine- reluctantly for 10 days and I thought I was done. 

He was supposed to have a recheck next week.  Well this morning in the litterbox, there was runny poo with a little bloody mucus.  He's also been "scooting" across the floor (dd was kind of grossed out about it).  Little bit of research I did said possible parasites- so I called the vet.  They said that even though he's not due for another week- go ahead and try to get a sample.  I think the poo I saw in there was his- but wasn't 100% sure.  So we waited around all morning for the cat to go potty

Vet said that yeah- he could still have them.  That's why they do a recheck.  Is that true?  Is there a chance that if he's got parasites that this round of meds won't "knock them out"?  I hate giving him drops- it is NOT his favorite thing.  Nor do I enjoy chasing a 16 week old kitten around the house to give him medicine (he's going to be a whole lot harder to give meds to this go-around)

Never had this problem with a kitten before.  However the last 2 kittens we got- I knew where they came from.  Sneaky came from mil- and we got Holly from a friend who found a pregnant mom.  All I know about Sam is that someone brought him in as a stray the beginning of June, and I think he was less than 8 weeks old when they brought him in.  Mom very well could have been a stray/feral.

Oh yeah, vet did say that it could possibly be a reaction to food.  I've got him on Nutro Kitten.  The other one is on the adult formula, and it is a brand I can find at the commissary 

Cheryl 

Yes it is very possible he still has something after treatment. Giardia is actually really treatment resistant and is very common in shelter kittens. Here is some more information on it (http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/03/19/giardia-infection-on-pets.aspx). You probably should get an ELISA test on his stool. 

His fecal came back negative. 

And though I'm not completely ruling out parasites- I'm thinking it could be something else. 

It got bad after we started giving him 9 Lives wet food.  He LOVES it.  He'll gobble what Holly doesn't eat down, then I give him some.  I've heard that wet food is good for cats, and since Holly's never had a problem with it- we'd give him that.  I thought back, and he was having mostly solid stools for the last few weeks. 

When I called the vet back- they said stop the wet food.  (which is going to be hard since he'll sit there and watch Holly eat hers).  But she'll usually gobble it down in a matter of minutes, he can't get up on counters yet so I'll just give her a little.  They also said switch food.  The bag of Nutro is almost empty so I'll just go out and get him some Hill's food.  I had another cat years ago that Hills was the only thing he could eat, and I guess if I have to make a special trip to Petsmart once a month- so be it.  And when he's old enough to be off of kitten food- if the Hill's works I'll just switch Holly over to that (food switching doesn't seem to bother her- I've done it several times now with no problems at all)

Sheesh. They're worse than human children .  The family has grown attached to this little guy.

Cheryl

Wet food does not cause loose stools and it is probably an ingredient in the 9 lives like grains which is upsetting his tummy. I would give him plain boiled chicken for a few days and see if you can pinpoint what it is that causing this. Here is a good article with a video on how to address food allergies (http://healthypets.mercola.com/site...012/05/07/protein-diets-for-pets-allergy.aspx)

Dry food really is not the best thing for cats as they are obligate carnivores that need to get moisture from there food (you can read more by a vet at www.catinfo.org). Dry food is also known to cause a lot of GI distress in some cats. Here are some more articles written by vets on the issues with dry food  (http://www.littlebigcat.com/nutrition/why-dry-food-is-bad-for-cats-and-dogs/) and (http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/02/17/dry-food-wrong-for-cats.aspx). The hills food is particularly bad because it is filled with grains. I would not recommend that dry food should ever make up the majority of a cats diet and they should be getting at least 50 percent wet.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Did the vet just do an in house fecal test? If so, it would be worth sending out a PCR GI panel which checks for a wider variety of parasites/protozoans (Tritrichomonas, Cryptosporidium, Campylobacter, Giardia, etc...) It is a more sensitive test than in house ones. I work for a small rescue and it can take several fecal tests to determine the cause of diarrhea (depending on the shedding pattern.)

I used to feed my feral cats 9 lives because it was cheap and I had a bunch of cats but anyway they always had loose stools. I finally decided to switch the canned food to see if it made  a difference and it did. There was something in 9 lives canned that was not agreeing with them. Hope your little guy starts feeling better soon.

We're going to try the boiled chicken.  He LOVES that- the last time we gave him some he gobbled it up. 

I just read something that cats that eat quickly can have tummy problems too.  He inhales his food- I have never seen a cat eat as fast as he does.  Again- it probably has to do with him being a stray

Thank you for all your responses.  I appreciate the advice.

Cheryl

I just wanted to post an update.  We changed his food to Hills.  When Holly gets her wet food- he's been getting boiled chicken breast.  We pick up her food dish when she's done.

Yesterday his poop was NORMAL!!!!!!!   And it looks normal today too!

I would like to give him some sort of wet food.  Not sure what yet.  I might try a kitten canned food from Hills and take it from there.  Or- is it ok to just continue giving him chicken breast?  He loves it and it seems to be agreeing with him.

Cheryl

I would try something other than Hill's.  The non-prescription stuff is really not good at all.  Since he's a kitten, I would look into Wellness kitten, Blue Buffalo if they have a kitten version, or Royal Canin kitten food.  You can always put a bit of the canned food in the bowl then top with the chicken.  I would also recommend that you transition your other kitty away from Hill's if it's not a prescription food.  I would look into something grain-free for both of them as the kitten gets older.