Sick kitten ... Tips or advice please!

leoprincess

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I recently purchased a kitten from a breeder. Since I got him (July 15th, 2013) he's had diarrhea, but it was mixed (half soft and half formed') The doctor prescribed Flagl, which didn't seem to work. He had been on the Royal Canin Kitten Development.

I did some searching and decided to switch him to a better quality food, but this seemed to make his stomach worse and he was bleeding, so I took him off and put him back on the original food. Then he started crying in his litter, so I took him to the vet. The vet thought maybe he has food allergies, so we tried the Royal Canin Gastro food and that made his diarrhea worse. He was then put on Royal Canin Hypoallergenic and another course of flagyl and it has gotten even worse. His poo stinks (so bad that sometimes you can smell it upstairs from the basement) and its watery and my kitten acts like he is starving! Otherwise he's full of energy!

Has anyone dealt with this or have any ideas what it could be? The vet thought maybe malabsorption, but based on what I've read about it, that doesn't seem right.

Thank you!!!
 
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catpack

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Could still be a food intolerance. All the food described above is full of grains. I'd suggest putting him on a grain-free limited ingredient diet. Nature's Variety has LID in turkey, duck and rabbit (both dry and wet forms.)

Could also be malabsorption. Had a kitten diagnosed with that at 8 wks old. This particular kitten also has food allergies/sensitivities.

Have you had a PCR GI panel done; or, just in house fecal?

How about a blood panel? This would tell you if it's malabsorption for sure.
 

catpack

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The PCR panel is more sensitive and tests for things that the vet cannot. This would include cryptosporidium, tritrichomonas, campylobacter (and a few others), along with being able to pick up coccidia and giardia better.
 
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leoprincess

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Thank you so much for your quick response! I'm going to look up Nature's valley and see where they carry it! Would you suggest just doing a straight swap? At this point, I'm worried that no matter what I put him on, he'll likely have some bad diarrea!

Is PCR panel for parasites only? I actually had his stool tested twice, and it was clear both times.

Also, is your kitten with malabsorption on this food?
 
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catpack

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It tests for parasites, protozoans and some bacterial (campylobacter is a bacterial infection.) The PCR panel is sent off to an outside lab. Typically takes 4-7 days to get results back.

Also, it sometimes takes a few tests to get an actual diagnosis depending on the shedding cycle of certain parasites.

Panacur and Ponazril are 2 medications we try if metronidazole doesn't work (I work for a small rescue.) Not all vets will distribute the Ponazril as treatment for cats is off-label.
Panacur is a different type of dewormer...Ponazril is used to treat coccidia.

As for switching foods...I have done a "quick" switch over (3 days) if I feel food might be the issue. I have in 2 cases gone "cold turkey" because I strongly felt food was the culprit.

You can add some canned pumpkin (not pie filling) to his diet also to help with the diarrhea; it's also beneficial when switching foods.
 
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leoprincess

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Thanks again, I can't tell you how helpful this has been!

Linus is off to the vet tomorrow to do some bloodwork (to test for the malabsorption) and I will be picking up the food you recommended and hopefully some pumpkin (as I imagine changing his food again, is going to upset his stomach).

I'm so happy to find this forum ... After 2 vet visits and 4 different foods ... This is some of the best advice I have received! Those cats are lucky to have you Savingpaws!
 
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mrsgreenjeens

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You might try giving him a probiotic as well.  We give our cats the same probiotic we take.   since he is still just a kitten, I would suggest just 1/2 capsule per day,  just sprinkle it in his food, maybe 1/4 in the morning and 1/4 at night.   Are you feeding (or going to be) the kibble or canned NV limited?  I would suggest canned, or at least some canned.  It's so much easier to stir the pumpkin and probiotics into, and anything else you might need to "hide" in his food
, plus canned is just so much better for them.  But, for kittens, you need to make sure you feed them plenty, so you might need to feed him several meal during a 24 hour period.
 
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leoprincess

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I went to the pet store today and picked up some Nature Variety limited ingredient food in Turkey and also some pumpkin. How much pumpkin should I be giving him?

Unfortunately my pet store doesn't carry much of this brand, but said if I like it, they can get in different varieties. I PRAY that this will work! We are also doing bloodwork, but currently, the vet doesn't really know what's going on and was very surprised that all the vet foods and flagyl haven't worked.
 
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leoprincess

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Mrsgreenjeans, what kind of probiotic are you giving to your cats?
 
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leoprincess

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Thanks for all your help!!  After almost 2 months, today Linus finally had "normal" stool.  I don't want to jinx it, but I think this has done the trick!

Since his diarrhea seems to have cleared up, can I stop giving him the pumkin?  My plan is to give it to him for at least another week, but then stop because I would like to be able to use the pumkin should he experience this issue again.   Should I do this?
 

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I think it would be ok to wean him off the pumpkin. If giving it to him twice a day, do it just once a day for a few days, then go to every other day, etc. See how he handles it.

So glad to hear he is doing better!
 
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leoprincess

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The diarrhea is back .... I haven't changed a thing and have only started weaning him off the pumkin today (and the diarrhea started yesterday).

The only thing I could think is that he's no longer on the flagyl, but that's been almost a week or I gave him a greenies pill pocket treat, only one.

Any idea what could be going on? I don't really understand and the last time I was at my vets, they didn't know either.
 
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vball91

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If it's a food intolerance issue, there are a lot of ingredients in the Greenies pill pockets that could have set it off. I would continue with the pumpkin for now.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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It would be helpful at this point if we knew exactly what you are feeding him, (still the NV limited ingredients?), any medications?, HOW you are giving them (with greenies pill pockets?, are you giving him any probiotics, digestive enzymes?  anything else going inside of him at any time?  Also, did you get that PCR panel done to test for some of the lesser known causes of diarrhea that Catpack mentioned ? 
 
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maewkaew

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 Did  the vet test for tritrichomonas foetus?

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=2830

http://www.fabcats.org/breeders/infosheets/tritrichomonas.html

http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/docs/documents/ownersguide_tfoetus_revised_122009_final.pdf

 That is a parasite that has become a problem in cats in recent years      I think you still have to do a specific test for it.     and the cat needs to be off antibiotics a few days to get an accurate test result. 

 If you do find something, of course let the breeder know! 
 
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leoprincess

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Still only giving him the Natures Variety limited ingredient Turkey and pumpkin, 1 teaspoon 2 times a day. And he seemed to be getting better .... Not always perfect, but generally better.

The only thing I did was give him one greenie pill pocket ... And I thought since he had it before (I had been giving these to him when he was on the flagyl) and he seemed to be fine.

I did have bloodwork done a the vet, but a basic blood panel to look a his blood/white blood counts, liver kidney function etc and everything came back perfect. They also dewormed again.

I did not do the PCR GI panel .... Perhaps that is my next step, should this bout of diarrhea go away?

I did not add a probiotic either since he had seemed to be doing better ....
 
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maewkaew

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The PCR GI Panel I mentioned previously will test for Tritrichomonas.
Sorry,  I somehow missed seeing that word when I read your earlier post.  I'm glad tritrich is included in the panel .

LeoPrincess,  if it still doesn't improve,  my next step would be to get that panel done.
 
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