Blood in kittens' stools - appears to be entirely food-related??

Hi there, I'm new to this forum and to having kittens of my own. Recently I adopted two kittens from the same litter, and my parents adopted their two brothers. They were quite young, just seven weeks, when we took them home, but had been eating solid food - dry kibble - for a few weeks (along with milk from their mum). When I took them home, I fed them a mix of their old dry food with Orijen cat & kitten. I'm not sure of their old brand but I believe it was of reasonable quality. I also gave them Innova Cat & Kitten wet and Evo venison wet food. Their stools were fine over the weekend, dark brown and firm, except Morgana (my girl kitty) had some flatulence and softer stools, like toothpaste. I took them to the vet for their first checkup and he said they looked healthy, & they received deformed, Revolution drops, vaccinations, etc. I took them home on Friday the 7th and we were home with them Saturday - Monday. On Tuesday we went back to work and the kittens were in their "apartment" in the bathroom by themselves with all their amenities. On Wednesday evening, I noticed bloody mucous in Arthur's stool. I made an appointment with the vet for Friday, the 14th and brought in stool samples for both kittens. The vet said it was either diet or parasites, and he said to keep them on Royal Canin Development Kitten wet food for two or three days. I did, and by Tuesday morning (18th?) the blood in Arthur's stool virtually disappeared.

I had given away the Orijen as I thought it might be too much for them to eat; it's quite hard and the size and shape of a small almond. My mum recommended a holistic, grain-free local brand (from Victoria, BC) as her kittens had been eating it with no digestive issues, plus it had a smaller, easier-to-eat shape. I want to feed them wet in the morning and evenings and have dry food out during the day while we're at work. I'm still not sure if it's good for their tummies to have two kinds of food like that.

By Tuesday of last week, the kittens were eating Innova cat and kitten and Happy Paws dry. Both developed bloody stools this time, verging on 'cow pies' in some cases. Arthur had almost 1/2 tsp of fresh red blood on Wednesday morning. The fecal ova and parasite tests came back negative as well. Other than the blood, they are in great health and gaining weight. I noticed that Morgana sneezed and coughed after eating the Innova, though. I emailed the vet again when the Innova ran out to ask if I can switch them back to Royal Canin. He said it was fine. Still no clear answer on whether or not it's good to have kittens eating wet & dry (even if the food is consistent).

Arthur had a very bloody stool this evening, and then I gave them each a heaping tablespoon of Royal Canin. He pooped about 20 minutes ago and he had a prick of light pink blood and much firmer poo.

I have this weird feeling that the Innova is the problem (in conjunction with switching foods, of course) .... Was just wondering if anyone else has experienced bloody stools in their kittens? I've consulted with two vets and neither is particularly concerned, but I've been horrified this whole time.

Innova contains turkey, chicken, herring, and whole eggs as its first few ingredients. I thought it'd be a healthy food, but perhaps too much for them?? I really wanted to feed them Orijen, as well, but it's too big for their tiny teeth.

Sorry for the massive post. I've never been so concerned with poo before. My boyfriend can't stand my litter box play-by-plays any longer!!

Him i'm so sorry you're dealing with all this, poor babies.

More than one thing could be going on.  Switching foods, especially wet foods suddenly can cause diarrhea.  Bloody mucus in the stool is a classic symptom of parasites.  A fecal float test is not always 100% so if it were me I would request a PCR test (they have to send it out, it isn't done in house) and start prophylacticly treating for parasites, which if untreated in kittens can be quite dangerous. Giardia and coccidia are the two most common parasites found in kittens stools.

And I would stop switching foods, (with one exception) - I would discuss with my vet putting them on a sensitive stomach food like Hill's i/d for a period of time or even human baby food chicken stage one only.  Every time you switch their food you increase the chances of digestive upset.  Wet food is good for cats in general, provided you find one food and stick with it.  There is a whole section of thecatsite dedicated to food at http://www.thecatsite.com/f/64/cat-nutrition

Good luck!

Stephen

Thanks for your kind advice, Stephen! 

I have a strong feeling they do not have either coccidia or giardia, as apart from the blood in the stool, they do not have diarrhea, and they are not lethargic; I am not sure what kind of test they did, but it was for ova and parasites, and was sent to a separate lab for processing. My parents have two kittens from the exact same litter, taken home the same night, and their kittens are not experiencing the same symptoms as my kittens (also, they have only eaten the Happy Paws dry food since they were brought home); I would assume that if the kittens had contracted giardia or coccidia from their mother, all of the kittens in the litter would exhibit symptoms (although I understand that sometimes, ova are found in regular stool and it is not a concern - the cat is merely a carrier). Neither of the kittens has experienced full-blown diarrhea; even their softest stools have had a clear "shape". The main issue is the varying levels of blood in their stools. Arthur has gone up and down, between dark red blood in a larger volume, to the pinkish, almost nonexistent blood I am seeing in Morgana. Morgana defecated this morning and if I wasn't looking for it, I would not have found any blood, it was so minor. Her stool was firm and medium brown. His stool has also been good since last night, when they ate Royal Canin wet. They have been eating Happy Paws dry as well in between wet feedings. I am hesitant to alter this routine, so I will monitor the kittens for a few more days, and if the blood doesn't clear up completely, they will of course be taken to the vet. I've spoken to the vet and he said that they should be monitored for five to seven days. 

They recommended that I feed the same brand and type of dry and wet food, but I don't want to feed them Royal Canin dry food (I'm not particularly impressed with the ingredient mix in the wet or dry, although if the kittens' stomachs are happy with the wet food, that's what they will eat) and Happy Paws doesn't have a wet food product. This is probably a question for the nutrition forum, but I personally think that if a kitten is responding well to wet and dry foods (one consistent brand each), the brands do not need to match. I know that in my kittens' case, I should avoid mixing, but so far the mix of Royal Canin wet and Happy Paws dry has improved their stools immensely. I will know within the next five days or so if this is a consistent outcome. 
 

Blood/mucous is a classic sign of coccidia. It is often missed in their fecal float tests because the cysts of coccidia must be being shed at the time they pooped for them to 'float' for the test.

However, that being said, and literally how extremely common it is in kittens, you MUST stop switching foods.
Blood is caused by an intestinal upset and irritated bowels/intestines.
Kittens tummies and systems are fragile still, not tough as adults are at all.

Smaller, healthy dry kibble and canned food at least daily is fine.

If you believe there are no parasites, the way to know is, stop all food you are currently feeding them.

Make up some white rice, once cooked, run hot water over it. Get some plain yogurt, and some chicken only baby food.

For feeding, take 2 spoons of rice, add a spoon of the baby food, zap in microwave for just a short time to warm it up nicely.

Add a small spoon of yogurt to it.

Do this for 2 days, by the end of it there should be settled kitten tummies.

Slowly mix in with the food you will be feeding them regularly. Make sure it is brought back into their diets slowly, over a good 3 day period.


There isn't going to be any foods you can give them now while their systems are so irritated that will get it settled down without doing this bland simple diet for them to get right again.

I'm not sure if replying will bring this thread back up to the top of the forum, but I'd like to post an update (Because kitty poo is so much fun!)

My two kittens, Arthur and Morgana, have been eating exclusively Royal Canin Development Kitten wet food (on recommendation from their vet) since Thursday evening. Since eating only Royal Canin, their stools have firmed up completely to a normal level and are now a nice rich dark brown colour. They've been eating about a can per day each, and their stool has become noticeably bigger and there's more of it, though it's still nice and firm. Blood was still present in both of their stools, but to a far lesser degree than before; even in Arhur's stool, blood was minimal, usually only a few flecks. In Morgana's case, since yesterday, the blood has been virtually non-existent, and this evening when I arrived home from work, she defecated and it was a perfect, dark brown, firm stool (but not hard and dry) with no blood. 

However, this evening Arthur produced a stool with far more medium red, mucous-y blood than he had had since he started eating only Royal Canin wet. The evening prior, and, I'm fairly certain, this morning, his stool was essentially blood free aside from a few pinhead-sized light pink drops. 

I've noticed that the blood in his stool, regardless of weekend improvements, tends to increase on Tuesday evenings and Wednesday mornings. I have a strong suspicion he is affected by the stress of our schedules changing.

My boyfriend and I both work full-time, 40 hours per week, during the day. I work Mon-Fri and he works Tues - Sat, both 8:30 - 5, so we're out of the house from 8 am until approximately 5:30 four days out of the week. The first day we're both out of the house, and the kittens are left alone together, is Tuesday.

I'm so incredibly frustrated and concerned, because I thought he was on the road to recovery. His sister seems perfectly fine, judging from her stool, but I don't understand how he could produce so much blood after having presented nearly nothing for at least two and a half days. Their stools have done nothing but improve until today. 

I really don't think he has a parasite, because both kittens have incredibly hearty appetites, have bright clear eyes, are gaining weight, playing vigorously, have firm, richly coloured dark brown stools, urinate without issue, and generally appear to be in excellent health apart from the blood in their stools! Neither kitten could possibly be described as lethargic, and if you weren't staring at their poo every time they used the litter box, you'd think they were perfectly normal.

I'm not sure what to do. They're due for their booster shots on Monday, so I can raise my concerns (once again) with the vet then, but I just want to know if anyone else has experienced an issue like this with their cats or kittens.

Thank you!!