5 week old fosters won't get over diarrhea - need help with picking the right diet

So, roughly 2 weeks back I have taken in two baby kittens that were dropped of in a box in front of pet smart.

I am assuming that they are now somewhere near 5 weeks old - I could be wrong tho. Their eyes are just starting to fade from blue to grey, they have some crazy sharp teeth and they are still a little clumsy on their feet. (will attach photo)

Prettymuch for the whole duration of them being with me, they have been having diarrhea. Since then they have been to the vet 2x and I was assured that they are fine, still well hydrated and

have no parasites. (the kittens were at first being fostered by my vet, but she had no time for them so I wanted to help.) They have been tested for parasites (results were negative)

and given preventive medications as well. Through all of this they have shown no signs of illness besides their runs. They are sweet, playful and super perky and spend the

majority of the day gnawing on my bunny slippers and fooling around on my bed.

I have thus concluded that it has to be the diet. I still bottle feed KMR formula, and for a little while I would make a batch containing just a little bit of plain organic yoghurt. (I have done so in the past with other bottle-fosters and it worked great). Thinking these babies just might be extremely lactose intolerant I have stopped the yoghurt thing about 5 days ago. - No signs of improvement.

Also, about 6 days ago I started introducing wet kitten food. ( I assumed that they were ready as they have started biting the living sh*t out of the bottle and my fingers ) The wet food is probably around 30% of their daily meal, and KMR is the remainder.

- For the first three days of the wet food introduction I used the Hills Science Diet Chiken pate for kittens. (Again this was based on previous success with other fosters). They obviously loved it and licked the plate clean really quick... Nothing really changed though. Plus the food looked partially undigested. When I would take them to the bathroom there were a few little chunky bits in their diarrhea. I thought they were just adjusting to it so I kept doing it for the next three days. Still nothing.

- So for the past two days I have switched to Blue grain free chicken kitten wet food. Again they seem to absolutely love it, have a great petite and everything. The results were the same as before.

So the only non-variable appears to be KMR? I have some trouble with the brands here as well. (last time I fostered was 5 years ago when I still lived in Europe)

Is there any difference between the KMR brands at all? It's all new to me.. I used to just do plain goat milk with a pinch of yoghurt and had great results - But I was advised not to do that...

So what is good KMR? Are there brands to avoid?

ANY help on solving this diet crisis would be tremendously appreciated!

Love,

J.

@Milkies -- my understanding is that goat's milk is a very good alternative for KMR. i don't have experience in this area, but i'm sure others who do have experience will be along shortly. i'll see if i can attract the attention of some very experienced members -- @StefanZ, @catwoman707 -- may i ask for your expertise for the OP (original poster)?

if i remember correctly, the KMR can be slightly diluted...maybe to help prevent diarrhea (?). i'm sure other, experienced members will know.

Milkies said:

 
So the only non-variable appears to be KMR? I have some trouble with the brands here as well. (last time I fostered was 5 years ago when I still lived in Europe)

Is there any difference between the KMR brands at all? It's all new to me.. I used to just do plain goat milk with a pinch of yoghurt and had great results - But I was advised not to do that...

So what is good KMR? Are there brands to avoid?

Click to expand...

There are many brands of kmr.  The brand KMR, the most renown of them all, is of two types.  In pulver, to solve with water, and ready made solution, just to warm up a little to body temp, and use.

They are supposed to be exactly alike, but some users has experienced the ready made fluid solution may cause diarrheas.   The pulver variation is thus the safer one of them two.

If it is your brand you use the fluid one, this may be the answer.

Plain goat milk, with or without a pinch yoghurt in should be OK, perhaps even excellent.   I dont know why you were advised to stop with it.

Fresh goat milk is best, but bottled is OK  (although some polish forumists told a polish bottled brand wasnt so good, but the other bottled goat milk was better).

Good luck!

My vet told me not to, so I took her word for it. I've never used this powdered stuff before..

ANYWAY, I am super invested in these kitties and just got back from the pet-store with what I think is the solution.

I think what's happening is that everybody is trying to rush weaning these guys off so they can start eating solid foods and go into actual foster care. I offered help bottle feeding cause

noone else would and Id rather bottle feed for an extra few weeks than rushing and giving them up with their tummies all sickly. The KMR and GNC formula's on the pic were given to me by the vet. And I just think that those are for kitties that are older than mine.

So I'm trying the 3d little red container (just bought it) since its for kitties under 6weeks. My gut tells me tha'ts whats up.

And yeah if that won't do it, then I'll just do what I've always done.

Goat milk with a pinch of egg yolk and yoghurt.

Thanks for reassuring me! <3

It feels awful to care for something and feeling like you aren't helping at all :/

I'll add some pics, maybe someone else can determine the age based on them...

They look to be right about 5 weeks old.

The ONLY kitten formula I use in my rescue is KMR brand, but not the second step, which is for older kittens. They should be on the powdered KMR, not 2nd step though.

You can buy a box of dry rice baby cereal and add a bit into their bottles, it will give the milk some volume and keep them full better, rather than becoming unsatisfied soon after eating.

I do this when I have babies who are getting bigger/hungrier than the KMR will hold them.

At 5 weeks they actually are old enough to be eating wet food. You can dilute it with KMR into a thick slush for them to eat.

I am super happy to report that my babies are doing a 100% better. They are on the ''infant kitty'' under 6 weeks formula and wellness core mush for babies and they got better in only 2 feeding sessions!

So yeah, there's no rush in weaning and I am happy I used my instincts

Can I just keep feeding them this until they are over their bottle needs, or is it absolutely necessary to use the second step formula type after they reach 6 weeks?

Thank you ALL so much for your input!

Milkies said:

 
I am super happy to report that my babies are doing a 100% better. They are on the ''infant kitty'' under 6 weeks formula and wellness core mush for babies and they got better in only 2 feeding sessions!

So yeah, there's no rush in weaning and I am happy I used my instincts

Can I just keep feeding them this until they are over their bottle needs, or is it absolutely necessary to use the second step formula type after they reach 6 weeks?

Thank you ALL so much for your input!

Click to expand...

I never use the 2nd step, just stay with the regular KMR all the way