what's the major difference between kitten/cat food?

The women who i got my kitten from a little over a week ago (when he was 6 weeks old) told me she was feeding him Iams dry CAT food. Not kitten food... I switched him over to kitten when i brought him home, figuring that's what a 6 week old kitten should be eating, but after 4 days with me, he started having diarrhea. (Ive posted about this numerous times already so i apologize if I'm repeating). I took him to the vet & got him a fecal culture which came back negative. And he was giving a deworming pill. His weight and temp is normal he eats and plays normally. But his diarrhea has not stopped and it's been a will almost. He's not dehydrated or anything either. The vet gave me Albon to give him which i started yesterday but it just dawned on me that the lady who had his was feeding him CAT food instead of kitten food. Could it be possible that that's why his tummy is bothering him? He's used to the cat food and i was giving him kitten food? I'm desperate to get to the bottom of this! Thanks

Welcome to TCS!

I think kitten food is usually more concentrated and has a higher amount of protein and calories. I'm moving your thread to the nutrition forum for more replies. 

This is what I was told at a pet food store, too. Lots of foods are now labeled "for all life stages," so work for all ages.

It's possible that the kitten food is a little rich for your kitten, @XenaBean, particularly if you changed the food quickly. I don't know much about feeding little kittens (or dry food!) so will stop there and let people who know better jump in!

In any case, good luck!

Try a different brand of kitten food. Maybe experiment with grain- free as well. Generally if you switch foods, you should do it slowly so it isn't a shock to their system, so you could also try mixing the kitten food with the cat food, say half and half, and see if the diarrhea stops. If it doesn't, cut back to 1/4 kitten and the rest cat. After the diarrhea stops, you can slowly increase the percentage of kitten food until he is on just that.

Why was kitty let go at only 6 weeks?

Anywho. I don't feed "kitten" foods. (Or "senior" food at that...) All mine get started on a good adult or all life stage food and that is what they eat for life, though I do rotate brands out of personal choice. I feel life stage foods are a marketing gimmick and nothing more. Over many years and dozens upon dozens of dogs and cats later, I've never had one not grow up healthy and strong on regular "adult" food, even before "all life stages" was being marketed as a thing. Though I have over the years seen others feeding puppy foods only to end up with growth problems such as pano...Which while very rare, can happen in cats. I'd swap back to the old food and see if kitty's tummy settles. I personally like Iams Original adult food in the chicken flavor (I try to stay away from fish) but everyone will have an opinion on that one. Lol!

I actually agree with you. My other cats, who live at my moms now, at both healthy and my Xena is 15 years old and she's been fed Friskies her whole life since we got her. I did switch back to his Iams dry adult food the other day and its only day #2 so far so I haven't noticed a change but if he was handling it before and he was younger than I don't see why he wouldn't now.

also, I have no idea why he was let go at such a young age but I have no problem taking care of him. he's a handful but hes a sweetie!

I guess the best thing to do is check the labels and see what the protein, etc. are. I started giving my senior cat kitten kibble once a day because he was starting to look a little scruffy and skinny, and doing that along with his regular food he looks better already. I did notice that the Iams protein was the same as the adult food I was giving him, the other kitten formulas were a lot higher. I didn't want to hurt his kidneys. You might want to check the labels on what he was eating and try to match it with a kitten food. i too believe it was most likely the change that gave him diarrhea. Good luck!