Help! Shelter Kitty Diarrhea Driving Me Crazy!!

I got my kitty a few weeks back. I know he was on meds, probably antibiotics for an eye infection right before i got him. He was fine the first two days but his poo got mushier and became diarrhea. It didn't go away after a week so I went to the shelter and they checked his fecal sample and came back negative for parasites. So they just gave him antibiotics. This was a free service. I put him on antibiotics and pure pumpkin. He seemed to have been getting better. But once he finished his meds the mushy poo came back!! Still continuing with the pumpkin. I have a real vet appointment this saturday and i hope they do more for him. I know i cant expect much for free from the shelter i got him from. And this time he isnt as much of a pig with food so its even more worrisome. I suspect that he was only fine the first two days i got him because of his meds for his eye infection. So i believe changing his food might be justified. I have grain free wellness core kitten food on the way. Any thoughts, words of comfort, suggestions will be much appreciated. Thank you!!

Sounds like he could use probiotics since antibiotics often result in loose stool. I'd ask about it at the vet

But he seemed to be better on the antibiotics. Its a problem when hes off of them. Also i did try giving him some of my probiotics and it just seemed to make it more runny.

It could be he has a parasite they didn't test for.  Some are trickier to find, and a little costlier to find.  Those free services may not be willing spend what it takes to run all the tests.  Hopefully your Vet can figure out, if it IS a parasite, which one it is and which antibiotic can eradicate it. 

I could give you suggestions to help stop the diarrhea if it is caused by food, but not sure they will help if it's parasites.  What we normally advise is putting them on a bland diet for a few days.  Boiled boneless chicken and white rice cooked in the chicken broth. 

Yes I'm willing to pay a little more for thorough tests. I just want the diarrhea to go away! Can't wait for the grain free food to come this weekend. I will update this thread on sat after the vet. Pic of the baby, Benny.

Be sure he's eating canned kitten food twice a day, or more if you can swing it.  Supplement with kitten dry food throughout the day.  Sometimes, a sudden switch in dry food can cause diarrhea as well as parasites.  I'd get the complete diarrhea panel and then look at what you're feeding him now.  What's he eating now and what was he eating at the shelter?

Hi. He was eating Natural Balance Ultra for cats at the shelter. It's not the best but it's ok for a mid range cat food. I kept him on the same food except i gave him some wellness grain free kittle treats and deep sea tuna green treats. Ive long since stopped feeding him those. While on antibiotics i introduced him to science diet with some pumpkin along with the natural balance. He was fine on antibiotics. But i also realized that science diet is garbage so i stopped feeding him that too. Now he has wellness core kitten food on the way. I figure it wont hurt to change to higher quality since hes having diarrhea with his shelter food anyways. But yes i cant wait until Sat for vet day!

Oh and yes wet canned food. Its so darn expensive (especially since im planning on adopting a friend for him next month) but im planning on introducing him to some Nutro Chicken Soft Loaf for Kittens once i get the diarrhea sortened. :/ I'll probably only give him half a can a day but i figure its better than no wet food. Also he likes to drink from people cups so i have a cup next to his reguar water bowl. I was hoping that would encourage him to drink water.

One issue is that you're changing foods so much.  Try finding one food and feeding that until his poops firm up and are consistent.  Many kitties cannot tolerate anything fish flavored, so stay with chicken or turkey.  If you can, get him some Royal Canin kitten food and babycat kitten (canned).  I've had really good luck with that for my kitties.  I've never had any luck with Blue Buffalo or Nutro products.  It's also possible that the antibiotics, after they've been in their system awhile, can cause diarrhea.  You probably want to get him to the vet for a recheck of any parasites.

If you still have any of the food that he was on at the shelter, before the diarrhea set in, add that back into his diet.  Then, when you switch, do it gradually over a 3 week or so period.

Pre vet update! His diarrhea has improved. Today his poo was not a mushy cow pie, the poo started being longish, which looks more normal! But still very soft, i wiped up quite a bit of poo from his butt to his dismay. Still going to the vet tomorrow at noon.

Yay for the improved poo! This is a move in the right direction. Thank you for adopting a shelter cat and I think it's great that you will be getting a friend for your kitty. Looking forward to your update regarding the vet visit. I would continue the pumpkin as I've read that it actually feeds the good gut bacteria

you can use .04mg per pound of Imodium 3/4 times a day ..but most times it only takes the 1st dose..

I use this for my own cats and also my cat colonies when we go tnr and there is a problem with diahrea

You can also try creating a gruel using human baby rice cereal- can make with regular water, low sodium PLAIN chicken broth or (best if available) unflavored pedialyte. When kittens have diarrhea always be on the lookout for dehydration as that can be a serious concern.

Update: Inconclusive! They did 3 different flotations for my Benny. One of which was for Giardia. All came back negative. I asked the vet about T.F. and Bartonella but he really felt that it was highly unlikely Benny would have those. But since I told him Benny has excess eye boogers on his right eye and it sounds like he has a light cough the vet injected him with an antibiotic Convenia for upper respiratory infection. Benny had this type of infection before and it may not have been completely erradicated. The vet agreed since he has diarrhea already I can make a quick transition to the wellness core grainfree food for kittens. He didnt get his booster vaccines since the vet didnt want to overload the immune system since he might be fighting off an upper respiratory infection. I have a follow up appointment next saturday. Was hoping for an easy fix but i guess ill be continuing to work with Benny and the vet for this.

At the vet office:

Although T-Foetus and Bartonella aren't as common as some of the other parasites, I can't tell you how often we have suggested people get the PCR test done, and guess what.....positive results for T-Foetus.  We don't just abitrarily suggest these tests because they ARE on the pricey side, but when the diarrhea seems uncontrollable, that's the sign.   (he may be right in that is NOT the problem, but something is)

I think it's a good call not to do the boosters if he's got a URI.

Such a cutie.  (I'm partial to black cats)

I would've balked at the Convenia shot!  If he's having soft stools, you really don't want to give him an antibiotic which could cause more soft stools. 

Still going nuts. He was fine on Convenia but now the two weeks are over so it wore off. Now his diarrhea/loose stool is back. Fu**!! Im going to have him try the primal raw turkey tomorrow. If i dont see any improvements its off to the vet again. This is getting expensive and i have no idea whats going on with him.

I found this info on probiotics for kitties, http://www.ibdkitties.net/Probiotics.html and it considers Saccharomyces boulardii an "emergency stop diarrhea" probiotic that could help. I gave my kitten some yogurt (no additives or sweeteners) when she was on antibiotics for coccidia. I still give my kitties goat's milk yogurt from trader joe's once or twice a week as a treat and probiotic. A kitty's good gut bacteria can get killed off with antibiotics, and so, his gut may need some help recolonizing with the good bacteria/probiotics. There's also wet food that come with pumpkin included, which may be easier to feed your cat.

If all other health reasons are ruled out, it could be a food intolerance to a certain protein. You may want to put your kitty on a food trial for 12 weeks with a limited ingredient wet food (brands like Merrick, Natural Balance, Instinct, Blue offer them) and see how his poops get. There's more info on it here: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2141&aid=142

fluffscruff said:

I found this info on probiotics for kitties, http://www.ibdkitties.net/Probiotics.html and it considers Saccharomyces boulardii an "emergency stop diarrhea" probiotic that could help. I gave my kitten some yogurt (no additives or sweeteners) when she was on antibiotics for coccidia. I still give my kitties goat's milk yogurt from trader joe's once or twice a week as a treat and probiotic. A kitty's good gut bacteria can get killed off with antibiotics, and so, his gut may need some help recolonizing with the good bacteria/probiotics. There's also wet food that come with pumpkin included, which may be easier to feed your cat.

If all other health reasons are ruled out, it could be a food intolerance to a certain protein. You may want to put your kitty on a food trial for 12 weeks with a limited ingredient wet food (brands like Merrick, Natural Balance, Instinct, Blue offer them) and see how his poops get. There's more info on it here: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2141&aid=142

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Thank you for that info! I didnt find one thats easy and convenient to use on amazon so i ordered a different cat probiotic but it doesnt contain the strand you mention. But ill definitely remember that strain if this cat probiotic doesnt work.

Ive been feeding Benny a mixture of primal raw nuggets and canned food and his stools have improved! He has to have more raw than canned or else its soft stools again. It was soft when it was 50/50. Thank goodness something works. He sure is expensive to feed. I guess processed doesnt sit well with him.