Worried about my kitten's GI tract

Probiotics may take time to work. Have you tried plain fat free yogurt? Pumpkin can go both ways: either firm them up or loosen them so if you haven't seen an improvement, I would say stop. You could also try not feeding kitty for 12-24 hours (only give water) and then give her rice with boiled chicken. Also I've used cat anti-diarrhea medicine from Petco which helped some. Give it time. Once the antibiotics are out of her system she should get better.

I'm very sorry to hear about all the problems Tigger's having. It's natural to worry about these things--it's very, very hard to have a sick cat and not know how to solve the problem!

Since you mentioned diet... What kind of Blue Buffalo food is Tigger eating? And is it wet or dry? I'm (personally) not a fan of Blue Buffalo foods, largely because a lot of their recipes have carby vegetables that cats don't need. Those can sometimes cause digestive problems: one of our cats vomits and gets gas from foods that have any form of potato, which is a pretty common (but unnecessary as anything other than a thickener or filler!) ingredient in lots of foods these days. Those sorts of reactions don't seem especially widespread but I've noticed on the site that a few other members have said their cats have had problems with potatoes and even peas, another vegetable that's in a lot of foods.

Sometimes canned foods with simple recipes and no fillers work best for cats with digestive issues: our cat's gas and vomiting cleared up (other than occasionally eating too fast and regurgitating!) after we took her off dry food and put her on a wet food (canned and raw) diet that doesn't have carby vegetables or carrageenan.

I hope you're able to resolve Tigger's digestive issues soon!

Molly22 - I talked to the vet about the pumpkin and she suggested stopping it since I had been giving it to her supplementally and just keeping her own a strict diet of dry food and water.

LisaHE - I have her on blue wilderness kitten food but after I consulted with the vet today we decided to change it to something that was not too rich so I now have her on Iams kitten food (gradually mixing it in) and fortiflora probiotics. She has two more doses of her antibiotics albon but I'm so scared because today she had very bad diarrhea (all liquid) as opposed to soft stools like usual. It must be painful for my little kitten because at the end there is blood on her butt from straining to hard. I'm worried I'm trying to much too fast but I just want her better as soon as possible. I guess one of my biggest fears is that she is going to get dehydrated. So I left out two bowls of water. However Tigger acts just fine. She seems happy and is very playful. She eats about a half a cup of food a day and drinks her water. So idk if I have anything to worry about or if I should just wait it out even though it kills me to see her like this.

My Siamese has had Covenia antibiotics which are 3 shots spaced 2 weeks apart which were not good on his system at all. He basically had puddles in his litter box. I felt so bad because I knew he was raw and this was on top of an impacted anal gland. I know you feel very worried but it's reassuring that your kitty is acting like her usual self. I was scared too but he was a trooper through his poop issue and I'm sure yours is too. She definitely needs the water so it's great you're putting extra out. I definitely think you should wait it out. I know it's miserable but her tummy will recover after the meds are out of her system.

Thank you so much I will do my best to see her through this. Just wishing she was happy and healthy. It's good to hear that others have gone through the same thing.

Hello again, So Tigger has been off her albon now for about 4 days and I would have expected to see her diarrhea slowly clearing up by now. However, this is not the case. Before taking her to the vet AGAIN I was thinking about trying slippery elm bark. I was just wonderding if any one had any experience using this herb? From what I have heard it is really safe to use and can often have good outcomes. I would really appreciate your feedback!

what does the vet think? I have heard several people in the feline lymphoma group use this.

have you glanced at any Facebook groups for feline IBS=irritable bowel syndrome?they may have things you can try.

the symptoms sound like its a reaction to the food=also any changes in your life the past month? they can get stressed by us getting stressed. and too fast a change in catfood can make them get diarrhea.

Look into a cat food that has no extra stuff-chewy.com and look up taste of the wild or natures balance-sometimes grocery store foods are not the best. and petco doesn't really have decent quality foods unless you have a pet life food store near you? stay away from big name foods.

I have had really good luck with tractor supply's food 4health=they carry kitten and adult dry.

try canned food instead of kibble=often there is an allergy to the carbs in the dry food-they may prefer a pate style food which looks like meatloaf. fancy feast has ones labele "classic" and this is the non shreds kinds-most cats don't like the chunks or shreds kind. I am still experimenting with dry food for my guys-as someone said above everything has potatoes or peas in it.

let me see if I can find that webpage about better quality pet food...I would try the pumpkin again-its supposed to help with both dia and constipation.

I can understand your fears. have you tried plain yogurt for the good bacteria in it? my cats love it.

Hello everyone I am back again with both good and bad news. Tiggers poop problems have finally cleared up and up to Wednesday night she was healthy and happy as a clam. On Wednesday night Tigger ate about a seven to eight inch string. I rushed her to the vet within in an hour of it happening and they induced her vomiting. Unfortunately Tigger did not vomit any of it up (just my luck). She finally had a bowel movement yesterday and this morning and I found a good chunk of the string in there. She went back to the vet yesterday as well and the vet said everything seems good. I guess I am just very worried as my last cat passed away from the surgery he had to have to remove a shoe lace he had eaten and he never came back from it and died that day. Tigger is eating and drinking and playing and like I said she has passed a good chunk of the string. I guess I am just wondering what you guys think? If she passed most of it do you think she will be okay? I am so worried.

I think that yes she will be ok. just don't pull the string out if its stuck in her butt. Let nature push it out,. you can feed her/him pumpkin for extra fiber. some cats love it. some hate it. I have two who will eat it off my finger. the third I have to swipe it on the roof of her mouth-they ALL have constipation with dry food-I feed wet but you know how they are...some days they will eat it and others.. 

 

In December Honeybee ate a toy mouse with yarn sown on it-she had vomiting-xrays showed it in the middle=-they said once the item is in the colon then it can pass safely. Honeybee only vomited a few hours-by the time I came home and took to er to get IV fluids=it was almost 5 hours passed without vomiting...they said we could wait 12 hours and do xrays again-that night they kept her overnight. xrays at 9am showed it in the colon...we got lucky.

They just said to watch out for anymore vomiting or lethargic behavior.

If you are seeing it in her poop then more than likely it has made it into the large colon. You can try the canned pumpkin and see if anymore comes out. The fact that its come out on its own with no vomiting is really good news!!

If you want to they could do another xray for you but that's another $100. not sure how money is...keep us posted.

Hope Tigger keeps pooping!!!

Yeah money has become tight with her just because I have had to take her to the vet so many times. Thank you so much for the information! I'm thinking she will probably be okay since she has poooped out some of it. Did you notice any swelling of the abdomen when your kitty ate the toy?

yes. but it was because she needed to poop. we ended up giving her an enema because she hadn't passed any poop by the second day-It was noticeable-she often has days that go by that she wont poop. so I have to be diligent about giving her canned pumpkin or raw treats-instinct has these freeze dried treats that you add onto their food-they are not cheap=ones rabbit, and other is duck. She eats them out of my hand but I have to cut them in half. Those have lots of fiber in them along with the meat.

I would just keep an eye on her, feed her some wet food and pumpkin...make sure she runs around enough. Constipation can get worse if they just lay around sleeping. Which is why my cats still struggle...we want spring. They usually walk with me out in the yard and now its winter and not much room to run so to speak. will she let you rub her tummy? I read somewhere that rubbing clockwise helps as I guess that is the direction of the colon. Makes sense. Maybe you can rub her if she lays on her side. Or sit her on your lap with her back against your stomach and rub clockwise...poor baby. do you feel a lot of inflammation or does it look puffy? does she growl/cry when you touch her? I honestly think if she has passed some of it-the rest will make its way out-was the string all one piece or a few pieces?

The one my cat ate-was those hard case mouse and yarn wrapped around-the yarn was glued on and came loose-luckily she passed it but she was pretty miserable the day of vomiting...it was a Friday morning or sat that she vomit before I went to work...came home to 4 piles of vomit-the boyfriend never text me telling me this-so I panicked=stuffed her in the carrier and drove io the er vet-40 minutes away. that was so scary-the xray couldn't tell if it was still in small colon or enter large colon =they could have given sub fluids and send home but I didn't feel comfortable...luckily she didn't do anymore vomiting. poor cat. She was laying in her cat bed with her head leaning on her chin looking at me like mommy I feel like 

. That's when the boyfriend tells me that she didn't even want to go outside=it was in the 50s still-and this cat lives to go out-I got her from an outdoor area-that's all she knows-so anyways yes we moms get panicked...she didn't even cry on the way to the vet and didn't try to scuttle out of her carrier...

how is Tigger feeling? Is she roaming around or sitting in one position? What about eating? Sorry got lengthy.

So I just started my 10 month old cat on prozac due to the fact that she eats everything and she wakes me up every night by chewing on my hair or biting my feet. With her eating things she is not suppose to I get worried that she will eventually eating something that will cause an obstruction. I feel selfish for putting her on this medication but in the last two days I have noticed that she has not been keeping me up at night. However, she has been acting kind of strange. She seems skidish with me and will hardly let me hold her like she usually does. The vet prescribed her 5 mg once daily and I am worried that this dosage is too high for her since she is only a little over 10 lbs. Is the dose too high? Am I doing the right thing? Should I wait it out a little longer too see if the skiddishness is just a short term symptom?