Kitten pooping mess at night

I adopted a 13 week old Ragdoll/Siamese kitten from a guy who claimed his other pets were harassing him - I now think it is because of the chronic diarrhea, and messes... as he absolutely will no longer return calls/messages regarding the kitten's past health/vet records, etc. 

I have taken him to the vet, he is current on all shots, he has been dewormed, TWO fecal checks showed no parasites. The guy dropped him off with a bag of adult dry cat food. I now have the kitten on Blue Buffalo Kitten.

It has been 9 days, and the diarrhea is only a pinch better, and I think that is only because of the teaspoon of pumpkin I add to his three little meals a day. Before I was adding pumpkin, he would leave droppings all over the house.

He uses his box very very well, during the day - and I am very adamant to keep it clean, since I am home anyway, and since he goes SO often, with the diarrhea - but at night, I could no longer leave him to run free, and sleep with us, bc of the messes.

So I have been locking him in a little bathroom at night w/ litter, food, and water, and by morning, the entire room is poop smears. I have even had to bathe the kitten every morning to get all the poop off of him!

I think it might have to do with him being picky about a clean box - and not knowing where else to go, when it is pretty full (at night) - or perhaps it is separation anxiety? It even happens if I lock him in for just an hour or two, to run errands!

At my whits end.  

Hi there. Were you able to transition him slowly from the adult food to the Blue Buffalo? If the changeover was too quick, that could be the problem. Also, is it the dry Blue Buffalo kitten food? I tried BB Wilderness dry food briefly with my kittens and their stools would also be loose as soon as the transition got to about 50% old food, 50% new. So I don't like that brand, personally. I used to think it was a great brand when I had my dogs, but I am unsure about it for kitties. Just my opinion.

Others with more experience can surely be more help, but I have had great success feeding plain meat baby food (Beechnut is best) when my cats aren't feeling well. Little jars of stage 1 chicken or turkey...no veggies. This seems to help firm up the stool and let their tummies rest. Then I slowly add in a small amount of cat food again, while continuing the baby food for a day or two. I hope your kitten gets better soon! I've been there with the diarrhea everywhere, although with a dog, not a cat. I know what you mean about being at your wit's end! Hang in there!

Forgot to mention that probiotics can help, too. Proviable DC is what I purchased to help my former strays get their digestive systems in order. It still comes in handy whenever any of my kitties gets an upset stomach. You can open up the capsule and mix it in their food.

Thank you for your response! 

I continued to feed the new kitten his original, adult, food, for the entire first day we had him, but the diarrhea was so bad, I worried that IT might be the problem (9 Lives adult dry), and with the previous owner refusing communication, I didn't know what else to do, but a straight switch to BB. 

After 4 days on BB, plus a little pumpkin (which firmed them slightly - at least no more blood or drips), I read totally plain chicken and rice instead of their food can calm their tummies. I tried that, but by the end of day 2, the poop was pure liquid. 

Has anyone had a kitten allergic to chicken?? I might try the baby food - turkey - and see if that does anything for him.

Or at some point, are my trial foods only upsetting him more, and I need to just wait out the runs? =(

This sounds very frustrating, I am sorry.

I would stick with the new food for at least a week before giving up.  Keep adding a bit of pumpkin, that is a good ideas.

How is his weight? Is he gaining weight normally?

He seems to be chunking up, yes. He weighed 2.5 lbs at the vet last week. He is incredibly sweet, and playful - full of energy. He and my toddler are best buds, so I really hope we can resolve this!!

Well, I don't think the baby food would make things worse at this point, and might firm things up. I would try it for a couple of days and see if it helps...it isn't complete nutrition, but 2 days wouldn't be detrimental to his health. His poor little GI tract sounds very upset. It might've been the initial abrupt change, especially because blue buffalo is such a step up in quality from 9 lives. I wanted to get my 2 former stray cats onto a premium food after their rough beginnings on the streets, but I have yet to achieve my goal. I tried Grain-free Evo for our dry food (we do wet food twice a day too) and they just couldn't adjust no matter how slowly I transitioned. So we are using a middle-of-the-road dry food: Authority Sensitive Solutions from Petsmart which is turkey-based. It's not grain free, but it has no wheat, corn, or soy, which I gather are the worst.

I am not all that informed on food intolerances, but I think I've heard 12 weeks is young for it to show up. I wouldn't think it's the chicken itself, but something else going on.

One of my cats had a bout of loose stools with some blood and she actually lost interest in eating. We saw the vet and he gave her a steroid shot (wish I knew what, exactly, but I don't) and sent her home on an oral antibiotic. She started to eat a little Fancy Feast classic chicken pate that afternoon and steadily improved from then on with no more blood. She's 2 years old and he was suspecting IBD in her case, though.

Keep us posted on your little guy! If that's him in your Avatar, he is gorgeous!

Thank you for all the feed back! He is a looker (that is him in my avatar) - I just adore the little man. 

It does have me baffled, that he does so well with his box during the entire day (unless I lock him up to run an errand - perhaps I will try leaving him out), but makes leaky messes all over his room at night!!

He wants to snuggle us in bed - maybe putting a box closer to our bed, and letting him out at night would help his anxiety? He is absolutely attached to us. Shadows my son, and myself, everywhere. There is no sitting, without a kitten in my lap =)

He is also on an antibiotic - something I wasn't sure of, given there was no real diagnosis, and I have heard antibiotics can cause the runs, AND I am pretty sure the last owner mentioned having had him on one recently as well. Ugh. There are only 2 days left on that, so. We'll see.

I am SO happy to have found this site!