social stray from the wawa

i'm not sure if this is the proper place to post this--someone please move it if i screwed up!

my roommate found a very small, very social stray kitten a few days after the huge storm on the east coast. he's been in the house for 3 days now, doing well. my roommate took him to the vet immediately--all tests for fleas, worms, FeLV, FIV, mites were all negative! he was very healthy aside from his low weight (a little over 4lbs @ about 5mo in age). i've already got 2 cats in the house so we have been introducing them slowly..my cats are actually taking to him really well. the little guy is currently downstairs exploring with my cats observing from the couch.

my roommate is feeding him Royal Canin kitten instinctive to try and get his weight up...but he literally always seems hungry...like there is never enough. he's also very, very food-aggressive (understandable). another thing i've noticed today is that he's got some diarrhea going on. i'm not sure if it's because of the new food he is eating (since he wasn't really eating at all before) or if something else could be wrong. i've also seen him start to eat cat litter right from the bag (we use world's best clumping).

vet says that in 3 weeks of regular feedings, he should have gained enough weight to get a second round of shots and to be fixed.

he's a sweet little guy--i just forget how demanding little kittens are! any advice on the food and diarrhea would be greatly appreciated.

Hi @kiwischan  Welcome to The Cat Site.

I've moved your thread to the nutrition forum as I think you'll get better advice here. Thank you for helping this little guy. Kittens eat a lot and need to be fed more regularly than adult cats. If he's had a few days without enough food he's probably trying to make up for that now.

Be really careful with the cat litter, it can be fatal if the kitten swallows it. Could you switch to a none-clumping kind in his litter box?

I've heard that pumpkin is good for stomach problems. I've never used it myself, but you might find some useful advice in this thread.

 [thread="244415"]Canned Pumpkin​[/thread]  

Hopefully someone will be online soon that can tell you more about it.

Parasites don't always show up in a stool sample, but he could still have them. It's very common for rescued kittens to have giardia or coccidia. What is the color and consistency of his diarrhea? If he has coccidia it will be very runny and more yellow in color. Giardia is brown with cake batter consistency, and it might smell a little sweet. Both are treatable with medicine you can get from the vet.

To give him some more calories, you can supplement his meals with human baby food. Chicken or turkey, Gerber or Beechnut brands in the little jars are very easy on a kitten's stomach and they love it. Royal Canin isn't the best food out there, but I'd stick with it for now until you rule out parasites and stress so you don't change too many variables at once. He really can't eat too much right now, but in the future you can manage his food aggresssion a bit by sticking to a meal schedule.

Norachan said:

 
Hi @kiwischan  Welcome to The Cat Site.

I've moved your thread to the nutrition forum as I think you'll get better advice here. Thank you for helping this little guy. Kittens eat a lot and need to be fed more regularly than adult cats. If he's had a few days without enough food he's probably trying to make up for that now.

Be really careful with the cat litter, it can be fatal if the kitten swallows it. Could you switch to a none-clumping kind in his litter box?

I've heard that pumpkin is good for stomach problems. I've never used it myself, but you might find some useful advice in this thread.

 [thread="244415"]Canned Pumpkin​[/thread]  

Hopefully someone will be online soon that can tell you more about it.

Click to expand...

thanks! i actually use canned pumpkin with my 2 older cats to loosen their bowels up once a month. i've moved the litter outside of the room the kitten is currently in so he can't get into it anymore--he doesn't seem particularly interested in eating from his litter box.

Molly92 said:

 
Parasites don't always show up in a stool sample, but he could still have them. It's very common for rescued kittens to have giardia or coccidia. What is the color and consistency of his diarrhea? If he has coccidia it will be very runny and more yellow in color. Giardia is brown with cake batter consistency, and it might smell a little sweet. Both are treatable with medicine you can get from the vet.

To give him some more calories, you can supplement his meals with human baby food. Chicken or turkey, Gerber or Beechnut brands in the little jars are very easy on a kitten's stomach and they love it. Royal Canin isn't the best food out there, but I'd stick with it for now until you rule out parasites and stress so you don't change too many variables at once. He really can't eat too much right now, but in the future you can manage his food aggresssion a bit by sticking to a meal schedule.

Click to expand...

i was actually really concerned about this. his diarrhea is...regular? it's not any alarming shade (chocolate-y brown) of greenish or black. i read from a few places online that with giardia would be mucous-y and greenish.. doesn't seem to be the case. it was very smelly, however (but my other cats have really stinky poop too!). my roommate said his poops were relatively normal over the last couple of days--the first one she saw she said was a little darker than normal but not alarmingly dark.

i guess this is something to monitor? i suppose if the diarrhea continues throughout the evening and into tomorrow morning, i will suggest she take him to the vet to get checked once more. i don't want the other cats to contract anything. 

Giardia is usually brown in my experience, and it can flare up under stress. I think when I worked at my local humane society we would wait for 14 days without symptoms to declare a kitten "free" of parasites/able to live with healthy cats, but this was in a shelter environment where diseases would spread very quickly and it was a big pain to treat everyone. I'd just keep an eye on everyone's stool for a while. If you do need to treat it, the medication is called metronidazole (Flagyl), and if has a dual property of having an anti-inflammatory effect on the intestines. It would help even if giardia isn't present. It's not the most serious illness, but it is a parasite and if he has it it's taking away nutrients that he needs.

It's wonderful you were able to rescue this little guy! He's going to be very grateful the rest of his life.

Molly92 said:

 
Giardia is usually brown in my experience, and it can flare up under stress. I think when I worked at my local humane society we would wait for 14 days without symptoms to declare a kitten "free" of parasites/able to live with healthy cats, but this was in a shelter environment where diseases would spread very quickly and it was a big pain to treat everyone. I'd just keep an eye on everyone's stool for a while. If you do need to treat it, the medication is called metronidazole (Flagyl), and if has a dual property of having an anti-inflammatory effect on the intestines. It would help even if giardia isn't present. It's not the most serious illness, but it is a parasite and if he has it it's taking away nutrients that he needs.

It's wonderful you were able to rescue this little guy! He's going to be very grateful the rest of his life.

Click to expand...

will do--let my roommate know to take him back to the vet to get checked out again tomorrow. he's had his 3rd bout with the diarrhea tonight...at least he's pretty good at burying it.

Small update:

Kitty still has smelly diarrhea but.. I just found out that he ended up eating an entire mouthful of whipped cream and some of my roommate's frozen cappuccino while she wasn't looking. I'm thinking this could possibly be the cause of the upset tummy.

I'll still be monitoring poops!

Ohh yes that could be it.  Cats are lactose intolerant.  He sounds like a hungry little fella!

I don't have any advice but I had to comment. It would appear that all the posters knew what a Wawa was!

For those who don't know, they are convenience stores in PA, NJ, Delaware and Virginia. The names comes from the sound geese make when flying. The local Indian tribe used that sound and called the geese "Wawa." A flying goose in Wawa's corporate logo.

Ondine said:

I don't have any advice but I had to comment. It would appear that all the posters knew what a Wawa was!

For those who don't know, they are convenience stores in PA, NJ, Delaware and Virginia. The names comes from the sound geese make when flying. The local Indian tribe used that sound and called the geese "Wawa." A flying goose in Wawa's corporate logo.

Click to expand...

Haha yes! The Wawa is pretty iconic here in Virginia. The one Captain Jack was found at was right outside a residential neighborhood.. So we are thinking he may have been someone's pet (or a product of someone's pet).

He's been filling out over the last 4 days very good progress with him. Still a bit of diarrhea--roomie says she will take him back to the vet if it isn't cleared up by Monday.

"The Wawa--Go in for a coffee, come out with a cat."

kiwischan said:

"The Wawa--Go in for a coffee, come out with a cat."

Click to expand...

Good one!

kiwischan said:

Haha yes! The Wawa is pretty iconic here in Virginia. The one Captain Jack was found at was right outside a residential neighborhood.. So we are thinking he may have been someone's pet (or a product of someone's pet).

He's been filling out over the last 4 days

very good progress with him. Still a bit of diarrhea--roomie says she will take him back to the vet if it isn't cleared up by Monday.

"The Wawa--Go in for a coffee, come out with a cat."

Click to expand...

I bet you're right that the whipped cream and coffee caused the problem: both coffee and milk products are pretty bad for cats! I'm glad the little guy's doing better.

And how funny that you found him at the Wawa. I remember those from when I went to college in Philadelphia!

Just a quick update:
The little guy has gained a lot of weight in the last week we have had him. He eats constantly and has gotten into our bread and trash... Very aggressive with searching for food.

The vet recommended that my roommate feed him pumpkin mixed with his kitten food to try and relieve him of the diarrhea.. So far it seems to be making it better. Instead of pure liquid poop, it's close to peanut butter consistency. Still not perfect but we did just get him back on a normal feeding schedule.

My roommate plans to bring him back to the vet next week to schedule another checkup and to get him fixed. My other cats are doing well also.

I'm so glad to hear he's doing better. They're often very food focused when they've been fending for themselves for a while. but they settle down once they realise there will be regular meals provided every day.

Have you thought about getting one of those treat dispensing toys for him? My cats love theirs, they can play and eat and it keeps the naughty ones from opening the cupboards at night.

Norachan said:

I'm so glad to hear he's doing better. They're often very food focused when they've been fending for themselves for a while. but they settle down once they realise there will be regular meals provided every day.

Have you thought about getting one of those treat dispensing toys for him? My cats love theirs, they can play and eat and it keeps the naughty ones from opening the cupboards at night.

CP41.jpg

• Norachan
• Jan 24, 2016

Click to expand...

I've thought about it in the past because my two cats were awful about getting into the cupboards when they were younger.. But my lovely behemoth Baby Cat had a pretty severe episode with bladder stones and is now on urinary SO for the rest of her life. The vet told me I couldn't even give her treats because of how quickly the crystals can form

If there are treats safe for Baby Cat I would gladly try one out with everyone!

Ondine said:

I don't have any advice but I had to comment. It would appear that all the posters knew what a Wawa was!

For those who don't know, they are convenience stores in PA, NJ, Delaware and Virginia. The names comes from the sound geese make when flying. The local Indian tribe used that sound and called the geese "Wawa." A flying goose in Wawa's corporate logo.

Click to expand...

Thanks for this.  I had no idea.  Thought maybe it had something to do with a Hawaiian nickname.  Glad I didn't say anything before!

Quick update:

kitty has been switched from royal canin kitten food to wellness core kitten food! this seems to have made him less gassy...but the diarrhea still remains. my roommate has taken him in for a fecal evaluation and he is completely free or parasites, so we're not sure what is wrong. they gave us a probiotic at the vet and he has been eating it with his food (powder form) daily for the last 5 days.. but the consistency of his poops has only changed very slightly.

at a loss for this one..we tried pumpkin and now this probiotic with roughly the same results. keep trying or is there something else we could do?

my roommate wants to schedule him to be fixed this weekend, but i don't think they will want to operate on him with the diarrhea.  

Can you ask what kind of fecal test they did? A PCR panel is the best way to really be sure there are no parasites. Other tests can miss them. I guess the next option would be trying a limited ingredient food in case he has a sensitivity to an ingredient, but I'm not too experienced with that so I'm not positive.

Spay/neuter clinics will operate on ferals with diarrhea, so it can be done, but your vet may prefer to wait.

This must be so frustrating! I hope you get to the bottom of it soon!

Molly92 said:

 
Can you ask what kind of fecal test they did? A PCR panel is the best way to really be sure there are no parasites. Other tests can miss them. I guess the next option would be trying a limited ingredient food in case he has a sensitivity to an ingredient, but I'm not too experienced with that so I'm not positive.

Spay/neuter clinics will operate on ferals with diarrhea, so it can be done, but your vet may prefer to wait.

This must be so frustrating! I hope you get to the bottom of it soon!

Click to expand...

actually, i'm not sure what kind of fecal test they did--they just told us after a while that he was clear of any parasites. my other cats haven't shown any signs of illness in the last 2 weeks either, so i'm hoping that isn't the case.