White runny kitten poop...

So my 6 week old kitten had white diareaeha, would not eat solids or wet food like her littermates, was not gaining weight... I syringe fed her KMR & water... Took her to the vet, he gave her subqutaneous fluids, fecal float was negative for parasites/coccidia (false negative maybe?). She ultimately passed away;-(. littermates & mama seem fine- but id like to know what else it could have been to cause those symptoms/death? Do i need to continue to quarrentine mama & littermates from my other cats? If so for how long? Thank you!

Oh also vet has her & littermates on dewormer & coccidia meds- even though the fecal came back negative...

Also, if it was coccidia (i read false negatives are common) wouldnt the other kittens or mama have it? They seem fine. Do they need to be apart from my other cats? If it is coccidia how do i clean/disenfect? I read bleach doesnt work? What does? What do vets use to keep their exam rooms clean?

I am not familiar with white diarrhea, but that's definitely not coccidia. A quick google search says that is a sign of a very dangerous bowel infection? But I'm not sure of the specifics on that. I'm so sorry you lost the kitten. Maybe someone else will have more info on what was going on.

Coccidia and other diarrhea-causing parasites will often not show symptoms in adult cats who have a better immune system, but if one kitten has it usually all of them do. False negatives are very common for parasite tests at the vet. Doesn't sound like coccidia, but it's not a bad idea to treat for it just in case and disinfect. An ammonia solution of 10% ammonia, 90% water will kill coccidia and most everything else.

We had a litter of kittens at the shelter with white diarrhea, which the vet said was due to malabsorption of their mother's milk. The stool was sent to an outside lab for testing - they had giardia, and one kitten died of it at 7 weeks. Mom was also positive for giardia.

False negatives are common with the "in-house tests".

Thank you!!! One of the other kittens now has white poop too- talked to the vet for an hour tday & still no answers--- they arent sure what it is or why but the mama & 2 remaining kittens have been quarrantined the entire time except one day a few weeks ago... I guess ill be tossing my carpets & everything else from my bedroom where they are.
Just wish i or the vet knew what it was/is. I do the 2nd round of coccodia treatment this wknd even tho she tested negative for it & parasites... Like you mentioned maybe malabsorbtion of mamas milk- but the current white poop kitty has been on wet & solid food for 2 weeks & just nursing a lil... I cant find a definate answer anywhere despite hours of research...ug. If anyone has any more info or links or similar stories (good or bad) please share- thanks!

As jcat mentioned, it could be giardia. I think you should ask your vet to treat it differently. Make sure kitten stays hydrated. Also, you may want to seek a second opinion from a different vet. Perhaps catwoman707 will have an idea what this could be.

Good point, they said Giardia was also tested for in the fecal float & it was negative- but as mentioned above, it could be a false negative...

What medications have been given so far? Coccidia and giardia can be treated a couple different ways, but I don't think there's a medication that treats both. Coccidia is particularly difficult because as far as I know the most common medication (Albon) doesn't actually kill it, just inhibits it from reproducing, so it takes a while for it to work. A newer drug that I have not used before, ponazuril, seems less commonly prescribed but possibly more effective. Giardia is usually treated with metronidazole (flagyl) or panacur, with metronidazole usually being the more effective option. But that depends because there are different strains and some are more resistant to one drug than the other. Giving metronidazole or panacur before waiting for a diagnosis might be good, because both those medications can treat a lot of different parasites so you'll be covering more of your bases. There are tests that are more reliable about what parasites a cat has, but they have to be sent out to a lab and I worry that time is a factor here if the white stool is an issue of malnutrition.

What I might also ask your vet about is probiotics (s. boulardii specifically, I believe). @LDG  has posted about success them curing coccidia before, which would be wonderful because you don't risk the side effects of these other medications, and that would be something that could help with any kind of parasite or infection, even with strains that have become resistant to traditional medications.

I'm very much hoping that the first kitten just had a weaker immune system than the rest, and the rest of these guys will pull through just fine! You're doing a very good job taking care of them!

Thank you;-) Ponazuril for 3 days, then waiting a week to give the second 3 day dose which starts again on friday. Also we dewormed once with Pyrantal & im supposed to give 2nd dose on Sunday.
The one that died wouldnt eat or drink or play at all & was 1/2 the size of the other 2. Mama wouldnt clean her & i was using a syringe to try n give kmr... The one with white poop now is still eating & drinking & playing & nursing as i type;-) Hopefully the first round of meds has been effective enough for him... Im keeping an eye & tossing even my bedroom carpet. Ill def take your advise & call vet again tomorrow & ask about the meds u mentioned... Thx so much

The ponazuril should clear it. Are they all being treated so you can hopefully wipe this out once and for all?

I have seen white kitten poop 3 times before, it is VERY serious.

All were bottle babies, the first 2 times the baby was being fed Hartz brand KMR, I had the foster immediately stop and switch to Petag brand, started liquid clavamox and it stopped within the day. (never will use hartz brand again)

The next time I saw it, the kitten was going down fast, was on Petag brand KMR, so I had her stop that and get her on goat's milk and also clavamox. It stopped fast and the baby began to thrive again.

While I am not sure if it was a reaction/allergy to the formula, or an intestinal bacteria overload, or both, it is serious and needs to be acted on fast.

Sadly you will likely not get an answer that is accurate by a vet, they just don't know about little kittens for some reason, but rescue people do, we are the ones who deal with them and get to be experts  

Coccidia or giardia don't cause white poop. 

LOVE that you use ponazuril! My fave for diarrhea/parasites.