9 week old Kitten has diarrhea!

Hello, I've had my kitten for 2 weeks now. When I first got him I began feeding him Kitten Chow and he had diarrhea so after a week I decided to switch him to Abound grain free and the diarrhea still continued but stayed the same. I also bought him some fancy feast canned food, he really likes it but the 2 times I've given him the Fancy Feast he gets really watery diarrhea. He eats just fine and drinks plenty of water, he's a very playful and happy cat I just can't get rid of his diarrhea. Is there anything I can do to help? Or any reason why this is happening? I'm getting really worried.

Has he been dewormed?  Kittens almost always have worms and often need multiple dewormings.  Has he been to the vet to get his shots started?  I would take a fecal sample in when he goes to the vet.

Has he been treated for worms? When you switched his food, did you do it slowly? 

There are loads of things that can give kittens diarrhoea. I'd take him to the vet and have him checked for parasites, in the meantime you can try giving him some plain canned pumpkin, about a tablespoon mixed into his wet food. That's good for firming up stool. 

How old is your kitten? In kittens, persistent diarrhea is really commonly caused by an intestinal microscopic parasite, often giardia or coccidia. If you got your kitten from a shelter, somewhere he was around other cats, or was outside for a period of time, it is a likely cause.

You can take him to the vet, but fecal tests often miss them and come back negative and get misdiagnosed as food sensitivity or IBD. A definitive PCR test can be done, but generally giardia will look brown and coccidia will be more yellowy and smell terrible. 

Food can affect these parasites, because they thrive on carbohydrates, so feeding a diet higher in protein can sometimes help the symptoms. 

Secnidazole or metronidazole are good giardia medications, and ponazuril is best for coccidia. Probiotics can also sometimes be effective. The parasites are shed in feces and cats can reinfect themselves easily, so sanitizing with ammonia is also important.

profdanglais said:

Has he been treated for worms? When you switched his food, did you do it slowly? 

There are loads of things that can give kittens diarrhoea. I'd take him to the vet and have him checked for parasites, in the meantime you can try giving him some plain canned pumpkin, about a tablespoon mixed into his wet food. That's good for firming up stool. 

Click to expand...

Someone told me that pumpkin is bad for cats and it could kill him. But everything I've read said its fine? I'm so confused!

angeladiane said:

Someone told me that pumpkin is bad for cats and it could kill him. But everything I've read said its fine? I'm so confused!

Click to expand...

The pumpkin usually used is the plain sort, just crushed, without any added flavors.    Its perhaps so some of the fancy flavored sorts is the dangerous?  Not that I have heard about it, but its the possibility.

StefanZ said:

The pumpkin usually used is the plain sort, just crushed, without any added flavors.    Its perhaps so some of the fancy flavored sorts is the dangerous?  Not that I have heard about it, but its the possibility.

Click to expand...

The pumpkin actually worked just great! Thank you!