Advice for mysterious kitten Diarrhea.

I have a kitten here (Aprox. 11 weeks old) with chronic diarrhea. It has been going on at least a month since that is when he came into my care. The vet is stumped, I’m stumped and we are all running out of ideas here. His first vet visit was on August 29^th with our main concern being his loose stools. He was eating Hill’s Science Diet for kittens at the time and was pretty dehydrated but otherwise acting like a normal rambunctious kitten, bright eyes, playing, and looking for trouble. Very cuddly, very sweet the only thing that seemed off was his tummy. He was very gassy, loose stools, his bottom was swollen raw, and he has some trouble making it to the box.

So at his first visit they weighed him (2.5lbs) gave him some fluids to hydrate him and did a fecal direct and cytology checking for parasites and some bacterium. Everything came back negative and the vet sent us home with some meds to see if he improved.

EntrDerm ointment for his sore areas, He fought like crazy and hated this anywhere near him.

Metronidazole suspension twice daily

Panacur liquid dewormer to give him just in case he did have worms that we missed

And Proviable probiotic capsules once a day for a month.

There was no improvement at all so we took him back on Sept 2^nd.

This time they did a fecal flotation test, FLT/FIV test, and sent in for an IDEXX diarrhea PCR panel test which they said was a more comprehensive test that would be able to find small amounts of bacteria that could be causing his symptoms. They hospitalized him over night and everything came back negative. They sent us home with Preparation H instead of the EnteDerm and he tolerated that much better, Prednisone for the swelling, and Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets EN Gastroenteric cat food. The next morning he had a solid bowel movement and was good for about 1.5 days then he started having loose watery stools again. 

I tried giving him pumpkin with his food for a few days and at first it seemed like it could have been helping slightly, it was soft but slightly formed but maybe I overdid it or maybe it wasn’t really helping because this morning it was all fluid.

Surprisingly he’s still playful and even slowly gaining weight. He does get dehydrated at times but we have placed water everywhere in the room so it’s always easy to access.  

 Welcome to TCS! and, yep, kitten diarrhea is a common complaint. While his stools are watery, I recommend giving him unflavored Pedialyte to help replace his electrolytes. Supposedly, the commercial preparations have a proprietary formula that is more readily absorbed the recipe found on www.kitten-rescue.com (which is the same as the WorldHealthOrganization's) works good too. There are also good tips which are more old-school but seem to work as well, and sometimes better, than the new preparations. 

The boiled chicken & white rice (white rice, not brown) works well, although his little guts need some time to settle down. Switching him to chicken broth for a day or so is a good start. Usually, it's recommended to do the broth only for several days but growing kittens have soaring nutritional needs. all the different switching of food & meds can also cause diarrhea.  As far as antibiotics go, if met doesn't work, you could try Biomoxx which can be a little more gentle.

In addition to pumpkin, you can try unsweetened applesauce which has naturally occurring pectin. There is also a product called Petalac, which has pectin and kaolin, the active ingredients in the now defunct, original Kaopectate formula.  And if you can get a second opinion from a holistic vet, be sure to inquire about using slippery elm and marshmallow root, which are both very soothing to all the mucus membranes and red raspberry lieaf tea, which is an antidiarrheal and also soothes cramps.

For his sore bottom, coconut oil is very healing as it has antibacterial & antiviral properties. Last year, I had a semi-feral cat with raccoon bites which wouldnt respond to the standard antibiotics and creams but did respond overnight with coconut oil. when the cat smelled the coconut oil, she begged and begged for some, and my vet approved her having a daily spoonful. within the week, the fur was growing back again and the swelling and raised edges were healed.

Finally, and this is BIG - make sure that the kitty litter is UNSCENTED. The scents not only irritate a cat's keen nasal passages, they irritate sensitive rectal tissues.  I have seen cats get diarrhea simply from having to sit on scented litter. 

These are all tricks that I have used successfully in my feral cat rescue. I hope that some or all of them help in your situation. 

And, of course, I send healing prayers and vibes, which seem to make a real difference!   ...Susan

I've had a similar experience with a 10 month old - now one year old - I adopted from the shelter in July along with her brother. Nothing bothers his system, everything seems to bother hers. I've tried several foods, ID and EN, with very slow transitioning, to no avail. She gets a little better then she gets a little worse. Lately she's a little worse. No parasites. Vet recommended trying B-12 shots, as many kitties are deficient, and if that's the case it should clear up her problem. Going to try that direction this week. She's small for her age, much smaller than her brother, but she's an active wild and crazy adolescent so she doesn't seem to feel poorly.

Maybe mention B-12 to your vet? A syringe full costs about $12 and it's just a vitamin so even if it doesn't help it shouldn't make matters worse, though not completely sure with a kitten so young. Good luck.