Is this good advice?

Cole has had diarrhea for a few days now, and I don't believe its due me changing his food.

I called a vet who was recommended to me, a very sweet older lady.

Because his stool is not solid enough for me to be able to take in a sample for them to test, she recommended that I give him a small amount of Kaopectate for a few days to get thing a little more solid, and then if the diarrhea continues, to bring him and a sample in.

I feel a little funny giving my kitty human meds, even though I have heard of giving Benadryl to dogs. Has anyone heard of this?

As I am typing, she called me back and suggested I give him a little acidophilus supplement as well. I know that's all natural, so I think I'll give that one a shot.

At any rate, I am glad she suggested these things to me over the phone rather than having me pay for an appointment only for her not to be able to find anything out from his stool! I like this vet already.

Please dont give kapectate... its formula has changed and it now has something very dagerous to kitties.. call another vet... the acidolphlis is a good thing but in this case I donet know

If the vet said it was ok then it should be fine. The only thing I would be concerned about is whether or not the kaopectate has any ASA (aspirin) in it. I can't remember if it does but I do remember that some time ago one of those human GI meds changed its formulation to include ASA. Pepto Bismol for example contains bismuth subsalicylate (sp?) and should never be given to cats. Cats lack the liver enzyme to metabolize it.

I would probably call your pharmacy and just confirm that kaopectate does not contain any ASA or anything like it. While I would trust your vet, sometimes even vets don't hear about product changes.

The other option is replacing some of his cat litter with something less absorbant like styrofoam chips so that it is easier to collect a sample.

Thanks Sharky!

Whew. Glad I asked!
I ended up calling another vet in the area for a second opinion, and THEY recommended pepto bismol. This is so confusing!

I'll call the pharmacy about the ASA and see what I can find out.

For now, it looks like a bland diet for the kitty, and a little bit more stress for me until I can figure out the best way to handle this :/

A little extra fibre would help firm up the stool. Try feeding a little baby sqash or plain canned pumpkin with his wet food. I would still try to get a stool sample in asap. If he has a parasite or a bacterial overgrowth he will need meds to stop the diarrhea.

I'll be picking up some pumpkin on the way home.

I'm sort of frustrated with the shelter I adopted him from. It wasn't expecting to take home a sick kitty.

In defense of the shelter- they probably didn't realize he was sick. The shelter I worked at had so many cats that it was impossible to keep track of them all. Shelters get cats from lots of less-than-perfect situations as well, its not like they have a steady supply of fat, healthy, parasite-free animals I wish! Most of them come from pretty horrible, neglectful situations. Good for you for taking him in!

A little diarrhea in a kitten is pretty normal, it's one of those "kid diseases". It could just be from the stress of the move. Are you sure it isn't diet change? Shelters usually feed whatever is donated. What are you feeding him now?

He was on excel light, which I was told is being discontinued. I don' t know too much about food, but my one of my instructors (I'm in school to be a vet tech ) recommended Natural Balance. I gradually switched him over to the light blend of NB, and he loooves it. He didn't seem to have any trouble with the move. I was shocked. He spent 5 minutes hiding under the bed, and then got bored and came out to play. Since then he's seemed perfectly fine.

I was hoping the diarrhea would get better within a few days, but it seems to be getting worse. At this point it is all liquid. However, he is eating and drinking just fine, and is not dehydrated.

I'm thinking that whenever I find out what he DOES have, I'll call the shelter and let them know.. because chances are some of the other cats will have it too.

Vet Tech- good choice!

Yes there is a good chance that many of the other shelter cats have many things- the chance that they will get better in the shelter- not good. It takes good caring people like you to get them out of the shelters so that they get individual treatment.

I've been placing acidophilus in their drinking water when we have cases of like that and it's been working like a charm.
Any feedback on that?

First did you try pulling his food over night? That's what I would try first, I also agree no human med, but the acidopholis is fine. Second, have you called the shelter? Our shelter has a policy that if they get sick in the first 2 weeks we will supply the meds.

Like Dr. Doolittle said, diarrhea is pretty common in kittens.
When we adopted two kittens they had it for about a week. The vet said they didn't have worms or parasites and that it was just pretty common for little kitties, so most likely they didn't get it from the Humane Society. It's now turned out that one of them also has a sensitive digestive tract as any food changes will give him diarrhea for a few days. I hope your kitty feels better soon!

~Julia

Here we have no vet medicines - whatever I give the cats is made for humans, and the vet and I work out what is a safe dosage! I keep having to explain to pharmacists that I have no children/grandchildren when they want to write the dosage on the package. When I had to get samples from the boys (they turned out to have giardia), I managed to isolate them from the other cats overnight and give them a tray with very little litter in it but a plastic liner. Then in the morning, it was pretty horrible but I scooped some stuff up into a clean glass jar. I hope you sort it out soon - it is certainly normal to have bit of diarrhoea, but it sounds as if your kitty has quite a bad case.

I don't get why you can't bring in a stool sample? I have brought in total liquid diarrhea to get tested. Just scoop the liquid up and put it in a zip lock bag. They don't need much! I think that would be the best course of action just to make sure your kitten doesn't have anything.

Well, he won't poop when I am in the same room or watching him. He'll give me mean eyes until I go away, and then after he goes, it soaks into the litter. I'm assuming they'd want to do a fecal float and a microscopic exam, and the clay in the litter would definitely get in the way. If it comes down to it, I will go out and buy the plastic pearl kind of litter.

I brought home a big plastic syringe to see if I can salvage any by chasing him off before he buries it, but I'm going to give him some acidophilus tonight.

I haven't tried fasting him. I didn't think about it really, I probably should have. I have to be gone overnight tonight though, and I'd rather not have that trauma added to my leaving. He isn't making a mess, always getting to the litter box before he goes, nor is he acting at all sick. I think he'll be alright tonight, and then tomorrow I will try fasting him.