Diarrhea In 5 Month Old Kitten For Almost 10 Days

[maria_c5]

Hey guys i am new to this website as well as owning a kitten! I have adopted from a shelter and she has had diarrhea since the night after she came. She tested negative for worms. I am feeding her performatrin ultra kitten food and was feeding her performatrin ultra cat food mixed with pumpkin but then was told to stop by my vet. The diarrhea has got to a soft serve sort of texture but it still sometimes liquidy. She also has gas. I am adding fortiflora into her food as i got some from a volunteer at the shelter for her diarrhea. I am really worried about this and why it has not gone away yet. Should i switch to hills science diet for kittens? The vet said the quality of the food may not be as good in performatrin. I was told by a lady at the pet valu (she was at foster home then pet valu) that she had diarrhea while at the pet store. I was thinking they did not trainsition her properly from the foster’s food to the food she was eating at pet valu. Sorry for the long post but any advice would be helpful!

 

[LTS3]

FortiFlora isn't the best probiotic to use. Try a different probiotic. You can use a Human probiotic. The CFU and number of bacteria strains are higher than a pet specific product. There are various brands to choose from. This has good info: Probiotics for Cats - Why and Which Ones Page 9 of that has info on using S. boulardii to help with diarrhea.

 

[echo.rory.noodles]

I would take her back to the vet and have them run some more tests. 10 days is a long time to have diarrhea, especially for a young kitten. She could become dehydrated.

Our 5 month old kitten started having diarrhea (and vomiting) last weekend and we took him in Monday even though he was acting normal otherwise. We had them do a fecal screen, a giardia test, and a full blood panel. Everything came back normal but he was dehydrated just from two days of diarrhea and had bacteria in his stool sample, so he was given subcutaneous fluids and an antibiotic. His poop is only just now starting to firm up. Our vet suspects it was most likely a virus or infection or parasite, even though he tested negative for everything.

From everything I’ve read and heard, parasites and worms can be hard to diagnose and it often takes multiple tests to catch it. He had tapeworms when we first got him and his fecal screen came back negative even though we were seeing segments in his poop.

She also could have GI issues, like IBD or something similar.

 

[maria_c5]

I would take her back to the vet and have them run some more tests. 10 days is a long time to have diarrhea, especially for a young kitten. She could become dehydrated.

Our 5 month old kitten started having diarrhea (and vomiting) last weekend and we took him in Monday even though he was acting normal otherwise. We had them do a fecal screen, a giardia test, and a full blood panel. Everything came back normal but he was dehydrated just from two days of diarrhea and had bacteria in his stool sample, so he was given subcutaneous fluids and an antibiotic. His poop is only just now starting to firm up. Our vet suspects it was most likely a virus or infection or parasite, even though he tested negative for everything.

From everything I’ve read and heard, parasites and worms can be hard to diagnose and it often takes multiple tests to catch it. He had tapeworms when we first got him and his fecal screen came back negative even though we were seeing segments in his poop.

She also could have GI issues, like IBD or something similar.

Thank you! i don’t think she has worms especially because she has got deworming multiple times . She also got half a deworming pill this week and is scheduled for the other half this friday. I heard that fecal tests can give false negatives for giardia so maybe we will get her tested again. Just wondering food do you have you kitten on?

 

[maria_c5]

FortiFlora isn't the best probiotic to use. Try a different probiotic. You can use a Human probiotic. The CFU and number of bacteria strains are higher than a pet specific product. There are various brands to choose from. This has good info: Probiotics for Cats - Why and Which Ones Page 9 of that has info on using S. boulardii to help with diarrhea.

Thank you! It has only been 5 days using the fortiflora and it says to use for a period of 30 days for best results. Hopefully her diarrhea has cleared up by then.

 

[lisahe]

I agree about more tests but also want to ask which Performatrin Ultra food you're feeding, maria_c5 . I looked at their dry kitten food (this one) and see that it has two forms of potato, which struck me because one of our cats got gassy and vomited when we fed her foods with potato. (I'm having a hard time getting the search to work on their site so forgive me for not checking for wet foods, too!) Some cats are sensitive to potato and peas (also in that food) can be an issue, too.

At this point, I, too, would be concerned about dehydration so would be sure to check back with the vet.

As for foods, a lot, of course, depends on what, exactly, is causing the diarrhea. If I were making an assumption that it's something in the food, I'd put her on an all-wet food that's as simple as possible, meaning high in meat protein and low in carbs so both grain-free and without carby vegetables like potatoes and peas or a thickener like tapioca. (This is what our vet recommends for kittens and cats anyway.) Something like Fancy Feast Classics (which have another name in Canada, where I think you might be...) are easy to find and fit those criteria. Fancy Feast does have a kitten food, though anything for all life stages is fine to feed a kitten. Beyond just having a strong bias toward wet food -- it's made a huge difference for our cats since we adopted them! -- your kitten could definitely use the moisture, particularly if she's been eating only dry food!

Good luck! I hope you're able to resolve this soon. What is your kitten's name?

 

[echo.rory.noodles]

Thank you! i don’t think she has worms especially because she has got deworming multiple times . She also got half a deworming pill this week and is scheduled for the other half this friday. I heard that fecal tests can give false negatives for giardia so maybe we will get her tested again. Just wondering food do you have you kitten on?

Yes we suspect it was likely giardia causing our kitty’s diarrhea, despite the negative test, since they prescribed him what they use to treat that and he’s improved on it!

Our kitten is currently eating Rachel Ray Nutrish, because it’s what we’ve been feeding our two adult cats. It’s not the best food and is not formulated for kittens so we’ll be switching them to something else. He was eating Halo dry kitten food before but he was far more interested in the adult cats’ food and wouldn’t touch his which is why we gave up and are feeding him that. He’s been eating it for over a month now though and has been fine. He’s also eaten Royal Canin babyloaf and kitten instinctive wet food and Blue Wilderness dry kitten food, none of which caused any GI issues.

 

[maria_c5]

I agree about more tests but also want to ask which Performatrin Ultra food you're feeding, maria_c5 . I looked at their dry kitten food (this one) and see that it has two forms of potato, which struck me because one of our cats got gassy and vomited when we fed her foods with potato. (I'm having a hard time getting the search to work on their site so forgive me for not checking for wet foods, too!) Some cats are sensitive to potato and peas (also in that food) can be an issue, too.

At this point, I, too, would be concerned about dehydration so would be sure to check back with the vet.

As for foods, a lot, of course, depends on what, exactly, is causing the diarrhea. If I were making an assumption that it's something in the food, I'd put her on an all-wet food that's as simple as possible, meaning high in meat protein and low in carbs so both grain-free and without carby vegetables like potatoes and peas or a thickener like tapioca. (This is what our vet recommends for kittens and cats anyway.) Something like Fancy Feast Classics (which have another name in Canada, where I think you might be...) are easy to find and fit those criteria. Fancy Feast does have a kitten food, though anything for all life stages is fine to feed a kitten. Beyond just having a strong bias toward wet food -- it's made a huge difference for our cats since we adopted them! -- your kitten could definitely use the moisture, particularly if she's been eating only dry food!

Good luck! I hope you're able to resolve this soon. What is your kitten's name?

The link to the dry food you added is the exact one i’m giving her. This was the wet food i was giving her and was mixing with weruva pumpkin purée. For some reason my vet told me to stop feeding her the wet food especially with the pumpkin as that would make the diarrhea worse? I wasn’t sure what to think of that but her diarrhea has started to get less liquidy and more soft so perhaps it’s because we stopped with the wet food. It could just be that this brand is not good (the potato like you mentioned) and i might just switch her onto a hill’s diet. Right now she is not showing any symptoms of dehydration. Despite having diarrhea for this long she is still her playful and cuddly self. Thank you so much for your help! Lastly, her name is Luna

 

[lisahe]

What is the wet food, maria_c5 ? No name or link or photo came up, just a large space!

Pumpkin, yes, it's often used for constipation (here's an article that mentions it) so that may be the reason your vet suggested not feeding it any longer.

 

[maria_c5]

What is the wet food, maria_c5 ? No name or link or photo came up, just a large space!

Pumpkin, yes, it's often used for constipation (here's an article that mentions it) so that may be the reason your vet suggested not feeding it any longer.

The wet food she was eating was performatrin ultra salmon bisque but i have stopped feeding her it. I was on CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat that gives un bias nutritional breakdown of cat food. Hills, Royal Canin, Iams, Purina etc suprisingly did not rate well despite beimg vet recommended. I am going to pet valu today to buy her Merrick Backcountry Dry Kitten food which looks like a good quality food. I will introduce it to her within a period of 7 days, hopefully the diarrhea will be cleared up by then.

 

[LTS3]

What is the wet food, maria_c5 ? No name or link or photo came up, just a large space!

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