I've had a kitten for 6 days and think he is sick. Diarrhea, lethargic......Need opinions please!

[auroraei]

I just don't know anymore. I'm beginning to think that his diareah problems aren't food related. He's been on this chicken diet for a week now and his poop is still as mushy and wet as before, only difference is now there is less of it. But the consistency is exactly the same. I don't understand why he would still have the runs if he was only eating chicken.

 

[carolina]

Your kitty has been on this diet for 2 days, not a week. Your kitty is not on probiotics yet to rebuild his gut flora. I am not sure what you want to hear :dk: On these two days he has made tremendously progress. This has worked better than anything you tried. Reality check- you home, couch, bed, floor, were covered in poop. The world was not created in a day, and there isn't a miracle. His guts are inflamed. Give it time for him to feel better. Do not give him anything else. Give him probiotics. Yes, it is frustrating, but you have to be patient and give this some time.
If this doesn't work after PROPER time, probiotics, etc. Then you move on....for now give this kitten a chance to heal. Time will tell. But he needs time.

 

[auroraei]

Your kitty has been on this diet for 2 days, not a week. Your kitty is not on probiotics yet to rebuild his gut flora. I am not sure what you want to hear

On these two days he has made tremendously progress. This has worked better than anything you tried. Reality check- you home, couch, bed, floor, were covered in poop. The world was not created in a day, and there isn't a miracle. His guts are inflamed. Give it time for him to feel better. Do not give him anything else. Give him probiotics. Yes, it is frustrating, but you have to be patient and give this some time.
If this doesn't work after PROPER time, probiotics, etc. Then you move on....for now give this kitten a chance to heal. Time will tell. But he needs time.

I got my days mixed up, it's been longer than 2 days though lol, feels like a week! I guess I was just expecting amazing results like the people who said their cat became cured in 1 day.

I know my house was covered in poop but that's because he was producing so much waste on regular cat food. Now he doesn't have as much waste because he's only eating chicken, but he still has direah. I'm just hoping these probiotics work.

 

[ritz]

Auroraei,

Isn't that always the case:  what you want to happen NOW (solid poop), happens later; what you want to happen LATER (old age), happens NOW (oh my aches and pains). 

I define Now as in, the next day; but life and cats don't work that way.

Ritz is my first cat ever, and I've had to learn patience.  From walking slowly (Ritz is a skittish cat) to weight loss.  To accepting pets to loving belly rubs.  (Still working on being able to pick her up.)

So I urge you to practice the muscle known as patience.  Your cat has had diarrehea for about two weeks now, it will take more than two days for it to clear up.  And we don't know for sure what else might be going on (worms?)

I also urge you to not stress out.  I'm learning the hard way that cats really can pick up stress even if you're not aware you're showing stress--fake smiles and cherry voices not withstanding.   Ritz is prone to UTIs and perhaps stress induced FHS.  I wanted a friend to give Ritz an accupuncture treatment; she said, Mommy needs one more.

 

[peaches08]

I got my days mixed up, it's been longer than 2 days though lol, feels like a week! I guess I was just expecting amazing results like the people who said their cat became cured in 1 day.

I know my house was covered in poop but that's because he was producing so much waste on regular cat food. Now he doesn't have as much waste because he's only eating chicken, but he still has direah. I'm just hoping these probiotics work.

FWIW, I saw results in 24 hours but I also fed raw with premix as well as letting them eat the raw bones. Once the grinder came in and I got them eating ground raw bone they stopped wanting additional bone.

 

[carolina]

FWIW, I saw results in 24 hours but I also fed raw with premix as well as letting them eat the raw bones. Once the grinder came in and I got them eating ground raw bone they stopped wanting additional bone.

true, the bones do firm up the poop. Same here :nod:

 

[auroraei]

Nothing to report back to today, it's just like the other days basically.

I got Phoenix a cat tree. He's always trying to get up high and climbing things but so far he won't go on it unless I put him there

tree.jpg

• auroraei
• Feb 22, 2013

 

[taxido]

That is fantastic!  He will start to climb up it.  Cats are very cautious about anything new that is introduced into their environment and it can take a while.  However, start interacting with him and play games with it and he will love it.

Re the pooping issue.  As you know I have had similar with my rescue cat Sammy.  We have now stabilised him on one cat food alone, plus a few Royal Canin kibbles, and some fresh boiled chicken (I cook this once a week as a treat for both my cats),  Some days, his poop is normal, and some days it is mushy and like a pudding!  

 

[auroraei]

That is fantastic!  He will start to climb up it.  Cats are very cautious about anything new that is introduced into their environment and it can take a while.  However, start interacting with him and play games with it and he will love it.

Re the pooping issue.  As you know I have had similar with my rescue cat Sammy.  We have now stabilised him on one cat food alone, plus a few Royal Canin kibbles, and some fresh boiled chicken (I cook this once a week as a treat for both my cats),  Some days, his poop is normal, and some days it is mushy and like a pudding!  

He was climing on it and stuff as we were putting it together, but once we were done with it and put it in its spot, he just walks past it and doesn't even notice it! lol

 

[taxido]

Cats do not like changes to their environment as a rule, so anything that is new will get ignored for a while. That said, I am sure he will be climbing around on it soon.  Perhaps you can give him a bit of encouragement?  How about buying some dried catnip and sprinkling that around/on the frame?  Cats love catnip.

 

[peaches08]

Awesome tree!

Ya know, at this point I'd consider giving raw bone. Actually, considering Pottenger's experiment I'd consider giving the chicken raw too. As far as bacteria are concerned, him dragging off cooked food is going to add to the "breeding ground" as much as raw can. Cut the pieces up about the size of dice or thinner and longer. If you could confine him to one room that may help with clean up after eating.

 

[auroraei]

Just wanted to share that I went downstairs just now to find Phoenix like this in his cat tree! He went there all by himself 

CAM00642.jpg

• auroraei
• Feb 23, 2013

CAM00645.jpg

• auroraei
• Feb 23, 2013

 

[ldg]

Awww... Our Flowerbelle loves that basket too... only the tree we had, had the basket up at the top, near the ceiling. :lol3:

 

[auroraei]

CAM00651.jpg

• auroraei
• Feb 23, 2013

Okay I found this next to Phoenix. I think it's a baby tooth. Is this okay? I've never seen a tooth shaped so weird.

 

[taxido]

Great!  Told you he would.  He was probably doing some investigating just to be sure while you were in bed during the night.

 

[ritz]

Love the cat tree.

That's seems to be a big tooth--course you should keep it

 

[auroraei]

 

[peaches08]

How's he doing now?

 

[auroraei]

How's he doing now?

Pretty much the same, although his behavior has changed some. He isn't cuddly like he was. When I first got him, he always liked to be on my lap and sleep with me, now he couldn't care less than I'm here. He rarely goes on my lap and when he does, he jumps off and sleeps on the floor instead. Also he's been "play biting" way too much. Often times I go to pet him and he'd rather bite my hand or my feet, and it hurts, and he doesn't stop. It's sad.

 

[taxido]

Have the diarrhoea issues resolved themselves?  And the litter box issues?  If so, perhaps it might be time to start thinking about the next step to getting him a complete diet.  See what other people say on this forum.  As for his behaviour, he is only a kitten and is acting out his kitten ways, albeit some of them are painful for you!  Don't forget, he probably is feeling much better now and this is his normal kitten behaviour.  I don't think there is any real malice there.  If you are getting fed up with the play biting, don't put your hand in the way of it.  Things will resolve themselves, one step at a time.