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

[auroraei]

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.

No he still has loose poop. That hasn't changed at all on this diet. Only thing that has changed is he is pooping less in general, so he hasn't had any accidents because of that. I ordered a probiotic but it's taking forever to get here. Also, I know it's probably normal kitten behavior, I'm just sad that it changed.

 

[peaches08]

He will probably chill out as he gets older.

As far as the loose stools, I'd try raw bones.

 

[auroraei]

His probiotics finally came today, I put some in his food and he ate it all! 

Nothing much else to report.

OHHHHHHHH also, how do you store half a capsule of medicine without it falling over and spilling the contents?

 

[carolina]

His probiotics finally came today, I put some in his food and he ate it all! 

Nothing much else to report.

OHHHHHHHH also, how do you store half a capsule of medicine without it falling over and spilling the contents?

Ok - make sure to store that in the fridge, BTW.
Just close the capsule back and put it into the fridge. Feed him one capsule a day, in the morning meal - I knew he would like it! AWESOME :bigthumb:

 

[auroraei]

Ok - make sure to store that in the fridge, BTW.
Just close the capsule back and put it into the fridge. Feed him one capsule a day, in the morning meal - I knew he would like it! AWESOME

LOL OH RIGHT, close the capsule back up. Why didn't I think of that? I literally tossed the other half of the capsule like an idiot 

Also, I need to store the probiotics in the fridge?! Did I just ruin them all?

 

[carolina]

LOL OH RIGHT, close the capsule back up. Why didn't I think of that? I literally tossed the other half of the capsule like an idiot 

Also, I need to store the probiotics in the fridge?! Did I just ruin them all?

No, you just got it today, right? So no, you didn't ruin them all. But yes - store them in the fridge.
(and the 1/2 capsule too, of course)

 

[auroraei]

No, you just got it today, right? So no, you didn't ruin them all. But yes - store them in the fridge.
(and the 1/2 capsule too, of course)

K I put them in there.

So weird on the bottle it says to refrigerate for optimum whatever, you'd think they would ship them on ice or something, I mean what's the fridge going to do now? Lol.

 

[carolina]

K I put them in there.

So weird on the bottle it says to refrigerate for optimum whatever, you'd think they would ship them on ice or something, I mean what's the fridge going to do now? Lol.

Well, they shipped sealed. A lot of things don't need refrigeration until opened. Some do..... The egg lecithin I buy only needs after opened.... But anyways, since you have control now, do store it in the fridge from now on. :nod:

 

[auroraei]

Phoenix seems to be backsliding but I think it's my fault. I was trying to slowly incorporate wet food into his chicken but he's just not having it. He eats around it to get to the chicken and lets the wet food get hard in his bowl. Wet food he had no problem eating before, now he won't touch it. I got frustrated and worried about him not eating right so I bought him a couple different brands of wet to try and see what he likes, he turns his nose up at all of them. He only licks up the broth then leaves the actual pieces of meat in his bowl to get hard. Now I wake up to find in his litter box mucus everywhere. Probably from me switching brands. I bought him a SlimCat ball and it's getting him to eat his dry food. I don't know why he won't eat ANY of his wet food anymore, he's beyond finicky now ever since I put him on this chicken diet. Besides everything else he's acting normal.

 

[auroraei]

Bought Tomlyn for him and put it on some raw chicken and he won't eat it. It's too thick to suck through a syringe. I don't know what to do anymore.

 

[auroraei]

He took the Tomlyn, licked it off a teaspoon, what a little weirdo lol.

 

[auroraei]

I feel for you, cause when I first got my little guys they had giardia. They always made it to the litterbox, but there was poop all over the walls in there, and they would leave little smears of poop wherever they sat. They were treated with metronidazole and twice with panacur, and still had runny poo-- raw food and probiotics helped more than the meds did.Sending vibes your way that the Albon does the trick!

The Albon situation is old news. I still have no idea if that medication did anything or not. I have to take him back to the vet D:

 

[carolina]

Yeah. He will have monster diarrhea, that's for sure. The entire point of this chicken diet was to remove what was making him sick. You are putting it back into his diet again, do understand that if it is diet related, and can be as he was a ton better, he will get it all back again.. Kibbles, on the top of it, are just about the worst thing you can do in a situation like this. You don't just give kibbles to a kitty who hasn't eaten it for a while; let alone one with intestinal problems. Not only that, you are doing this FAST. This reintroductions start slowly. By slowly I mean with one Tea spoon a meal.
This kitty should been introduced very slowly to a limited ingredients diet, or to a balanced raw diet.... But that has been said in this thread before.... Hope he does well....

 

[auroraei]

Yeah. He will have monster diarrhea, that's for sure. The entire point of this chicken diet was to remove what was making him sick. You are putting it back into his diet again, do understand that if it is diet related, and can be as he was a ton better, he will get it all back again.. Kibbles, on the top of it, are just about the worst thing you can do in a situation like this. You don't just give kibbles to a kitty who hasn't eaten it for a while; let alone one with intestinal problems. Not only that, you are doing this FAST. This reintroductions start slowly. By slowly I mean with one Tea spoon a meal.
This kitty should been introduced very slowly to a limited ingredients diet, or to a balanced raw diet.... But that has been said in this thread before.... Hope he does well....

I was only giving him a little bit of dry, not free feeding it. And as for the wet food, I was adding it teaspoon by teaspoon and reducing the chicken but like I said, he stopped wanting the wet food entirely. He licks the broth and lets it get hard in his bowl. Now I have to put him back on chicken and give him supplements.

I actually tried feeding him raw chicken today, I don't think he understood it. He kept taking chunks out of his bowl and flopping them onto the floor and batting them around like it was a toy. Weird behavior. I cooked the chicken and he seems to like it better that way, or something.

I had no idea about the kibbles though, that it was that bad for him. I won't give him any more.

 

[carolina]

Yeah, kibbles are really rough on the intestinal tract. Even for cats that have been on it already, to switch from one to another you have to do it slowwwwwly and they still have problems. A cat that has been off of it.... Much worst. Better not give to him at all.
A good way to get him into raw, from cooked chicken is by cooking a bit less every day until the day you are serving it raw. Start with it cooked, like you are doing it now.... Then cook less and less.... Just simmer a bit.Then serve raw. That works well most times.
You can also start balancing the calcium with eggshells since you are not feeding bones. He needs to start eating balanced meals soon. Don't hurry into canned though, unless it is a limited ingredient diet. There is also commercial raw available, which can be expensive, but you can feed temporarily only until you start feeding him homemade; much cheaper.

 

[gussamor]

My Gordon didn't have diarrhea until a month after her was treated for Giarrdia (sp?). Took him in & more treatment made him worse. I cannot tell you how many times I washed towels & blankets at 2 am (quit treatment).  After many dietary switches, we find the EVO weight management dry food firms up his poops a bit (have multiple cats so we try to find a health "mean").   

 

[auroraei]

Thought I'd give you guys an update!

After a long period of time of Phoenix being very finicky to the point of not eating anything I put in front of him, I finally found a food he loves. Halo dry food! I had him on Halo Sensitive Cats turkey, and recently switched him to Halo Grain-Free dry food. He won't touch any brand of wet anymore. I know some people here think dry only is not the way to go, but I couldn't be happier than he's actually eating now. He drinks plenty of water, I make sure, I even do the scruff test now and then to make sure he's hydrated. So far no problems. I'm not even going to try putting him on wet, I don't see the point anymore. If he's healthy and happy, I'm happy. Plus his stool problems are no more. No more "squirts". Everything is mostly solid now (we'll see if it's even more solid on this grain-free food, I only switched him to it like 2 days ago).

Also March 29th he got neutered, shots, and I had them do a fecal test and they said everything was normal.

So Phoenix is pretty much just a regular healthy cat now Not much more to say!

Phoenix6.jpg

• auroraei
• Apr 14, 2013

Phoenix5.jpg

• auroraei
• Apr 14, 2013

Phoenix4.jpg

• auroraei
• Apr 14, 2013

 

[jnit1]

Gather everyting you will need. Towels to dry, dawn soap, cup for dipping water. If you use your tup lift your curtain over the rod to keep it out of the way. A mop sink works best. Try to gently hold him at the scruff of the neck while lowering him into warm soapy water. They tend to hold still when you grip the scruff. It worked for us. Don't run water while the cat is in the room. It's noisy and frightens them. You can build up to that over the years. Have a cup handy to quietly rinse him down before sudsing. Speak softly to reassure them. Keep the head way above water to help with the fear they are feeling. If you can get someone to stand next to you for assistance it would be great. Otherwise get a bucket of warm sudsy water and some old wash rags or an old towel you can cut into rags. Wipe that crap off of him, rinse your rag and repeat. Have the other rags available to change out if needed. You really have to get that off of him one way or another. Using paper towels to get the bulk of it off of him will reduce his time in water or bucket refills. Good luck.

 

[auroraei]

Gather everyting you will need. Towels to dry, dawn soap, cup for dipping water. If you use your tup lift your curtain over the rod to keep it out of the way. A mop sink works best. Try to gently hold him at the scruff of the neck while lowering him into warm soapy water. They tend to hold still when you grip the scruff. It worked for us. Don't run water while the cat is in the room. It's noisy and frightens them. You can build up to that over the years. Have a cup handy to quietly rinse him down before sudsing. Speak softly to reassure them. Keep the head way above water to help with the fear they are feeling. If you can get someone to stand next to you for assistance it would be great. Otherwise get a bucket of warm sudsy water and some old wash rags or an old towel you can cut into rags. Wipe that crap off of him, rinse your rag and repeat. Have the other rags available to change out if needed. You really have to get that off of him one way or another. Using paper towels to get the bulk of it off of him will reduce his time in water or bucket refills. Good luck.

Thank you for the suggestions but that problem is long over with. Look at my post above yours

 

[nikkiand2cats]

I just read through this thread from beginning to end! What a wonderful end to the story! Hope Phoenix is still doing well. I know just how you felt re all the pooping and stress! Hope my cat comes good too!