Kitten diarrhoea: likely eating too much?

[gabicards]

Hi all,

Let me start with a summary of the situation:

Adoption date: 13 April 2022
Food given up until adoption: N&D Kitten, grain-free + Royal Canin Kitten (sachet)
Following adoption: N&D Kitten, with grains (out of sheer stupidity, because I bought the wrong one) + Royal Canin Kitten (sachet)
Vet check-up: 18 April - all great. Healthy weight of 2,7kg (albeit a bit on the thin side), no symptoms
Symptoms: 21 April, started having loose stools with occasional blood. Sometimes part of the stool was hard and the other soft.

So... all's going great with my kitten and I think he's healthy. He has his vaccines, was neutered, eats well, has been growing fast. The only thing that changed following the vet visit is that we were told we could free-feed him dry food, since he's growing. So he went from eating 70g of dry food to around 100g a day (sometimes more), because we were making sure he always had food in his bowl... and he simply wouldn't stop eating until it was empty.

His stool is of a light-ish brown color and not watery, per se, just loose and with a bit of blood. Sometimes he'd poop twice, usually the 2nd time was less than an hour after the 1st. It's likely not parasite, as he had a full PCR before I picked him up and it came up clean, and he hasn't been in contact with any animals or walked outside at all since then.

After a conversation with the vet, we wondered if maybe he was overeating, so we stopped free-feeding and set for 80g of N&D a day, and removed the sachet. We transitioned back to the grain-free version of it over the course of two weeks (I never actually intended to change his food, I just got confused when buying it and ended up getting one that's slightly different than the one his breeder had been giving him), gave him probiotics for 10 days and it got better. Not 100% as it was in the beginning, but huge improvement. I wouldn't even call it diarrhoea, just a bit of soft stools now.

The thing is, I get the impression he's hungry. He meows more now when we go to the kitchen, so I'd like to go back to giving him the sachet and perhaps increase his food intake a bit... but I'm worried he'd get diarrhoea again. Is it possible that he just can't self-regulate and eats too much? Is there a way to tell if he's been spoiled by accident (we do like to give treats, and I think my parents might have unintentionally trained him to meow for things, including attention), or if he's actually hungry? The vet said the abrupt food change was probably okay (even if not ideal) because most of the formula is the same, but I suppose it could have been that, too...

He's a pure breed Maine Coon, 6 months old, and has gained 700g since we got him about a month ago. He's the smallest of the litter (very tiny in comparison to his brothers), and he's now at 3,3kg. It seems he'll catch up!

 

[gabicards]

Oh, and here's a pic of the bb! Taken at the vet on April 18, he was so calm and friendly. <3

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi

he's actually hungry

Firstly, he's a kitten. Secondly, he's a big breed.

For both these reasons he needs to eat as much as he can get into his tummy, literally, wet/canned food preferably with kibble being an additional, not a primary source of calories, for at least one year but since he's a big breed probably for a year and a half because they mature later.

Utilizing different brands, varieties and flavors grain-free and otherwise, is beneficial from the standpoint that it will help him to not be finicky about food down the road, and also can be helpful if there's a shortage or the manufacturer changes the recipe and the cat doesn't like the change.

And thirdly he is completely fabulous

 

[gabicards]

Hi

Firstly, he's a kitten. Secondly, he's a big breed.

For both these reasons he needs to eat as much as he can get into his tummy, literally, wet/canned food preferably with kibble being an additional, not a primary source of calories, for at least one year but since he's a big breed probably for a year and a half because they mature later.

Utilizing different brands, varieties and flavors grain-free and otherwise, is beneficial from the standpoint that it will help him to not be finicky about food down the road, and also can be helpful if there's a shortage or the manufacturer changes the recipe and the cat doesn't like the change.

And thirdly he is completely fabulous

Thank you! I think all you said make sense... but then where does that leave the diarrhoea issue? I guess some loose stool isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I can't imagine the blood is okay. We can't find anything else...

Unless it's a food allergy? Or allergy to the grains in the food I started giving him? I wonder if that could have shown up almost 2 weeks later (no idea how it works).

 

[Furballsmom]

almost 2 weeks later

Probably not. However, he's nearly ok now?

just a bit of soft stools now.

You could consider adding a novel protein and see if his system likes it and if so, maybe try and eliminate chicken.

 

[gabicards]

Probably not. However, he's nearly ok now?

You could consider adding a novel protein and see if his system likes it and if so, maybe try and eliminate chicken.

Indeed, he's doing better! I guess I could try free-feeding again + probiotics to see if the loose stools persist, and then I could try food without chicken.

Thanks for replying! I'm pretty traumatised from kittens with diarrhoea, having had one with a persistent case of giardia for a full year. I was a bit panicky when I noticed I accidentally gave him a different kibble, too.

 

[Furballsmom]

I understand, I really do. Let us know how things go, if you need recommendations for foods etc

 

[IndyJones]

Is it just a little bit of bright red blood or is it tar like and dark, almost black? Knowing this could determine if it is coming from the digestive tract or possibly something minor like an anal fissure.

 

[gabicards]

Is it just a little bit of bright red blood or is it tar like and dark, almost black? Knowing this could determine if it is coming from the digestive tract or possibly something minor like an anal fissure.

It's bright red, I think, because it was visible on top despite the stool being so soft. It's also always on top and easy to see, so I figure it comes out last. I haven't seen it in a few days, though, fingers crossed it doesn't come back.

I'm free-feeding him again and he's already eaten at least 100g. Not too much meowing as before, but we'll see in the morning. I intend to give him a full sachet at night after a couple of days, I'm easing back into that - he got half of one yesterday, half today and will get half tomorrow. Also started with a new probiotic, we'll see whether he actually eats it.