Kitten with half firm half soft stool in evenings

[Xdeszio]

I recently got a British short laid kitten when he was 3.5 months old, and he just turned 5 months. He was from a reputable breeder.

He’s been having some stool issues for the past month. He normally poops 2-3 times a day (around noon, early evening, and 10-11 pm), and what I have noticed is that the stool in the evening is often half firm and the other half is shaped but soft or soft serve depending on the day. His poop at lunch time is almost always entirely firm with a few exceptions.

He has had a few days where both poops were fully firm but those are rare.

He currently gets fed wet food (nulo chicken recipe which has chicken, turkey and herring) twice a day, about 280 kcal total. He’s eating all of his food, gaining weight, playful, no other issues. I’ve tried deworming him, and added forti flora to no effect.

Anyone have any tips or thoughts on what could be going on? I didn’t think it would be worms or parasites related as his lunch stool is almost always perfect. He has never had a full on soft serve or diarrhea so I am at a loss.

Could this be food sensitivities? I am transitioning him to Rawz wet food which has no gums and is single sourced protein (chicken) to see if that would help.

 

[maggie101]

Try leaving out the fish. My cat gets loose stools after eating that. And,yes, possibly food sensitive. Also try beef,venison,duck, and/or rabbit. My ate wellness core chicken as a kitten. Now she is intolerant to chicken

 

[FeebysOwner]

I cannot imagine how this could be a food sensitivity if he is eating the same food for each meal.

It could be more to do with when he is eating and the relationship to when he is having BMs. The longer stool sits in the colon, the more moisture that is drawn out before evacuation - and those stools would, in theory, be firmer.

Forti Flora serves more as a flavor enhancer than a true probiotic. You could try something like s. boulardii, which can help with loose stools.
Saccharomyces boulardii Probiotic for Pets (White Paper)– FullBucket Health

 

[Xdeszio]

I cannot imagine how this could be a food sensitivity if he is eating the same food for each meal.

It could be more to do with when he is eating and the relationship to when he is having BMs. The longer stool sits in the colon, the more moisture that is drawn out before evacuation - and those stools would, in theory, be firmer.

Forti Flora serves more as a flavor enhancer than a true probiotic. You could try something like s. boulardii, which can help with loose stools.
Saccharomyces boulardii Probiotic for Pets (White Paper)– FullBucket Health

Any suggestions on what could help to improve/slow down the bowel movement?

I guess the S boulardii? Is that a long term solution though? Sorry I’m kind of new to this!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Any suggestions on what could help to improve/slow down the bowel movement? I guess the S boulardii? Is that a long-term solution though? Sorry I’m kind of new to this!

I have not heard of any reason it couldn't be a long-term solution. It could be that your cat would not need much, or not even daily. It could also be that he will outgrow the need for it as he and his digestive system matures. Any number of variables are possible.

 

[Xdeszio]

I have not heard of any reason it couldn't be a long-term solution. It could be that your cat would not need much, or not even daily. It could also be that he will outgrow the need for it as he and his digestive system matures. Any number of variables are possible.

ok got it, makes sense. Just wanted to explore my options before I get a stool test. From what I read of symptoms for giardia or other worms/parasites this didn’t really sound the same .

 

[FeebysOwner]

I am not saying that you shouldn't go ahead with the fecal test, just in case - and explain why you want it, to ensure the vet does an appropriate amount of testing to cover a wide range of conditions.

As far as the s.boulardii does, this is one that I have seen used a lot - Saccharomyces Boulardii + MOS 5 Billion CFU | Jarrow Formulas. The dosage for an adult cat is generally 1/2 capsule twice a day, but for a kitten I would probably start with no more than maybe 1/8 to 1/4 capsule and only once a day to see what happens. It is always better to start out small and slow and increase if needed.

 

[Xdeszio]

It's been a while since this post but as a follow up, he had firm stools for all of 2 weeks since the original post until about the end of September when we had to do some renovations and painting. Since the beginning of October, he started having stool issues again.

Now it's about half firm and half soft serve on some days, and some other days it's fully firm. This week for example he has had probably 3 firm movements, and 5 half firm half soft movement. I haven't changed the food at all since mid-September, and I started him on 1/4 of S Boulardii twice a day for about 4 days now, but I still haven't seen any improvements.

Does anyone have any idea as to what this could be? I'm at a complete loss. I should note that I haven't gotten the stool test yet but that will likely be next.

 

[Xdeszio]

I should note that I'm using the Now brand of S boulardii so it includes FOS but not MOS, not sure if that makes any difference.

 

[maggie101]

I suggest trying food without chicken and herring
My cats like nulo turkey duck
Or food with one protein to find out if it's a certain food. My vet gave me pills that are for a possible bacterial infection for a week if the food triall does not work.

 

[FeebysOwner]

So, you only recently started the s.boulardii and his stools became firm on their own before that? That being the case, I would give the s. boulardii more time to work. More details would be helpful.

 

[Xdeszio]

So, you only recently started the s.boulardii and his stools became firm on their own before that? That being the case, I would give the s. boulardii more time to work. More details would be helpful.

Sorry, it's been a long process but happy to share more details. He's a 6.5 month old kitten if that helps.

I think the stool issue started soon after I got him in July, when I switched him from a raw diet that the breeder fed to Wellness core wet food. I think I made the switch too quickly and caused soft poops. I made a slow transition to Nulo chicken and herring wet food across 2 weeks, and afterwards his stool improved to being fully firm for 2 weeks. The half firm half soft stools started again in mid August when I had to replace my A/C which I thought was likely stress related. That night, he had half firm and half soft stool and didn't really improve after a few days.

I thought it was food related (the Nulo food had chicken, turkey, agar agar, carreegan (sp?), and herring) and started transitioning him over to Rawz which was a lot cleaner in ingredients over 2 weeks. I also gave him forti flora, and by mid September, his stool was fully firm again for 2 weeks. At the end of September, we replaced the windows in our house and again, his half firm half soft stools started back up again.

He is now still on Rawz, I started him back up on Forti flora at the beginning of October, and we didn't see any improvements. Doing some research, we stopped the forti flora and started him on S. Boulardii this past sunday, giving him 1/4 x 2 a day.

Since Sunday, he has had maybe 10 movements in total. 3 movements was mostly firm with 1 piece being slightly softer but still dry. The rest of the movements have all been various forms of half firm and half soft, and the soft piece has ranged from soft serve in texture, to formed but soft and wet inside. Today he has had 2 movements where it was half firm, and the other half was soft serve.

This entire time he has never had a full BM where it was fully wet or soft, and the soft part has never been just water.

 

[maggie101]

Adored Beast Feline Gut Soothe, do you use this product?Many people on here use adored beast

Just one of many threads about it

 

[Xdeszio]

I can give it a try but it wouldn’t resolve the underlying issue would it? To be honest I don’t know what the underlying issue is on the first place.

 

[Xdeszio]

As another update: I am stopping S boulardii as taking it has made his movements worse. The last 2 days his stool has become increasingly more watery and mushy compared to before he started S boulardii. Maybe this works for other cats but it does not seem to agree with him at all.

 

[maggie101]

As another update: I am stopping S boulardii as taking it has made his movements worse. The last 2 days his stool has become increasingly more watery and mushy compared to before he started S boulardii. Maybe this works for other cats but it does not seem to agree with him at all.

Same with adored beast. My vet gave me tysolin to give for the same problem. Better,but only just started.adored beast can be put in her food. Tysolin is very bitter so I got in a powder and put in empty gel caps.