Need Advice For 4 Month Old Kittens With On And Off Diarrhea

[SuziQ]

Hi,

I recently adopted 2 kittens, Cello and Fiddle, at the end of July. They were 4 months on 8/20. When I got them they did have a little loose stool but the foster mom said that would be expected for the first few days. I fed them what she told me she had been feeding them which was Hill's Science Diet Kitten Wet and Dry. I guess about a week after I had them Fiddle had an evening of diarrhea. I bought some beef flavored baby food, Beechnut just Beef and Beef broth. I also mixed Wegman's Organic canned pumpkin in with that. The diarrhea subsided and I put him back on the Hill's but mixed it with the pumpkin. Both were fine for a few days and them I started seeing looser stool again. Maybe after I stopped the pumpkin. I thought it was Fiddle again.

By this point, they were due to go to the Vet for their first check up and a vaccine. The Vet did test stool samples and they were clear so he said it was probably the food and for me to try changing it. Their poop seemed good for like a week after that so I thought why change if things are going good. Well, I jinxed it because then they both seemed to have looser stool with some diarrhea. I then decided to get off the Hills. I bought Nutro Kitten Chicken Loaf Wet and Instinct Kitten Dry. I also bought Instinct Kitten Wet because once I transition to the Nutro with success I would also get them use to the Instinct so I would have 2 options. All grain free.

I started slowly changing the wet and they still had loose stool and diarrhea. I went back to the bland baby food with pumkin for a couple of days and they were good but once I tried to go back to the Hill/Nurto mix they had problems again.

They are fine otherwise. They are acting normal. I did buy Diagel and gave it to them today. I'm hoping this works. I think it takes 24hours.With the holiday tomorrow, the vet is closed. If they still have problems, tomorrow and into Tuesday, I will call the vet but I thought maybe I could get some advice on what to do. I did boil chicken breast the other night and shredded it and I've been giving them that the last couple of day but I just saw Cello have some diarrhea a little while ago. Ugh!!!!

They are urinating and I did weigh them and they are not losing weight. They actually each gained 2/10th of a pound from this past Wednesday and 1 pound each since they went to the vet 3 weeks ago. Cello is 6.2 lbs and Fiddle is 5.0 lbs.

Should I just keep going with the Nutro or Instinct kitten canned food so they get used to the new flavor? I would just do one for now not the Science Diet. I also noticed that everyone around me, including Chewy and Amazon, is out of the Nutro Kitten Chicken Loaf so I'm thinking I should go Instinct. (What is up with that?) They had a problem even on just Science Diet so I don't want to go back to that at all. Or should I keep them on the bland diet? I'm afraid it's not giving them the nutrition they need.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

If they are active and gaining weight properly, then you are doing everything that you should do until you can see the vet on Tuesday. Keep them on the bland for now, it's only a couple of days, and they should be just fine for that amount of time.

Welcome to TCS! When you have a moment, click on this link New Cats on the Block and introduce yourself and Cello and Fiddle. We're so glad that you found us, although I'm sorry it had to be because of a worry.

 

[SuziQ]

If they are active and gaining weight properly, then you are doing everything that you should do until you can see the vet on Tuesday. Keep them on the bland for now, it's only a couple of days, and they should be just fine for that amount of time.

Welcome to TCS! When you have a moment, click on this link New Cats on the Block and introduce yourself and Cello and Fiddle. We're so glad that you found us, although I'm sorry it had to be because of a worry.

Thanks! I just wanted to give an update. I put them back on baby food and pumpkin starting Sunday evening and by Tuesday morning, there was no more diarrhea. I kept them on the baby food/pumkin diet until Wednesday when I added in some of the Instinct kitten food at their lunch time meal. I slowly worked that in over the last day and this evening gave them their first meal that didn't contain baby food just Instinct kitten and pumpkin and so far so good. I really think it was the Diagel that fixed their tummies but who knows. I didn't want to post anything sooner in case I jinxed it.

I keep checking the litter box but things are looking good. Since the diarrhea stopped, I did not take them to the vet. My kitty that passed in June had diarrhea and vomitting issues on and off from January so I'm so worried there was something wrong with them also. I've been a bit of a helicopter parent with these new kittens.

 

[stephanietx]

You need to be sure to have them on a good kitten food. I always like to feed my kittens Royal Canin baby cat and then start mixing in a grain-free food when they're about 6-8 months old. Also, they need to have access to dry kitten food all the time.

 

[SuziQ]

You need to be sure to have them on a good kitten food. I always like to feed my kittens Royal Canin baby cat and then start mixing in a grain-free food when they're about 6-8 months old. Also, they need to have access to dry kitten food all the time.

Thanks for the info. In the future, I might try the Royal Canin baby cat but at this point, since they seem good on the Nature's Variety Instinct Kitten so I'm just staying on that for now. I thought that the Hills Science Kitten food was decent food. Not the best but okay. This is what the foster mom was feeding them both wet and dry Hills Science Kitten. I really didn't want to change it because I was afraid of problems but their stool never seemed that great on it and with the diarrhea on and off I don't think it was good for them. I know that the Instinct is high quality and it's already grain free. I'm using both Instinct wet kitten and dry kitten formulas. I like to feed all my cats grain free only, if possible. Cello and Fiddle seem to be good on this for now. I'm using both Instinct wet kitten and dry kitten formulas.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

As my dad always said, "If it 'ain't' broke, don't fix it." If that is working well, stay with it. I kept Hekitty on kitten food for a full year, just to be safe.