What problems does this poop point to

[clary7]

I have a 10 week old kitten. Two nights ago I noticed he had some soft poop stuck to his fur, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of a problem or because he just got a bit dirty since he has long fur. But I decided to keep an eye on him and yesterday I noticed he was a bit lethargic and seems a bit skinnier than usual. Usually he comes out to play with my other cats, and especially in the evening he always comes out and gets super hyper, but yesterday he didn’t play at all, just walked around and watched. I tried to get him to eat but he didn’t want anything. I’m not sure what exactly the problem is so I got a syringe and gave him some dewormer, some plain kefir, some water, and some canned food. After I made him eat the food he finally ate a little bit of food by himself. He’s a barn kitten so he doesn’t use a litter box but last night I locked him in the shed and put a litter box in so I can see what his poop looks like.

This morning when I went to feed the cats he seems to have perked up and ate some canned food all by himself. I still syringe fed him some kefir and water though.

I’m not sure exactly what the problem is but here are a few possibles: I recently switched him to fully dry food instead of canned food because my other cats always steal his canned food. But I noticed that my cats didn’t like the flavor of that specific dry food and wouldn’t want to eat it. So I switched them to a different brand that they like. So I’m thinking maybe my kittens stomach is a bit uneasy from trying to switch things around.

Another possibility is that his mom got spayed recently and was on antibiotics for two weeks. He was still breastfeeding though. I was told by the vet that I should try to keep them separate but it won’t hurt him if he continues to breastfeed. I did my best to keep them separate at night at least,keeping him in the shed so he couldn’t get to the mom but she still would climb into the shed sometimes to feed him. Anyways the mom stopped antibiotics one week ago. So I’m thinking that maybe his gut is imbalanced or something, which was why I gave him kefir for probiotics since I don’t have special kitten probiotics and kefir is low in lactose.

Here are some pictures of his poop. I’m going to keep an eye on him today and see how he behaves. He seems to have perked up this morning. I want some opinions on what problems his poop could be pointing to. I’ll take him to the vet if it’s something serious or if he doesn’t get better after today. But I want to have an idea of what’s going on if possible.

 

[writingislove]

Those two possibilities could certainly be responsible but it's more concerning when he's also not eating and acting like himself. I'd watch him today and see how he does but if this were me and my kitten, I'd be calling the vet tomorrow morning if all of the issues haven't resolved.

 

[clary7]

I went to check on him a few minutes ago and he seems more perky than he was yesterday. This time he was running around following his mom around, which is better than he was acting yesterday. I still gave him a little bit of water through a syringe and will probably also syringe feed him some canned food too in a few minutes if he doesnt want to eat it himself. Im hopeful he will start feeling better, but if he doesnt I will go to the vet tomorrow.

Im curious though, can you tell anything about his situation based on the poop color and consistency? Im going to lock him in the shed again tonight and see if it changes by tomorrow.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Normally, poop color is somewhat reliant on what he is eating - the consistency too, for that matter. Since he is an outside kitty, he can get into most anything inappropriate and eat it, so that makes it all the harder to say what might be going on. It looks like there could be some blood, but that is hard to decipher with pics and the way colors can be deceiving.

Since you have a vet, if they would accept pics you could send those pics to them and tell them what has been going on and see what they say.

 

[clary7]

The problem with my vet is that I go to a low cost clinic, and because it’s low cost it’s always really busy and theyve never picked up the phone any time I’ve called before. Even when I want to schedule an appointment I have to come in and talk to them in person to do it, but they do accept walk in appointments so that’s probably what I will just do tomorrow.

Right now my kitten is a mix between sometimes having energy and sometimes not. I’ve continued giving him water in a syringe and some canned cat food fluid. But by the time of my last reply he’s pooped yellow liquid twice. I’m guessing the kefir might have influenced that a little bit because I think I accidentally gave him a bit too much, but I’m still concerned since that’s clearly not good.

His mom also suddenly started coughing today which is super weird, I’ve never had my cats do that. So I’ll probably be bringing both of them to the vet tomorrow.

 

[Furballsmom]

Let us know what they say

 

[Sarthur2]

Outside cats pick up colds and parasites more so than indoor only cats, so it could be a virus, bacterial infection, or parasites. It’s always best to get them vet checked.

I would hesitate to separate the little guy from his mom right now unless absolutely necessary. Good mom is spayed now! Do keep us posted.

 

[clary7]

so I just got done with the vet and they’re not 100% sure what the problem is since their fecal tests came back negative and parvo is negative. They suspect it’s just some type of worms that the tests didn’t pick up so they gave me some dewormer and special food, plus antibiotics in case there’s GI issues. They said to keep an eye on him and if he doesn’t get better in the next 3-5 days then to come back. But the good news is he just ate a good amount of food at the vets so I’m hoping he is feeling better, and they also gave him subq fluids.

 

[Furballsmom]