4 month old kitten with chronic diarrhea

Mini8

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 1, 2022
Messages
36
Purraise
46
I adopted two kittens one month ago and have had health issues with both. They were rescued from NC. The first scare was with my male kitten who seemed to have recurrences of a previous bacterial or viral infection due to stress. The latest issue is with the female kitten who has chronic diarrhea/soft stools that won’t go away. She had this since I adopted her. I’ve tried Proviable probiotics, Fortiflora, and even have her on a bland diet with I/d prescription food. This past weekend it seems to have gotten worse and her appetite has decreased a little. She still eats and drinks water but this can’t go on forever. Her anus is red and she has terrible gas. Fecal tests show no signs of parasites. I’m taking her to the vet tomorrow for routine blood work and will be addressing this issue again but I’m at my wits end. I feel so bad for her and am scared it could be something serious. My vet office is so overwhelmed so it takes time to see them. As I wait impatiently does anyone have experience with a kitten with chronic foul smelling loose stools??
 

verna davies

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Feb 23, 2016
Messages
23,619
Purraise
17,456
Location
Wales uk
You could try s boulardii, its a pre and probiotic and seems to work well with helping continuous diarrhoea. Mix a third of the capsule in with the wet food about 2/3 times a day and you should see an improvement within a few days. Its good that you are having bloods checked to rule out other things. Also consider that it could be an allergy to a protein, chicken is often the culprit.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

Mini8

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 1, 2022
Messages
36
Purraise
46
You could try s boulardii, its a pre and probiotic and seems to work well with helping continuous diarrhoea. Mix a third of the capsule in with the wet food about 2/3 times a day and you should see an improvement within a few days. Its good that you are having bloods checked to rule out other things. Also consider that it could be an allergy to a protein, chicken is often the culprit.
Thanks. 👍 I will ask my vet about both of these options.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

Mini8

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 1, 2022
Messages
36
Purraise
46
Vets don't know much about S. boulardii or most other supplements so don't expect much help from your vet. There's info on using S. boulardii and probiotics here: Prebiotics & Probiotics for Cats: Healing Inflammation and gut dysbiosis

Were the kittens de-wormed? Worms often cause gassiness and poop issues. Some kittens may need to de-wormed more than once.
Thanks for the link. Yes the kittens have been dewormed. All symptoms point to a parasite but fecal tests come back negative. 🫤 I’ve been reading so many forums about cat parents dealing with chronic diarrhea for years..it’s so sad and frightening. I’m hoping we can figure this out soon!
 

stephanietx

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
14,768
Purraise
3,490
Location
Texas
Has the vet run the PCR Diarrhea panel? It's different than the fecal float done in most offices.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

Mini8

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 1, 2022
Messages
36
Purraise
46
Has the vet run the PCR Diarrhea panel? It's different than the fecal float done in most offices.
I’m not sure but will ask. I know it was sent to a lab and not done at the vets. This morning her stool firmed up slightly. 🤷‍♀️ But she tends to fluctuate.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8

Mini8

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 1, 2022
Messages
36
Purraise
46
Vets don't know much about S. boulardii or most other supplements so don't expect much help from your vet. There's info on using S. boulardii and probiotics here: Prebiotics & Probiotics for Cats: Healing Inflammation and gut dysbiosis

Were the kittens de-wormed? Worms often cause gassiness and poop issues. Some kittens may need to de-wormed more than once.
I just bought some S. Boulardi from animal biome because the vet prescribed metronidazole for my kitty because her diarrhea got much worse today. I read you can give with antibiotics. Im hoping it helps my kitty too.
 

LTS3

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
19,209
Purraise
19,695
Location
USA
Is the metronidazole liquid or pill? Either way, it tastes nasty to cats. It's probably a little less nasty if you use a Pill Pocket with the pill and coat the Pill Pocket with crushed up treats..
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

Mini8

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 1, 2022
Messages
36
Purraise
46
It’s liquid and she hated it but I gave her churu right after. She still gave me the nastiest look though. I may have to burrito her for tomorrow’s dose now that she knows how vile it tastes. 🫤 I’m attaching pic of her.
6BC4223C-3C83-410F-8601-314BCF7D30FA.jpeg


my vet also said to give proviable pill a few hours after (since it can’t be taken together). I just decided to get the S.boulardi too since I’ve read positive resultsfrom others.

Bloodwork results will be in tomorrow so I should have more information if it’s related to a viral infection.
 

verna davies

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Feb 23, 2016
Messages
23,619
Purraise
17,456
Location
Wales uk
Metronidazole should work fast, within a day or two you should see a big difference. She is lovely.
 

niki-nicole

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 13, 2019
Messages
40
Purraise
46
Also consider that it could be an allergy to a protein, chicken is often the culprit.
I thought chicken was the best protein for cats. I have 11 cats and tested them all for allergies and only two can eat chicken! How is this not more known!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #14

Mini8

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 1, 2022
Messages
36
Purraise
46
My vet does not suspect food allergy because she’s so young. Still on the metro which helped but her stool is still not consistently good. It goes from formed soft to paste soft.
 

Shelterfluffs

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Aug 7, 2022
Messages
1
Purraise
0
Has there been any improvement? My 3 month old kitten also started Metronidazole for chronic diarrhea which helped for a week but as soon as she got off it, it returned. Hope you are having better results
 

niki-nicole

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 13, 2019
Messages
40
Purraise
46
Our family just found a 4 week old kitten and he had terrible diarrhea and his rectum was coming out and bleeding a bit. The vet thinks it was worms. While we were waiting for the de-wormer to work, we had this pumpkin supplement left over from our dog who had frequent/chronic diarrhea. We put pinches of it in each of the kitten's food and it firmed up in two days. I don't know if it was the wormer or the pumpkin, but it is worth trying.

Also, I highly recommend allergy testing. We have used 5 Strands for all our cats and it has given us great insights. Some of our cats have old injuries and we are trying to keep inflammation as low as possible, some had behavioral issues, and some chronic stomach problems. Knowing what was best to feed them has helped so much.

DIGGIN' YOUR DOG Firm Up! Pumpkin Super Dog & Cat Supplement, 4-oz bag - Chewy.com
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #17

Mini8

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 1, 2022
Messages
36
Purraise
46
Has there been any improvement? My 3 month old kitten also started Metronidazole for chronic diarrhea which helped for a week but as soon as she got off it, it returned. Hope you are having better results
So my vet extended the Metro for 5 more days because 10 days only slightly improved. Today is day one she is off it so fingers crossed that it doesn’t get worse. I’m also continuing giving her probiotics and being consistent with her food for as long as it takes.

While on the metro her diarrhea improved but she still had times where it was very soft. I am going to talk to my vet tomorrow and hopefully get more answers.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #18

Mini8

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 1, 2022
Messages
36
Purraise
46
Our family just found a 4 week old kitten and he had terrible diarrhea and his rectum was coming out and bleeding a bit. The vet thinks it was worms. While we were waiting for the de-wormer to work, we had this pumpkin supplement left over from our dog who had frequent/chronic diarrhea. We put pinches of it in each of the kitten's food and it firmed up in two days. I don't know if it was the wormer or the pumpkin, but it is worth trying.

Also, I highly recommend allergy testing. We have used 5 Strands for all our cats and it has given us great insights. Some of our cats have old injuries and we are trying to keep inflammation as low as possible, some had behavioral issues, and some chronic stomach problems. Knowing what was best to feed them has helped so much.

DIGGIN' YOUR DOG Firm Up! Pumpkin Super Dog & Cat Supplement, 4-oz bag - Chewy.com
We tried pumpkin too but I think my kitten’s diarrhea was far more chronic and has been very hard to treat. 🫤 I’m hoping probiotics help her now since she just finished her round of antibiotics for the inflammation.
 

FishPhoenix

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Jul 26, 2022
Messages
11
Purraise
16
My cat was having a lot of diarrhea issues as well. Metro and other things didn't help. Prescription GI food made her worse. So far what has seemed to make a difference is low ingredient diet. Vet recommended a LID brand we went with. It's only been a few weeks but so far she is doing much better. There is still the odd paste-y diarrhea, but more often than not lately her poop has been solid or mostly solid. Also worth pointing out that the protein we are giving her is duck (vet also suggested rabbit or venison - basically anything game-y). Prior to the LID diet, she only ever had chicken as far as we are aware.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #20

Mini8

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 1, 2022
Messages
36
Purraise
46
I’ll keep this in mind
My cat was having a lot of diarrhea issues as well. Metro and other things didn't help. Prescription GI food made her worse. So far what has seemed to make a difference is low ingredient diet. Vet recommended a LID brand we went with. It's only been a few weeks but so far she is doing much better. There is still the odd paste-y diarrhea, but more often than not lately her poop has been solid or mostly solid. Also worth pointing out that the protein we are giving her is duck (vet also suggested rabbit or venison - basically anything game-y). Prior to the LID diet, she only ever had chicken as far as we are aware.
I will keep this in mind. I don’t want to make any changes to her diet just yet. She’s had a few days of good poop and I’m hoping it stays this way or gets better.
I did consider allergies to chicken but my vet doesn’t think that’s the case because she’s still a kitten and hasn’t had enough time to develop an allergy. 🤷‍♀️
 
Top