Upset Stomach

I have a 5 month old Male kitten who was sick about 2 months ago and required antibiotics. During that time he started having loose stool so we changed his food to something his sister has been eating. He was still having loose stool so we attributed that to the antibiotics. When he got off them he started getting worse by throwing up an having diarrhea. I went to the vet and he changed him to prescription food and that hasn't helped either. He is still having loose stool and diarrhea and now only occasionally vomits. There are times when he is excited to eat and other times when he doesn't want any food. I called the vet and told him all of this and he said he might have an irritable bowl problem and gave me some steroids to give him, but he is only 5 months and already has had a rough couple months so I don't know if I should give him that. We also decided that the only time he was good was when he was on his first food so we are slowly starting to change him back to that. We are just at a loss on what to do to help him

Has your cat had a fecal analysis to rule out any parasites or bacteria? What was the cat sick from that required antibiotics?

Yes, antibiotics can often cause diarrhea because it wipes out all the beneficial gut bacteria.
A probiotic may be useful to restore the good gut bacteria.

Is the bloodwork normal?

I too would be hesitant to give the steroid without a positive diagnosis. A steroid may indeed provide some relief...but this is only treating symptoms, not the cause.

A five month kitten is rather young to be having irritable bowel problems. I am not saying it can't happen, but in my experience, irritable bowel problems present themselves at a more mature age.

I think something else is going on here. If I were in your position, I would seek a second opinion. Further diagnostic tests are in order. Better yet, I would seek the advice of an Internal Medicine specialist vet who has more advanced training and experience in these areas.

babiesmom5 said:

Has your cat had a fecal analysis to rule out any parasites or bacteria? What was the cat sick from that required antibiotics?

Yes, antibiotics can often cause diarrhea because it wipes out all the beneficial gut bacteria.
A probiotic may be useful to restore the good gut bacteria.

Is the bloodwork normal?

I too would be hesitant to give the steroid without a positive diagnosis. A steroid may indeed provide some relief...but this is only treating symptoms, not the cause.

A five month kitten is rather young to be having irritable bowel problems. I am not saying it can't happen, but in my experience, irritable bowel problems present themselves at a more mature age.

I think something else is going on here. If I were in your position, I would seek a second opinion. Further diagnostic tests are in order. Better yet, I would seek the advice of an Internal Medicine specialist vet who has more advanced training and experience in these areas.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your response!
I did have a fecal sample done and everything came back negative and I also do give him some forti flora which doesn't seem to be helping. I gave him some this morning at breakfast and he immediately went and had diarrhea after he ate. They haven't done blood work or asked to have the kitten come in so maybe a second opinion isn't out of the question. They said that the next step to take if the steroids don't work would be to have an ultrasound. We adopted him from an SPCA and his paperwork there said he was prone to diarrhea while he was there.
He got sick really fast. He was playing and fine and then we took and nap and he didn't want to wake up after. We took him to the vet the next afternoon because he didn't want to put his paws on the ground or move or eat. The vet didn't take any blood or do an analysis. He took his temperature (which was 106.8, scary high), and then gave him something to break the fever and antibiotics to take home and give him. I don't know what was wrong with him. As I type this it is sounding more and more like I need to get a second opinion

I agree about the medication and guesswork. I think they can rule out other common causes before assuming irritable bowels for a rescue kitten. Plus they need to find the cause not just treat symptoms (based on some hard lessons I learned). Common causes could be parasites, virus, or possibly partial blockage or ate something bad. Less common causes may be UTI, food intolerance, etc. Some of those items can be ruled out rather easily, and plus medication may have side effects. I would review his vaccination, deworming, and other medical history, and look for other symptoms.

Unless it's obvious that he has some sort of contagious disease, the standard tests seem to be blood, urine, and stool samples. I do agree about finding the right vet, too. I went thru three vets, and wasted a lot of money, before finding the right vet.

Your kitty sounds very ill. Diarrhea can cause dehydration in young cats very fast. I would take your cat to another vet right away. Do not wait!

He drinks plenty of water and pees a normal amount. He loves to play with ice cubes in his water so I will do that to get him to the water bowl. I made an appointment for Thursday and hopefully they will do the blood work then. They thought it might be a food intolerance to the turkey but he is still having issues even on hills i/d food. I am going to try a bland diet for him starting tonight. It's been about 2 months of this. He has good days and bad days and even though there has been quite a bit of pooping today he seems in good spirits. He just found out he can jump onto the kitchen counter haha so it's a good day for him.

carebare said:

I agree about the medication and guesswork. I think they can rule out other common causes before assuming irritable bowels for a rescue kitten. Plus they need to find the cause not just treat symptoms (based on some hard lessons I learned). Common causes could be parasites, virus, or possibly partial blockage or ate something bad. Less common causes may be UTI, food intolerance, etc. Some of those items can be ruled out rather easily, and plus medication may have side effects. I would review his vaccination, deworming, and other medical history, and look for other symptoms.

Unless it's obvious that he has some sort of contagious disease, the standard tests seem to be blood, urine, and stool samples. I do agree about finding the right vet, too. I went thru three vets, and wasted a lot of money, before finding the right vet.

Click to expand...

Any chance you have heard about the antibiotic metronidazole? I was wondering why my vet would prescribe the kitten steroids before trying something like this. It seems to be for exactly what is going on with him. He has been having this problem for about two months now. Should I ask the vet about it at the appointment on Thursday?

Yes, I know about the antibiotic metronidazole (generic name Flagyl). It is commonly prescribed for cats with bacterial infections or parasitic invasions. I have used it for several cats, but some have severe reactions to this drug. It has a horrible taste to cats. I have had to stop it in some cases due to severe reactions.

Probably the vet did not prescribe this drug because you said he had a fecal analysis which was negative.

In my opinion, you need to get to the bottom of what is causing the diarrhea. This will require some diagnostic work.

I hope you are getting a "second opinion" on Thursday.

babiesmom5 said:

Yes, I know about the antibiotic metronidazole (generic name Flagyl). It is commonly prescribed for cats with bacterial infections or parasitic invasions. I have used it for several cats, but some have severe reactions to this drug. It has a horrible taste to cats. I have had to stop it in some cases due to severe reactions.

Probably the vet did not prescribe this drug because you said he had a fecal analysis which was negative.

In my opinion, you need to get to the bottom of what is causing the diarrhea. This will require some diagnostic work.

I hope you are getting a "second opinion" on Thursday.

Click to expand...

Oh ok thanks for the info! I called and requested to have bloodwork done on Thursday. I started him on a bland diet today and he didn't run right to the litter box after eating. Right now it's the little things and that's a little thing that we were happy about. He wasn't a fan of the pumpkin though. Any recommendations to replace that? Maybe some cooked sweet potatoes?

Metronidazole was prescribed for my cats, and did not help the diarrhea. It may have contributed to my cat's allergic reaction as it has side effects. I guess is was a test by that vet to see if it worked. Hills A/D has chicken in it and did not help my cat either. Maybe try a novel protein? I would do diet before medications.

A steroid worked for my cat's symptoms because he had an allergy. Now that he is getting better from that, he is back on an antibiotic because of a kidney infection which is causing him to eat less...perhaps a side effect of the steroid, I don't know. So it really depends on what the issue is, and the symptoms and reactions to medicines provide clues.

An update on the kitten. He seems to be much happier now on the ground turkey and pumpkin! He had the best poop this morning he has had in a while. He is playful like he was before and he has been excited for meals again. I went through all of the food we have fed him and I think it might be a chicken intolerance. I thought at first that it might be turkey because after the antibiotics finished he was on a turkey based food when he was getting worse. Turns out it is very hard to find a chicken free kitten or all life stages food. I found Taste of the Wild that we might try. My question is how to I start him on that? Do I do it slowly by mixing it in with the ground turkey and pumpkin and add the ForiFlora packets I have or do I just start him on smaller meals a couple times a day?