Diarrhea-kitten 9 Weeks

Hi friends,

We missed our senior tabby cat last week and we decided to have a kitten to give our love to her.

Ava is a Maincoon mixed and she is 9 weeks. We adapted her on Friday. She had diarrhea since we picked her up and only yesterday morning she had solid poop. Today morning at 4 am when I saw she has diarrhea and vomiting we took her to the vet and he did ultrasound and check her temperature but every thing was fine. The vet dewormed her and inject some water and electrolyte cause she seems a little dehydrated. But Ava still has diarrhea. She eats good but not really in to the water.
We gave sample of her diarrhea to the vet so they will let us know about the result by tomorrow.

I have never had a kitten. I adopted my previous cat when she was 13 years old. I am so worry cause we recently missed our beloved cat. Can anyone give some advise and share their experience with me.

Thanks

Hi. I really don't have first hand advice to offer. But, two things came to mind:
1.) Ask whoever you adopted the kitten from about what they were feeding her. It might be best to start out with that food and see if the diarrhea stops. Then, over time you can gradually add your desired food to her 'standard' food - just a little of the new and mostly the old to begin with, then less of the old and more of the new.
2.) Is the vet doing only a fecal float test (which only tests for parasites), or the full fecal PCR test (which also tests for bacteria)? I would recommend the latter to get a better result on what the diarrhea might be related to if not the food change.

Also, here are some TCS articles that might be helpful.

Kitten Proofing Your Home: 13 Practical Tips

How To Train Kittens To Use The Litter Box

How To Help A New Cat Adjust To Your Home

Identifying Common Ailments In Cats Adopted From Animal Shelters And Rescue Groups

FeebysOwner said:

Hi. I really don't have first hand advice to offer. But, two things came to mind:
1.) Ask whoever you adopted the kitten from about what they were feeding her. It might be best to start out with that food and see if the diarrhea stops. Then, over time you can gradually add your desired food to her 'standard' food - just a little of the new and mostly the old to begin with, then less of the old and more of the new.
2.) Is the vet doing only a fecal float test (which only tests for parasites), or the full fecal PCR test (which also tests for bacteria)? I would recommend the latter to get a better result on what the diarrhea might be related to if not the food change.

Also, here are some TCS articles that might be helpful.

Kitten Proofing Your Home: 13 Practical Tips

How To Train Kittens To Use The Litter Box

How To Help A New Cat Adjust To Your Home

Identifying Common Ailments In Cats Adopted From Animal Shelters And Rescue Groups

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Thanks for the reply. We have her previous food which is IAMS and we add the food we bought for her ,Buffalo Blue, (half and half). She had diarrhea in the car immediately we picked her up before she tries the new food even.
She is so sleepy today, not as active as yesterday. I am not sure how long the normal kitten sleeps in a day? is it normal?
The Fecal test is Fecal O and P IDEXX.

Roya said:

She is so sleepy today, not as active as yesterday. I am not sure how long the normal kitten sleeps in a day? is it normal?

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She could be just freaked out by the car ride, the whole change in her environment, the new home/smells/etc. Even so, I would have expected her to be a bit more lively - typically very young kittens adapt pretty well to new places/people, assuming they have had previous human exposure.

But, tbh, I am concerned she could be sick. I don't suppose you asked the person you adopted her from if she was showing any signs of illness? Or, did you have a chance to observe her long enough yourself to see any issues before you adopted her?

Was she spayed, tested for diseases, and vaccinated?

FeebysOwner said:

She could be just freaked out by the car ride, the whole change in her environment, the new home/smells/etc. Even so, I would have expected her to be a bit more lively - typically very young kittens adapt pretty well to new places/people, assuming they have had previous human exposure.

But, tbh, I am concerned she could be sick. I don't suppose you asked the person you adopted her from if she was showing any signs of illness? Or, did you have a chance to observe her long enough yourself to see any issues before you adopted her?

Was she spayed, tested for diseases, and vaccinated?

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The owner mentioned she is healthy but who knows! He might just said this to sell the kitty. She was not dewormed and not received any of her shots. We had plan to do it next week. Today she dewormed. But the vet said lets wait to see her fecal result and we can do her first shot after. She is only 9 weeks.

Good luck with the fecal results! Please keep us posted.

It could be a combination of food change/introduction and being in a new home. Please get her to the vet for a check up tomorrow. Also, I know you didn't ask for information, but for kittens, I would feed Royal Canin babycat wet and dry. It works really great for littles.

stephanietx said:

It could be a combination of food change/introduction and being in a new home. Please get her to the vet for a check up tomorrow. Also, I know you didn't ask for information, but for kittens, I would feed Royal Canin babycat wet and dry. It works really great for littles.

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Thanks for the food suggestion.

My kitten had runny poop too at first, and it persisted for a few weeks. My vet recommended I should keep giving her the same food and not offer variety, because they can get the runs from eating something new. Because it persisted, she tested her for coronavirus, which is an intestinal bug that apparently can cause the issues, and recommended i give her some gastro intestinal wet food. Purina is good, but Animoda Integra Intestinal worked better. Talk to your vet and see what else you can do, and what kind of food would be better for her tummy problems
I've only just started to mix the wet food with other types and slowly transition her out of the tummy wet food
Good luck with your fur baby!

She started to have solid poop this morning. I think I saw white stuff in her poop. Can I share the pic in here so you can say if it is worm? I am still waiting to hear back the stool exam result.