Chronic loose stools in 7 month old kitten

[wildnotions]

My kitten, Zander was treated at 5 months old for a salmonella infection. He was very ill. Since the antibiotics he really bounced back. Since then though his stools have not been well formed. He was put on a special gastro diet (very expensive and hard to feed him separate wet an dry), and probiotic. There has been no improvement. I dropped the special food. He remains on the probiotic but is now fussy about wet food so hard to get it down him. Other than that he seems happy and healthy. He did test negative for parasites. The vet is concerned but has offered no further ideas. Maybe somebody on this forum could suggest something?

 

[Maurey]

It may be worth getting a referral to a gastrointestinal specialist. It’s hard to say what could help your kitty one way, or the other, and being certain of a diagnosis would be helpful.

Did your vet suggest an exclusion diet before putting him on a gastro diet? A lot of them, especially hydrolysed diets, are of extremely dubious quality imo (very high carb and low protein, amongst other things), and are less effective than is ideal. As the name implies, an exclusion diet is a diet of strictly limited ingredient wet food (alternatively, commercial raw, whether frozen, dehydrated, or air-dried can also be a good solution, but keep in mind that air dried has the same issues with moisture as kibble) to rule out IBD, allergies, and other potentially reactive issues to specific proteins or fillers (common ones include grains/starches, thickening agents like carrageenan, gums, and agar agar, vegetables (most typically legumes to my knowledge), and common proteins, like chicken or fish). There are plenty of resources online, and a good nutritionist or gastro specialist will be able to advise you, as well. The basic gist is that you’ll want to take a grain free limited ingredient wet food with a novel protein that your cat has never had before, which could be something like lamb, for example, and feed only it for at least 2 to 3 weeks to see if symptoms improve on the new food. Once you find a food that works, and his stools are completely back to a normal form, you’ll want to challenge with a small amount of wet food with a different protein, by adding a small spoonful of it next to the food he’s doing well on, and slowly increasing portion size. If he starts having diarrhoea again, you’ll want to take note of the protein/any other differences between the foods, and avoid food that contain that ingredient. It’s good to use foods from the same limited ingredient line so that there‘s a minimum of differences in formulation, other than the one thing you’re testing your cat for.

 

[She's a witch]

Sacharomyces boulardi, with MOS, Jarrow brand, even 3 capsules if that what’s needed, gradually introduced, starting with 1/4 capsule. You can add it to lickable treats or to a bit of meat only baby food if your kitten won’t like the taste of it. This is yeast probiotics that helps with diarrhea immensely and since it’s not metabolized, it’s very safe.

Also, not sure what other probiotics do you use, but you can consider prebiotics as well (Adored Beast has Love Bugs which is pre and probiotics in one product). Other very strong probiotics is Visbiome, but that’s really powerful stuff and must be introducedcarefully and gradually.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. You might consider asking the vet about performing a full fecal PCR test - which looks for some parasites not found in the standard float or smear tests, as well as certain bacterial and viral issues - also not part of the standard testing.

 

[wildnotions]

Hi. You might consider asking the vet about performing a full fecal PCR test - which looks for some parasites not found in the standard float or smear tests, as well as certain bacterial and viral issues - also not part of the standard testing.

Good to know- thank you!

 

[wildnotions]

Sacharomyces boulardi, with MOS, Jarrow brand, even 3 capsules if that what’s needed, gradually introduced, starting with 1/4 capsule. You can add it to lickable treats or to a bit of meat only baby food if your kitten won’t like the taste of it. This is yeast probiotics that helps with diarrhea immensely and since it’s not metabolized, it’s very safe.

Also, not sure what other probiotics do you use, but you can consider prebiotics as well (Adored Beast has Love Bugs which is pre and probiotics in one product). Other very strong probiotics is Visbiome, but that’s really powerful stuff and must be introducedcarefully and gradually.

The one the vet prescribed is Proviable Forte but thus far after a month, I see no improvement.

 

[wildnotions]

It may be worth getting a referral to a gastrointestinal specialist. It’s hard to say what could help your kitty one way, or the other, and being certain of a diagnosis would be helpful.

Did your vet suggest an exclusion diet before putting him on a gastro diet? A lot of them, especially hydrolysed diets, are of extremely dubious quality imo (very high carb and low protein, amongst other things), and are less effective than is ideal. As the name implies, an exclusion diet is a diet of strictly limited ingredient wet food (alternatively, commercial raw, whether frozen, dehydrated, or air-dried can also be a good solution, but keep in mind that air dried has the same issues with moisture as kibble) to rule out IBD, allergies, and other potentially reactive issues to specific proteins or fillers (common ones include grains/starches, thickening agents like carrageenan, gums, and agar agar, vegetables (most typically legumes to my knowledge), and common proteins, like chicken or fish). There are plenty of resources online, and a good nutritionist or gastro specialist will be able to advise you, as well. The basic gist is that you’ll want to take a grain free limited ingredient wet food with a novel protein that your cat has never had before, which could be something like lamb, for example, and feed only it for at least 2 to 3 weeks to see if symptoms improve on the new food. Once you find a food that works, and his stools are completely back to a normal form, you’ll want to challenge with a small amount of wet food with a different protein, by adding a small spoonful of it next to the food he’s doing well on, and slowly increasing portion size. If he starts having diarrhoea again, you’ll want to take note of the protein/any other differences between the foods, and avoid food that contain that ingredient. It’s good to use foods from the same limited ingredient line so that there‘s a minimum of differences in formulation, other than the one thing you’re testing your cat for.

She prescribed the gastro diet with no mention of an exclusion diet. I had no idea there were gastro specialists for animals. That will be my next step if the other ideas I try from this thread don't work. Thanks for your suggestions!