Five Month Old Kitten with Diarrhea and Sneezing

[Luna5505]

Hello! I have introduced my kitten Luna in the New Cats on the Block forum. However, I have several concerns about her, the main being her extreme diarrhea. Ever since I adopted her about two months ago, she has been having smelly diarrhea/soft stools, and sneezing with occasional nasal discharge.

At the very start, she was sneezing nonstop, and she did not have any bowel movements for a few days, and when she did, she had diarrhea. At first, I felt that this was normal, since she had a new environment and new food. I had been slowly transitioning her to a mainly wet food diet, with some dry food for the night. However, her condition did not improve a few weeks after I stopped changing her food.

I had made a vet appointment, but because of the current pandemic, there were few openings available, so I was only able to get her checked last week. The vet had no idea what could be causing her sneezing, as she was completely healthy. Her fecal lab results came back all negative, but she was prescribed 0.4 mL of Metronidazole twice a day, and a single all dry kitten diet. (She much prefers wet food over dry, but I followed the vet’s advice.) Unfortunately, the Metronidazole gave her extreme constipation where she would not poop for a few days, and then when she did, she would meow as she strained, and they were rock solid. I decided to stop the medication for the time being (although I was incredibly unsure about what to do). She was still constipated for a few days, although her poop no longer smelled as horribly as they did before.

Just last night, she had a sudden bout of extreme diarrhea. I had to wash her rear because it has gotten all over her tail and hind legs. The vet and I called about what to do next, and I was told to wait a little bit and see what will happen next. Her sneezing is still continuing as well.

My sincerest apologies that this post is so long. I am so lost at what to do, in terms of her medicine, sneezing, and about her diet. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

In addition, she had been spayed for a while, is up to date on all vaccinations, and is perfectly healthy and growing otherwise.

 

[Furballsmom]

Does she sound stuffed up? Is she eating ok even though she doesn't like the kibble? Is she drinking?

 

[stephanietx]

Regarding the diarrhea, it could be from food intolerance. It could also be parasites. I'd ask the vet to do the PCR Diarrhea panel which tests for less common parasites. I'm wondering if she might have tritrichomonas foetus. You can try adding plain canned pumpkin to wet food to see if that helps firm up stool. Also you can add the probiotic, saccharomyeces boullardi.

My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do?

 

[catsknowme]

Would your vet prescribe Biomox? My kittens sometimes get those exact symptoms and that protocol works. I usually try adding Benebac Plus first but if symptoms continue to worsen, my vet has me use Biomox. You can try consulting with a holistic vet about using red raspberry leaf and slippery elm if probiotics don't work. Some other members here recommend S.Boullardi probiotic.

 

[pipperoo]

Luna is lovely. So glad she found a home with you.

Disclaimer: I'm not a vet, just a cat owner. I'll tell you about my own experience.

When Pip was a kitten, she had the same thing. I adopted her from a busy shelter, where all kittens were kept in the same room with shared litterboxes. This is a breeding ground for cross-infections!

Anyway, Pip had feline herpes (a respiratory disease present in about 90% of all cats, some show symptoms, some don't) and she was a sneeze factory. I used L-lysine powder sprinkled on her food and still do from time to time. There is lots of info about feline herpes in the forums here, so take a look!

Pip also had eye-wateringly smelly diarrhea - the vet ran a Full Diarrhea Panel*. It turns out she had C. perfringens (kind of like C. difficile). This had to be treated by two rounds of antibiotics, and I also added s. boulardi (a probiotic used in many hospitals for c. difficile patients) to her food.

If the antibiotics were causing constipation, I would switch back to wet food.

*i have heard through this forum that there are different types of diarrhea panels, some more comprehesive than others......I wonder if the tests Luna had were the more comprehensive ones?

Best of luck and scratches for Luna.

 

[Luna5505]

Thank you all! I will look into the probiotics and speak with the vet about a full diarrhea panel.

 

[Luna5505]

Does she sound stuffed up? Is she eating ok even though she doesn't like the kibble? Is she drinking?

She does not sound stuffed and is drinking plenty of water. She is eating a little bit less kibble, which I presume is because she is teething and is sore from losing her baby teeth.

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh sweet baby! Maybe you could try partially freezing a damp-ish clean washcloth (well rinsed if you use dryer sheets, especially scented ones) and see if she'll chew on it. The cold could ease any discomfort.

As long as she's not stuffy, the steamy bathroom or warm mist treatment won't do much, I doubt. Is there anything in your house/environment that could be irritating her nasal passages and causing the sneezing? Dust, smoke from wildfires, spray cleaners, that sort of thing? Do you have an air cleaner?

 

[Luna5505]

Oh sweet baby! Maybe you could try partially freezing a damp-ish clean washcloth (well rinsed if you use dryer sheets, especially scented ones) and see if she'll chew on it. The cold could ease any discomfort.

As long as she's not stuffy, the steamy bathroom or warm mist treatment won't do much, I doubt. Is there anything in your house/environment that could be irritating her nasal passages and causing the sneezing? Dust, smoke from wildfires, spray cleaners, that sort of thing? Do you have an air cleaner?

I will definitely try the washcloth, thanks! I don’t think there is anything that could be irritating her nose, but I have been looking into buying an air purifier.

 

[Luna5505]

Just an update, I have been transitioning Luna back to wet wood (to her delight) and have been using the S. Boullardi, and it has been working! Her poops are a lot more firm now and she doesn’t seem to be straining anymore. You all have helped a lot more than my vet, who would probably be in shock that dry food didn’t cure all her problems.

 

[Furballsmom]

Lol, but wow, good for you! What a terrific update, thank you!!

 

[stephanietx]

Yay! Glad to hear things are improving! The best thing about this board is that the community has personal experience and offer suggestions of things that have worked for their kitties.