Help! Kitten Has Soft Stool After Changing Food

[Ariel2611]

Hello,
So I changed my kitten's wet food approximately 1 week ago from whiskas kitten food to this one from Zooplus which has a higher content of meat, taurine and much more better ingredients:

Smilla Kitten 6 x 200g | Free P&P on orders £29+ at zooplus!

She now has runny yellowish poo around about 2-3 times a day which is how much she normally poops. I think her tummy is upset because I didn't gradually change her food I just gave her the new food and sometimes the old food (It's a bit all over the place! Please don't judge me and help me instead). She does like her new canned kitten food and eats it happily but her yellow poop shows maybe it came out too fast...

She is still her usual self and is running around, eats her dry food and still continues to drink water but her poop is soft and yellowish... should I just wait another week? Switch her back? - her old food made her poop really stinky

Should I change back from the new canned food to whiskas?
Should I continue feeding her the new food?
Should I wait another week before the vet?

Help!!!

 

[Neo_23]

Has she been seen by a vet, dewormed, and had a fecal test to rule out health issues? If it’s not a health issue I would put her back on whatever food her poop did better on. She may just have an intolerance to something in the current food you are feeding. But I would want to rule out any underlying health issues first.

And no I wouldn’t wait a week for the vet, I would have her seen soon.

 

[Ariel2611]

Has she been seen by a vet, dewormed, and had a fecal test to rule out health issues? If it’s not a health issue I would put her back on whatever food her poop did better on. She may just have an intolerance to something in the current food you are feeding. But I would want to rule out any underlying health issues first.

And no I wouldn’t wait a week for the vet, I would have her seen soon.

Hi there, yes she was seen by the vet a few months ago with no health conditions, she has been dewormed too. The only thing is she seems to like the new food and my my I brought a lot of it!(stupidly)

I think I'm going to wait and see if her poop goes back to normal soon and move her back to the old food ... then I will slowly add some of the new canned food into it...

What do you think?

 

[Neo_23]

I don’t think the issue is the rate of transition. Usually that would cause some soft poo for a few days but wouldn’t cause bouts of diarrhea. Was a fecal test done when she was at the vet? Your vet can’t know for sure if she has parasites by just looking at her and sometimes kittens need to be dewormed several times.

It may very well be a food intolerance. What you could do is move her back to the old food that her poop was better on and see if she gets better. If not, you know it’s not the food.

I wouldn’t wait too long though because diarrhea can quickly lead to dehydration in kittens.

 

[tabbytom]

Runny poo usually happens during the change of food even sometimes with gradual change. Also color of poo reflects the type of food in the new food.
Sudden change does give them runny poo as their system is not adjusted to the new ingredients.

Try mixing with the new food with the old food again and slowly transiting the amount of old to new. This may take a few weeks before the poo becomes firm again.

My boy used to be fed tuna with chicken and his poo is hard and firm brown colored and after switching him over to chicken only, it took him a few weeks before his poo is firm and the poo color changed from brown to darker mustard color and softer as the chicken has much more gravy as compared to the previous tuna with chicken where I have to add water to it so that he is more hydrated.

As long as your kitty has her normal daily activities like no problem in peeing, playing, drinking, you don’t have to worry so much.

Are you transiting her totally over to wet food? Wet food overall is much better than dry as it’s full of proteins and dry food are full of carbohydrates.

You can continue to feed your kitten with food formulated for kittens or you can feed her wet food ‘For All Life Stages’. Kittens needs lots of proteins to grow as they are full of energy and are very active and they get the proteins from wet food. Just make sure the wet food is grain free and meat listed as the first product in the ingredients list.

 

[Ariel2611]

I don’t think the issue is the rate of transition. Usually that would cause some soft poo for a few days but wouldn’t cause bouts of diarrhea. Was a fecal test done when she was at the vet? Your vet can’t know for sure if she has parasites by just looking at her and sometimes kittens need to be dewormed several times.

It may very well be a food intolerance. What you could do is move her back to the old food that her poop was better on and see if she gets better. If not, you know it’s not the food.

I wouldn’t wait too long though because diarrhea can quickly lead to dehydration in kittens.

It's not 'bouts' to be honest... she goes to the toilet as normal but when she does go it's
Soft yellow poop. Okay, thank you... I will move her back to her old food for another week and see what happens.

Once I move her back... what do I do if the soft poo does not go after a few days or a week?

My vet said everything was fine, no fecal testing was done because everything seemed normal and she was a good weight too. She was given more than one de working treatment and has not had an issue to my recollection.

 

[Neo_23]

Well, I think if you move her back to your old food and she is still having soft poops then the next step is a fecal. There are lots of different parasites that kittens are especially susceptible to and not all of them respond to dewormers.

Let’s hope it’s just the food and she gets better.

 

[Ariel2611]

Runny poo usually happens during the change of food even sometimes with gradual change. Also color of poo reflects the type of food in the new food.
Sudden change does give them runny poo as their system is not adjusted to the new ingredients.

Try mixing with the new food with the old food again and slowly transiting the amount of old to new. This may take a few weeks before the poo becomes firm again.

My boy used to be fed tuna with chicken and his poo is hard and firm brown colored and after switching him over to chicken only, it took him a few weeks before his poo is firm and the poo color changed from brown to darker mustard color and softer as the chicken has much more gravy as compared to the previous tuna with chicken where I have to add water to it so that he is more hydrated.

As long as your kitty has her normal daily activities like no problem in peeing, playing, drinking, you don’t have to worry so much.

Are you transiting her totally over to wet food? Wet food overall is much better than dry as it’s full of proteins and dry food are full of carbohydrates.

You can continue to feed your kitten with food formulated for kittens or you can feed her wet food ‘For All Life Stages’. Kittens needs lots of proteins to grow as they are full of energy and are very active and they get the proteins from wet food. Just make sure the wet food is grain free and meat listed as the first product in the ingredients list.

Thank you very very much for your comprehensive reply it's much appreciated!
Okay, I will change her back over to her old wet food which I gave alongside whiskas kitten biscuits (50/50). I will wait a few days to see if her poop goes back to normal ... if it does then it must be the food... (is it?)

Then I will begin slowly by giving her her normal whiskas pouches and slowly adding in the wet canned food to make sure her poo stas normal to some extent. Thank you very much! Your post has made me much less anxious!

 

[Ariel2611]

Well, I think if you move her back to your old food and she is still having soft poops then the next step is a fecal. There are lots of different parasites that kittens are especially susceptible to and not all of them respond to dewormers.

Let’s hope it’s just the food and she gets better.

Yes true, she is due for her next round of deworming soon anyway. Thanks!

 

[tabbytom]

I have to add that kittens eat many times a day and they eat lots in their growing age.

Feed her as much wet food as she can eat at one sitting. They burn off the calories very fast during their activities.

You can give her a little dry food as snacks or treats and slowly wean her off dry food totally if you are planning to feed her wet food from now onwards.

My boy does not get treats and he’s on wet food only. The only treats he gets from me are love, hugs and kisses

 

[Ariel2611]

I have to add that kittens eat many times a day and they eat lots in their growing age.

Feed her as much wet food as she can eat at one sitting. They burn off the calories very fast during their activities.

You can give her a little dry food as snacks or treats and slowly wean her off dry food totally if you are planning to feed her wet food from now onwards.

My boy does not get treats and he’s on wet food only. The only treats he gets from me are love, hugs and kisses View attachment 222466View attachment 222467

She eats as much as she can in one sitting... and eats dry biscuits as snacks to be honest only when she does not have wet so during the night etc.

Thanks

 

[Ariel2611]

tabbytom Neo_23
I wanted to know... what does it mean if my kittens poop does go back to normal - hard and normal colour once I change her back to her usual food? Could that mean I just did it too fast? Or that the new food is bad? How do I know if she has a problem with the actual food or with the process of changing the food?
Thanks again.

 

[Ariel2611]

Should I just start snowy transitioning her again with both the old food and new food?

 

[tabbytom]

It takes awhile for her to get back to her normal poop after going back to the old food.

Without proper transitioning will cause stomach upset and her system has to readjust to the new food.

It cannot be the food is bad if you are feeding her quality food. Try the slow transition - 80% old and 20% new for a few days to a week. Then 60/40, a few days to a week. Then 50/50, 40/60, 30/70 and so on.

Poop smell and formation is from the type of food she eats. Unless she is allergic to certain ingredients of the new food, then constant soft watery stools may be continue or she may have other allergy symptoms.

 

[Ariel2611]

Th

It takes awhile for her to get back to her normal poop after going back to the old food.

Without proper transitioning will cause stomach upset and her system has to readjust to the new food.

It cannot be the food is bad if you are feeding her quality food. Try the slow transition - 80% old and 20% new for a few days to a week. Then 60/40, a few days to a week. Then 50/50, 40/60, 30/70 and so on.

Poop smell and formation is from the type of food she eats. Unless she is allergic to certain ingredients of the new food, then constant soft watery stools may be continue or she may have other allergy symptoms.

Why will the constant soft watery stools continue if I am feeding her the above linked good quality kitten food? I have less than a week to return the remaining million cans that I purchased back if I don' want it and I don't know... Should I wait a week and then slowly incorporate the new food? Please let me know thanks

 

[tabbytom]

Yes, slowly incorporate it and I would not rush into it. It takes time and rushing into it will be difficult to tell what’s wrong. If she’s not allergic to anything, her stools should be normal but can be soft but firmer and not hard due to the food.

 

[Ariel2611]

Yes, slowly incorporate it and I would not rush into it. It takes time and rushing into it will be difficult to tell what’s wrong. If she’s not allergic to anything, her stools should be normal but can be soft but firmer and not hard due to the food.

Oh okay, so it should be firm but not too hard. Okay! Thanks so very much! I was stressing so much! I will slowly incorporate the new food at the start of next week...

1) Is it better to leave her on the old food for now and then slowly incorporate the new food next week?
2) When I start her on the new food how long approx until she / her body gets used to it and accepts it?
3) How long until her poop is firm again?
4) Should I return the food and just leave her on whiskas?
Or should I slowly incorporate the new food with the old food and get her body used to it because it is better for her...

 

[Neo_23]

If the issue is that you transitioned her too quick then I would transition her slowly back to the old food and let her tummy settle on that for a week. Make sure her poops are nice and normal before you transition again. Once you start transitioning to the new food introduce it very slowly. If you notice her poop getting softer go back a step and reduce the new food.

It could be the case that there is an ingredient in the new food that she is sensitive to. If the slow transition back doesn't work then I would give up on that food.

 

[Ariel2611]

If the issue is that you transitioned her to quick then I would transition her slowly back to the old food and let her tummy settle on that for a week. Make sure her poops are nice and normal before you transition again. Once you start transitioning to the new food introduce it very slowly. If you notice her poop getting softer go back a step and reduce the new food.

It could be the case that there is an ingredient in the new food that she is sensitive to. If the slow transition back doesn't work then I would give up on that food.

Okay, thank you for your reply Neo. I will wait a week until she is back on her old food and once poops are normal I will transition back to new food slowly. If her poop starts to become runny and continues to for a week or so I will stop the new food and change it back again.
Hopefully she has a normal poop and is still her usual self once I reintroduce the new food (slowly) and once she is on it I will monitor her poop and if anything changes or if her poop goes runny and bad again then it must be the food. Hopefully it's not and it' just the transition. Thanks for everything!!! :-)

 

[Neo_23]

Hope things go well. And it also wouldn't hurt just to get a fecal done. Since you're going to visit your vet anyway you could just take a poo sample with you. If the poo doesn't get better once she's back on her old food I would definitely do this.