Incontinence in kittens

[Bratcat31]

I know very little about incontinence in cats so my apologies if this is a dumb question. Can the type of food they are fed (kibble, canned, gruel) make the leaking better or worse?

 

[Jcatbird]

There are no dumb questions. Very glad you care enough to ask.
Foods can affect them. I am wondering though, can you give more details? Are these little babies? Is Mom kitty around? The mom would be washing them to stimulate potty actions and do clean up if they go. If they are truly incontinent then you really need to get a vet to check them.

 

[Bratcat31]

There are no dumb questions. Very glad you care enough to ask.
Foods can affect them. I am wondering though, can you give more details? Are these little babies? Is Mom kitty around? The mom would be washing them to stimulate potty actions and do clean up if they go. If they are truly incontinent then you really need to get a vet to check them.

Sorry, I should have provided more info. The kitten is 3 months old and is 100% healthy. He's well cared for by the shelter vets and the stool isnt watery or runny or anythinh.

I am babysitting him for just a few days for another foster. She is still feeding him gruel, which surprised me a lot actually as my kittens wean directly onto wet food when they are ready. I know with bottle babies (he was) they can't do that but I always have the moms so I can.

I've never had an incontinent cat before and they make quite the mess quite quickly! I know she just started using fortiflora and she says it helps a lot. It just made me curious what other things might make it better or worse.

 

[Jcatbird]

Let me see if I can get catsknowme to weigh in here. Is the baby litter box trained? Others here may have more info for you. This stil strikes me as a question you need to ask a vet. Whether it is food or any other issue it needs to be addressed to avoid skin irritation and be sure of the cause.

 

[Bratcat31]

Let me see if I can get catsknowme to weigh in here. Is the baby litter box trained? Others here may have more info for you. This stil strikes me as a question you need to ask a vet. Whether it is food or any other issue it needs to be addressed to avoid skin irritation and be sure of the cause.

No litter box. The kitten leaks poop and urine due to malformed muscles if memory serves. I have him for exactly 3 days so I'm not planning to do anything other than care for him as his foster mom would. I was really just curious as I was surprised probiotics helped and it just made me curious what other things might.

And the kitten has seen the vet many times. It's not particularly uncommon here to have incontinent kittens at the shelter. Manx syndrom, car accidents, tail pull accidents, etc. Etc. All of them are quite healthy (all things considered) just have physical disabilities that cause incontinence.

 

[Jcatbird]

I can see the probiotics might help the poop if the intestinal tract is not functioning well. There are some foods that might help the poop too but if you only have it for three days I don’t know if it would help that quickly. I’m glad you mentioned the diagnosed muscle issues because I was thinking this might be an emergency. Make sure the little one stays hydrated. Let me see if I can get someone else to find others who might have better suggestions. Furballsmom kittychick Know anyone who might be able to help here?

 

[Bratcat31]

I can see the probiotics might help the poop if the intestinal tract is not functioning well. There are some foods that might help the poop too but if you only have it for three days I don’t know if it would help that quickly. I’m glad you mentioned the diagnosed muscle issues because I was thinking this might be an emergency. Make sure the little one stays hydrated. Let me see if I can get someone else to find others who might have better suggestions. Furballsmom kittychick Know anyone who might be able to help here?

I worry I may be worrying you unintentionally. LOL! This kitten was born this way and has been this way for all of his 3 months of his life. He's A-OK. No worries about bugs or worms or dehydration. He doesn't have diarrhea or a UTI or anything like that. He's like an older person who needs Depends because the walls don't hold it all in!

He gets butt baths and gentle wipe downs as needed and has lots of towels and blankets to swap out as needed to keep his environment clean. (I use puppy pads on the floor, his foster mom mops a couple times a day) He can wear a diaper so he can run around and play and he loves other cats. He's really truly, 100% A-OK. He just doesn't poop like a normal kitten!

I've never had a foster with it personally (though a few of my foster friends have) and i was curious about any cause and effect. If gruel maybe helped to keep him firmed up some, or if kibble helped him hold it. Truly just curious if/how food/supplements etc. would effect this type of thing.

I won't do any of them. LOL! He's not my cat, I only have him a few days, and I wouldn't have the background info his foster mom does when it comes to his vet care. Just curious.

 

[Jcatbird]

I understand. I would be too. Any food sensitivity could make it worse. Things like plain canned pumpkin can help. If you look closely at any ingredients you can look up each thing individually to see how it affects the kitten. There are some threads here that I have been involved in where the kitty has had food issues of one kind of another and everyone following watched as their human tried to balance things out using probiotics, different cat foods and some human foods. Some are sensitive to grains, some to chicken, some to fish etc., etc. I don’t know what is in the kitty gruel but it might be something you could share here to help others. Kitten glop is sort of a rescue kitten formula that has been passed around at times. It has yogurt in it that you might suggest to the foster. That could go either way though. I just can pinpoint too much gor you since I don't Know more. I am very glad to hear the kitten is fine though. They are tough and I have given care to a great many. Thank you for stepping up to help with the kitten. I know finding backup is really difficult. You can just come here when you’re through there.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! You've received some excellent suggestions Do you happen to know if the kitten has received anything other than gruel?

 

[Bratcat31]

I understand. I would be too. Any food sensitivity could make it worse. Things like plain canned pumpkin can help. If you look closely at any ingredients you can look up each thing individually to see how it affects the kitten. There are some threads here that I have been involved in where the kitty has had food issues of one kind of another and everyone following watched as their human tried to balance things out using probiotics, different cat foods and some human foods. Some are sensitive to grains, some to chicken, some to fish etc., etc. I don’t know what is in the kitty gruel but it might be something you could share here to help others. Kitten glop is sort of a rescue kitten formula that has been passed around at times. It has yogurt in it that you might suggest to the foster. That could go either way though. I just can pinpoint too much gor you since I don't Know more. I am very glad to hear the kitten is fine though. They are tough and I have given care to a great many. Thank you for stepping up to help with the kitten. I know finding backup is really difficult. You can just come here when you’re through there.

LOLOL!!! This little dude has been quite the learning experience! It was poopocolypse this morning. But, nothing a lot of water and elbow grease couldn't clean up!

My son is IN LOVE with him so that's been funny. And I have offered to babysit another incontinent kitten later this month. She has manx syndrom but doesnt leak so hopefully that will be a bit less smelly.

 

[Bratcat31]

Hi! You've received some excellent suggestions Do you happen to know if the kitten has received anything other than gruel?

He does get some kibble and tomorrow he'll get some straight canned food as I don't have any more gruel. I believe gruel is basically just adding water/kitten milk, to kitten food and blending it. For our rescue, it's the step between pure KMR and full on cat food for motherless babies.

I know he is also getting probiotics. He is VERY active, seems super healthy and his poop seems firm. It just comes out whenever it wants.

 

[Furballsmom]

He is VERY active, seems super healthy

 

[Jcatbird]

Healthy and happy makes it all worth while! I think it’s awesome your son fell in love with him. Obviously takes after your lead of a good heart!

 

[catsknowme]

Sorry for the delay on weighing in here! I don't have experience with incontinent kitties but I know that some people can manually express the poop and pee which helps with leakage - it sounds as if his nerves/muscles will release at a certain point of pressure - I am familiar with that condition happening with brain-damaged people in my life. You are spot-on about the food making a difference because grains and other foods that cause sensitivity reactions (inflammation) add extra pressure which reduces the capacity of the sphincters to do their job. For people, at least, I cannot stress enough the value of a blood test for food sensitivities; it took me years to find a doctor who ordered one and my own "must avoid" list includes salmon, wheat, barley, rye, kale (yes!!) and, surprisingly, vanilla (double-drats :/ )

 

[Bratcat31]

Sorry for the delay on weighing in here! I don't have experience with incontinent kitties but I know that some people can manually express the poop and pee which helps with leakage - it sounds as if his nerves/muscles will release at a certain point of pressure - I am familiar with that condition happening with brain-damaged people in my life. You are spot-on about the food making a difference because grains and other foods that cause sensitivity reactions (inflammation) add extra pressure which reduces the capacity of the sphincters to do their job. For people, at least, I cannot stress enough the value of a blood test for food sensitivities; it took me years to find a doctor who ordered one and my own "must avoid" list includes salmon, wheat, barley, rye, kale (yes!!) and, surprisingly, vanilla (double-drats :/ )

My old dog had TERRIBLE allergies. We finally got her tested (this was a decade ago) and it turned out she was allergic to storage mites. Storage mites of all things. NEVER would have figured it out through elimination dieting.

 

[Bratcat31]

Healthy and happy makes it all worth while! I think it’s awesome your son fell in love with him. Obviously takes after your lead of a good heart!

Aww, thank you! He's a really good kiddo with a BIG heart.