Kitten diarrhea?

Abutler

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I have two new 5-6 week old rescue kittens. Both went to the vet the day I got them (4 days ago) and have been given deworming medicine. One of the kittens has been having lighter brown, liquid-y stool today. For the first three days I had been feeding them “cat milk” and wet food. Yesterday I started feeding them KMR step 2, as well as wet food. Is this something I should be worried about? She is acting perfectly normal, still playing, sleeping, and eating fine. I have posted a picture of the stool below (she pooped a lot more volume than this, she had just covered the majority of it already so it was not visible).
2B9D25E1-430C-4E60-8190-B9196A150E39.jpeg
 

crystal dawn

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I have two new 5-6 week old rescue kittens. Both went to the vet the day I got them (4 days ago) and have been given deworming medicine. One of the kittens has been having lighter brown, liquid-y stool today. For the first three days I had been feeding them “cat milk” and wet food. Yesterday I started feeding them KMR step 2, as well as wet food. Is this something I should be worried about? She is acting perfectly normal, still playing, sleeping, and eating fine. I have posted a picture of the stool below (she pooped a lot more volume than this, she had just covered the majority of it already so it was not visible).
View attachment 395652
This could be from the deworming medicien or from the change to the KMR step 2. Since she seems to be acting normally I don't think it's to much to worry about, but I would watch for dehydration if she's do this a lot. Perhaps contact the vet and talk to them about this as well.
 

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Congratulations on adopting two orphan kittens! I assume they are littermates. What are their names?

I would not panic the first time, but if it happens again, call the vet. Which wet food are they eating?
 
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Abutler

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Thank you for the info! I will keep a close eye on her! I was thinking it could be the KMR - I’m not sure if she has ever had formula before and I did just start them on it yesterday. If it persists tomorrow I will contact the vet :):)
 
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Abutler

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Congratulations on adopting two orphan kittens! I assume they are littermates. What are their names?

I would not panic the first time, but if it happens again, call the vet. Which wet food are they eating?
They are named Callie and Luna! The wet food is the Royal Canin kitten pate. They were stranded in the middle of the highway, it was so sad!! :(:( I am so happy they are part of my family now! I am a new kitten mommy, so I am still learning!
 

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Awww, poor kitties. They are very lucky to have you.

I totally understand new cat parents starting off with the wrong pet food brand. Fortunately, because they are so young switching them to a healthier (high quality) brand probably will be easy. What is your cat food budget?
 

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Hi! I had similar problem with my 2 kittens a month ago. They both had watery yellowish stool. I tried KMR mixed with wet food to make a slurry but the diarrhoea didn’t seem to stop. Their bum were also swollen and later got bloody and it hurt me so much seeing them hurting. Went to the vet, dewormed, and the vet prescribed both of them with antibiotics (metronidazole), kaolin-pectin suspension and prebiotics. However, whenever I administered abx, both of them would throw up exactly 2 hours after administration for 3 days straight and their diarrhoea got worse. And every single time they threw up, they wouldn’t eat again for 24-32 hours. They were active, but after throwing up, they would refuse any food except to nurse on their mama (thank goodness I adopted their mama as well). But they were losing weight since they weren’t eating. I called the vet, and they told me to stop abx since it made them worse.

What totally helped was pumpkin + probiotics + protein of your choice. What I did was I boiled some pumpkins and mashed them to make a puree. As for protein, I initially used boiled chicken but they didn’t like chicken very much so I boiled some mackerel and oh boy, they loved it.

In the pumpkin puree (wait until room temperature) I mixed in their probiotics powder (Guardizen) then mix it with boiled mackerel (deboned, seasoning-free, oil-free). It took about 4 days until I finally see solid brown poop (never thought I’d cry seeing a kitten’s poop but here we are). For their bum, I applied Vaseline since it’s pet safe and it really soothed them. They even come to show their bum towards me so I could apply it. Now both of them are back and running with normal healthy poop! Hope it helps!!
 

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It’s tough to say. Sometimes kitten formula causes diarrhea. Other times it’s just the food.

Pull back on the formula and see how they do on just food and water.

If it continues, they may need a round of metronidazole. It kills parasites in the gut and bacterial infection in the intestines.

The pureed pumpkin (just a teaspoon) mixed in their wet food may help.

Sounds like someone dumped these poor babies. Thank you for saving them and do keep us posted.
 
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Abutler

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Awww, poor kitties. They are very lucky to have you.

I totally understand new cat parents starting off with the wrong pet food brand. Fortunately, because they are so young switching them to a healthier (high quality) brand probably will be easy. What is your cat food budget?
Right now my budget is pretty open for them, but they are picky on which kitten wet food the will eat. I went to the pet store this morning and got a few different brands/flavors for them to try.
 
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Abutler

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It’s tough to say. Sometimes kitten formula causes diarrhea. Other times it’s just the food.

Pull back on the formula and see how they do on just food and water.

If it continues, they may need a round of metronidazole. It kills parasites in the gut and bacterial infection in the intestines.

The pureed pumpkin (just a teaspoon) mixed in their wet food may help.

Sounds like someone dumped these poor babies. Thank you for saving them and do keep us posted.
I have not fed them the KMR step 2 today, and they both had solid (but still fairly mushy) stool this evening. I was researching this morning and it seems quite a few reviews of the step 2 said it caused diarrhea for their kittens as well, and suggested using the original KMR. They both are eating wet food well, so I may get some regular KMR tomorrow and try one feeding of that in the mornings and wet food for the remaining feedings in the day. I am nervous to exclusively feed them wet food because they don’t seem to drink much water throughout the day, and I want to make sure they have enough liquid intake.
 
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Abutler

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Hi! I had similar problem with my 2 kittens a month ago. They both had watery yellowish stool. I tried KMR mixed with wet food to make a slurry but the diarrhoea didn’t seem to stop. Their bum were also swollen and later got bloody and it hurt me so much seeing them hurting. Went to the vet, dewormed, and the vet prescribed both of them with antibiotics (metronidazole), kaolin-pectin suspension and prebiotics. However, whenever I administered abx, both of them would throw up exactly 2 hours after administration for 3 days straight and their diarrhoea got worse. And every single time they threw up, they wouldn’t eat again for 24-32 hours. They were active, but after throwing up, they would refuse any food except to nurse on their mama (thank goodness I adopted their mama as well). But they were losing weight since they weren’t eating. I called the vet, and they told me to stop abx since it made them worse.

What totally helped was pumpkin + probiotics + protein of your choice. What I did was I boiled some pumpkins and mashed them to make a puree. As for protein, I initially used boiled chicken but they didn’t like chicken very much so I boiled some mackerel and oh boy, they loved it.

In the pumpkin puree (wait until room temperature) I mixed in their probiotics powder (Guardizen) then mix it with boiled mackerel (deboned, seasoning-free, oil-free). It took about 4 days until I finally see solid brown poop (never thought I’d cry seeing a kitten’s poop but here we are). For their bum, I applied Vaseline since it’s pet safe and it really soothed them. They even come to show their bum towards me so I could apply it. Now both of them are back and running with normal healthy poop! Hope it helps!!
Thank you so much for the info! I stopped feeding them KMR step 2 today, and am already seeing a difference in their stool this evening (Yay!). I will try introducing pumpkin purée into their diet. As of now I have been feeding them store bought, wet kitten food, but I LOVE the idea of making them natural foods at home. I’m glad your kitties are feeling better - it hurts so much as a fur mommy to see your babies struggling. We want nothing more than to see them thrive!
 

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Right now my budget is pretty open for them, but they are picky on which kitten wet food the will eat. I went to the pet store this morning and got a few different brands/flavors for them to try.
Which brands did you buy?

I know all about picky eaters. My first cat totally ignored wet food. Another seemed to like a flavor one time, then refused to eat it again. I am sure you will go through that during the taste test.
 

Heart For Cats

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Thank you so much for the info! I stopped feeding them KMR step 2 today, and am already seeing a difference in their stool this evening (Yay!). I will try introducing pumpkin purée into their diet. As of now I have been feeding them store bought, wet kitten food, but I LOVE the idea of making them natural foods at home. I’m glad your kitties are feeling better - it hurts so much as a fur mommy to see your babies struggling. We want nothing more than to see them thrive!
I am all for feeding them a natural diet but could never do it myself. Check out the Raw Feeding section and see how much work they all put in to make the perfect cat food.
 

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Good to hear ther stools are better! If they eat lots of wet food, they are getting most of the moisture they require from that.

Wet food is better for cats than dry, though leaving out some dry kitten chow and water for in-between meals is always a good idea.
 
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Abutler

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Which brands did you buy?

I know all about picky eaters. My first cat totally ignored wet food. Another seemed to like a flavor one time, then refused to eat it again. I am sure you will go through that during the taste test.
I went a little crazy at the pet store so here is what I got:
-Redford Naturals, Grain free kitten pate chicken recipe (they turned their noses up to this one this afternoon)
-Hill’s, kitten liver and chicken entree
-Purina pro plan, kitten chicken and liver pate
-Purina pro plan, kitten chicken entree
-Purina Pro Plan focus, salmon and ocean fish entree
-Royal Canin, kitten pate in sauce
-Royal Canin, kitten thin slices in gravy (I have fed them this a few times in the past couple of days and they seem to enjoy it, it’s just the most obvious “kitten” labeled wet food, so I didn’t find the other brands until I went back to the pet store and had time to do some serious looking around!)

These are just the options that I found at Pet Supplies Plus. Please let me know if you have any recommendations, since they are still only 5-6 weeks old I am not opposed to spending extra money now to make sure they have a nutritious and sufficient diet! I have weighed them a few times just to make sure they are gaining weight as they grow, and they are! The both are within the parameters of the correct weights for their age!
 

snowykun

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Thank you so much for the info! I stopped feeding them KMR step 2 today, and am already seeing a difference in their stool this evening (Yay!). I will try introducing pumpkin purée into their diet. As of now I have been feeding them store bought, wet kitten food, but I LOVE the idea of making them natural foods at home. I’m glad your kitties are feeling better - it hurts so much as a fur mommy to see your babies struggling. We want nothing more than to see them thrive!
Any updates on your kittens?
 
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