- Joined
- Oct 28, 2020
- Messages
- 14
- Purraise
- 26
Hello cat lovers!
Posted here a few times with questions and everyone was super helpful and kind, thought I would pick some veteran cat parents brain again regarding a new-ish issue with my kitten.
My Ragdoll kitten is now 6.5 months old, last weighed in at 7 pounds a week ago. She seems to be healthy other than her intermittent diarrhea. I've read the Ragdolls are known to have a more sensitive stomach, is this just that?
Timeline:
December 5th PM - noticed her stool was a little mushy. Thought nothing of it since she was still acting normal.
December 6th all day - pooped twice, each time was still mushy (toothpaste consistency), color was light tan (not her normal color). Decided to monitor
December 7th AM - her poop turned more liquidy - took her to the vet who gave instructions on a bland diet + probiotics.
December 8th - poop consistency is now solid, but color is still off.
December 9th - poop consistency + color back to normal, started to slowly transition her to her regular meals. Three days later, she was fully back on her regular food and all is well.
Now, tonight on December 15th - she had normal poop in the AM, but then she went again in the evening and it was back to mushy/light tan poop. I didn't change anything in her diet/routine since transitioning her back to her wet food. I am also still feeding the probiotics from the vet.
Anybody have experience with their kitten having intermittent diarrhea/soft stool? These are a few things to note, questions in bold:
1. Her diarrhea stinks really really bad. She has been tested for Parasites (incl Giardia) THREE times within the span of 3 months and all came back negative. Should I ask to test for other less common parasites? If so, what less common parasites could produce these symptoms?
2. The frequency of her poops did not increase. She still goes two times a day which is normal, just the stool itself is not normal and the smell is god-awful.
3. The first bout of diarrhea this month occurred right after my sister came to my place with her dog. This is my kitten's third time meeting the dog, and the interaction was pleasant. The dog did not chase my kitten, if anything, the kitten was the one who was bothering the dog non-stop. Also, 4 days ago, my other friend brought her dog to my place as well. Same sort of interaction, my kitten was bothering the dog non-stop and the dog was just sitting on the sofa, no chasing, no hissing, no outward signs of stress. My kitten even laid with her belly up and fell asleep in front of the dog. Do you guys think there might be a correlation with a dog coming over and her getting diarrhea? It seems unlikely to me, especially how this bout of diarrhea happened 4 days after the dog came over, unless it was super late onset stress?
4. As for her history with diarrhea, she had diarrhea on her second night when I brought her home. It was only one bout of diarrhea and I attributed it to stress moving to a new place. It went away after one day. A month after I brought her home, she had diarrhea again (completely liquid). An hour before her diarrhea back then, I noticed her eating something off the ground and attributed it to that. She also went to the bathroom 5 times in one night, which seems more consistent with a typical "upset stomach" after eating something bad. Took her to the vet, and stool sample, etc was negative. Resolved itself in 3 days and she had NO more diarrhea for 2 months until beginning of December.
5. I am feeding her what the breeder always fed her, which is Whole Earth Farms Kitten Wet Food and Kibbles (Chicken). I feed her around 300-340 calories a day. Vet says her calorie intake should range between 200-400 calories and from the charts I see online, a kitten her weight should be getting 400+ calories a day. She can't finish her food when I try to feed her more than 300-340 calories a day, and she is gaining weight so I am assuming this is OK. I am also feeding 90% wet food, and sprinkle some kibbles on top. Could this be food intolerance or am I overfeeding?
I have a check-in appointment with the vet in 3 days anyways, so will get her looked at then if things don't get worse. Last time I was at the vet, she recommended an ultrasound if this persists. Any advice or anything that jumps up as a possible cause would be greatly appreciated!! Sorry in advance for the wall of text, just wanted to ensure I had as many details as possible!
Posted here a few times with questions and everyone was super helpful and kind, thought I would pick some veteran cat parents brain again regarding a new-ish issue with my kitten.
My Ragdoll kitten is now 6.5 months old, last weighed in at 7 pounds a week ago. She seems to be healthy other than her intermittent diarrhea. I've read the Ragdolls are known to have a more sensitive stomach, is this just that?
Timeline:
December 5th PM - noticed her stool was a little mushy. Thought nothing of it since she was still acting normal.
December 6th all day - pooped twice, each time was still mushy (toothpaste consistency), color was light tan (not her normal color). Decided to monitor
December 7th AM - her poop turned more liquidy - took her to the vet who gave instructions on a bland diet + probiotics.
December 8th - poop consistency is now solid, but color is still off.
December 9th - poop consistency + color back to normal, started to slowly transition her to her regular meals. Three days later, she was fully back on her regular food and all is well.
Now, tonight on December 15th - she had normal poop in the AM, but then she went again in the evening and it was back to mushy/light tan poop. I didn't change anything in her diet/routine since transitioning her back to her wet food. I am also still feeding the probiotics from the vet.
Anybody have experience with their kitten having intermittent diarrhea/soft stool? These are a few things to note, questions in bold:
1. Her diarrhea stinks really really bad. She has been tested for Parasites (incl Giardia) THREE times within the span of 3 months and all came back negative. Should I ask to test for other less common parasites? If so, what less common parasites could produce these symptoms?
2. The frequency of her poops did not increase. She still goes two times a day which is normal, just the stool itself is not normal and the smell is god-awful.
3. The first bout of diarrhea this month occurred right after my sister came to my place with her dog. This is my kitten's third time meeting the dog, and the interaction was pleasant. The dog did not chase my kitten, if anything, the kitten was the one who was bothering the dog non-stop. Also, 4 days ago, my other friend brought her dog to my place as well. Same sort of interaction, my kitten was bothering the dog non-stop and the dog was just sitting on the sofa, no chasing, no hissing, no outward signs of stress. My kitten even laid with her belly up and fell asleep in front of the dog. Do you guys think there might be a correlation with a dog coming over and her getting diarrhea? It seems unlikely to me, especially how this bout of diarrhea happened 4 days after the dog came over, unless it was super late onset stress?
4. As for her history with diarrhea, she had diarrhea on her second night when I brought her home. It was only one bout of diarrhea and I attributed it to stress moving to a new place. It went away after one day. A month after I brought her home, she had diarrhea again (completely liquid). An hour before her diarrhea back then, I noticed her eating something off the ground and attributed it to that. She also went to the bathroom 5 times in one night, which seems more consistent with a typical "upset stomach" after eating something bad. Took her to the vet, and stool sample, etc was negative. Resolved itself in 3 days and she had NO more diarrhea for 2 months until beginning of December.
5. I am feeding her what the breeder always fed her, which is Whole Earth Farms Kitten Wet Food and Kibbles (Chicken). I feed her around 300-340 calories a day. Vet says her calorie intake should range between 200-400 calories and from the charts I see online, a kitten her weight should be getting 400+ calories a day. She can't finish her food when I try to feed her more than 300-340 calories a day, and she is gaining weight so I am assuming this is OK. I am also feeding 90% wet food, and sprinkle some kibbles on top. Could this be food intolerance or am I overfeeding?
I have a check-in appointment with the vet in 3 days anyways, so will get her looked at then if things don't get worse. Last time I was at the vet, she recommended an ultrasound if this persists. Any advice or anything that jumps up as a possible cause would be greatly appreciated!! Sorry in advance for the wall of text, just wanted to ensure I had as many details as possible!
