Probiotics For Loose Stools In Older Kitten?

[auntie]

My kitten Ruby is six months old, and she is always eating stuff off the floor. I just can’t sweep up fast enough, plus I have a very messy second-grader. So she’s always eating bits of crackers, cereal, nuts, veggie scraps, snow, dirt, etc. Half the time I don’t even know there’s anything on the floor to eat and then I see her crunching up some mystery crap.
Anyway, she has periodic loose stools, which as you know are very disgusting. She always uses the litterbox, but her fluffy butt gets yucky. I have been giving her probiotic powder (the kind made for pets) to help with this, but I don’t know if there is some other thing I should be doing. I think pumpkin is for constipation? I have been mixing their wet cat food with water—could she be getting too much water that way?
I would love any advice, because not only is this messy and smelly but it’s starting to stress everyone out and the poor kitten is confused about why she is being stuck in the bathroom and manhandled as we try to clean her up. One thing I know I need to do is buy an electric clipper and figure out how to use it like they do at the vet’s...which, by the way, I haven’t called the vet because she doesn’t actually seem sick. She eats, plays, gets along with the older cat, and uses her box properly; I really think this problem is just from eating random floor stuff and maybe some Boston Fern leaves.
Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[Neo_23]

If the problem is from eaing random things off the floor then probiotics and pumpkin or any other supplement is not going to help. She just needs to stop eating things off the floor so that means you’ll have to try and be more diligent in picking things up.

If it’s a digestive issue then probiotics can work but it can take a lot of experimenting with different ones to find the right one for your cat. Pumpkin will help if the problem is not enough soluble fiber but it’s a temporary solution, not long term. Water shouldn’t cause diarrhea, I don’t think it’s because you’re adding water to the food.

I think you need to pinpoint the problem and go from there. Maybe be extra diligent over the next week to make sure she doesn’t eat anything off the ground and see if it makes a difference.

 

[Timmer]

I had a cat years ago that was obsessed with my boston fern. She used to crunch on those dead leaves like they were potato chips. I finally threw it out. HA!

My Timmer was quite fond of a prayer plant I had, and I caught him licking the leaves tenderly and nuzzling the dirt and he had diarrhea afterwards. I had to take him in and get medicine for it. I threw the plant out eventually.

He recently passed away from IBD complications. I think back to the times he had the occasional loose smelly stools and diarrhea and I have to wonder if it was really from the plant or from the beginning of the IBD that I wasn't aware of. ...Maybe I am just venting my guilt here. Sorry. But when I read your post I can't really believe that eating random crumbs off the floor is the cause of this occasional diarrhea in your cat. The probiotics (Forti-Flora) always sort of tightened up his loose stool and I think you'd want to stick with that. You can't go wrong with it. Yes, pumpkin is for constipation.

You didn't say what you feed your cat in terms of cat food. Maybe it's really the cat food causing the problems.
He may have sensitive digestion. Just like people, cats get IBS and IBD. It's amazing.
No, you don't wanna necessarily run the cat to the vet for this so maybe try some other foods. The cat might have a food allergy.

 

[auntie]

Neo_23 & Timmer
Thanks for writing! I did switch food recently, but she has in general tolerated it well. This only happens like twice a month or something. Believe me, I try hard to keep the floor clear but there are simply not enough hours in the day to make sure it's always pristine...plus, usually the stuff she finds was hidden from view. The crumbs from the floor seem pretty benign, but maybe it doesn't take a lot to upset this cat's stomach. Maybe the Boston fern is the culprit, it is giant and the leaves go everywhere. I hesitate to think it would be IBS, mostly because she is very young. It's not really diarrhea, just loose stools that are unfortunate in texture for a long-haired cat butt. But anyway, glad to know the probiotics are an okay start.

She eats Wellness Core kitten dry food and Chicken Soup for the Soul kitten wet food. Both seem like pretty good foods but I can look into it if the problem persists...

 

[Timmer]

She's probably fine and like you said, it's just dealing with cleaning the back end up. Maybe someone can hold her and you can try and clip the hair with the scissors.
Sometimes a switch in food can cause a problem. I went to grain free for awhile and both my cats got diarrhea. My vet told me it's not necessary to be grain free.
And who knows, it might be something the kitten outgrows.

 

[auntie]

Timmer ,
I think my vet would agree with you...I asked him about this the very first time I saw it, and he said it takes quite a while for kittens' gut to populate with the right balance of good bacteria. All very sickening to think about, isn't it? I love my vet but I'm glad I'm an art teacher LOL

 

[Neo_23]

If it’s only happening twice a month then it’s probably not her food and you’re right that she’s getting into things that she shouldn’t be getting into. So I guess all you can do is try to think of ways to minimize that around the house.

 

[maggiedemi]

I got rid of all our plants and flowers when I got my cats. It's just too hard to keep them away from them. They even tried to eat our vegetable plants that we started inside, so I keep them outside now....Is the Wellness dry food grain free? My cats got soft stool from a sample of grain free dry food that I got in the mail. It was only enough for 2 days, so I couldn't really experiment further with it.

 

[auntie]

M maggiedemi Yes, the Wellness dry food is grain free but they’ve been eating it for months...could that still be a problem if it’s been so long?

 

[maggiedemi]

I don't know, I only had enough of the grain-free dry food for 2 days, it was only a sample.

 

[Neo_23]

There isn't a general rule that all "grain free" foods are the same, so we can't just say that all grain free is good or all grain free is bad. The only thing these foods have in common is they don't have grains, which, in general, is a good thing for cats because they are not built to process grains. But these foods can have all sorts of other ingredients in them, both good and bad. It will also depend on the individual cat how they will react.