Rescue Kitten Has Diarrhea

amandalynnxo92

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Hello!
My boyfriend and I found a cute lil orange haired male on our porch Tuesday afternoon and brought him in. (it’s now Friday morning). That next morning I saw he had been experiencing diarrhea, often only getting it after he’d eat. Like within 15 minutes of eating. So I took him to the vet Wednesday after seeing and they did a stool sample among other tests. They said it was negative for parasites etc and it was just an inflammation of the gut. They sent me home with flagyl to administer every 12 hours. I’ve noticed no change in his stool. He’s also been sleeping a lot since we got him but his appetite is awesome. Eating two normal sized meals of dry kitten chow and a small snack in the afternoon. Could there have been something the vet missed? He was cleared for leukemia/cat aids (can’t think of the actual name of it). Or am I just impatient?
I’m probably mostly impatient because it’s runny poo and when he goes to bury it, he has stepped in it quite a few times causing me to clean him up or watch him every time he goes to the bathroom lol.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi!
I'm not a member who is familiar with flagyl, but could you call your vet and tell them things haven't changed yet?

Also, could you try some canned food and see if that works better, and also feed more frequent meals throughout the day so that his tummy has an easier time of digesting. He's a baby and his system isn't fully developed yet :) , including having some kibble out overnight so there's not such a long stretch of time between meals.

You're right, he needs to eat as much as he wants to, which will be a lot for about a year or more til he fully matures.

Thank you for rescuing him, I'm glad he found you!
 

war&wisdom

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Hi!
I'm not a member who is familiar with flagyl, but could you call your vet and tell them things haven't changed yet?

Also, could you try some canned food and see if that works better, and also feed more frequent meals throughout the day so that his tummy has an easier time of digesting. He's a baby and his system isn't fully developed yet :) , including having some kibble out overnight so there's not such a long stretch of time between meals.

You're right, he needs to eat as much as he wants to, which will be a lot for about a year or more til he fully matures.

Thank you for rescuing him, I'm glad he found you!
I second Furballsmom!
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi! The sad part about antibiotics - including Flagyl, is that they can cause diarrhea. So, while treating the infection that is causing diarrhea, it might actually attribute to more diarrhea.

You might want to consider some probiotics to add while this little guy is on the antibiotics - or perhaps some plain pumpkin (no additives), which will help to bulk up the stool.
 
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amandalynnxo92

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Vet says he’s about 7.5 to 8 months old and even gave me a sample of dry food without any mention of wet food. I will try it though! Suggestions on which kind would be appreciated if you have any. I’ve googled how many times to feed an 8 month old cat and every site says 2 times a day, but I do 3 cause that’s what he’s been wanting so far. Most of the time he doesn’t finish all his food so I’ll just let him free eat until the bowl is finished until next meal time.
Also do either of you know where I can get probiotics?

While I’ve owned cats in the past, this is my first time being solely responsible for one.
 

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Sudden change of food, especially dry, can cause diarrhea in cats. Obviously you wouldn’t know what he used to eat before, as normally the dry food needs to be changed gradually in kittens, so in your case I’d focus on wet food (which is way healthier anyway), and slowly introduce the dry, few kibbles at the time. His intestines are probably irritated by the sudden change so it may take a while to settle.
You can buy probiotics at the vet office or even on Amazon, but I’d consult the vet before doing so (although your vet doesn’t seem to be knowledgeable about cats’ nutrition, unfortunately).
Feed high protein, low carb wet food, depending on your budget good options are: fancy feast classic pate, tiny tiger, Redbarn, wellness, rawz, ziwipeak. You could browse through nutrition forum to find other suggestions.
Good luck!
 

war&wisdom

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Vet says he’s about 7.5 to 8 months old and even gave me a sample of dry food without any mention of wet food. I will try it though! Suggestions on which kind would be appreciated if you have any. I’ve googled how many times to feed an 8 month old cat and every site says 2 times a day, but I do 3 cause that’s what he’s been wanting so far. Most of the time he doesn’t finish all his food so I’ll just let him free eat until the bowl is finished until next meal time.
Also do either of you know where I can get probiotics?

While I’ve owned cats in the past, this is my first time being solely responsible for one.
Chewy.com has plenty of probiotics. FortiFlora is popular, but my kittens didn't care for it. I use TummyWorks.

Many vets don't know much about feline nutrition, and they get big brand dry foods pushed on them during vet school. Wet food helps hydrate cats (since many don't drink enough water -- in the wild, they'd get water from the animals they eat) and has much higher protein content. Since cats are obligate carnivores, this is important!
 
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amandalynnxo92

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Thank you all for these suggestions! Will definitely be going out to buy wet food in bulk! We’re gonna kick this diarrhea in the butt. (No pun intended?)

He’s really sweet otherwise, very affectionate and cuddly. Very happy he hopped on our porch and chose us as his adoptive parents. :blush::blush:
 

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Hi!
You could try fancy feast as mentioned, Luvsome if you're near a Kroger grocery, and even add some Sheba :) along with the other suggestions you've received.

As you commented, give three or four meals while he's still less than a year old.

You can find probiotics at Petco/petsmart, and if they don't have it on the shelf you can order and pick up at petco, for example vetriscience has a probiotic, and drsfosterandsmith has a probiotic, these are both good brands.
 
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amandalynnxo92

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Thanks so much everyone for the kind words and advice! I’m finally seeing some improvement! This lil dude finally has thicker stool and its starting to take proper shape! Woohoo! I’m so happy for him!

He still sleeps an awful lot though. Lazy kitty.
 

Furballsmom

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I'll bet that once he's fully recuperated you find that he becomes more active - if he's healing even mentally/emotionally, sleep is the very best thing :)
 

jen

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Just to back things up a bit, did you have the vet check him for a microchip to make sure no one is missing him?
 
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amandalynnxo92

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Yes, I also called animal shelters around my area and posted on lost and found Facebook groups. Nobody is looking for him and he’s not microchipped. :(
Just to back things up a bit, did you have the vet check him for a microchip to make sure no one is missing him?
 
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