Same Brand, Different Flavors, Tummy Upset?

[ch-leesha]

Hi all!

I have two fur kiddos, Mika and Ari, who will be 14 weeks this Sunday!

Both came to me with diarrhea at 8 weeks. Ari's tummy eventually settled down. Their first vet visit Mika tested positive for coccidia. I finished up her meds, but she still had runny stools. I switched vets (long story) and our new guy retested her just Monday and she tested negative. He gave me a probiotic to put in their food (beta gel?) after my request. She's only had one dose of it, but same-same.

I will certainly give the probiotic time to work, however, I was curious if I am doing her more harm than good in the process. What I mean is, their food!

They are both on Science's Diet Kitten, wet and dry. They free feed dry throughout the day and get 2 to 3 servings of wet (depending, they are a bit finicky and will sometimes just eat little bites and be done!) In order to encourage more wet intake, I alternate flavors (ex. Morning time - chicken and liver, evening - chicken) They seem to eat more that way!

But, with Mika's tummy problems I didn't know if it would be better to just stick to one flavor?! They both get pumpkin in their food.

Here they areeeee! The sis in question is black and white some of you have probably seen them around :')

Oh, forgot to mention!! They did have ear mites on Monday and were given an injection and topical treatment at the vet, though, he said it shouldn't affect their tummy.

 

[jcat]

Welcome to TCS! Those two are adorable and probably keep you very busy!

It can take several days for probiotics to have an effect. Is it the Bene Bac gel? It's a good idea to introduce new proteins/flavors very slowly if a cat or kitten has had trouble with diarrhea, i.e., just one for 4 - 6 weeks and if that's okay, alternate with the second one for another couple of weeks. How much liver is in the chicken & liver? Liver itself can cause diarrhea in some cats or dogs.The plain chicken flavor would probably be the best to start with for a few weeks to see whether that makes a difference.

 

[catpack]

You might also consider removing the dry food for a week and see if that helps any. Dry food is harder for the body to breakdown and digest than canned food. I've had a lot of success with correcting diarrhea in cats and kittens by doing this.

If the diarrhea continues, you might consider doing a PCR panel. This would be a feral sample (I'd do one test which includes a sample from both kittens) and is sent to an outside lab. This will check for other parasites that their cannot be detected by your traditional vet clinic or are harder to detect.

If that test comes back negative, the kittens may have food sensitivities and you'll need to do an elimination diet.

 

[ch-leesha]

Thank you for your replies! I will take away the chicken and liver (I had no idea about the liver causing diarrhea! No sense in risking it) and limit their dry intake.

Thank you catpack for telling me what to ask for at the vet, now I know! I'm not necessarily a cat newb but I had a senior kitty my whole adult life! These guys are certainly different