In the last year or so, I adopted/fostered 3 kittens, and all of them came up with the issue that I'm going to explain.
End of September 2018, I adopted a kitten (Kitten A) about 4 months old. A few days after she was home with us, she developed a soft poop that we tried to treat with every possible measure. First thing was a fecal test which came back clear. The kitten was treated anyway for worms, just in case. She took probiotics. We also changed her food a couple of times, with no results. Actually we ended up with the opposite, she started losing very liquid poop all over without she could realize of it. She was also treated with metronidazole because the vet suspected giardia (no test was done). The kitten was hospitalized for 4 days during which she kept eating the same food, but no poop issue was noticed at the clinic, so the kitten was discharged and sent back home where she resumed her issue right away. Around Christmas last year we decided to rehome her, and she was totally fine since day 1 in her new home, and I know that the new family never had to treat her for that problem!
Mid October 2018 I also adopted a tiny kitten (Kitten B) from a rescue group. She was 3 months old, and came home with me and lived with Kitten A. After a couple of days Kitten B too developed soft poop, just like Kitten A. Even in this case, no treatment proved to be effective. Meanwhile Kitten A was bullying Kitten B, the cohabitation between them two was close to impossible. I had to keep the two kittens in two separate rooms when we were away, and tried to socialize them when we were home. Three weeks later, early November, we gave up, and thought it was better off for Kitten B to be returned to the rescue group. What I know is that Kitten B was back to normal poop since the next day after returning her and no treatment was given to her.
Kitten A was alone again and was happier, I'd say.
After rehoming Kitten A, I remained cat-less for a few months.
Then, July this year, I found and brought home an abandoned kitten (Kitten C) estimated 6 weeks old. She was extremely sweet and affectionate, clearly she had a family before. Unfortunately this kitten, though she was otherwise healthy, showed the same problem. Soft poop, sometimes runny poop, that no treatment was able to fix. She would also pee a lot, several, many, times a day. All tests, X-ray, ultrasound scans, etc, were clear, but nonetheless she had this litterbox issue. Again probiotics, new diet, etc. Despite we loved her, and she loved us, two and a half months later we thought to rehome her, and warned the new family of this issue, which never showed up in the new home since the first night, and again nothing was given to the kitten by the new family.
So, three kittens in a row, with the same poop issue, and all of them stopped having troubles as soon as they left our home.
From a certain point of view, rehoming them was the best cure I could give them.
I'm scared to bring home any new kitten in the future...
What kind of explanation might there be?
The vets have no answers at all, apart from "it's a hard case, just like all those you had in the past with your two cats".
Thanks!
End of September 2018, I adopted a kitten (Kitten A) about 4 months old. A few days after she was home with us, she developed a soft poop that we tried to treat with every possible measure. First thing was a fecal test which came back clear. The kitten was treated anyway for worms, just in case. She took probiotics. We also changed her food a couple of times, with no results. Actually we ended up with the opposite, she started losing very liquid poop all over without she could realize of it. She was also treated with metronidazole because the vet suspected giardia (no test was done). The kitten was hospitalized for 4 days during which she kept eating the same food, but no poop issue was noticed at the clinic, so the kitten was discharged and sent back home where she resumed her issue right away. Around Christmas last year we decided to rehome her, and she was totally fine since day 1 in her new home, and I know that the new family never had to treat her for that problem!
Mid October 2018 I also adopted a tiny kitten (Kitten B) from a rescue group. She was 3 months old, and came home with me and lived with Kitten A. After a couple of days Kitten B too developed soft poop, just like Kitten A. Even in this case, no treatment proved to be effective. Meanwhile Kitten A was bullying Kitten B, the cohabitation between them two was close to impossible. I had to keep the two kittens in two separate rooms when we were away, and tried to socialize them when we were home. Three weeks later, early November, we gave up, and thought it was better off for Kitten B to be returned to the rescue group. What I know is that Kitten B was back to normal poop since the next day after returning her and no treatment was given to her.
Kitten A was alone again and was happier, I'd say.
After rehoming Kitten A, I remained cat-less for a few months.
Then, July this year, I found and brought home an abandoned kitten (Kitten C) estimated 6 weeks old. She was extremely sweet and affectionate, clearly she had a family before. Unfortunately this kitten, though she was otherwise healthy, showed the same problem. Soft poop, sometimes runny poop, that no treatment was able to fix. She would also pee a lot, several, many, times a day. All tests, X-ray, ultrasound scans, etc, were clear, but nonetheless she had this litterbox issue. Again probiotics, new diet, etc. Despite we loved her, and she loved us, two and a half months later we thought to rehome her, and warned the new family of this issue, which never showed up in the new home since the first night, and again nothing was given to the kitten by the new family.
So, three kittens in a row, with the same poop issue, and all of them stopped having troubles as soon as they left our home.
From a certain point of view, rehoming them was the best cure I could give them.
I'm scared to bring home any new kitten in the future...
What kind of explanation might there be?
The vets have no answers at all, apart from "it's a hard case, just like all those you had in the past with your two cats".
Thanks!
