Kitten Diarrhea and pooping Hair and strings?

Question

I have a 6 month old kitten and I just changed her food from Purina Kitten chow to Purina For all age cats (which says it includes kittens)... Now she has liquid stools but still remains playful and happy. Also, I know its odd but she's had strings and hairballs hanging out of her rear . I with held her food for 24 hours and reintroduced her half kitten food/half all age food - still the same problem, (diarrhea and hairballs from her hole). Any solutions?

Answer 1

Hi there...sudden changes to new foods can cause bowel distresses such as vomiting and diarrhoea symtpoms especially with kittens as they have a more delicate digestive system. The change needs to be done gradually in order to minimize the disturbances to the healthy bacteria in the bowel. Here's more on how to make the change and how it can help: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?dept_id=0&aid=100

Frequent vomiting does require veterinary care as kittens can quickly become dehydated and can be life-threatening.

A couple possibilities with the string-like substance, it may be intestinal parasites (commonly seen with kittens) which therefore your kitten needs to be dewormed safely by a veterinarian. If she accidentally ingested any string-like toys then she needs to be URGENTLY rushed to the veterinary hospital as string will twist itself around the intestinal tract and slice through it. Therefore it's critical to not pull on any of this from the anus or you could pull out the intestines.

More on dangers of string to cats: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/pet_pourri/85248

Some cats ingest fur when grooming themselves and this is more commonly seen with long-hair breed of cats. Consider purchasing some hairball products such as Petromalt, Laxatone or use a little bit of Vaseline to help her pass the hairballs and brush more often to minimize shedding and ingesting high amounts of fur during self-grooming.

Answer 2

Good that you realized you needed to put her food to 1/2 and 1/2 quantities of each. However, she should stay on her kitten food until she's a year old. Even if the foods says kittens also, it's still mainly formulated for adults and doesn't have enough proteins and vitamins for her. Did you mean her diarrhea is stringy mixed with cat hairs or she ingested some string and it's now coming out with the diarrhea and hair? Cats usually digest their hair and poo it out, give it a little Vaseline to aid in digestion of the hair. If it is real string, find the source she's getting it from fast. The string can cause internal problems like getting bound in her intestines and needing surgery to remove. If it only looks like string it may be worms and she'll need the vet for that. A kitten I adopted had string looking worms so bad she vomoted them. Give lots of fresh water to help clear the diarhea if it doesn't clear up within the next few days seek the vets help.

Answer 3

whenever changing a cats food, you are supposed to do it gradually or it will cause diarrhea. Once your cat has been acclimated to one food, a sudden change will cause problems. Talk to your vet about whether you should be changing her kitten food just yet. Usually cats are not considered adults until they are 1 year old. If she is having problems with hairballs, you need to get her some petromalt or laxatone (hairball meds) from the vet, or you can give her a bit of vaseline...cats will usually readily lick it off your fingers. Petroleum is pretty much the main ingredient of the stuff you can buy at the vet or pet store if you don't have want to purchase any. If the diarrhea continues after gradually changing her diet you might want to take her for a vet check up to make sure everything is alright.

Answer 4

Although it's the middle of the night (if you're in the states) you need to get her to a vet ASAP. Although we all grew up with the image of the cat playing with the yarn ball, STRING IS BAD FOR CATS!!!

It could be a combination of things, but you need to rule out the string thing right away.

In the future, never start a new food 'all of a sudden'. You have to introduce the food over the course of a few days. Day one, 3/4 old food, 1/4 new food mixed together, day two 1/2 n 1/2, etc. See how she does each day and adjust as necessary. It could just be the food, and you may have to select a different adult cat food for her.

Answer 5

Never withhold food from your cat, especially a kitten. I would not give her chicken cat food, righ at this time, for it has allot of oil in it. I will say that it may not have anything to do with her food at all. There could be worms. Another thing, Wouldn't you rather have that hair come out of her instead it get wound up inside her blocking her and needing surgery? Where is the kitty getting these strings from??? This can be dangerous! Keep anything with a string on it away from your cat unles you are playing with it at the time and make sure that the cat don't swollow any of it. They put these strings on cat toys therefor we tend to think it is safe for them to play with, it is not safe, neither is a toy that has little eyes on it or bells that come loose and it chokes to death. I would have the vet check her stools for parasites. One more thing, strings, especially the ones with the stretchy kindd will cause a bacterial infection causing diarreha. She may need a little medication from the vet. Please, take her in to the vet, regular cat food is OK for her to eat. One time I found my cat, a kitten at the time with a string down his throat and he was choking, this happened within 5 minutes. Luckily I came into the kitchen, he would have died right there. The vet said one time someone brought their cat in and the string was already wound up in the intestines even though it was hanging out of it's mouth, this is something you try to gently remove out, if it don't an emergency call is immediate. P.S. I got pissed at my niece, she combed her hair, and let it fall to the floor, I made her pick it up cuz, my cats could get that in them too. P.S. no milk, just fresh water, room temp.

Answer 6

she is finding string somewhere and i wouldnt think the hair would be hers unless shes nearly making herself bald washing. dont ever pull on a string sticking out of her butt, cut it off with sissors, and now keep an eye on anything with strings and put it away, cats will eat string and it can get tangled in thier intestines and cut through the tender intestinal flesh and kill the kitten, you can get hairball remedy thats a sort of paste stuff they eat that helps hairballs pass through rather than have to be thrown up, cats wash themselves so there will be hair. she could have worms, or are you letting her have cows milk? most cats get diarreha from that.dont give her any cows milk, you can buy kitten milk replacement at the pet store if you feel she must have milk of some sort. really she should go to the vet, get her first shots, get fixed and let him see to her tummy troubles as well.

Answer 7

Yeah. Quit playing doctor and get her to the vet NOW!!! If you're giving her milk, that's why she's got diarrhea. Any why do you let her have any strings??!! Don't you know that string can get wrapped around their intestines and kill them? If she has any toys with strings on them, either cut the string off or throw the toy away. As for her diarrhea, make sure you give her plenty of water so she don't get dehydrated because she could die from that too. Get her to the vet!!!! I have 2 cats of my own and I would never let them be in that condition.

Answer 8

first of all your cat could be dehydrating from the runny tummy so take it to the vet for a hydration injection to prevent dehydration. also the string and hair could be from things she is playing with, take the toys away that have string and hair and make sure you have a clear house (hoover/vacume your house) - remember the kitten is small and lower to the ground so it will be subjected to anything found on the floor.

you may want to change the kittens onto another food. it sounds like that cat food doesnt agree with its tummy.

enjoy your kitten!!

Answer 9

If you have seen string coming out of her rear, and the diarrhea is still going on, you need to get her to a vet for an x-ray. String foreign bodies (intestinal blockages) can be very dangerous.

Answer 10

she ate something she wasn't supposed to.... keep on eye on here where she plays and stuff to see what she got into! Make sure she keeps eating and drinking normally. If that changes, take her to the vet to have some normal kitten tests run.... might just be worms or something like that... does she have her shots?