My kitten has diarrhea?

Question

I got a kitten on Monday and he's four months old. He's been quite badly treated, he's got fleas, a cold and diarrhea. I think he was being fed adult cat food so I'm feeding him kitten food now but it doesn't seem to be helping. He sleeps a lot but he's generally quite active and playful but I'm getting abit worried it might be more than a problem with his food. The woman we got him off had 8 other cats and was letting him run outside even though he's not had any injections.

Any ideas what might be causing it and what I could do to help him?

Answer 1

Prolonged diarrhoea could result in profuse dehyration.. and coupled with that cold, your kitten could be in serious trouble!

His fleas need to be treated with some topical flea treatment such as Frontline Plus, Revolution or even Advantage Multi. It is generally recommended not to purchase supermarket brands as they have variable efficacies. He will also most likely need to be dewormed - a high parasite (worm) burden could explain his diarrhoea, but keep in mind that there are several other causes of diarrhoea, which includes food allergy, having trouble adjusting to a new diet or even feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). Drontal is a commonly used de-wormer.

Cats with a cold could indicate a FHV (feline herpesvirus) infection amongst other things, and that's why you should take him to get his vaccination shots soon. He's long overdue (first shot is meant to be around 6 weeks of age). Do try to keep him indoors until his vaccination boosters are complete as he isn't fully protected from diseases till then.

Your local vet will be able to advise you further on your issues.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Go back to my previous answer, and do as I said, if those don't work in 1-2 days start meds. The things they may have gotten from the cattery are: a. worms, that's why I told you to deworm them to cover that. b. bacterial parasites, which you can treat with Flagyl (metronidazole) (that is very helpful in diarrhea cases, but you must get the right dosage from your vet and administer it for 1 week). You can also give them Flagyl anyway, just make sure you find out the right dosage and I 'd wait 1-2 days with i/d and Canikur, if it is food it will pass. c. panleucopenia, that's a serious disease and I doubt all of them have it. That has a high fever, vomiting, not eating, and it needs hospitalisation. That's why I said if they look sick like that take them to the vet ASAP. Don't worry awfully, kittens often get diarrhea. When I gave my kitten to a cattery she had so runny stools afterwards I thought she was peeing! She got well after 2 days of boiled chicken, Hill's i/d and Canikur. This Canikur really works, crush it into i/d food for 2 days, no more. It is no med, just a supplement that normalises intestine and makes the stool more dense. Let us know how it went!

Answer 3

I'd first consider what he's eating. Are you giving him canned or dry food? Sometimes the canned food is too rich for their systems and they get diarrhea. The dry food promotes better skeletal development and is better for their teeth. I feed kitten food until the cat is 1 year old, and if the cat gets skinny, they get kitten food again. Don't give him any milk because cats are lactose intolerant and that can cause diarrhea too. For now, if you give him some canned pumpkin it will give him the fiber he needs to help stop the diarrhea. Kitty not only needs to go to the vet for his shots, but also needs a checkup. The vet can give you an educated diagnosis, which is more than you'd get in this forum. Besides, a face-to-fur diagnosis is best. Diarrhea can be serious and cause dehydration in kittens, so don't delay. You're being a responsible owner to be concerned.

Answer 4

Number of things.

You should take the kitten to the vet to be checked for an all over vet check and be wormed, flead and vaccinated.And also meds for his cold.

Fibre will increase the diarrhea.

Cats and kittens should not be given milk of any description. They are lactose intolerant and "cat" milk is not needed at all - they are weaned and do not need it.

It is not common for a kitten to suffer from diarrhea when you get it home. It is an indication of incorrect feeding

Kittens need kitten dry food, check ingredients and make sure the main (first) ingredient is meat. Many of the cheaper brands are full of fillers, cereals and artificial colours and flavours.
If you also feed him canned food, stay away from mince and casserole varieties. These will upset his digestion. Stick with the loaf styles. Also only feed him a small amount of wet food. The more wet food the more he will poo.

To help with his cold give him a quarter of a 500mg tablet of lysine morning and night. If his sneezes and eye discharge are, clear it is more then likely he is suffering from clamydia (or herpes). The lysine is a natural way of fighting this condition. Ninety percent of cats have the clamydia virus in their system and when the cat/kitten's immune system is low due to poor nutrition/stress, etc it virus activates.

Good luck

Answer 5

The cold and diarrhoea symptoms together could be due to more a serious illness (possibly FIP, which tends to be contracted when a large number of cats live in one household in not very clean conditions) - get him to the vet.
However, kittens and cats can get stomach upsets if their brand of food is changed suddenly, but diarrhoea with runny nose and eyes together could be a more serious problem.
I hope he just has a cold and that it's his food that is causing the problem. Good luck, and I hope I haven't worried you unnecessarily - I'm not a vet.

Answer 6

I have a cat that when she was a kitten, always had diarrhoea
The vet tried several different things and none worked. What I found is that pro-biotic yoghurt was effective in just a couple of days.

Answer 7

hi . i would advise you to take your kitten to the vets as , the cat has a 'cold' which may actually be cat flu which if left untreated could kill your cat .

there is hills i/d pouches which usaly create solid bowel movements for your kitten . which defiantly work . here is the link which you can buy them from ---

http://www.nutrecare.co.uk/prod5.asp?prod_id=1931&id=144&grpid=1931&msg=&offset=#prod_anchor

which they should help your kitten and on that website theres an offer on them to .

i hope he is ok . and hope this advice helps .....

Answer 8

a vet must see him. The cold he has, together with the diarrhea, may kill the cat if left untreated. Feeding kitten food will not help, perhaps feed special food (intestinal, Hill's i/d, etc.). or boiled chicken with rice.

Answer 9

First you should really take him to the vets to get him checked out if you think he's been badly treated.

Its normal for a kitten to get diarreah when you first get one because as you have said you have changed his food, so his poor little belly can't handle it, it should get better once he gets used it it.
Mine were the same.

Make sure you are not feeding him milk as well unless it is "cat milk" because milk gives cats diorreah... Once he gets a bit older he should be able to tollerate normal milk better.

Answer 10

Give him some boiled chicken and rice-really bland but it helped my kitten who was also a mess when I got him.