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4 month old kitten, underweight with chronic bloody soft poop/diarrhea

Mimikins

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Happy to report that Nemo is now having normal poops regularly! He is still pooping pretty frequently, about 4-6 times a day I would say. We started giving him some frozen raw nuggets (Stella & Chewy's Duck Duck Goose) with his wet food and he loves it. For the past few days, I've seen him throw up a bit of foam/bile right after his morning poop. Any ideas what this could be due to?
 

Bailey21

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It could be due to the raw nuggets. When transitioning to raw its normal for kitties to sometimes puke up bile while their stomachs/digestive systems get used to the raw. The company I purchase from says they can puke for the first 5-7 days when introducing raw.
 

Mimikins

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It could be due to the raw nuggets. When transitioning to raw its normal for kitties to sometimes puke up bile while their stomachs/digestive systems get used to the raw. The company I purchase from says they can puke for the first 5-7 days when introducing raw.
That's what I was thinking too but he's throwing up before eating anything in the morning and won't eat for a while after that. We feed him the raw in the morning and then a little around dinner time when we get home.
 

Diana Peters

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This is Nemo our 4 month old kitten. He came to us a little scrawny with an ear infection which we were able to treat. He's always been a bit lazy/sleepy and his spine and ribs are always visible. His stools have been pretty inconsistent going from soft and brown to yellow, beige and dark grey. There is blood in his stools pretty frequently as well. His stomach is constantly making noises. He sometimes snores/makes little wheezing sounds.

On his first vet visit he weighed 2.69 pounds and about a week later he was at 2.1 pounds. During his first visit he was given a rabies vaccine and Revolution and we ordered a fecal exam. The fecal exam came back negative for Giardia but he was given Panacure anyway just to be safe as well as some anti nausea and diarrhea medicine (forgot the names). He was also prescribed some wet GI food (Royal Canin) and ate that stuff ravenously (up to 4x 3 oz. cans a day) and seemed to be doing better. He seemed less lethargic and started playing again. We even took him on a plane to Canada to meet my family. Per the vet's recommendation we've transitioned him off the GI food to a regular diet (he loves the Purina chunks in gravy).

As of now, Nemo is eating and drinking normally, his poops are still horribly smelly and soft and he is still his usual lazy self. He seemed to have gained a bit of weight as well but it's hard to say without weighing him.

Has anyone gone through anything similar with their kittens? Was there anything specific that helped?

Thanks in advance!
My Tiki had
Nemo has been eating a bit of the GI wet food but not as much as I would like. At this point I think he may not be a fan of chicken since when we were feeding him the Fancy Feast he always gobbled up the tuna and salmon ones but only nibbled at the chicken ones. I noticed that the Royal Canin GI foods are both chicken based so that could explain why he's not a fan. The moderate calorie one that he liked has "pork by-product" as the first ingredient so that would also make sense with my theory.

He started having diarrhea again from time to time and I think the Glop might be causing it. The last time it came out looking like milk =/ I think we're going to hold off on the Glop for the time being to see what happens.

Other than that he's still pretty active and loves to chase his wand toy around. His ribs and spine are still showing but he does look a bit healthier. His pot belly is still worrying me a bit but it doesn't seem to be bothering him and he loves when I rub it. Could it just be gas?

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Try a non chicken diet. My Tiki had weight issues and horrible loose nasty stools. I stopped al chicken products. She now gets Rachael Ray salmon and brown rice only. All issues stopped. Stools just fine. Gained some weight. Looks really good.
 

Mimikins

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My Tiki had

Try a non chicken diet. My Tiki had weight issues and horrible loose nasty stools. I stopped al chicken products. She now gets Rachael Ray salmon and brown rice only. All issues stopped. Stools just fine. Gained some weight. Looks really good.

I thought about that too and we went and bought a bunch of different non-chicken based foods but he would not eat any of those and kept going back to the Royal Canin GI food. At this point I'm too scared to try switching his diet since he seems to have stabilized and I don't want to risk upsetting his stomach. He's been off the Flagyl for 3 days now and still having good poops. He seems to have gained some weight and looks significantly healthier now. I appreciate all the advice and support <3

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Mimikins

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@Mimikins positive vibes and head smooches

checking in for updates
Nemo's doing much better! He's still on the skinny side but he's eating well and playing/acting like a normal happy kitten. My husband and I are already considering getting him a little friend when we move into our new house at the end of the month :)

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Yoda mom

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@Mimikins great update! so glad Nemo is doing better! head smooches sent!
congrats on your new home! how exciting!
keep us updated on the potential little nakid brother or sister for Nemo :)

hugs n head smooches !
 

Mimikins

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Update on Nemo:

He's been on the Royal Canine GI kibble for a couple months now and is still having soft poops, not extremely runny but not great either. Once in a while he'll vomit a bit of bile right before or after using the litter box. He eats well and drinks a lot of water which is great. His ribs are no longer sticking out but his spine is still visible. He's never been a really energetic and playful kitten but he walks around and doesn't seem sluggish or anything. He spends most of his time sitting by the fireplace or snuggled in a blanket.

Since moving to the new house he has pooped and urinated outside of his litter box a few times which is unusual for him. It's a large house so I wonder if we just need to add another litter box downstairs. There are a couple other cats living there so at first we weren't sure who was doing it but the other cats were away last week and I found a fresh pile last night.

At this point I suspect he has some form of IBD/IBS. I recently picked up some Fromm Game Bird kibble after seeing a few members recommend it for IBD kitties and started mixing a bit of it with his Royal Canine. He seems to like the taste and is eating well as usual. Since introducing it he started having runnier poops again and I'm wondering if that's just a normal part of the transition and I should just stick with it a bit longer to see if it helps him or if I should just discontinue and put him back on 100% Royal Canine GI.

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
 

Yoda mom

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@Mimikins thank you for keeping us updated. definitely recommend adding a least one extra litter box. some members use Feliaway plug ins with success.. for me it made my boy more anxious. he woud sniff and growl at the feliway plug in,

be sure to clean with a good enzyme cleaner, a breeder i know recommends Mister Max anti icky poo. My vet sells it and I see it online on chewy too for about $28.00 a gallon depending on scented vs unscented. I use it to spray on dog beds in the laundry.

I have an IBD bengal kitty. went thru so many food trials... The fromm gamebird did work for her... it did take some time ... usually food trials and changes take about 12 weeks to see results from my experience.

she ended up nibbling on the sphynx food.... Nutrisource cat and kitten food in the blue bag. no recalls supposedly made for gu health.
well she has been on it for several years now , weaned her off fromm since they stopped selling thru chewy and htf locally.

they can have runnier poo with new food transition. personally I would stick with what worked from him . Sometimes too it takes a few rounds of the flagyl to see results.

I personally do not feed raw to my IBD kitty for several reasons. need to get the nutrients just right, pain for my mom if I have to travel, live in a hurricane state, so feed and go important to me, and the dry Nutrisource is working for my IBD kitty and its has been more cost effective for my crew.

just my two cents, I would probably stick with what works for him the 100 % royal canine GI.
if you think the fromm is not working, I would call where purchased and see if they have a %100 return/refund policy


hugs n head smooches , following for updates

Nemo is just sooo darling :)
 

Mimikins

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Thank you the the advice. The only reason why I considered switching him off the Royal Canine was because his poops were still yellowish and soft + the occasional vomiting even after being on it for several months.

We did try some raw food for a bit (Stella & Chewy duck & goose dinner morsels) which seemed to help but he won't eat it anymore and seems to prefer kibble over everything else. Feeding raw is also much more of a hassle since my husband and I are at work all day.

I'll just go back to the Royal Canine for now and hope for the best. Thankfully our other 2 can eat anything and seem to love the Fromm so I don't think I'll need to return it...
 

Sheldon13

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Thank you the the advice. The only reason why I considered switching him off the Royal Canine was because his poops were still yellowish and soft + the occasional vomiting even after being on it for several months.

We did try some raw food for a bit (Stella & Chewy duck & goose dinner morsels) which seemed to help but he won't eat it anymore and seems to prefer kibble over everything else. Feeding raw is also much more of a hassle since my husband and I are at work all day.

I'll just go back to the Royal Canine for now and hope for the best. Thankfully our other 2 can eat anything and seem to love the Fromm so I don't think I'll need to return it...

Definitely try a second litter box.

Have you looked into Instinct food? They display the percentage of animal ingredients their foods contain and it’s pretty darn high, though I can’t say for sure what the percent is for other brands.


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Mimikins

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Just got a call back from the vet about his blood tests. We have him scheduled to be neutered next week so they wanted to check his blood first. Doc says he has very high white blood cell count (neutrophils) and that this could be due to a lot of factors but he mentioned FIP again... He also said he could be just due to the stress of being in a new house with other cats or inflammation related to his diarrhea. We also adopted another Sphynx recently but they've been getting along very well.

For now we're putting him back on the GI food and isolating him in our master suite for a couple days so we can monitor him better and make sure he doesn't get any table scraps. Doc also suggested we try the probiotics again and see if it helps.

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Toa and Ross

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This all must be so stressfull for you. I hope the GI and seperating him helps to get clear what is going on. Sending positive vibes.
 

Jeanhill72

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I don't want to scare you, but IF FIP is a possibility, please keep your kitties in separate litter boxes. FIP can be contracted by direct contact with FIP stools. I hope and pray that it isn't FIP, as it is fatal. I lost my other Sphynx to FIP and it was devastating. The fact that it has been going on this long, and your kitten has been eating makes me think it isn't FIP. Thank you for keeping us updated, we are all pulling for your baby to get healthy so that you can just enjoy loving your baby.
 

Mimikins

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@Jeanhill72 I'm so sorry for your loss. From what I've read I thought FIP was very quick but doc mentioned that it can linger for months. I thought he was in the clear after we managed to stabilize him somewhat on the GI food so I was heartbroken when he mentioned those dreaded three letters again... I thought I read that FIP is not contagious, only the non mutated version of the coronavirus is? I've set up 2 litter boxes for them but they seem to be using both of them interchangeably.

Doc didn't seem too worried when we brought Nemo in, even mentioned that he looked "awesome". Current action plan is to do another round of Panacur to see if this could be due to a parasite maybe brought over by his new sister since the liquid diarrhea started around the same time she came home with us. If the Panacur + probiotics don't help he suggested we try a hypoallergenic diet next. He mentioned also possibly testing for coronavirus but we're not if that's worth it.

Keeping our fingers crossed!

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Toa and Ross

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Aaaw look at those snuggle buddies! Keeping fingers and paws crossed it's not FIP.

FIP is not contanious indeed. Only the coronavirus is. Know that 70-80 % of all cats have the coronavirus. Only with 2-5% of the cats the cornovavirus turns into FIP. So if your cat has the coronavirus it certainly does not mean your cat gets fip. All 3 of my cats have the coronavirus and they're healthy.

My boy Toa had diarrhea and vomited the first 6 months. The vet tought he had FIP too. Luckly he didn't have FIP. It took me months to find the right food for him. He's healthy now, only has Uticaria Pigmentosa. Hope your baby will be healthy soon too.
 

Toa and Ross

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@Mimikins yes Toa was very low on energy/mellow. He sleptall day, mostly warming his tummy on the radiator. Jis brother Ross did run around like a maniac and Toa was just lifting his head up and went to sleep again.
When he felt better after months he suddenly got the zoomies and run around with Ross!
Sending lots of healing vibes
 

TajMahal

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I'm not sure if the stool is still a major problem but if it is - I strongly recommend you have a fecal PCR run. This is very different from a normal stool test. If the link below works (I've never tried linking to an old post before so bear with me) I would read through that thread in regards to chronic diarrhea. Not everything will apply but there is definitely some good info there (despite the title it is totally relevant lol). We have had a lot of problems with vomiting and diarrhea since Taj was a kitten. I know how stressful it can be to not know whats wrong or how to fix it for them so my heart goes out to you!

 

Mimikins

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Quick update:

Nemo has been on the Panacur and probiotics (Proviable paste and capsules) for 3 days now and we've seen major improvements. No more diarrhea and his poops are well formed. We've also seen a slight increase in energy and playfulness. My husband and I are super stoked :)

We really appreciate all the support and advice you guys have given us <3
 

Sheldon13

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Quick update:

Nemo has been on the Panacur and probiotics (Proviable paste and capsules) for 3 days now and we've seen major improvements. No more diarrhea and his poops are well formed. We've also seen a slight increase in energy and playfulness. My husband and I are super stoked :)

We really appreciate all the support and advice you guys have given us QUOTE]

Fantastic!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
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