Help! My kitten has horrible diarrhea

[KKristen61]

I just got my kitten at the end of May. She is 4 months old and she has had chronic diarrhea for the whole time I've had her off and on.

Her energy is great, she doesn't have a fever, the vet checked her for parasites, everything and they found nothing.
The vet gave her something for the diarrhea and it helped for the first day and now it's back.

When I first got her, the breeder told my to feed her cooked chicken and some dry food. I did that and she had diarrhea, then I took her to the vet and they told me that that diet would make her sick, so I got her royal canine canned kitten food to eat with her dry food and for about a week it was better and then once again it came back. I don't know what to do anymore.

Every morning this week I've been woken up by her jumping on my bed and then I smell her. She will be COVERED in her own poop from head to toe. She will have tracked poop throughout the house and there will be litter everywhere. The vet told me to bring her back for them to check her out again but is ther something that I should bring up to them? Is there something better to feed her?

This is my first sphynx and I thought I read up on everything I needed to know but I never expected something like this to happen

Please help!

 

[Maddie]

I would be switching the dry food. My girl had diarrhea and started bleeding in her poop so the vet put her on the gastrointestinal RC food to sort out her gut (meds for a week too) . Now she's on RC calorie control dry and Stella and chewy dehydrated raw. I went through 3 foods before it was all sorted out. So it could be the dry.
Hopefully others have other suggestions

 

[KKristen61]

I would be switching the dry food. My girl had diarrhea and started bleeding in her poop so the vet put her on the gastrointestinal RC food to sort out her gut (meds for a week too) . Now she's on RC calorie control dry and Stella and chewy dehydrated raw. I went through 3 foods before it was all sorted out. So it could be the dry.
Hopefully others have other suggestions

I was wondering about that but I didn't think that the dry food was the problem just because when she is diarrhea free, she will be eating the dry food and nothing happens, then one day it just comes back.

 

[admin]

I just got my kitten at the end of May. She is 4 months old and she has had chronic diarrhea for the whole time I've had her off and on.

Her energy is great, she doesn't have a fever, the vet checked her for parasites, everything and they found nothing.
The vet gave her something for the diarrhea and it helped for the first day and now it's back.

When I first got her, the breeder told my to feed her cooked chicken and some dry food. I did that and she had diarrhea, then I took her to the vet and they told me that that diet would make her sick, so I got her royal canine canned kitten food to eat with her dry food and for about a week it was better and then once again it came back. I don't know what to do anymore.

Every morning this week I've been woken up by her jumping on my bed and then I smell her. She will be COVERED in her own poop from head to toe. She will have tracked poop throughout the house and there will be litter everywhere. The vet told me to bring her back for them to check her out again but is ther something that I should bring up to them? Is there something better to feed her?

This is my first sphynx and I thought I read up on everything I needed to know but I never expected something like this to happen

Please help!

Hello, sorry to hear this. Its not uncommon for kittens to come home with Giardia- Sphynx cat with Diarrhea (Giardia). Many vets will just treat it and sometimes tests can give false negative in many cases. Keep us posted on your findings.

 

[Catzzzmeow]

I agree with admin. I would ask your vet to treat it like it does have Giardia, we see so many test negative for it, but in fact do have it. Keep us posted. If that doesn't work, it is going to be a matter of finding a food she can tolerate.

 

[NYC Andrea]

How often have you switched food brands, flavor sand types? It took more than a month for me to switch my kitten's food brand as her stomach was sensitive. *two weeks for the brand, three weeks for all flavors* In this time I mixed, and still do on occasion, a spoonful of gerber natural pumpkin baby food into her wet food both in the morning and at night. It helped stop up the runny situation in a day!

Also, I don't know how curious your kitten is, but mine got into everything at 4 months. We went through a period of her drinking out of soapy dishes, lapping up water when you wash hands, she got into a bottle of syrup (that was a nightmare), I even fought her licking a bottle of olive oil... anyway, the pumpkin helped.

 

[badtwin14]

I definitely had a similar situation happen. And after vet checks, putting her on prescription food, etc. I've just come to realize that my kitty's poop is just looser than normal cat poops. The only thing that has worked for me is pumpkin. I get it in the baking section of the grocery store. Just straight pureed pumpkin (nothing else in it). I give her a nice, full teaspoon every night. If I told you she LOVES it, that would be an understatement. I just have to say the word pumpkin and she gets excited. It has definitely helped with her poop situation, but she does get poo tail or steps in her poo every so often. I think it's just something we have to learn to deal with (unfortunately).

 

[KKristen61]

I definitely had a similar situation happen. And after vet checks, putting her on prescription food, etc. I've just come to realize that my kitty's poop is just looser than normal cat poops. The only thing that has worked for me is pumpkin. I get it in the baking section of the grocery store. Just straight pureed pumpkin (nothing else in it). I give her a nice, full teaspoon every night. If I told you she LOVES it, that would be an understatement. I just have to say the word pumpkin and she gets excited. It has definitely helped with her poop situation, but she does get poo tail or steps in her poo every so often. I think it's just something we have to learn to deal with (unfortunately).

I tried giving her pumpkin today and she wanted nothing to do with it. She just sniffed it and walked away even though she was hungry

 

[KKristen61]

How often have you switched food brands, flavor sand types? It took more than a month for me to switch my kitten's food brand as her stomach was sensitive. *two weeks for the brand, three weeks for all flavors* In this time I mixed, and still do on occasion, a spoonful of gerber natural pumpkin baby food into her wet food both in the morning and at night. It helped stop up the runny situation in a day!

Also, I don't know how curious your kitten is, but mine got into everything at 4 months. We went through a period of her drinking out of soapy dishes, lapping up water when you wash hands, she got into a bottle of syrup (that was a nightmare), I even fought her licking a bottle of olive oil... anyway, the pumpkin helped.

I've been switching between food brands for about a month and a half now. She did really well with this food in the beginning so I kept her on it but now the diarrhea is back

 

[KKristen61]

UPDATE:

It's getting worse in terms of how many times a day it's happening.

Today I had to give her 3 baths because she covered herself in her poop.
I'm stressed out and my house is smelling like poop so I have to deep clean everything.
I'm still giving her the Medicine that she was prescribed but it doesn't seem to be working like the doctor said it should.

I'm going to call the doctor on Sunday if tomorrow is anything like today. It's gotten bad enough that now she has a small brown rash under her tail from the poop being there since it happens every time she goes to the bathroom.

I feel so bad for her. It can't be comfortable for her.

 

[Maddie]

I'd be calling today... some vets are closed Sundays but opened Saturday. Hopefully it gets figured out poor baby

 

[NYC Andrea]

Have you tried withholding food? I had a cat that I fostered for a few years that would get stuck in a similar poop pattern. It helped to give his digestive system a rest for a day. It's hard, as a caretaker to hold food from your baby, but it can help. The vet told me to stop feeding for 12-24 hours (water is okay). Reintroduce food in the form of broth, I used tuna juice. Then move up to soft foods in small portions a few times a day.

Ps. Sorry your baby doesn't like the pumpkin. I mixed our into the wet food (and tuna) at first to introduce it. Turned out she loved it.


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[momdeeze]

As a breeder I have learned by trial & error. The first thing that vets think of with diarrhea is parasites. I have never had a vet suggest antibiotics for kitten diarrhea and I have found that for my kittens at least it has never been parasites. A course of Clavamox has almost always cleared up the diarrhea (from overgrowth of bad gut bacteria) . In reading various breeding/birthing forums I've found this is the first things breeders recommend. And add in a good Probiotic. Anyway, something to suggest to your vet. Good Luck!!

 

[KKristen61]

Have you tried withholding food? I had a cat that I fostered for a few years that would get stuck in a similar poop pattern. It helped to give his digestive system a rest for a day. It's hard, as a caretaker to hold food from your baby, but it can help. The vet told me to stop feeding for 12-24 hours (water is okay). Reintroduce food in the form of broth, I used tuna juice. Then move up to soft foods in small portions a few times a day.

Ps. Sorry your baby doesn't like the pumpkin. I mixed our into the wet food (and tuna) at first to introduce it. Turned out she loved it.


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I have. I might try it again to see if introducing broth helps.

Last time I waited about 16hrs because she's so little I didn't want to withhold food for too long. Then I'll try broth and soft food and see if that's better.

Thank you

 

[KKristen61]

I'd be calling today... some vets are closed Sundays but opened Saturday. Hopefully it gets figured out poor baby

I did end up calling but they can't get her in until next week so I have to deal with it

 

[Maddie]

You could go to an emergency vet, or at least call to see if they have any ideas

 

[Yoda mom]

@KKristen61 , healing vibes sent
Here is a poo related link that mentions metronidazole thst is often prescribed amd works wonders
Perhaps if she has seen your vet recently you could call Momday and ask if a script for "metro" could be helpful till they can see her ..

Search Results for Query: metronidazole | Sphynxlair
My vet prescribed metro and cerenia (a dog product she uses with a dosage for kitties ) if there is any vomiting.

All paws crossed for a diagnosis amd successful treatment

 

[KKristen61]

You could go to an emergency vet, or at least call to see if they have any ideas

I did end up calling and she's going to be seen in a few days. They are suspecting that it is a parasite since the medication that they gave me isn't really working like it should.
They said they want me to bring a sample of her poo to get another sample to test so hopefully they figure out what it is.

 

[Clarks Mama]

Our baby Clark has gone through the same problems. Really smelly runny poo have your vet do a fecal test that will detect cryptosporidium. This nasty little parasite takes a lot of work to get rid of. I hope this helps