kitten diarrhea

My kitten "Henry Morgan" has come down with very bad diarrhea...so bad he could not make it back to his litter box and messed up on a carpet. There was an awful lot of hair in the loose stool which was yellow in color and did not have a foul smell about it. I wonder if that had anything to do with it. This followed a quarter of a can of Purina Pro Plan for Kittens which he has been eating quite well. Last night, I had given him some moistened purina kitten chow thinking that might ease the touch of diarrhea he had yesterday but it seems to have triggered this bad episode this morning. I should add Henry is active as all get out...and plays constantly. He does not seem to feel bad. Today being a holiday I thought I would take him to the Vet tomorrow if there is no improvement in the loose stools. Any comment appreciated. Its been 15 years since I had a kitten and I don't remember a thing.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your kitty's condition. It wouldn't hurt to feed him some Pedialyte. Good luck and keep us posted.

http://www.kittencare.com/askKC_Tummy_Troubles_Diarrhea.html#diarrhea

http://www.vetinfo.com/cdiarrhea.html

http://www.kittenrescue.org/handbook.htm

http://www.petsdoc.com/html/askthevet/askthevetquestions/kittendiarrhea.html

 

not sure what was all in those links... but to add my 2 cents.. be extreemly carefull.. if the runs last for more then a few days take him to the vet with a fresh stool sample soon as u can. The runs makes them loose fluids very quickly and he could dehydrate... Good luck!

 

I took Henry Morgan back to the Vet and he did another stool check....all negative but he prescribed Albon for four days and said that should clear t up the diarrhea. Henry's been on it for two days now and still has diarrhea as bad as ever but the color has gone from yellowish to brown if that means anything. I read at vet sites where one side effect of Albon is diahrrea and wonder if this is one of those catch 22 situations where in order to get rid of the diahrrea he has to have it. Go figure. I'm getting concerned now. Henry still plays hard ...is still eating well and drinking water....but he's had diahrrea for quite a few days now. I don't think he's going to be around long unless this diahrrea stops. JT

 

hi jt...as you know...i battled diarrhea with max for four to five months. he is still on medication for it, although in the last month, his stools have gotten more normal. they sent out the fecal for a specialized exam and found giardia...then clostridium...high levels of the latter after we cleared up the giardia. diarrhea in kittens can be from a number of things...it is really a matter of ruling things out sometimes.

max was on amoxil, then metronidazole, then tylan powder, back to metronidazole and bactrin, then to metronidazole and budesonide (which is a steroid only absorbed through the intestine) coupled with weekly b-12 shots. the latter three he has been taking for a month and seems to have done the trick. we will see when he starts to be weaned off the meds. :0011: we also gave him barium...and wormed him twice during all this.... :roll:

at first...i thought max was going to die every day...even though he didnt appear to be sick. when he was three months old...he only weighed TWO POUNDS :shock: . thats because he wasnt absorbing nutrients due to the giardia. i thought he would dehydrate...like eternal flame mentioned. he made it through. i got a specialist at one point...but i decided to take my vets recommendations over the specialist when he started talking biopsy...before he had tried other alternatives...so much for the specialist...he now weighs eight and a half pounds...little porker :roll:

i did weekly fecals...my vet did not charge me for office visits or fecals most of the time...i was in there about twice a week, i was so scared. his stools were loose and watery...yellow....and at times he dribbled.

i also cleaned his pan every day...scoured and cleaned it. wiped his rear end and paws with baby wipes as soon as he got out of the kitty pan :roll: ...if they lick themselves...they can very easily reinfect themselves.

coccidia, giardia, campylobactor, clostridium, irritable bowel....lots of possibilities. make sure you get blood work. i would recommend they send out the fecal for a special exam. there is a lab in texas that specializes in gastrointestional problems...and fecal testing. let me know if you need the address for your vets reference.

hang in there jt.

p.s. plain cooked chicken...no seasonings...just plain is good for them. also plain boiled rice mashed up, or plain baked potato added to their food. not alot...just enough to firm up the stool helps some kitties. plain yogurt too can help sometimes. dont change his food otherwise. then it will be hard to tell what is causing the diarrhea...food changes or something else. these foods are safe though...they will help to firm up his stool.

 

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions everybody. Here's the latest on Henry Morgan. I took him to a new Vet on Friday. She is terrific. She diagnosed Henry with a bad case of giardia. She put him on Pancur for three days and Flagyl for five days. She told me to put Vasoline or Neosporine on his sore hiney. As for food, I was told to mix his canned food 50/50 with mashed up white rice and put a little dollup of plain, unflavored yogurt on top. Henry has been on this for going on two days now. This morning (Sunday) I found diarrhea puddles on the utility room floor. The Vet told me to keep Henry confined in one room because of this so it was not a huge surprise. Still, after two days on the drugs I was hoping for some improvement. i suppose it has to get worse before it gets any better. Very frustrating. Best to All.

 

hi jt =P~ ...be prepared for it to possibly last longer than a couple of days...giardia is a parasite that produces cysts :-& ...these are easily reingested by the kitty by licking his rear end when he poos...so, the cysts can get anywhere. that is why you have to keep his kitty litter box and surrounding area completely sanitized and wipe his rear and paws when he gets out of the pan. the cysts will be present in his litter pan after he goes...if he gets back in there after pooing, and steps on a cyst (they are microscopic), which max used to do all the time. he will lick his paws and reingest the parasite. [-X max had it for a good month.

dont fret...it is treatable. people get it too, and you could potentially get it from him if you are not careful. always sanitize the counters if he goes up there.

quite honestly...i didnt care if i got it. i kissed max on the nose/mouth even when he had giardia. what can i say? i am in love!! :love_y_t_much: so a little parasite wasnt gonna stop me.

giardia is difficult, though, for this reason. the parasite does not always show itself in the fecals. :m37: that is because the intestine is so long, that sometimes the kitty will poo it out and sometimes he wont. fecals should be done past the point of treatment, just to be sure....because it is so easy to reinfect, and it is difficult to detect.

i used baby wipes. for months. i never had to use any ointment because i think i used the wipes with aloe. i will say....i sure made me feel like his mommy. :m10: ..thats for darn sure. but...because of all the stuff he went through, i am extremely attached to him (even if there were times that i wanted to scream) and he is to me. when he had the giardia, he pooed ten to twelve times a day, then that continued because he had clostridium. it wore me down sometimes. i posted so much on the forum. and talked to the secretarys at my vet, ALOT. :x

maybe henry morgan will recover sooner. i hope he does. [-o< and good luck. let us know... max is still on flagyl (metronidazole). its a good medication. :wink:

 

Hello everyone. Just a quick note to say that the Flagyl worked wonders for Henry Morgan. His diarrhea is long gone. He gained a pound in one week...no doubt making up for lost time. Henry is doing just fine. As a matter of fact he is sitting here on my desk watching the screen as I write this post. Thanks to all for your help. Special thanks to lynnhaz for all your pep talks and helpful suggestions. JT

 

yay for Henry

 

yea!!! henry morgan!!! what a relief....and im really glad the flagyl worked. it is a good medicine. :wink:

stay in touch jt...wed love to see a pic of henry morgan...did you put one up in the past??? :0011: