Hi! Please help!

I have two new Kittens. One of them has diarrhea.

I've had them both for ten days, and when I first got them their poo was fine.

But for a week now my boy has had diarrhea... He's making a real mess of the litter tray, tracking poo over the floor, he has a dirty bum most of the time, and whats worst, I'm worried he's developing a bit of a complex about the toilet [he tries to get behind my bookcase to poo].

I'd say he uses the toilet 'the usual' number of times per day. His poo is not watery, just loose [sorry for gross details!].

Everything else is fine - he's eating well, playing lots, happy and putting on weight.

The sellers [who were a pet store] recommended giving him some human anti-diarreha medicine, usually an injection, administered orally. I did that, but no change].

Both the cats eat the same, dry purina kitten biscuits, [which they aren't crazy about] and the 'single serve' whiskas kitten pouches [which they are crazy about]. [No other food available in my part of China].

When I search google it makes kitten diarrhea sound quite serious, and attributes it to lots of nasty things, and says it can cause dehydration. He is not dehydrated, and there are no symptoms of any worms or disease.

I can't take him to a vet easily because I live in China and cats are not comon pets here, I think the vet won't know what's going on.

Should I be worried? Maybe it's normal for a kitten after moving to a new home? What can I do? How long will this last?

Thanks so much!

Hi and welcome,

My first advice would be to get your kitten to the vets immediately as diarrhea can be fatal especially in kittens. I'm not sure really what to suggest though if you cannot get to a vet.....I would make sure your kitten is drinking plenty of water - can you syringe water if needed?

Also, the food they are on is a huge factor - some people would suggest cooked chicken or something similar that is bland to tempt him to eat.

My 6 month old kitten Alfie had diarrhea for a few weeks when I brought him home, the vets ruled out any illness and put it down to the food he was on. I went through loads of different options before settling on raw (chicken, beef mince etc..) and his poos became solid overnight.

I would get the kittens of whiskas as its just full of rubbish and wont be helping his tummy at all - can you try the raw feeding and see if this helps?

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Hi there, and sorry to hear your kitten is poorly

I agree with what Aud's Mum has said - you need to put both kittens on a diet of meat only, preferably raw, chicken is great but any other meat will do fine too.

Cut it up in small pieces for them and let them eat as much as they like. If they won't eat it at first, try putting a little bit of the Whiskas on top to tempt them to eating. Also start offering them the tip of some raw chicken wings - if they will eat the bone it will help the diarrhea.

Do this for a few days and they should be better.

Then, I suggest you stop feeding that horrible cat food and feed them something better. As you said there's not much choice in China, so go for a raw diet. That's the best diet they could have anyway, so you're in luck!

The raw diet is simple:

Raw meat (including hearts) should be 85% of the meal. Raw organs (liver, kidneys, lungs, etc) should be 5-10% of the meal. Raw bones (choose the smallest bones you can find, the tip of chicken wings or the chicken rib bones/breast bone) should be 5-10% of the meal.

It's easier to get the proportions right if you make a big batch and freeze it in portion sizes

Make sure the meat is made for human consumption.

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Thanks for fast replies!

My family has always feed our cats raw meat, so that makes sense to me. I'll get some.

But, my kittens are only 10 weeks old, is raw meat OK at this stage?

Is the purina or whiskas dried food OK for them? At home in New Zealand we feed Iams, but you can't get it here.

So, my boy, other than the diarreha, seems in good shape - I don't like hearing it could be fatal!!??

Do you think he needs to be rushed to the vets? I'd have to travel quite away to get there [several hours]...

Thanks!

first of all are you feeding them the same food they were eating before you brought them? if not this can cause kittens to have runny bums. When changing their food do it slowly bit by bit.
I would advise you do take your kitten to a vet as kittens can go down hill so fast. please keep us updated

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Yes, it's perfectly fine

No, it's not ok for them. No dry food is good for a cat, regardless of brand. For more information look here: The Truth About Dry Cat Food from Blakkatz

Give them raw meat and only that - just make sure that in the long run they also eat organ meat and bones, otherwise they won't get all the nutrition they need.

And yes, I would take your boy to the vet to make sure - just don't listen to the vet if he/she tries to get you to buy any dry cat food!

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Fit for the sunshine so it followed her, a happy tempered bringer of the best, out of the worst.

OK, so what kind of timetable should I use ot ween them off the processed food and onto meat?

Also, please remember that one of the kittens has no poo-issues... What does that indicate to you?

If they will eat the meat straight away, go for it! They're only kittens so should eat often and as much as they like

If they don't want to eat the meat at first, mix it with the wet food and then slowly reduce the amount of wet food - over a few days until they eat just meat.

The fact that only one kitten is unwell indicates to me that that kitten is more sensitive to the adverse effects dry/low quality cat food has on any cat. Just like humans, some are more sensitive than others. That doesn't mean that the dry food is fine to give to the cat that doesn't show any symptoms though!

For example, I have a sensitive stomach. If I eat a McDonalds meal I will be stuck in the bathroom for the next few hours. Not pleasant. My sister has a normal stomach and has no problems with McDonalds. Does this mean that McDonalds is healthy for her and bad for me? Of course not. It's equally bad for both of us; I just react to it easier than her.

I am assuming that there's no medical issue with either kitten - which is why I said to take them to the vet to get them checked. Especially considering it's been going on for a week now.

If I were you I'd want to see the vet first, then start the meat diet. Of course, this is up to you to decide. You could also just start the meat diet and see how that goes - again it's up to you and if the kitten does have a medical condition you risk it dying before you can get it to a vet. If it doesn't have a medical condition and just reacts to the food, it may well be fine after a day or two on the new meat diet. It's up to you to decide.

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Have a look at my website!

Fit for the sunshine so it followed her, a happy tempered bringer of the best, out of the worst.

OK, I'm going to err on the side of caution and make the arduous trip to a vet tomorrow.

I'm sure the little fella is fine, and it must just be a sensitive tummy, but better safe than sorry.

Also I noticed just now that his nose is bone dry... that is not a good sign is it?

Also, is raw chicken the meat of choice? My cats back home in NZ always ate commercially available pet-meat, which was red meat [kangaroo I think!]. But everyone here agrees that chicken is best?

I'm so happy to find such a great forum with such helpful posters! Thanks a lot everyone!!

I'll post back tomorrow for an update

Don't panic - serious diahorrea in kittens is 1. highly infectious 2. liquid or nearly so and 3. frequent. And after this amount of time, if it was anything like that the kitten would be obviously dehydrated and ill if not dead. Cats are not dogs, their noses are dry.

I think this is dietary and you will do best by getting them both onto cooked chicken for a few days and not moving off that until they are really, um, solid.

liz