New kitten in my house……has diarrhea

X post from community before I thought I had a problem ......

SOS !  I have not had a kitten in 14 years …….plenty of adolescents but no kittens. Geez do I need to do “kitten proofing”!!

Someone dumped her off in front of DD’s house. DD just took in one stray kitten that is a holy terror added to her other cat, named Psycho, so SIL is giving her grief about already having two monster cats……so what’s a Mother to do?

Amazingly enough she is an orinch tabby!! Didn’t know girls came in orinch…… She came with a URI which keeps coming back despite two rounds of Clavamox. Her little voice sounds like a rusty screen door. She’s had 2nd round of kitten shots, worming and SNAP test. We figure she is about 4 mo old now. She’s really sweet, likes to be petted but not crazy about carrying.

She is in the introductory stage now living in the spare room which was extended again due to the URI. Going slowly ‘cause 4 large dogs and 8 older cats are a bit much at once for such a little girl.

Aside from the stubborn URI she has very loose poop, sometimes runny. Added Forti Flora to her kitten food, don’t think it’s helping much. How much is too much Forti Flora ….is there something better? Also she eats 4 cans of FF kitten a day and drinks a lot of water…..pee’s a lot too. Isn’t that a lot of food for a kitten? Yesterday normal poop and today really runny. I alternate between fish and turkey flavors so she doesn’t get bored….could she be allergic to one of them?

Normal poop yesterday and her normal kitten self.......today she had real runny poop and then barfed up her breakfast. In the last couple of hours she is going to the box every 10 min or so straining and pooping clear watery mucous. She is really looking miserable.

At what point do I panic and take her to the vet????

 

well, being a kitty, they can get dehydrated pretty quickly. never hurts to play it safe. out of all the kitties I have had, I have been very lucky with no run away poo

 

Gail, could be the Clavamox but I would also suggest doing a stool CULTURE to make sure she doesn't have giardia or coccidia (sp?) or something weird. Also would keep an eye on her hydration.

 

Giadia and coccidia are parasites. Gardia is a protozoa while coccidia are single cell organisms. You do not detect them by culture. Coccidia is readily found by examining a fecal float under a microscope. Giadia might be found by examining a fecal smear under a microscope. However, they are very difficult to find. A better method that was developed in 2004 uses ELISA technology, the same technology uses for FeLV/FIV snap test. Some vets may have the giardia snap tests but other send out a fecal sample.

See; http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... 59&aid=738

 

I would cut back on the fish flavor. One of the most common food allergies.

And yes, stool sample. Could be giardia....very miserable and not uncommon
to outside cats. Spread through water sources. Not very many good water sources
for stray kitties.

 

Larry, when I say stool culture where I go it means checking the stool for everything....Fecal smear, Stool ova and parasites exam
Too many vets miss the giardia.

 

SOunds alot like when my kittens had coccidia!