I don't know who's ill!

[Tokkaebi]

I have 3 cats, all from the same litter at 6 months old now, going on 7.

Someone threw up in the last week twice. I think both times happened in consecutive days. Our kitty Gandalf wasn't wanting to eat any treats, which is a HUGE difference in appetite, so we figured it was him. Yesterday, no one had any problems. Gandalf looked better, he was playing, running around.

Just an hour ago, I cleaned up what looked like kitty puke, but there was a lot of it and it smelled like poo, so I'm figuring it was diarrhea. Today he's drinking, but since I've been home from eating out, he hasn't had much of the kibble or canned food he really likes, and he has a fairly significant appetite.

I feed them Iams 1-12 month old kitten kibble. Only until I joined this forum did I start to realize that this isn't the best food to feed them. But there haven't been any problems until this week. I also gave them some Friskies salmon canned food two days ago that they've had before and liked.

Right now, after the strange maybe-poo incident, everyone's running around, playing, they seem fine. Also, only in the past couple of weeks have I noticed them eating much less than they normally would scarf down as kittens.

They were very, very sick as little kittens and needed tons of medications before they were healthy and could be adopted, which may be that their growth has already begun to slow. They aren't large cats, but are definitely large enough that no one would think them kittens.

Do I just need to create a regular feeding schedule acceptable for their stomachs? I'm thinking of taking them all in soon for check-ups anyway.

[cinderflower]

since they're so small and have a history, i would. (change the food.) but not too quickly as i'm sure you have read that changing quickly upsets kittens GI tract. and i'd take them in for their check-ups.

it doesn't sound like an emergency but things go all pear-shaped for kittens really fast, so i'd pay close attention, as i'm sure you do anyway.

[Tokkaebi]

Thank you so much on the advice. Gandalf seems to be healthy again all on his own. I still don't know if it really was he who was sick for all three of those times, but everyone's eating normally again and very eagerly. I have switched to wet Wellness meals and they look especially happy with the decision. ^_^

[anie]

great! glad they are doing better wellness is very good food and you made great decision switching them to wet. it's much healthier than dry diet and it is also much easier to do transition to good quality food when cats are young. if you are looking into high quality grain free wet food at very good price, check out EVO it's also low in carbs, another thing very good for kitties