[ellyr]

Hi all -

My 11-ish week old kitten has persistent loose stool. I have him on a diet of Natural Balance dry Green Pea & Duck, and NB wet Green Pea & Venison. He's been eating that for a good 1 1/2 weeks now, and there's been no real change. Sometimes it looks like we might be firming up, then the next day we're back to cow patties.

I had the vet run a test for giardia & other parasites, and that came back negative. The vet told me to just give him dry food and see if the stool firms up. I do not want him on an all dry diet, but I do want to figure out if his food is making him ill. Should I with hold the wet food for a day or two (which will be AWESOME, since he loves his wet food ^_~), and see if there's a change, then try a different brand of wet? I don't want to start trying different foods on him willy nilly, because that seems like it might aggravate things.

One other thing: I'm giving him a probiotic powder, but that hasn't really been helping. He's been taking that for almost a week.

 

[hoofmaiden]

I would get rid of the dry entirely and change to a carb-free canned food like EVO 95% meat formulae or Wellness CORE. Cats have no use for peas or other plant foods. His stool will probably firm up on a species-appropriate diet. Feed small meals 4-5 times a day until 16-18 weeks. Then go to 3X a day. At 7-9 mos go to twice a day.

 

[laurief]

Giardia is often missed in fecal tests, so vets generally treat for it based on symptoms alone. You might ask your vet about treating your kitten for giardia in spite of the negative fecal.

Laurie

 

[ellyr]

When he first came to me, his foster mom had him on Fancy Feast kitten and Royal Canin baby. I used the food supply she gave me to transition him, but maybe that was too fast? While he was still only on that food, he was fine. Switching him to the higher quality diet seems to have triggered the problem.

It does look like a lot of the higher quality foods have less filler junk, but more random veggies thrown in. Could that be the problem? If it is, it looks like EVO might be the only way to go. The ingredients for Felidae cat & kitten look like a somewhat better version of the fancy feast. Should I try him on that?

 

[hoofmaiden]

I would NOT treat for giardia. The treatment for giardia is Flagyl, which does not have a good safety profile in cats. Giardia is self-curing given time. It would be better, IMO, to support the kitty w/ a high quality diet and let him get over giardia (if he has it) on his own.

I would try EVO--just transition gradually. You haven't had him long and he's had a lot of changes. That alone can cause GI tract issues.

 

[ellyr]

Will do. I found a pet store fairly close by that carries it, so I can pick up a few cans and see how it goes!

 

[hoofmaiden]

Be sure to get the 95% meat formulae. There is "regular" Evo that still has carbs.

 

[meow79]

Please report back if it helps. I adopted a special needs cat that has loose stool. She came from a rescue that feeds science diet (also fed her fancy feast). My first thought was grains. She happily has decided she doesn't want the dry at all so is eating the grain free fancy feast. She seems interested in both the avoderm I feed my other two adults and the NV I feed my kitten which is 95% meat (she is blind so just walks over and starts eating from any plate.) No change yet.... They had her tested many times for giardia and treated her with flagyl. What they decided to do was put a probiotic in her food. The vet records show it should be all the time, but they said they did it when things got loose. I am going to get some today and mix it into her food (it is one that horses use from a feed store and I don't know the name). I am hoping that diet will fix the problem. Wasn't going to try evo but on the other hand she misses the box a lot so I'd really like solid poo to clean up..... Hopefully avo or NV will help, but anything will do!

 

[ellyr]

Do please let me know how it goes. I'm pretty sure this is diet related, and I'm hoping that once I figure it out, he'll be okay, but anything that can help is good.

 

[ellyr]

I went to the pet store here that carries EVO today, and the staff talked me into taking some samples of raw food to see how that goes. I think I will give it a try. My mom feeds her dog raw, and he is thriving on it - makes sense it would be great for cats.

 

[hoofmaiden]

Raw is the best choice--but not, IMO, the fake "raw" that is sold commercially. Cats need to CHEW their food. The ground stuff is fine to transition to--then consider transitioning to REAL raw food. There is a great site here: Raw Fed Cats

 

[ellyr]

The raw food has given me *very* good results. I think that that is the route I will go with - I'm going to keep on the commercial raw for now, and see how it goes, then look into making my own. I'm also mixing raw in with my older cat's wet food - might as well get both of 'em on it...