So I have these two kittens. Up for adoption! They were doing just fine until about 2 days ago, when they came down with some diarrhea. I figured they’d just got into something, made sure they had plenty of water, and went to work. Yesterday they were no better, but my vet was closed already for Christmas. I isolated them from the other cats, seeing as they were now only on kitten food and not nursing anymore. Today they won’t eat anything, and they have nasty liquid white diarrhea. My vet is closed and the only emergency clinic won’t call me back because I’m not a regular client of theirs to begin with. The kittens seem depressed, but other than the runny white stool and the not-eating, they don’t seem to be at death’s doorstep. They will play if encouraged, and they are still drinking water. I soaked their food (dry Iams kitten) in milk till it was soft, but they won’t touch it. The mother cat is trying to nurse them, and I wonder if I should stop her since they seemed to be totally weaned about a week ago? But they won’t eat any other food, so if they’ll eat at all that’s better than nothing. Anybody know of anything I can do for them until Friday morning?
Picture. My bad!
Keep trying the emergency vet. And try calling all the vets in your area – some may have “on call” service.
White diarrhea indicates an intolerance to milk, so take away the milk-soaked food and try soaking some with water. Many cats are lactose intolerant, so if you want to give them any kind of milk, buy “cat milk” that’s available in the pet food aisle in the grocery store.
With diarrhea, dehydration is a serious concern. If they stop drinking, too, go to the pet store and buy a nursing syringe and at least try getting some water in them until you hear back from a vet.
Plain yogurt with active cultures is also good for their tummies.
Keep trying the vet.
Good luck!
And they are adorable, by the way!!
Make sure they have plenty of water available and stop putting milk in their food. Overfeeding is the usual cause of diarrhea in kittens… they can’t digest everything we feed them.
White stool has too many possible causes (overfeeding being one of them) for me to say anything other than take them to a vet. GI tract infection (bacterial or parasitic), liver malfunction, or various digestive problems are other possibilities.
Make sure they have water. Leave their food alone. Let them nurse if they can.
I am in Nowhere, Alabama. Nothing will be open until Friday morning. Not a pet store, not a grocery store, not a drug store, not even Wal-mart. The vets are hiding under rocks. I do have some syringes handy, but they are drinking water on their own. They just won’t eat, and they have this weird diarrhea.
**Shayna **is spot on with the cat milk rec and the warnings against regular milk. If you are using a powder mix, be sure to mix it fairly dilute - maybe 3:1 water:powder. If a premade, water it down a little. It should be fairly less rich to be easier on their tract. Hit them up with water fairly frequently - at least a dropperful or two every hour.
And keep calling around for a vet. Diarrhea drops cats and especially kittens very quickly.
Good luck.
ETA: try to keep them alive until Friday, then. Keeping them hydrated is of utmost importance.
I was half expecting that to be a picture of kitten crap
The Scoop on Poop at the bottom of this page may be useful. It sounds like overfeeding.
I would also let their mother nurse them. Clearly she can tell something’s wrong, and I’m sure there are nutrients in mother’s milk that is good for them, especially if they’re not eating.
Dudes, simmer down about the milk. It was 2%. I offered it to them mixed in their food one time. They did not eat it, therefore I took it away. I don’t tamper with their food. I know cow’s milk is bad for them, but it’s all I have since all the stores are closed. They also aren’t overfed; we don’t free-feed around here, they get measured portions twice a day. They haven’t eaten anything solid in at least 24 hours. The mother has nursed them a bit, I don’t know if that will help or what but at least they’ve had some nutrition.
ETA: They have both been dewormed and tested negative for coccidia in the last month, if that tells anybody anything.
I’ll second the concern about dehydration… keep a real close eye on them. One way to test if a cat is dehydrated is to pinch the scruff of it’s neck. It should be elastic - it should go right down. If it stays “tented” up, then the cat is really dehydrated. I had to use a water dropper to get water into my sick cat once, so maybe do that? These tips come from my vet.
I have given my four month old kittens some canned unflavoured pumpkin before to help with diahrea, They loved it, and it worked like a charm. I added extra water so make sure they were hydrated so it was kind of runny.
how are the wee ones?
Better, actually. One of them was going to her new home today but we are holding off on that. They do seem to have taken a turn for the best, so we are holding off on the vet too. The stress may make them feel worse, and if they are getting better on their own I see no need for putting them through all that. Thanks for the help!