Poorly kitten need advice!

Sapsorrow

HIya I have a kitten at home bout 4 months old and ever since we got her she's had very watery diarrhoea, we had her on kitten sachets of wet food at first, so we put her on the kitten kibbles to try and bulk up her poo a bit but that hasn't worked either has anyone any advice? or idea what it could be? She's been wormed so it's not that either.
Thanks!

RangeR

How else is she, generally?

Is she eating well?
Is she playful?
Does she "talk" to you?
Is she overly shy/nervous?
Does she sneeze often?
Does she appear to be in discomfort at any time?

If you are worried, a simple visit to a good vet will sort you out. they will give a quick once over and take temp etc.

Sapsorrow

RangeR wrote: »

How else is she, generally?

Is she eating well?
Is she playful?
Does she "talk" to you?
Is she overly shy/nervous?
Does she sneeze often?
Does she appear to be in discomfort at any time?

If you are worried, a simple visit to a good vet will sort you out. they will give a quick once over and take temp etc.

Sorry didn' think of giving more details;
Is she eating well? She's a complete pig and even eat pickled beetroot
Is she playful? very too much so for the rest of the house
Does she "talk" to you? never stops
Is she overly shy/nervous? most confident cat I've ever met
Does she sneeze often? nope
Does she appear to be in discomfort at any time? no

Fraid we're too smashed at the moment to bring her to the vet cos our other cat bumblelion has really bad gingivitis and has to have loads of trips these days and we're both unemployed at the moment

PinkTulips

is she getting any dairy?

one of the commonest causes of persistent diarrhea in cats is being given milk or other dairy as almost all cats are lactose intolerant

Sapsorrow

Ya I knew about that one alright, my partner and I are both vegans anyway so not much hope of that :pac:

RangeR

khrystyna100 wrote: »

Sorry didn' think of giving more details;
Is she eating well? She's a complete pig and even eat pickled beetroot
Is she playful? very too much so for the rest of the house
Does she "talk" to you? never stops
Is she overly shy/nervous? most confident cat I've ever met
Does she sneeze often? nope
Does she appear to be in discomfort at any time? no

Fraid we're too smashed at the moment to bring her to the vet cos our other cat bumblelion has really bad gingivitis and has to have loads of trips these days and we're both unemployed at the moment

I'm no expert but going on your answers, your cat seems pretty fine to me. Our kitten runs up the walls and chases our Nufi all over the house. Ah, sure, they chase each other

Sapsorrow

I know and she's very lively and happy but she hasn't had a solid poo nearly since we got her, they're such a watery consistency is what concerns me they're not just loose, she also gets quite distressed when she's having a poo aswell but that may just be a hygeine thing as it can be a bit messy when you've only had a few months worth of practice.

RangeR

khrystyna100 wrote: »

she also gets quite distressed when she's having a poo

Then she IS in some discomfort some of the time. Revisit your other answers

As mentioned after my post, are you giving her any dairy products? If so, try ween her off them. Either jump straight to water or maybe that Whiskas "cat milk" for a while. Don't expect to see much change for at least a week. But if that's the problem, the sooner you start the better. Go straight onto water. Cheapest solution.

We never see her drinking it. Don't panic if you don't think they are drinking the water. I've never ONCE seen my kitten drink water but 6 months later she is still here, alive However, when we first gave her milk, you would ALWAYS see her drinking it.

I must stop rambling.

PCros

Yep sounds like cows milk.

A little math here.......cat + cows milk = the runs!

shanagarry

Was she taken away from her mother at a very young age? I've had it happen twice with rescues and the vet said it was due to them being taken off their mother's milk too early and too suddenly. Unfortunately he couldn't recommend anything for it. They were both fine and happy otherwise although they didn't live very long lives.

PinkTulips

could a neighbour be leaving milk out for her?
could she be allergic to something else she eats?
what food is she on?
is her stomach swollen and pudgey or very thin?
what worm medicine did you use and are you positive she didn't throw it up afterwards? (i had a cat once who eat the tablet out of my hand and then hack it up outside the door :mad:)

hadook

Chronic diarrhea in a 4 month old kitten needs a vet trip before the problem gets worse or damage is caused by lack of vitamins/nutrients etc. Also, from what you say she's obviously distressed when using the litter box and this on it's own can lead to inappropriate elimination outside of the litter box when the kitten starts to associate litter box with pain.

It could be caused by anything from a dietary problem (allergies, food intolerance etc) to something more serious such as Giardia so you really do need to bring her to the vet as soon as you can.

I've had a quick google and I can't find anything similar to the Blue Cross in Cork but I know my vet will treat an animal and allow the owner to pay in installments if they can't afford it upfront. It'd be worth your while having a chat with the vet and seeing what sort of payment arrangement they can offer.

It's not easy having a sick pet and no money in the current economy but I'm sure you'll manage something. Good luck

Sapsorrow

Cheers for the feedback guys, she def isn't getting any dairy we never have any milk or cheese in the house and she's not left out unsupervised seeing as she's so little so she hasn't ever made it to a neighbours place.
She was kept with her mum until 3 months of age so no prob there.
She's putting on plenty of weight and if growing up fast, bones are getting bigger very quickly etc.. the distress with pooing thing isn't a pain thing I'm sure it's more because when she needs to go she needs to go that instant and sometimes she's a room away from the litter tray.
Her belly's grand, not swollen or anything and we've never seen her express any exclamation of pain in response to anything, in fact she's a particularly tough little cat and actively looks for fights with her two grown up uncles that we also have and they're the ones walking away from the fights upset!
Will get her to the vet in a week or two, no big rush I don't think really as I said she is growing very well (as well as her two siblings who went to friends houses) and her coat and eyes look beautiful and healthy.

The Sweeper

Have you wormed her?

Sapsorrow

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

Have you wormed her?

yup

teckster

Which food is she on? Cats must eat meat, their bodies are dependent on taurin.

Sapsorrow

Initially we had her on kitten sachets only, then we tried kibbles only to try and bulk up her poo, now she's on a mix of meat and kibbles. We let her eat as much as she wants also.

The Sweeper

There could be a pile of things wrong. She may have a bacterial infection in her gut, or be suffering something like salmonella - I only say that because my local shelter had a major problem two years ago with kittens with an unusual strain of salmonella who just couldn't manage a solid stool between them for weeks on end. She may have a sensitive stomach and need a change in her diet. She may be getting into foodstuffs you don't know about. She may have a short-term viral infection. She may need to be wormed again with a better quality wormer (supermarket wormers don't cut the mustard) - though she should be wormed monthly at this age anyway, up to six months. It could be that she has a parasitic infestation that has been treated but not all life cycle stages have been taken care of. It could be 50 other things that I haven't mentioned and don't even know about because I'm not a vet.

You've got three realistic choices given your financial situation - the first is to continue to feed her and keep her hydrated and save up for the vet consult fee as a priority. The second is to borrow the money from someone, or ask the vet will they do the consult and allow a payment plan - you may end up having to do this if the kitten goes downhill suddenly. The third option is to just wait and see if she improves herself - but I'd recommend you save the vet's fee on the side, because even if this clears up she'll still need to be desexed etc. and that will all cost so you may as well start saving for it now.

NarkyBoots

Hi there. I would have to agree with Hadook and Minesajackdaniels on this one. One of our cats had this problem and had never touched milk from the day he was weaned. He was also delighted in himself and growing fast. He was actually 3 months old when this happened so we were obviously concerned as dehydration can be fatal for a kitten.

We tried everything (through 3 visits to the vet) - put him on sensitive stomach food (introduced it gradually so as not to upset him more), a different wormer and then finally he was just brought into the vets becuase nothing was happening. He had Giardia and therefore needed a special worming tablet and was given antibiotics also. He probably got the from drinking stagnant water in plant driptrays outside.

He has never had a problem since.

The vet bill was high however due to his stay in "hospital" for 3 days. I'm not sure if this was more to do with his age than anything else to be honest. I'm also of the opinion that the sooner you treat something the cheaper it is in the long run. If your pet develops complications like renal issues etc due to dehydration then you will be more than seriously smashed dealing with it!

I know this next part is useless to you now and reeks of "I told you so" (if I had, infact, told you this earlier) but maybe it will help anyone else who may be reading this. Pet insurance really helps in situations like this. Both our cats were insured from the day they walked in our door and appear to be carbon copies of yours! The other one has viral gingivitus as well as some un-diagnoseable upper respiratory tract infection and is in and out getting steroid injections etc etc. Their insurance is under E20 for the two of them per month and even though there is an excess of E60 on treatment we easily get that back annually.

I hope that she's on the mend soon though!