Any ideas?

I am having an issue with diarrhea in my new kitten. She is about four months old and we noticed it the day we brought her home. I figured it was just stress from being bounced from foster home to foster home, and/or change of diet. After a couple of days she was completely comfortable with us, but the diarrhea was still there so i made an appointment with my vet.

My vet took a fecal sample and everything was normal. She then dewormed her and sent her home. The diarrhea continued, so back to the vet we went.

They ran some more tests and said everything was fine, and as long as she was putting on weight (which she is) and not losing weight, it would be okay.

We went to a different vet, same thing. Said to keep her on a bland diet, to cook chicken and rice for her. I tried it, but there was no change, not to mention with all the cat's i have running around at any given time, it's really difficult to give one cat a specially prepared meal while keeping her away from the other's dry food. I would do it, though, of course, if it was helping.

Any suggestions? I feed Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul to my cats, do you think it's too rich for her and i should find a different dry food to give her, and then stop free feeding them so i can control her meals?

Thanks for any help!

This problem in kittens can be very frustrating! I dealt with this a few times. Sometimes they can have giardia, which can be hard to diagnose.

Get some rice (any kind) and boil it with lots of water. Use the rice water and mashed up rice to add to her food. Put her on one kind of food and don't change it.

Try canned kitten food made specifically for kittens with sensitive stomachs/gastro. You can get this at the vet. Feed her small and frequent meals. When the diarrhea is resolved, wait awhile before gradually starting to add whatever food you want her to eat.

Thanks a lot for the advice! I have started Penny on the rice/food meals so hopefully she will start feeling better.

Over the past couple of days, she has been going to the bathroom outside of her litterbox-- on my bed, in the closet, random places on the floor-- but she has also been using her litterbox, too. Do you think this is related to her being sick, like a physical problem? Or a seperate behavioral issue?

I was thinking maybe just stress from being sick, as the litterbox situation is the same as always...plenty of boxes cleaned frequently, same litter, and all that other good stuff. I just don't know if I should be trying yet another vet, or waiting for awhile to see if this new diet helps. I feel so bad for her :sad: Thanks again for the tips!

Eukanuba makes a low residue food for cats that aren't keeping food in and/or weight on. I have experience with the dog food version, and it worked wonders as well as stopped my pointer's diarrhea. Hopefully this will sort out soon so you're not spot cleaning the carpet :)