New Member

Posts: 4
From:Australia
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 01-05-2004 01:59 AM         

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my 14 week old kitten has a bad dose of diahrrea. i took her to the vet yesterday and they put her on some antibiotics; when she was getting worse this morning, i took her back and they assured me she will be okay, and gave her some sensitive stomach kitten food. I've had her for about 2 weeks, and started feeding her supermarket cat food, and started giving her iams kitten food about 3 or 4 days ago.

she is having trouble getting to the kitty litter and is not keeping herself clean - she seems to have a sore bottom, and this morning was oozing poo.
is there anything I can do to make her symptoms improve (to keep her clean and help her sore bottom)?

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Member

Posts: 75
From:Sydney,NSW,Australia
Registered: Dec 2003

posted 01-05-2004 02:54 AM         

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I know what you are going through and the worry that comes along with it. They do make a big mess and I find that keeping them clean is essential for good health. A way to help sooth the sore bottom and prevent further diarrhoea and urine scalding is to smear some vaseline-petroleum jelly- all over the burnt area to keep it water proof. You will have to reapply this regularly, after every bath, and after grooming.
I am glad you went to the vet and have the medication needed to help clear up this problem. You should notice an improvement after 24 - 36 hours. Make sure you encourage your kitten to drink lots of fluid, if you have some kitten milk (not cows milk) you can water it down with warm water for an appetising drink. ( or what ever you think she may like, sometimes chicken broth-no onions is very tasty for kittens) as long as she keeps drinking she can go without eating solids for a 24 hours. Sometimes a vet will recommend you withhold solid food for this long to allow the bowel to rest, rest, rest and the medicine to do its work.
If you see any blood, the kitten cries alot, shivers, super lethargic,feels hot, refused any drink or even food, please see your vet immediately. These little guys get dehydrated within hours.
I have 3 little ones who have had diarrhoea for 5 weeks (LONG STORY) they live in the bathtub with a heating mat and lots of toys and soft blankets that I throw in the washing machine every day. They cant climb out of it yet, and it is so much easier to scrub the tub out with bleach daily than desperately trying to remove poo and wee stains from the carpet (after stepping in it !)
keep us posted.

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Posts: 240
From:Campton, NH USA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 01-05-2004 06:31 AM         

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my youngest cat, Zeus whom I've had for nearly 2 years, had horrible "dire-rear" when I got him. I took him to the vet 4 or 5 times to get this under control...his little butt would bleed it got so bad, and he was losing weight.

We tested for every parasite he could have had and all tests were negative. It cleared up when I switched him over to Friskies canned kitten food...we tried all of the special vet foods for kittens and the "dire-rear" continued.

Now that Zeus is nearly 2 years old if he eats any cat food that is fish he goes through the problem all over again...his was diet related.

Yogurt (if you can get your kitten to eat it) is good for diaherrea in cats.

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Posts: 944
From:Columbus, Tx ,USA
Registered: Dec 2003

posted 01-05-2004 09:46 AM         

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You can try keeping her clean with applying some vasaline on her bottom. this will also help with the soreness, and rawness.

As for IAMS...read my newest post. I think you will change your mind on using it ASAP!

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New Member

Posts: 4
From:Australia
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 01-05-2004 01:43 PM         

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after a really good night (not too much diahrrea, controlled and firmer poo), this morning she has had 2 really soupy poos, and now her bottom is oozing a clear mucus looking slime.
help! should i take her back to the vet?

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Posts: 75
From:Sydney,NSW,Australia
Registered: Dec 2003

posted 01-05-2004 02:45 PM         

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how is the kittens demenour ? is she still active ? bright ? happy ?
I would certainly call the vet to discuss over the phone, perhaps the meds are not doing there job and she will need to have a different type....
but if she continues to be bright, and is still eating and drinking, I would wait it out a little longer. Keep up with the meds.

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New Member

Posts: 4
From:Australia
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 01-05-2004 03:22 PM         

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she seems okay, not overly playful or hyperactive like she is sometimes. She's a bit up and down - she started pouncing on a ribbon before, although she seems to prefer just sitting.

I did ring the vet, now she's on some more antibiotics to help restore her bowel lining, pepyosyl, as well as the other stuff, clavulox. The vet suggested I take suki back tomorrow if she hasn't improved.

I'm still feeding her that sensitive stomach food - the vet suggested I feed her one packet a day, but she's still hungry and seems to want more than a third each serving. Do you think it's okay to feed her more if she wants it, or will this make the diahrrea worse?

I also dipped her in some cool salt water (as close to a bath as I could give her, she wasn't very cooperative) and smeared some vasoline on her sore bottom (very good suggestion - thankyou!).

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Posts: 996
From:sheridan, wy
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 01-05-2004 09:55 PM         

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I would think that salt water would dry her bottom out more.

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Posts: 80
From:Vancouver,WA. USA
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 01-07-2004 12:39 PM         

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I'm a little late and may have missed the info on skimming the posts, but has the kitten bean tested for parasites? Coccidiosis is very common among kittens and sometimes will not show in labwork. To my knowledge it does not hurt to treat for worms of coccidia even if the organisms arent present. Hope kitten is gettin g better.
Jenny

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