So I have a 3 month old torti female Kitten (named Maddie) that I adopted from the SPCA about 3 weeks ago. About 1 week ago I noticed a red/pink in her stool (which was also runny, not normal for her) I panicked assuming it was blood in her stool and called the SPCA for advice. They told me not to panic, to check her next stools for blood again and if there was more - to bring her in (or see a Vet).
To my relief, I didn't see anything in her next few stools. I also noticed her water bowl wasn't getting very empty (her water is replenished every morning & night and is not near her food or litter box) so I thought perhaps she might of not drank enough & become constipated hence the blood - so I added another bowl of water in another area in the house and did some research online as to how to help hydrate your kitten. I saw a post about introducing wet food as they can be high % water and started feeding her with wet food & her usual biscuits (and the odd bug she catches in the house - she's an inside cat).
The next day I gave her only wet food and later that night she had her first ever accident outside of her litterbox (diarrohea) and again her stool had a pinky mucus like the 1st time. I don't know whether I need to be rushing in to a vet or if it's just my new-kitten-owning skills that are upsetting her stomach? The mucus isn't consistantly in every stool and I just thought I might try for a few opinions before I fork out an arm & leg at the Vets. Any advise or opinions? Thanks!!
Are you feeding her the same as she had in the rescue? Kittens digestive systems are very sensitive and easy to upset so it may be a change in diet has started it off. Has she been wormed?
A lot of cats don't drink much, one of my cats I never see drink so as long as she has plenty of access to water and some wet food I would trust that she's getting what she needs. Even if she is drinking it would probably be such a tiny amount you wouldn't notice the change in the bowl.
this could easily be an intolerance to an ingredient in her food - grain, dairy and egg are the commonest culprits
try giving her steamed white fish and chicken only for a couple of days - if her poo is fine introduce a couple of her current foods - perhaps one wet and one dry - it can be a slow process finding out if there is an offending ingredient, but at least you are in a better position to carry it out than a vet
and try not to worry meanwhile - small traces of blood in the poo is not nearly as serious a symptom as it would be with a human
I had the same problem with a cat I adopted and was scared stiff when she started having runny, bloody and very very smelly stools! I took her to the vets and they tested her for worms, found nothing. So we wormed her but it still carried on and then Mark from this forum said he thought it was diet and recommended me to Purina Sensitive dry biscuits. Within 48 hours problem solved and never returned. It was the grain in the the biscuits she was getting.
I decided to change her to a good quality wet diet and so changed the Whiskas wet to James Wellbeloved wet and no biscuits and three years later it is all good.
If she was a younger cat I would try something like Natures Menu raw diet but she is now 11, is doing well and so after 16 years of cat ownership I am adopting the 'If it ain't broke don't fix it' policy!
Good luck but do not worry this is probably a simple diet change but I would take her for a quick check up at the vets to put your mind at rest.
greenkitty wrote:Are you feeding her the same as she had in the rescue? Kittens digestive systems are very sensitive and easy to upset so it may be a change in diet has started it off. Has she been wormed?
A lot of cats don't drink much, one of my cats I never see drink so as long as she has plenty of access to water and some wet food I would trust that she's getting what she needs. Even if she is drinking it would probably be such a tiny amount you wouldn't notice the change in the bowl.
Thanks greenkitty, it's actually come as quite a relief to hear that her water intake isn't abnormal! The 1st occurrence of the mucus wasn't after a diet change but to be fair, she's quite a skilled jumper and I wouldn't put it past her to have eaten something off a table/bench when no-one was looking that might of upset her stomach. She also was wormed & flea'd just before her adoption, but who knows what she could of caught being in that place between her worming and re-homing. I do have her booster shot, worming and flea-ing booked in with a local vet in 2 weeks so I'll run this past the vet while I'm there also.
I had the same problem with a cat I adopted and was scared stiff when she started having runny, bloody and very very smelly stools! I took her to the vets and they tested her for worms, found nothing. So we wormed her but it still carried on and then Mark from this forum said he thought it was diet and recommended me to Purina Sensitive dry biscuits. Within 48 hours problem solved and never returned. It was the grain in the the biscuits she was getting.
I decided to change her to a good quality wet diet and so changed the Whiskas wet to James Wellbeloved wet and no biscuits and three years later it is all good.
If she was a younger cat I would try something like Natures Menu raw diet but she is now 11, is doing well and so after 16 years of cat ownership I am adopting the 'If it ain't broke don't fix it' policy!
Good luck but do not worry this is probably a simple diet change but I would take her for a quick check up at the vets to put your mind at rest.
Ahh, Misspaws your reply has come as such a relief!! Thank you so much for your in depth response and what you've mentioned definitely coincides with what I'm going through with Maddie - so I'll absolutely start looking a lot closer to what ingredients are in her biscuits at the moment and begin researching a suitable wet food alternative. I'm telling ya, I was panicking that I was going to be dealing with something life threatening - jeez kittens eh! I have her booked in for a booster shot, worm treatment, flea treatment and check-up with a vet in 2 weeks so I'll be elated once my beloved baby gets the all clear
I have her booked in for a booster shot, worm treatment, flea treatment and check-up with a vet in 2 weeks so I'll be elated once my beloved baby gets the all clear 