Cat leaking poop

[Lovely leigh]

So I got two kittens at 13 weeks old - no immunisations. All seemed well. We named them foxy and ivy. They didn’t settle well and ended up with diarrhoea and stopped eating. Ivy also started with conjunctivitis. So me being me I took them to the vet and got them both checked out. Ivy got some drops which sorted one eye but not the other so got antibiotics. They were given a clean bill of health. Then foxy ended up with it so she has antibiotics too. All the while they both had diarrhoea. When they started eating again after 5 days I gave them chicken and carrots as ordered by the vet and then gave them wainwright wet food and Lilly’s kitten food.

2 weeks later no change in poop. So I decided to try them on Royal Canin as this is said to be better for sensitive tummies. They had a mix of the two for 5 days and then since Xmas they had been on that but at the same time ivy started to leak poop from her bum and bum hole looking rather large when I took her back to get the antibiotics for her eye. Vet at the time said it was a sign she was ready for a poop. But it was like all the time and wasn’t stopping. At the weekend we put them on the Royal Canin sensitive care food. This has helped a little as there isn’t as much poop leaking but she is still leaking causing her bum and tail base to be sore so decided to take them to the vet.

We had wormed them again on 3rd jan as we did in 3rd Dec.the vet gave them both a worming tablet for other types of parasites and are both on antibiotics (we are on day 3). Vet also said they had intestines that were working too quickly. They are not dehydrated or underweight surprisingly! Foxy is bigger at 2.6kg and ivy is just over 2kg. They have put on weight. Foxy is now pooping solid I do believe and although ivy is now only going twice a day she is still leaking out of her bum a little poop and obviously gets on our furniture.

They are eating, drinking, urinating and playing fine. Complete nutbags!! The only thing I can think of is to put them back on the tripe they were on when they were with the breeder?

Has anyone else had this and any idea what it could be? If on Monday she is no better then we are back to the vets for blood tests and poop samples... my bank balance doesn’t really want it to get to that but will if I have to! All in all foxy will have had runs for approx 6 weeks and ivy 7 weeks now... sometimes it’s been like toothpaste but nothing better than that since the day we got them!

Update: ivy has just done a fairly solid poop - lots of form but started with a small amount of diarrhoea but was well chuffed... but still leaking from her bum...

[Lilith]

Hi and welcome

Yeeueccch ...

There are two possibilities that spring to mind. Worms, or teething. Teething can cause sloppy motions but passes ... I've noticed kittens don't seem to teeth at a uniform age. And worms can cause foul yellow stools and the squitters ...

Having just had to deal (or rather my vet did) with an elderly adult leaking diarrohea (poor girl!) because of being bunged up and the following faeces queuing behind the blockage (oh and the smell!) I can sympathise.

I'd keep in touch with the vet, and if they haven't been wormed, I'd get them done, with vet-prescribed stuff. It's good that they're lively and well

Hopefully this may pass with time - certainly the teething thing will, if that's the cause.

All the very best!

[Kay]

I have had this with a kitten who had a prolapsed bowel - leaking poo and some swelling around the anus

I can't believe your vet would miss such a thing though, but you might like to do a bit of googling to see what you think

[Lovely leigh]

Hey guys,

They have been wormed with vet prescribed stuff - spot on and tablets. But she is teething! She lost one of her baby teeth and her adult one is growing so maybe that’s it.

Although she now has swelling around her anus so I wonder if it is a prolapsed Bowel. What was the treatment for this?

[Lovely leigh]

Also her poop has always been dark brown. So colouring is normal

[Lovely leigh]

Could she have been teething for 6 weeks?

[Lilith]

Ah ...

I'm not sure - it's been a long long time since kittens. There are plenty of people on here who will know, though. But to be sure kittens do take their time about it. Poor little devils. Also their motions often have a disgusting smell, like burned rubber. The haws - inner eyelid (technically known as nictitating membrane - ie that thing in the inner corner of the eye as far as I'm concerned) can be prominent too; like human babies, teething can muck up their whole system. Or else they sail through it and you don't notice a thing.

Could be a good idea to get her checked by the vet again if her anus looks abnormal. But I hope all is ok.

Good luck with her and please keep us posted

[Mayday21]

Hi definitely get vet to check but if they’ve missed a prolapsed bowel. Have the tested for coccidiea (sp)a nasty parasite & contagious .....?

[Lovely leigh]

So I’ve been keeping vet updated with how they are doing. So far nothing has been tested yet as they having been given an extra worming tablet and antibiotics to cover various things. It’s protocol for them.

Foxy is now fine - doing solid poops so something has helped her.

Vet gave their eyes a clean bill of health when we went on Monday.

Ivy is now doing slightly more solid poops for last 24 hours but still not as solid as it should be and she is still leaking from her bum and straining to empty her bowels. I can’t find anything on google (to see symptoms) for a prolapsed bowel only prolapsed anus. Is that the same thing? She doesn’t have a prolapsed anus yet but wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up having one. Each time she rests her anus goes back to where it should be. We have till Monday morning on antibiotics so if no further improvement is seen then it’ll be back to the vet for ivy to see if we can understand what it is. I have googled for others having this experience and most have said they grow out of it but after pervious experience with my other cats dying and I didn’t even know anything was wrong till the end I don’t wanna leave any stone unturned!

Sorry for being so descriptive.

[Lilith]

Not at all - the more info the better and this may be helping other people.

I've no experience with kittens in this state, save for a very tragic intussusception, which is basically a folded up gut and definitely not the case here by the sound (believe me!) but Mouse, my 17 year old cat, has had two episodes of constipation needing vet intervention, the most recent one leaking diarrohea, and the anus has been distended but gone back to normal after passing stools, and this in an elderly cat with weakened muscle tone, so, in a healthy lively kitten, I do hope there is no prolapse, but as Kay says, a good idea to keep monitoring her. Good luck Ivy - and the news sounds hopeful if their motions are beginning to firm up.

[Lovely leigh]

She has a prolapse anus when defacating but then goes back to normal. Since starting the sensitive food the leaking has reduced but is still occurring - at times is watery poop and other mucus. Today has been mucus mainly.

Her behind is looking a lot less messy. Although her stools have started to firm up I still work about the leaking. It’s rather annoying too!

Teething would make sense as it did coincide with her loosing her baby tooth and her adult one has been pushing through. I have 2 more half tablets to give them and then I’ll be calling the vet Monday evening to see why he thinks.

I have them booked in for their jabs on Friday so if he thinks they are okay for jabs I want to get them done ASAP since the breeder didn’t bother.

I’ll kee this post updated with progress and what vet says. Any further people with experience of this would be greatly helpful!

[Lovely leigh]

Update: the vet seems to be puzzled and is asking a specialist! He thinks it could be a good intolerance.

Ivy’s poop has filmed up to a loose stool but is still leaking from her bum... thinking of putting her back on tripe like they were on with the breeder as she was fine...

[Mayday21]

Keep us posted. Hope the specialist has answers. Tripe YUK...Vivian

[Lilith]

Triiipe .... eeewww!!!

This reminds me of autumn 2002 when a tribe of ferals joined me. Emily (avatar cat) had brought me 5 kittens and was with them in the house; Tess and Mouse (Mouse is still here) were camping in the back shed or rather the Victorian outside bog (they moved in with me pretty soon too) and a kind neighbour's sister would bring them goodies (had shared access in those days.) I went down the yard in the dark and skidded on a pile of sloppy tripe she'd left outside on the paving.

I think the cats liked it though. Probably enough to make a cat laugh too!

I'm not terribly knowledgeable about food remedies, but plenty of people on here are ... I believe venison is well-thought of too, for cats with wonky stomachs. I've cooked it on occasion and my younger cat LOVES a strip of it raw to chomp on - good tooth cleaner too; she SAID she liked raw beef so I bought a pack and snipped it up to feed fresh and to freeze as 'toothbrushes' ... would she touch it? No. It's in the freezer, will serve the human as shepherd's pie or curry or something. I say this as the little horrors will go mad for something they think they shouldn't have, up on the counter where you're preparing it, but the minute you get a supply in, specially for them, they'll turn their faddy little noses up at it ... beef or venison might be recycled for the humble human, but who eats tripe?

Ah, edit - an old remedy said to be good for loose stomachs - braised liver. I sometimes cook this and sometimes they'll share it - obviously something to be fed rather as a treat, and not with onions or seasoning, but perhaps worth trying?

Good luck with Ivy and fusses to the pair of them

[Lovely leigh]

When I say tripe it’s the tinned dog food stuff and these do eat it lol

[booktigger]

That explains a lot, dog food doesn’t contain enough nutrients for cats to live on, and most stomach issues in kittens I’ve fostered have been when they haven’t had the correct food when weaning, unfortunately it can take a while to resolve. Does your vet know what they were eating when you got them? I am surprised your vet is speaking to a specialist when he doesn’t seem to have done what my vet does as standard – normally you would do a 5 day course of Panacur, as the tablets and spot ons don’t treat common parasites such as guardia. I’m also surprised that they haven’t been given some probiotics, antibiotics can cause upset tummies in normal cats, much less ones that weren’t solid to start with. You can use live natural yoghurt. You may need to put them on what they are used to temporarily and then introduce cat food slowly, although I would use a sensitive diet – my neighbours cat prefers Kattovit sensitive (bought online) to Royal Canin.

[Lovely leigh]

They have been on panacur too and I have probiotics that I have been giving ivy (granted I forgot yesterday). The tablet given to them cover Giardia and other worms.

He’s talking about fecal samples too... I just can’t afford all this and as much as I want to do what is best for her...

I think putting them back on what they used to have won’t do her any good as she has been on kitten / sensitive food for about 2 months now

[Lovely leigh]

It wasn’t panacur they were on it was norbrook. So they are now on panacur for 3 days and poo sample going in on Monday after we have collected what we need... no vaccinations for them today but got them microchipped so slowly getting there!! Lets hope we get her cured somehow! I think it’s t. Foetus to be honest

[booktigger]

Surprised they only said 3 days, I'd have thought 5 would be better at this stage

[Lilith]

It wasn’t panacur they were on it was norbrook. So they are now on panacur for 3 days and poo sample going in on Monday after we have collected what we need... no vaccinations for them today but got them microchipped so slowly getting there!! Lets hope we get her cured somehow! I think it’s t. Foetus to be honest

EWWWW!

I'd never heard of this!

https://icatcare.org/advice/cat-health/ ... ction-cats

What really gets me is that the article says the lurgy can survive in the intestinal tract of the slug. Years and years ago my dog left a pile in the back garden overnight (I was usually far more particular and cleaned the stuff up straight away, honest) and when I did go to clean up, it was covered with disgusting slugs, feasting ... bleeaghhh ...

So, a VERY good argument for cat trays to limit bowel infections.

I'm also reminded of an awful episode in 1982 where a friend of mine had an outbreak of kitten diarrohea in her shelter ... those kittens, despite vet attention, just wasted away (with hindsight I believe dehydration was a big factor but vet treatment was antibiotics; they didn't seem to advise about electrolytes.) I wonder if it was this?

But good luck to Foxy and Ivy!

[Lovely leigh]

Well the strange thing is that she is still putting on weight, not as much as her sister and they are both very well hydrated too. When we first got them ivy was 1.2kg and foxy 1.6kg. As of today ivy is 2.3kg and foxy is 3.1kg. So doing well for under 5 month old and have almost doubled in weight for both of them.

I hate that the breeder never got them vaccinated and due to illness i haven’t been able to do it yet!

I just wanted 2 healthy kittens... is that so much to ask for? I went through a traumatic experience loosing my 15 year old cats on the same day last year before getting these...

[Lovely leigh]

So for anyone reading this, the poo sample came back with Giardia. Easily treatable. Ivy is now on 2 weeks of the medicine and foxy on panacur for 3 days and if it’s not gone she will go on the same medicine. If not cleared after 2 weeks then she will have it for a third but hopefully not needed.

I will update following completion of the treatment.

[booktigger]

Good luck - with them being that age, you might find it doesn't clear that easily, when I was with CP we took in 3 5 month old kittens that after months of trying different foods tested positive for guardia, they were over 12 months old when they finally cleared, the main problem with more than one having it is that they keep transferring it to each other. Unfortunately, this is the downside of not buying from a reputable breeder.

[Lovely leigh]

Thought he was reputable...

[booktigger]

No reputable breeder would sell unvaccinated kittens

[annahal]

Hi long shot but did this problem resolve? I have a new kitten (6 months old, neutered but was also not vaccinated when I got him...) who has had a leaking anus and gets poo on almost everything since he moved in a month ago. I have his second vaccine booked this week but need to bring up the poo problem. He fell ill the week I got him(!) so initially I assumed the poo problem was because of this or a potential change in diet (the foster sold me a bag of food but his lack of enthusiasm for it made me wonder...). I literally just oozed some out of his bum - I have to follow him around with wet wipes. It's awful, and he's such a friendly little guy!

[Emmagx80]

Might help, we also had this! 3 kittens ended up with campylobacter which then triggered ibs in 2, we have literally tried ever gastro and sensitive food going, leaky bums the lot! Thea the girl her bottom also looked like it was protruding as it was so sore, you are not going to believe which cat food has worked!! First hard poo in months!!! I was shocked it worked in 24 hours, royal canin bloody oral? Why I do not know but it worked on all of them straight away, might be worth sampling it.

[Bear2022]

Aww I feel your pain, my little kitten now 19 weeks has had Diarrhoea since we got him from the breeder at 9 weeks and still has leaky bum. After lots of vets visits and expense his stool samples came back saying he had campylobacter. He had 3 lots of antibiotics and I still couldn’t get the leaking to stop. He doesn’t seem to be able to tolerate any kind of kitten food, boiled chicken or fish so he has been put on Purina HA dry food and this has helped to firm up his stools somewhat but he still has a leaky bum so constantly having to clean up after him and wipe his bum. Hoping it will improve as coming up to two weeks on the special food… we’ve nicknamed him squitz cause you’ve got to laugh or you’d cry. Glad to hear the Royal Canin helped might give it a go if the leaking doesn’t subside xx

[JanFord]

Hey there
I am having this problem with my kitten. She was put on antibiotics, two types of worming. Her poop still keeps coming out. Did you ever find a solution?
Thanks
Jan

[nursenaomi13]

Dealing with the same with a 6 month old kitten who we've had since she was 2 months old...we have done all tests, changed to prescription food, done panacor, deporting 3 times , a special antibiotic for Feline Coronavirus (not the same as Covid) and she is STILL leaking poop. We have spent A LOT of money and am just as lost as to what is causing this. It causes a lot of stress on us and the poor cat. Just don't know what to do anymore...we can't live like this but I can't give up on her either. Any thoughts would he helpful!!!