What could be causing diarrhea and a swollen a**s in a 4 week old kitten?

Question

I am fostering 3 abandoned kittens, I've been bottle feeding them KMR and introducing them to wet/solid food. So far everything was going okay. One of the kittens is super fat and greedy I was scared of over feeding him so I've been making sure he doesn't eat too much. The others are all doing great and stop when they are full he wants to eat and eat if I'd let him.. Anyway they were all fine until today now the fat one keeps getting a poopy bum and his a**s is a little swollen and red. It's not pro-lapsed as far as I can tell just irritated and he has diarrhea. The other 2 are pooping normally and have good consistency stools.. Up until today the fat one did too. I read that over feeding can cause diarrhea, other than that I'm not sure what the problem is. As always if it doesn't clear up or Mitchell(the kitten) becomes noticeably ill he will see a vet. I'm just wondering what could have caused this and what I can possibly do to resolve the issue on my own. He's eating fine and healthy otherwise.. just this issue starting today.. I'm wondering if it is because of overfeeding? How can I make sure he gets enough while avoiding giving him too much??

Answer 1

Sounds like a couple things- milk products cause diarrhea in cats and kittens - just little bit of milk will do it- many many cats are lactose intolerant- check the ingredients in KMR-  also grain products are bad, bad, bad for kitty- are there grains in the supplement you are giving them? ( look for wheat gluten- corn meal, any thing "corn" or "wheat"- allot of times you will see "corn syrup" as an ingredient and this is good if you are trying to revive a cat who needs some energy from being sick or what ever but for daily feeding its best to avoid )  also a change in diet causes diarrhea too- changed food recently? Internal parasites are another thing that comes to mind- are they old enough to be wormed? If the diarrhea goes on for three days I would get them in to the vet- diarrhea can cause dehydration in cats and it happens pretty fast- check kitty for dehydration by pulling up on the fur on the Knapp of its neck- if it bounces back smooth and fast- kitty is good- if it is sluggish in its  return or seems to not bounce back with ease- like its sticky- get kitty in to the vet asap-  

Answer 2

Hi there, just in your saying that it is only mitchell affected and not the others it's got me wondering if  he has developed a sensitivity/allergy to the food you are feeding, or maybe he is an irritable bowel cat or it may even be a hunia. it maybe a simple case of over feeding but you sound to be a fairly intelligent being and that is why i question the other things i listed. Often it is reccomended that the animal is fasted for 24hrs and only given fluids in case the ailment is a gastro bug. how long have they been having wet/solid food?

Answer 3

More than likely it would be some sort of worm, which is normal in puppies and kittens, also, maybe a new kind of food. But taking the kitten to the vet is probably a good idea. a cheap solution for the vet is bringing your pet to the petsmart clinic thing, i know like tuesday and thursday they have free vet visits so it wont be too expensive.

Answer 4

Ohhh poor kitten :(

The swelling of the peri-anal area is caused from the diarrhea.  Washing it will sometimes cause even more irritation, so what you can do is apply some Preparation H (or any topical cortisone ointment) for some relief, and hopefully to reduce swelling and irritation.   If you have Witch Hazel, you can also dab some on his little bum, too.

I'd stop diluting the KMR, just use as directed BUT introduce (moistened slightly) solid foods now, no more wet food.  More often than not, I see diarrhea caused by wet food.  If you're worried about dehydration, give kitty some Pedialyte - unflavoured, of course :)   If the kitten won't drink it on his own, you can drop little drops on the top of his paw so that he'll lap it up.  You can do this if you don't want to syringe-feed it to him.  Don't change the food too suddenly, either, half and half today and reduce from there.

No matter what is causing the diarrhea, whether it be dietary, infection, bacterial or viral, you will still need to replace the healthy gut flora in kitties tummy.  You can do this by feeding a small amount of plain, live-culture yogurt such as Activia.   Or you can purchase some probiotic paste or powder from a health food store or a homeopathic vets office.  

Of course, relieve stress -- yes, yours, too!!   Keep hydrated, give good quality kitten kibble and stop diluting the KMR.  At four weeks they *can* be sustained on kitten food, with little-to-no KMR.  Just remember to leave out fresh water alongside the saucer of KMR and kitten food.  

Hope this helps.  This is the route that I used on my last orphaned litter as I had the same issues with one little one; the runt... and of course, my favourite!

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn283... he's the one to the left.

Again: http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn283...

and last one! http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn283...

Answer 5

I would take him to the vet before he becomes noticeably ill..kittens are too fragile to wait on something like that. I wouldn't try to self-diagnose him...it could cost him  his life

Answer 6

worms