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Old July 26th, 2011, 12:38 AM
chloe_close chloe_close is offline
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Another fast eater/diarrhea stinky kitten thread

Hey all, you've been such wonderful help to me before, I know this is the place to get some good help.

I'm just not sure which advice to take...

My new kitten is about 10-12 weeks old. I got him from a lady who had the mother and father and 4 kittens to give away. I believe they were indoor only cats but that might not be true. Since I've had him he has been a insane eater, cries like crazy when he's hungry and STINKS. Very gassy and lots of runny poo.

I originally started feeding him about half and half Royal Canin Baby canned food (has grain in it) with Orijen 80/20/0 kibble (no grain, high quality protein, free run, wild caught, no preservatives...yada yada...)

When I took him to the vet, the vet said to stop feeding him the wet food (yeah I know but maybe that was for the best as it has carbs in it). He was dewormed and given first shots.

The vet didn't seem terribly concerned about his gulping of food and gassiness (I realize now that gulping can = farting).
I told him that sometimes he eats so fast and poos so quickly afterwards that I've seen whole kibbles in his poo. He said, 'well he's been completely dewormed (he was given that new one through the skin on the back of his neck one shot deal thing, the name escapes me atm) and if this doesn't stop in a week or so, we may have to try something else (ominous words those) but some cats are just like that.'

Riiiiight.
I am not overly confident in what his 'something else might be' and I don't want to pay for unnecessary treatments and/or tests, really who does?

Switching to dry only seemed to help, but now I attribute it to feeding him less, I was overfeeding him, d'oh!

That was about 2 weeks ago. He is still insatiable, loses it when he hears my other cat eating, (I've had to break my no counters rule for her so she could actually get a chance to eat. Also have to lock him away when I feed Gracie my little dog.)
I have tried freefeeding and restricting food limits both and it doesn't seem to make a difference. He seems otherwise healthy and active, does not drink excessively... just REALLY freakin' hungry.

I poked around here a bit and saw that probiotics are recommended, wet food only obviously (although I do think the Orijens is a pretty good product personally) possibly some digestive enzymes...

OR
that he needs to go back to the vet for more testing. Actually he was never tested, the vet told me that this stuff they dewormed him with was new and kills everything. (True?) I even had a fecal sample with me but they didn't bother with that. They also said I did not have to come back in X number of days to get his stool checked because it WOULD work. This was entirely new to me, but he is a new younger vet with new ideas that took over the old place I went to.

What to do first????

He is due for his next shots soon should I wait and bring a new sample then?

Should I find a new vet?

Should I be concerned that he might have something contagious to my other cat and dog?

Should I try the probiotics or enzymes? Yogurt?
If so can anyone recommend a place to buy these in Edmonton?

Should I just switch to a higher end canned food such as Wellness? I'm kinda scared to do that for fear of the switch making it worse.

Thank you for taking the time to read this very long post!

His name is Monkey by the way... and he's adorable, of course.
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Old July 26th, 2011, 10:35 AM
chloe_close chloe_close is offline
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Just wanted to clear up the fact that when I said I have tried food restriction I meant that I try to feed him really small amounts several times a day... not that I am trying to starve my kitten! LOL.
It doesn't work very well anyways and is a huge PITA to boot.
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  #3  
Old July 26th, 2011, 11:36 AM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Hi chloe_close (and Monkey too),

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
Since I've had him he has been a insane eater, cries like crazy when he's hungry and STINKS. Very gassy and lots of runny poo.
Does sound like something is going on with his digestive tract. Do you have an idea of just how much he's eating per day? What was he eating before you got him?

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
When I took him to the vet, the vet said to stop feeding him the wet food (yeah I know but maybe that was for the best as it has carbs in it).
Ugh. Especially considering the diarrhea, Monkey needs the moisture in the canned food. The vet has it backwards. Although yes, a better canned food would be a good idea. Also, Orijen is far from carb-free. The potatoes add quite a bit of starch, which is necessary to form the kibble nuggets.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
He was dewormed and given first shots.
Really wish the vet hadn't vaccinated him, as vaccines should only be administered to HEALTHY cats. I would skip the boosters until his intestinal issues are under control.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
I told him that sometimes he eats so fast and poos so quickly afterwards that I've seen whole kibbles in his poo.
Definitely not normal. There could be some malabsorption issues and consequently he's not getting enough nutrients from the food, thus the insatiable appetite and poorly digested kibble. Digestive enzymes could help, but I also think Monkey needs to be on a better, simpler canned food. Orijen has way too many protein sources and there's no way to figure out if one of those is causing Monkey's problem.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
some cats are just like that.'
Oh jeez. Those cats that "are just like that" are not healthy or normal, and are almost always on the wrong diet. His lack of insight into this issue is a bit concerning.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
Switching to dry only seemed to help, but now I attribute it to feeding him less, I was overfeeding him, d'oh!
Help how?

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
If so can anyone recommend a place to buy these in Edmonton?
Are you near a Tailblazers store? They could also help you pick out a better wet food, or maybe even a frozen raw diet.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
Should I just switch to a higher end canned food such as Wellness? I'm kinda scared to do that for fear of the switch making it worse.
Wellness would be a good choice. They recently came out with a new line of minced and cubed canned foods that have simple ingredients, are grain/gluten/by-product free, and are a big hit in my house.

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Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
His name is Monkey by the way... and he's adorable, of course.
I think we need some proof of this adorableness you speak of.
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Old July 26th, 2011, 12:48 PM
chloe_close chloe_close is offline
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He is eating 1/3 of a cup a day of Orijen. Potatoes!! DUHHHH. I guess the 0% means zero grains? I thought potatoes were not so bad???

He was eating Kitten Chow. (cue the eye rolling)

It helped that originally when I cut him off the Royal Canin he had smaller, more normal poos but that stopped. I don't know why this occurred.


OK will wait on the vaccines. I did not know that about them.

Definitely DEFINITELY going to switch vets as well. Got a good one to recommend? I live in the Old Strathcona district.

I think first I will go find him some better canned food today and try that (the Wellness one you mentioned). I'm not too concerned about whether or not he will eat it, he will eat ANYTHING and tries to. Which also makes me suspicious that he could be getting into something he shouldn't... plants maybe? Doesn't appear so but I would not put anything past him when it comes to eating.

After that my next step may be to try the digestive enzyme thing. One step at a time...

So you think he has been properly dewormed? How long should I expect the new food to take effect? Should I do it gradually or just straight on over?

There IS a Tailblazers nearby, I had always found it to be astronomically expensive though, I will buy whatever I have to to get him healthy.
I know that Wholesale Pet Supply used to be fairly reasonable but they went out of business. I have heard though that they are now back in business so maybe I will try there as well.

Ask and you shall receive!

First pic ever:




The LOOK after getting caught playing with Baby Kitty's tail (aka. The Cat Formally Known As Abbey):




And just so she doesn't feel left out, it's ruff bein' a doggie ya know? Gracie:



ETA: Thank you!!! :blush:
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Old July 26th, 2011, 04:47 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
He is eating 1/3 of a cup a day of Orijen. Potatoes!! DUHHHH. I guess the 0% means zero grains? I thought potatoes were not so bad???
Potatoes tend to be slightly less noxious than grains only because grains are more allergenic, but cats really shouldn't be eating much of either. 17% of the calories in Orijen come from carbohydrate, which is still too high even though it's lower than many other brands of kibble. But the biggest problem is the lack of moisture.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
It helped that originally when I cut him off the Royal Canin he had smaller, more normal poos but that stopped. I don't know why this occurred.
Hard to say, could be a number of things. For one, Royal Canin kitten contains powdered cellulose, which is basically sawdust. That could have been irritating his bowels and causing more volumous stool.


Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
OK will wait on the vaccines. I did not know that about them.
Ya, and most vets seem to ignore that bit of info, which just so happens to be on the vaccine label direct from the manufacturer. The reason you want the pet to be healthy is so that their immune system can react appropriately to the vaccine "threat" and create enough antibodies. If they're already weakened from another illness, vaccinating can either make them sicker by draining resources better used for getting them healthy, or the vaccine is useless because the immune system doesn't have enough energy to react to it. Over simplification, but that's the gist of it.


Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
Definitely DEFINITELY going to switch vets as well. Got a good one to recommend? I live in the Old Strathcona district.

Don't know too much about vets in Edmonton but there is a holistic clinic in that area that I've heard good things about. Here's the info:

Dr. Steve Marsden, DVM, ND, MSOM, LAc, Dipl.CH
Dr. Karen Marsden, DVM, CVA
Edmonton Holistic Veterinary Clinic
8215 - 102 Street,
Edmonton, Alberta T6E 4A5
Phone 780-436-4944
Fax 780-438-0465
Small animal, certain exotics, human
Holistic Practices: Chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, Chinese and Western herbs.



Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
So you think he has been properly dewormed? How long should I expect the new food to take effect? Should I do it gradually or just straight on over?
Gotta run, will try to answer these questions later.

And OH MY GOD, what a cutie-pie Monkey is. As are Gracie and Baby Kitty.
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  #6  
Old July 26th, 2011, 07:13 PM
chloe_close chloe_close is offline
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Well after much searching and hemming and hawing I came home with a 12 pack of Wellness Kitten Formula. I hope that's okay...
I could not find the new line that you referred to. I also saw the Before Grain line of foods but I've never heard of them before and to be honest the 'President's Choice-y' look of the packaging scared me off of it. LOL.

Now that I'm at home on the computer it appears that it might have been a better choice. (?) They don't have a kitten version of that though (does that matter?) so I went with the Wellness.

I decided to go with a straight up switch to the new food. I figured that his tummy is already messed up and if the food is the likely cause of it then I'm doing him no favours by making him eat it any longer than necessary. I really hope that was the right action to take.

I wasn't sure how much to feed him either. It says for a 20 week or less kitten to feed as much as they can eat 3-4 times a day. LOLOL! I'm pretty sure he would eat until he exploded.

I gave him about a third of a 3oz. can and smeared it around. ???

The 21-30 weeks guideline says feed 2/3 of a can per pound of body weight. Except that I have no idea how much he weighs. I would imagine he is underweight for his age but he is not really skinny or anything. I don't even have a scale in the house of any type so that's no help.

(Pleasepleaseplease let those be the right decisions!)

It actually took him longer than 30 seconds to eat it!! WOW. And he didn't run to the litter box immediately after either. And mannnnn... is that dish ever cleannnnn...

I guess we will just wait and see what happens next...

I have seen that holistic vet (thank you for the rec) it is quite close to me, however I've not ever been to a holistic vet and have no idea what to expect.

Glad you enjoyed the pics, they are after all the least I can do for all the help you've given me, thank you so much!! Sorry to be such a pain with all the questions!

FYI Edmonton and Area People:


Trident Wholesale Pet Supply is going to stop carrying Wellness and everything they have is on clearance prices. I only talked to them on the phone and they seem to have a limited selection but it might be worth checking out.
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  #7  
Old July 26th, 2011, 08:27 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
Well after much searching and hemming and hawing I came home with a 12 pack of Wellness Kitten Formula. I hope that's okay...
Wellness Kitten is great! I fed a lot of it to my momma kitty (semi-feral that I trapped) and her 5 babies.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
I could not find the new line that you referred to.
It's really new, so probably not stocked at very many places yet.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
I also saw the Before Grain line of foods but I've never heard of them before and to be honest the 'President's Choice-y' look of the packaging scared me off of it. LOL.
Before Grain is pretty good. The texture is a little grainier than Wellness but the ingredients are decent and not very complicated. My cats are kinda hit-n-miss with it as far as how much they like it. (Hilarious about the "President's Choice" reference - never realized it but you're so right!).

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
They don't have a kitten version of that though (does that matter?) so I went with the Wellness.
Doesn't matter. Kitten versions usually have a slightly higher fat content but it tends to be more of marketing gimmick than anything.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
I decided to go with a straight up switch to the new food. I figured that his tummy is already messed up and if the food is the likely cause of it then I'm doing him no favours by making him eat it any longer than necessary. I really hope that was the right action to take.
That is actually what I would have recommended as well, for that very reason. A more gradual switch might have helped if you wanted to avoid GI issues in the first place, but since he's already got 'em, there's no point in wasting time.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
I wasn't sure how much to feed him either. It says for a 20 week or less kitten to feed as much as they can eat 3-4 times a day. LOLOL! I'm pretty sure he would eat until he exploded.

I gave him about a third of a 3oz. can and smeared it around. ???
Good thinkin about smearing the food on a plate, that should help slow down his hoovering. Maybe try giving him 1/2 can 4 times a day? I can't remember how much my kittens were eating at that age, but it seemed like a lot.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
I don't even have a scale in the house of any type so that's no help.
Did the vet weigh him at all at his last visit? Many vet clinics will let you bring in your pet for a weigh-in, no charge. Not urgent that you do that right away, but at some point it would be good to make sure he's gaining weight.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
I guess we will just wait and see what happens next...


Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
I've not ever been to a holistic vet and have no idea what to expect.
It's a little different from a regular vet in that they take a much more thorough history of the animal on the initial visit (not that a 10 week old kitten has much of a history ). This can cost more than a conventional vet would, but the goal is to heal the whole animal, not just suppress symptoms and have the problem keep coming back (saving money over the long-term). Many holistic vets also integrate allopathic medications when necessary.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe_close View Post
Sorry to be such a pain with all the questions!
Not at all! I hope Monkey gets over his poopin problem.
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