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Bloody Diarrhea

Kelly Struble

Savannah Child
Hi everyone,

Thank you in advance for you help! I am an new SV owner and I have a little 9 week old boy who has had diarrhea since Friday (when he flew in). This morning I noticed that he had bright blood in his stool. His stools are very smelly and he has gas sometimes. I have already given him some probiotics and his food remains the same as what he was eating at the breeder. He still has lots of energy and doesn't show any outward signs of being sick but I am worried about the blood in his stool. (I haven't established him with a vet yet since I have had him such a short time, but I do have a vet that I take my Siamese to).

Is this something I should be worried about or is there anything I can do for him at home to help him? He he been confined to a bathroom during the day and comes out into our bedroom to play (supervised) when we are home.

Thank you for you help!!
 

admin

Paige
Staff member
have you taken him to the vet yet? if not, you need to do so and that is probably in your contract as well...I'm kind of surprised that any breeder would ship a 9 week old baby...has this kitten even had a second set of vaccines?

Kitten stools are sometimes smelly and sometimes there is bright red blood, and he may have diarrhea due to stress, but he still needs to go to the vet, who will probably do a fecal and perhaps PCR float...
 

Kelly Struble

Savannah Child
Thanks Paige for your reply. He hasn't had a second set of vaccines yet. I will have had him a week on Friday and the breeder recommended waiting a week to take him to the vet (to give him some time to settle down). Do you think this is an urgent problem and I should take him to the vet today?
 

admin

Paige
Staff member
Since he is only 9 weeks old, that means you got him at 8 weeks? Diarrhea can and will debilitate, especially a small, young kitten, so yes, I would take him to the vet today. Have you spoken to the breeder?
 

Kelly Struble

Savannah Child
He received a good checkup (and lots of attention). The vet took a fecal sample and ran a few tests (everything was ok!) and gave him some probiotics to take. He is still happy and playful so I'm hoping it will clear up in a few days.
 

Brigitte Cowell

Moderator
Staff member
Do watch your kitten closely, when they are so young, their little immune systems are barely working (hence why most good breeders wait until the kittens are 12 weeks or older to let leave home) and their little bodies don't have a lot of reserves...they can fail fast. With diarrhea, watch his hydration levels, if you pinch up the fur on the back or his neck or along his back, in a hydrated cat it springs back immediately...when they are dehydrated it takes longer to go back into place. If a kitten is dehydrated they stop eating and things go from bad to worse fast.

My vet always recommends changing to plain boiled chicken with a little white rice when they have diarrhea, it's better than the food he is accustomed to while his GI tract is obviously inflamed. Then when his stools are better you transition back onto his kibble or canned food.

If the fecal test doesn't show anything, I might ask for the PCR Diarrhea Panel test from IDEXX, it's more expensive but may show pathogens that are missed by a standard fecal float or culture. I'm surprised your vet didn't at least prescribe something like Flagyl which in addition to being a good gastrointestinal antibiotic has stomach-soothing properties... because you'd already said you had him on probiotics before he went to the vet which is 5 days since you received him?

Have you heard back from the breeder yet?
 
D

DocMac

Guest
Is the baby any better? My Djembe, now six, had loose bloody stools for six months. Medication plus a rigorous adherence to a special diet fixed him up, but it took quite a bit of trial-and-error.
 
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