Kitten question

It’s Friday night, our vet clinic is closed until Monday, and I have a question about kitty poop.  Let me preface the question by saying all the kittens are eating voraciously, are extremely active when awake (and are other sleeping soundly), are growing steadily, etc.  Today, two of the kittens started to develop really liquidy stools.  Tie, the largest kitten, was actually shooting streams of poop from his butt, which would have been quite festive looking if I didn’t have to clean it up.  The first day I brought the kittens home they didn’t poop at all, and the next day they all had really solid poops, but since then the stools have been soft and drippy.  I figured that was okay, as the vet assistant said the poops should “look like mustard” in colour.  I also read an online guide which said that stools would be runny while the kittens were on KMR.  So, I haven’t been worried about runny stools, but today, wow, they’re pooping like faucets, and seem a bit gassy.  The stools are still “mustard”.  Is this a sign of over-feeding, and should I cut back on how much they eat?  I generally just let them eat until they’re full, but if I need to cut them off sooner, I will.

Obviously, if I see any signs of the kittens “going downhill”, I’ll call the emergency clinic.  Right now though, they seem in great shape and really perky.  I’m just not sure if the streaming poop festival is normal, temporary, or if I should be concerned.

To those of you uninterested in feline fecal issues, I apologize for this entry.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/23 at 08:12 PM

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  1. Have a fecal check done. They can have roundworms etc. when they are tiny. And many of the medications (strongid, etc.) are mild enough for tiny kittens. If they were fine, and there were no diet changes, and the feces change, I would suspect parasites have finally reached a life stage where they are affecting their digestive system. Roundworms are very common, and I routinely worm every cat and kitten for them.

    Posted by Susan  on  12/27  at  07:27 AM

  2. Hey Leigh-Ann, just now getting back in touch with the blogosphere, otherwise I would’ve commented earlier.  The main concern with profuse diarrhea is rapid dehydration and electrolyte loss.  Worms can definitely be a cause.  If the d. continues, a vet visit is definitely warranted. 

    BTW thank you for the kind comments on my blog!  Happy New Year!

    Posted by vetmommy  on  12/27  at  06:43 PM

  3. To put some closure on this entry, I decided that the kittens didn’t really have “diarrhea”, but just runny stools.  It wasn’t profuse, they weren’t dehydrated, and after talking to someone at the vet’s office, they seem to think everything sounds normal.  I did a fecal check under my own microscope and didn’t see anything abnormal.  The clincher for me was when I switched the kittens to KMR reconstituted powder for a day, when I ran out of canned liquid.  It gave the kittens a day of solid stools (frankly, it was a nice change of pace), and the runny stools returned when I put them back on KMR liquid, so I think it’s a dietary issue.

    Thanks for the helpful tips and hints, though… I’m always watching for any signs of problems, so the advice comes in handy!

    Posted by Leigh-Ann (aka Mudpuppy)  on  01/02  at  12:46 AM
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