My kitten has bloated belly, diarrhea, won't eat cat food. Worms?

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Kittens often seem to have bloated bellies. Sometimes it is just their immature anatomy, sometimes it is internal parasites, especially roundworms. If she is eating a wet kitten food, she is probably getting a fair amount of liquid every day. You usually will not see such a young kitten drinking water consistently. It would be a good idea to take the kitten to your veterinarian for a fecal analysis & proper health check. They will determine what, if any worms the kitten has, & administer the proper medication. Take care.

It can take a few days for the stool to get back to normal after having diarrhea. If you haven't yet, I would have your kitten examined by a vet for intestinal parasites, such as worms, Giardia, or coccidia, that can cause a persistently bloated appearance. If a kitten eats a lot, they will appear bloated, but it goes down over time until the next meal. If she is on wet food, and especially if you are adding water, then you may not see her drinking any water by itself. Wet food has a high water content, and she may be getting everything she needs from her food. If she is eating normally, then I would not be concerned about her water intake. Just make sure she has easy access to fresh, clean water.

The most common cause is usually intestinal parasite infection. Submit a stool sample to your veterinarian to diagnose intestinal parasites or bacterial overgrowth. Amaru should be dewormed. This will likely need to be repeated in 2, 4 and 6 weeks. An exam can be done to confirm good health or to diagnose and treat any pre-existing conditions. Consider having him tested for FeLV and FIV. This is done with a quick in-clinic blood test. Feed a food quality canned kitten food. If he checks out healthy, discuss an appropriate vaccination plan with your veterinarian.

He does look very sore and any diarrhoea which lasts more than 2 days in young kittens should be treated as they can rapidly become dehydrated and malnourished if not absorbing food and water sufficiently. I would get a stool sample checked for parasites and also start him on a specialist, highly digestible intestinal diet for 3-5days followed by a good quality kitten food introduced gradually. Probiotics can also be helpful

Given her age there are several things that cross my mind, but a common issue in these young kittens is parasites. Sometimes their parasite burden can be so high that they cannot maintain adequate glucose levels, and also can become uninterested in food and sometimes will begin vomiting. I would recommend deworming her. Also, it would be important to rule out signs of infection and/or sepsis. I think she needs to be seen by a veterinarian right away. Such a young and small animal can deteriorate quickly even with easy to resolve issues like gastrointestinal parasites.

I would be more inclined to think that your kitty is obstipated (inability to defecate). As the pet gets backed up there is no where for the ingested food to go, so the cat vomits it back up. Also the stomach will be firm and distended with feces that collect in the colon. Cats that cannot poop for several days will also get full anal glands, this causes irritation of the bum and scooting. Your poor kitty needs to be take to the vet to likely have an enema placed to relieve the impacted feces right away. I would recommend taking kitty in to your local vet by tomorrow at the latest. I would caution against using over the counter enema's because most contain phosphate, and this component is toxic in cats. I would agree that intestinal parasites are still a possibility here, but obstipation would be my first concern. Your vet can easily distinguish which one is the cause of your cats current state by just feeling her belly and doing a rectal exam. I hope your kitty gets better soon!

If your kitten has not been wormed yet, I suggest you worm him with a kitten wormer and again in 2 weeks. If he has intestinal parasites he would have a problem holding weight and it could also cause diarrhea. You should also take a fresh stool sample to your veterinarian for a fecal exam. If this does not help, if your kitten's diarrhea does not clear up, or if he does not gain weight, or if your kitten gets lethargic or appears ill, he should be seen by a veterinarian for an exam. Make sure you feed him a good quality kitten food.