My 4-week-old kitten has diarrhea from human milk. What to do?

Make sure they are on a good quality milk replacer such as kmr. Changing it at all between different brands or switching from powder to liguid can cause diarrhea. Increase frequency of feedings to compensate for the diarrhea. And a probiotic such as bene back may help. If constant a vet visit for fluids may be recommended. If they didn't receive colostrum or milk from mom at all they are at higher risk from infections and may not survive despite best care. Sometimes the vet can help with injecting serum from a healthy cat to boost their immune system. Benebachttp://m.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3563 http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=576

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Kitten formula is very hard on the GI tract. I recommend weaning bottle fed babies at 3 weeks slowly over 1-2 weeks. I would get a different brand of formula and mix it 50/50 with the old one. Add more water to it. Start mixing the formula with canned kitten food and get him weaned off formula in the next week or so. He should also be dewormed as well. Good luck!

He could have a sensitive stomach or a malabsorption problem. Unfortunately KMR isn’t a well balanced meal for him to consume after the weaning age (3-5 weeks of age), so it’s best to keep him in a high quality kitten food such as Royal Canin, Hill’s Science diet, Evo, Eukanuba or California natural by Natura. Your vet can run a test to check for malabsorption. This is something that can be treated. I would also recommend trying a probiotic for a few weeks to see if this makes a difference. Over the counter Culturelle is comparable to a lot of the pet formulated probiotics we carry in the clinic. Adding in 1-2 tsp of canned pumpkin (not the pie filling), can also help solidify his stools. If all else fails then it’s best to go back to your vet to have a pcr fecal screening test, which is a little more in depth to check for bacterial infections that would not be detectable with just an in-hospital fecal exam. I hope this helps and best wishes moving forward with your pet Charlie and his loose stool. Take care.

At 8 weeks your kitten can be on a completely solid diet, and if you're feeding regular cow's milk it could be what is causing the diarrhea (cats can't handle milk.) If she doesn't drink a lot and doesn't like moistened food, you can try adding in a pet fountain or other running water source that may encourage her to play or drink a bit more. If she is still having loose stools even after feeding only her regular food, a vet checkup to rule out parasites and GI upset is also a good idea. If she is trying to nurse your other cat, just separating her for a bit can help deter the behavior.

The diarrhea is most likely from the formula she is drinking. I would not be overly concerned at this stage if she is otherwise acting fine. I would see if you can get her to start eating some of this Royal Canin BabyCat mousse. You may have to mix a little formula in with it in the beginning to get her interested in eating it. The sooner you can get her on some real kitten food, the better. https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/royal-canin-mother-and-babycat-ultra-soft-mousse-in-sauce-variety-pack-wet-food

Diarrhea in a kitten this young is definitely very concerning, as is the stoppage of nursing. The fact that the mother is separating her young is a bad sign, as this is usually what the mother will do when she senses one of the kittens is sick, or possibly contagious to the others. You may need to start bottle feeding and/or transitioning to hard food sooner than later to preserve the kitten's health. I would not let this go on for more than a few more hours, as dehydration and hypoglycemia are real concerns in an animal this young and fragile. You may also want to look into obtaining some antidiarrheal medication from your veterinarian. Hope this helps.

She's adorable! I would be a little more concerned that she might have intestinal parasites or another disease causing her diarrhea. I would recommend seeing a veterinarian if you have not taken her in already. They can check a stool sample and she may be old enough for vaccines at this point. If there does not seem to be a medical issue you could try seeing how she does on just wet or just dry food - kittens sometimes do better on one vs. the other.