My kittens have diarrhea and are pooping everywhere. What should I do?

Congrats on your kittens but I'm sorry they are sick! It may be the change of diet that is causing this foul stools, and I would take them off that food. An adult cat food is not appropriate for kittens. They need higher amounts of calcium, protein, and calories than adult cats to grow properly, so they need to be on a kitten food. They may be eating voraciously because they are so hungry and their nutritional needs are not being met with the adult cat food. Take them off the adult cat food, and buy kitten food. Start them on a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken (no bones) in small amounts to see if that helps settle their stomach and clears up the diarrhea, and after two days on the bland diet, start adding in the kitten food. You can mix the boiled chicken with the dry or wet food. Over the next week, decrease the amount of chicken and increase the amount of kitten food until they are eating the kitten food only. If the bland diet does not help clear up the diarrhea, they will need to see a vet. Good luck, I hope this helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Diarrhea can be observed with conditions such as colitis, gastroenteritis, dietary indiscretion, intestinal parasites, among many other possibilities. They probably got it from the mother. I recommend that you have them evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. They may choose to check for parasites and to start medications for diarrhea depending on the results. Good luck! Hoping for a speedy recovery!

Hello! You will want to take your new kitten into your veterinarian to determine what the cause of the diarrhea is so the appropriate treatment can be prescribed. Your vet will do a fecal test and place your kitty on a Rx medication if needed depending on the fecal test results say. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Poor kitties. It sounds like these kitties likely have an intestinal bug causing their symptoms. I would visit your vet to have their stools tested first to determine what bug is present, and then they can get prescribed the appropriate dewormer. They may also need to do a short course of antibiotics to get the gut flora back to normal, especially if you are seeing them straining (colitis). I hope that your little ones feel better soon! Best wishes and take care.

Mother cats typically will clean their kittens and ingest their stool to keep the area clean, however it shouldn't cause GI upset. Hormonal changes, changes to diet, underlying illness, parasites, etc, however may cause GI upset or diarrhea, so if it continues, having your vet take a look in person is best to rule out causes and provide treatment that is safe for mom and babies. The mother cat should start to litter train the babies once they are old enough (usually around the time they start to try solid foods around 3-4 weeks of age), however as they get older, you can start bringing them to the litterbox as well to encourage them to use it.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Kittens may have diarrhea and low energy due to a number of conditions including intestinal parasites, viral infections, or a change in diet. I recommend having both kittens examined by a vet as soon as possible, as it is likely that the condition is contagious. To speed up the diagnosis, I recommend bringing a stool sample from the sick kitten in a disposable container for your vet to check for parasites. It is important to have the sick kitten evaluated as kittens can quickly become dehydrated and have low blood sugar, making them feel even worse. While it is unlikely that your son got sick from one of the kittens, it is possible. I recommend that you have him seen by a physician if you are concerned.

I would recommend starting off with a good dewormer. Also you can add a probiotic or fiber to their diet. If the diarrhea is not resolving I would recommend taking them to a vet for a fecal exam and good physical exam. Some parasites like coccidia need special medications to treat. Hope Mila feels better