Kitten recovered from diarrhea. How to reintroduce normal kibble?

There is a possibility that she may have soft stool for the rest of her life, but not diarrhea. This will depend on where the piece of intestine was resected. This is usually no problem. As for diet, I would always recommend a good quality canned kitten food, and later as an adult, a good quality canned cat food. That is one sweet kitty. Thanks for taking such good care of her!

Congratulations on getting Thor! Kittens very commonly have parasites and these will cause diarrhea. A new change in food or bacterial over growth will also cause a loose stool. It also sounds like Thor's rectum is becoming irritated from the diarrhea. Get an appointment with the vet and bring in a stool sample for the doctor check for parasites. Thor will also need a few rounds of vaccines but they will determine if he can have those at the same visit as he is sick with diarrhea. The doctor will prescribe medications to get stop the diarrhea and treat the underlying cause. You can also ask questions about diet recommendations. Best of luck.

Hello, thank you for using PetCoach. I'm sorry to hear that Iggy has had all these issues. It is best to start transitioning him back to his regular food now. I recommend just putting a handful of kibble in with the chicken and rice and just gradually increase the amount of kibble at each feeding (and reduce the amount of chicken and rice) until he is back on straight kibble. This should take 5-7 days. I would also recommend giving him prebiotics/probiotics (I recommend Fortiflora Pro) and use it daily until the stools have been completely normal for at least one week. Not only did the induction of vomiting change the normal flora of his stomach but also the addition of the antibiotics probably did more to harm the GI biome. Antibiotics kill both good and bad bacteria. Fortflora is easy to use - one packet on his food once daily. It is a powder and is very palatable. Each box of Fortiflora has 30 packets so you will have a month's supply. ( https://worldtails.securevetsource.com/itemView/view/223965_HomeDelivery.pml?productId=138172&auto=true ) As for the water drinking, you cannot force him to drink but you can encourage drinking by using some low sodium chicken broth added to his food. Are you sure he isn't drinking from other sources (pool, toilet, puddles, snow, etc)? Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If he is otherwise normal and still eating / drinking, I would withhold food for at least 8 hours and initiate a bland diet as outlined below. If he continues to vomit even on the bland diet or he worsens, I would get him examined by a veterinarian so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. GENERAL INFORMATION A bland diet is a diet that is soft and highly digestible. It is low in fiber, fat and protein and is high in carbohydrates. Bland diets are generally composed of a single carbohydrate source and a single lean protein source. The most common bland diet is boiled rice and boiled lean chicken breast, without skin and bones. Since bland diets are low in fiber, stool production slows and defecation is less frequent. Bland diets are fed to rest the gastric system and to help promote normal stool formation. Animals that are physically sick should not be fed bland diets as a method of treatment. PRIOR TO FEEDING A BLAND DIET Pets should be fasted for 12 to 24 hours. Young animals should not be fasted for more than 12 hours. Fasting will allow the intestinal system to relax and minimize acid secretions that may irritate and inflame the intestinal lining. During the fast small amounts of water or ice chips may be provided. Never fast a sick animal, it may cause disease progression and death. BASIC BOILED RICE AND CHICKEN BLAND DIET RECIPE CARBOHYDRATE SOURCE: Boiled white rice LEAN PROTEIN SOURCE: Chicken breast, no skin and bones BOILED RICE: 1 part white rice with 3 parts water boiled for 20 – 25 minutes or until the rice is easily crushed. BOILED CHICKEN: De-fat chicken breast and boil in water for 10 – 15 minutes or until the chicken meat is easily pulled apart and cooked all way through. MIXING INSTRUCTIONS: Finely chop the lean protein and mix 2 cups carbohydrate source and ½ cup lean protein source. STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: Bland diets can be premade and stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of 48 hours. The bland diet can be cooked in a batch and frozen in feeding sized portions to minimize preparation time. Thaw and warm the frozen diet prior to feeding. PERMITTED LEAN PROTEIN SUBSTITUTIONS Pork loin, egg whites, low fat cottage cheese. 7% low fat hamburger, plain low fat yogurt. PERMITTED CARBOHYDRATE SUBSTITUTIONS Boiled potatoes, boiled spaghetti, Minute rice. PERMITTED COMMERCIAL BLAND DIETS Science Prescription Diet I/D, Eukanuba Veterinary Diet Low Residue, Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Intestinal HE. FEEDING INSTRUCTIONS Estimate 25% of your animal’s diet and feed that amount of the bland diet every 6 – 8 hours. Smaller animals will require less and larger animals will require more adhering to the same carbohydrate to lean protein source ratio. The bland diet should be fed for 4 -5 days with no treats or other food sources until stools are firm. TRANSITION BACK TO A NORMAL DIET Never transition back to a regular diet rapidly. Transition back to the regular diet over a 1 week period. Start by adding 25% of the regular diet to 75% of the bland diet and feed that combination for 2 days. If stools continue to be firm then continue substituting the regular diet in 25% increments and feeding the combination in 2 day time intervals until the diet is 100% regular diet. Minimize treats for 1 week after moving the diet back to 100% regular diet.

I hope Jones is feeling much better. String and cats just don’t mix, do they? In my experience, it has been long enough to start your regular food without any problem. You may experience some diarrhea due to a sudden dietary change again, however. But I will say that I would make absolutely certain with your regular veterinarian that performed the surgery, that this would be OK to do so before actually switching back to your regular food. I hope I have helped you. Thank you very much for your question.

You may want to try mixing a little bit of his old food in with the new food to gradually transition him to the new food. If he still doesn’t want to eat it you could ask your vet if there are any other foods to try for his condition.

Gradually over 4-5 days. Mix the old food with the chicken and rice adding more and more percentage of old food (first day 25% old food + 75% chicken and rice; second day 50% old food + 50% chicken and rice and so on).