My 1-week-old kitten has loose stool. Is it the milk I'm feeding?

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.

Hello. At 4 weeks of age, you should be weaning these kittens onto a good kitten food. 50 ml of milk 3 times a day may just be too much for them, especially if the kittens are less than 1 pound. The other very big cause of diarrhea in kittens is intestinal parasites. I would bring a sample of the stool to your veterinarian & have it examined microscopically. If anything is seen, then the appropriate treatment can be started. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Kitties can't digest human milk well. This is likely what gave your little one diarrhea. I would switch back to the KMR and start mixing in small amounts of wet kitty starter formula food. You can also mix in 1-2 tsp of canned pumpkin (not the pie filling) to help harden her stools and continue feeding her kitten only food. If he stools are not getting better after 24-48 hrs then its best to take her to your vet for a short course of antibiotics to get her bacterial flora back to normal. I hope that your ktity feels better soon! Best wishes and take care!

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

I would recommend that you take Storm to see a veterinarian. Common causes of diarrhea in a kitten are intestinal parasites like worms, coccidia, or Giardia. You can take a fresh (<12 hours old) stool sample with you so they can test it - called an intestinal parasite screening. If it is not parasites, other causes of diarrhea can be poor nutrition, food allergy, bacterial or viral infection, among a few others.

If your kitten doesn't have a mother to feed her, you need to feed a formula made for kitten (KMR). You need to feed by a bottle every 2-4 hours and then wipe her bottom after wth a wet cloth to stimulate her to poop and pee. Make sure she stays warm because she cannot regulate her temperature. In another week you can start giving a dewormer for round worms and hook worms (follow the instructions on the bottle). At 8 weeks, she needs to see a vet to start vaccines. Good luck and congrats on you new baby!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It appears that there is more mucous than I would like to see in the stool. This could be due to the diet and it could also be due to intestinal parasites. I would recommend switching food to a kitten food and see if that helps. If it does not improve and continues to progress, I would recommend having a veterinarian test her poop sample to check for intestinal parasites. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.