My kitten has frequent runny, smelly poop but seems healthy. Why?

Congratulations on your new kitten - she is adorable! Alley may have intestinal parasites, which are pretty common in cats living outside. It may have taken about 2 weeks for the symptoms to start as the parasites need to go through their life cycle to start causing problems. The diarrhea may also be caused by a bacterial or viral infection, but these are somewhat less likely. I recommend having her seen by a vet as soon as possible so that the appropriate treatment can be started. She will also need a good physical exam to make sure that she is otherwise healthy. I recommend that you wash your hands thoroughly with warm soapy water after handling Alley's litter, as some of these parasites can be transmitted to people.

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.

Your kitten probably has colitis, which is an inflammation in the colon. This can be caused by stress, diet or changes in diet, and/or intestinal parasites. I would guess that Zia probably has all of these issues going on. It is not too early to take her to the vet. In fact, I would recommend it. Severe diarrhea can lead to dehydration which can be very serious in a little kitten. Your vet will need to check a fecal sample and may prescribe some antibiotics and probiotics and a dewormed for your kitten. I hope this helps. Best of luck. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hi there and thanks for posting! Diarrhea or loose stools can be common in kittens with intestinal parasites. I would recommend running a fecal test at your veterinarian's office to rule out parasites as cause. Falcor may need to be on medication and may need a few more deworming treatments and a recheck fecal test to help treat him and be sure he is negative for parasites. Be sure to wash your hands well after touching his feces during little box clean up or if he has an accident on the floor. Hope this helps and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

I would recommend rechecking a stool sample. Parasites are not consistent shedders so he may also had a different intestinal parasites that the dewormer didn't cover and may need something else. I would recommend another visit to your veterinarian to have them perform a stool sample. I would also recommend a prescription bland diet. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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.

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. I recommend that you have him 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!