18 week old kittens have runny poos

[hellsbells99]

Hi all.
after some advice please regarding kitten food.
My adult DD got 2 kittens about 6 weeks ago from a rescue centre. They were 12 weeks old, not had the best start in life and very small (one in particular). They were being fed on dried royal canin kitten food and sachets of adult supermarket wet food - we were told wet kitten food wasn’t suiting them.
Our vet said they were lovely healthy kittens but we should try and get them on to kitten food so we have been trying different combinations for a week or two at a time with slowly introducing a bit at a time etc. Not getting very far.
Tried Felix (thinking that mirrored the supermarket food the most) and Blink - they do seem a lot worse on Blink. Most successful combination so far is mixing some blink into some Aldi adult cat food in jelly - still loose poos but not as bad.
and they fart!
Any ideas for other food to try?
They were wormed when we got them and the vet has wormed them too - due to be done again (got to phone the vets with their current weight). They are definitely growing and have stacks of energy and their coats are now getting shiny. The vet has also said not to spay them until at least 6 months because they were small when we got them.
They are gorgeous but it would be nice to have firmer poos!

Kitten food was too rich for my kitten and gave him diarrhoea. He was fine on adult food.
If the cats have been on adult food previously and we’re fine, just switch them back to that?

Hi @DarkAndWild
thanks for replying. I think we may have to look at doing that - although the poos were not solid then but less diarrhoea. It was the vet who wasn’t happy that they weren’t being given kitten food. She didn’t seem worried about them at all as they are growing.

Did you transition food gradually? If you just change it can upset their stomach. I think we transition over a few weeks.

Just realised you said you introduced slowly. We feed blink and our kitten loves it. We transitioned from iams. We did it very slowly, like a spoon of blink in with the iams for at least a week. Then half and half etc. Think we did it over at least a month.

Sorry just thought of something else. When our boy ever had runny poos we would just feed chicken/white fish for a couple of days until his poo was better and try normal food again. This usually worked. Think vet said scrambled eggs too, just the eggs no milk or butter or anything extra.

Our kitten had runny poos for weeks when we first got him and the vet gave him a probiotic paste which sorted out the problem pretty much straightaway.

Thanks for all your replies. We have gone back to mixing a bit of the adult food back into the Blink today and they already seem a bit more settled.
@Luana1 was this the paste? ….if the picture attaches! I remember my sisters dog having that. So will order some.

I think it was this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Promax-Nutritional-Supplement-Small-Syringe/dp/B007A00NSM but the one you've linked looks similar. Hope it works :)

Thanks @Luana1 We will order some - fingers crossed 🤞🏼

Definitely try the probiotic paste. Our previously fine young cat developed diarrhoea so bad he was dripping it everywhere he went. After a dose of that paste he was back to usual.

@SummerEnding thanks - I have ordered some.

I second the probiotics. I have two young (10 months) rescue boys, they were 10 weeks when I got them. Both had quite severe runny bums when they came to me and a vet suggested probiotics. I just use kid's probiotic powder from the chemist - the one I use is Inner Health Plus dairy-free powder. You just sprinkle it over their wet food (don't even have to mix it in), no more than an eighth of a teaspoon when they're really small, but it doesn't matter if you 'overdose' a bit. There's nothing harmful in it. Both my kitty boys where doing normal poos in a few days. I have kept them on it and plan to continue for as long as I can be bothered - my two adult cats get it too now. Also, I'm not sure if you know this, but kitten poo isn't meant to be completely solid. It will always be a little soft until they are much older, usually after a year. Good luck with your little ones!