New kitten leaky bum/weird litter tray habits

[Canyoudigityesyoucan]

16 week old kitten, seems very healthy and happy, first vaccinations done, second due on Friday, and booked into vet.

Has a large, high-sided litter tray which he is diligent about using. Never had any accidents since he has been with us (since 12 weeks)

But he is obsessed with scratching and covering his poo/wees. Moreso his poos. It seems he’s getting poo on his paws or not cleaning his bum, and if slightly soft he’s transferring it around the house.

Bed and sofa have both had poo smears on them and it seems when he has a poo I have to grab him and manually wipe his bum with a soft water wipe and his paws.

His poo isn’t hard, never liquid but soft. He’s eating well, due to be wormed on Friday.

Obviously will mention to vet but has anyone else experienced this? I don’t know if it’s something else or just the loose stools and he’s not yet learned to clean his bum? His tray is massive, it’s clean, lots of litter. I don’t know how I can encourage him cleaning himself more after the toilet or stop him scratching around and getting poo on his paws!

His toilet habits will get better. He's still learning. I can't suggest anything other than laying in wait with a wipe, that's how I dealt with it too. Try one of those dirt-grabbing mats in front of tray too.

Everything should start firming up soon, so it won't be forever. If it doesn't, have a look at his diet. Grain free best.

I put a flattened cardboard box around the litter tray. Dealt with most of it.

They are older and mostly better now.

I don't agree that it's normal - I've had plenty of kittens over the years including a semi-feral who'd never lived inside, and I have never experienced poo smears anywhere in the house. They've all had solid poo from day one, and they've been on a variety of brands of kitten food.

Is he fully up to date on his wormer? With a proper prescription medication from the vets? What diet are you feeding him?

@catelynjane he hasn’t been wormed yet- he has second vaccinations on Friday at vet and the rescue I got him from said we should worm him then.

He has kitten dry food down accessible most of the day and then he will have half a sachet of either Whiska/Felix kitten food although we have been trying him on different food types as he was (in my opinion) very underweight when we rehomed him and so have tried to feed when he wants. He also has three-four times a week some kitten milk as a treat and some poached chicken.

In hindsight it sounds like the food is rich and changing and isn’t helping, but his poos are not so runny as to cause concern!

I wouldn't be changing his diet until you've seen the vet and had him wormed as worming medication can upset the stomach enough as it is, bless him.

If he hasn't been wormed in the month you've had him that probably explains it, kittens need worming pretty regularly in the early weeks.

Thanks @catelynjane I’ll get a prescription strength treatment done on Friday and see how he goes!

He’s a hungry thing too- thought that was just because he was underweight. Will hope that fixes it!

My kitten does this we only got him last week. Every time 🤦‍♀️ I had to buy a plastic bowl and watch him so each time he’s been in the litter tray I can grab him and pop him in a bowl of water with a little dettol otherwise he was getting poo in the house. I use the sani hands wipes on his paws to ensure no bacteria gets transferred anyway as have young dc

The vet said he’s fine that it may just be because he’s in a new environment and is adjusting

If he hasn’t been wormed brace yourself the “load” can be gag worthy. Our vet worms as they come home, then after jabs, then every however long your wormer lasts.

Stick with one wet food for now, chopping and changing his diet may be upsetting his tummy.

I had a cat who would get runny poos with whiskas pouches. A friend of mine had a cat the same. Not sure what ingredient it is as both cats I mentioned were fine with other wet foods. You say soft rather than runny (& very smelly) so unlikely to be that but worth a mention so you know about it.

Soft poo plus ravenous hunger is a big red flag for worms - they're really common in kittens so don't worry too much.

Please don't use Dettol on your little fur ball, it is toxic to cats!

Update! Vet has given me wormer- they can’t use the strong stuff orally as he’s too little and weighs nothing. To be honest they were a bit useless and didn’t really advise me on his runny bum. Just worm and see.

But tonight I watched him have a poo in his litter tray and when I picked him up after his bum was just covered in runny poo liquid and needed a few water wipes to clean it away. Hoping once I’ve wormed him it gets better…..

My cat was like this as a baby, running poo round the house. she’s been eating purina sensitive for 11 years. Must be bored but her tummy issues were solved.

I'd be tempted to stop the kitten milk and the wet food and any treats and keep him on decent dry for a bit. Get the poos sorted and then slowly try reintroducing wet food to see if it has an impact.

As he's a tenacious burier of deposits make sure he has a decent depth of litter.

He has a very deep high sided litter box which I think he likes as he loves to bury his deposits!

He’s now wormed and been on a dry only good diet, I snuck him some cat milk yesterday and this morning paid for it- liquid shit and an arse covered in it, caught him just before he jumped on our white bedsheets but can’t continue this way as we’re going through bedsheet changes every few days and constant bum baths!

So now we will see how he goes after being wormed and sensitive dry food only!