Kitten underweight

[MinBins]

We brought our loved kitten home at 8 weeks, upon the previous owner recommendation. She's the smallest of the litter, and on her first week we slowly tried to shift her away from whiskas which she was on, as I wanted something with more protein to help her gain weight. She loved that food but even with 80/20 gradual split to new food, she had an upset tummy so I stopped.

She had the runs, and the yesterday she had poo leaking from bum which I cleaned. And now I've put her on a boiled chicken thigh & leg meat diet that I make for her myself. She's loving this, however I've noticed she has low weight compared to what she should be at 9/10 weeks.

Is there anything I can do or any tummy friendly kitten food I can slowly add to help her? She's energetic and isn't lethargic.

Our vet visit is in 2 days so that's why I'm asking here in the interim.

She may have worms - your vet should be able to prescribe a treatment. Is her tummy OK on the chicken etc.?

I would try and get her seen sooner. When you say breeder is this an established breeder of pedigrees or someone who simply didn’t get their moggie spayed?

Chicken meat is not a complete diet for a kitten as it doesn't contain taurine.

Was she OK on the existing food? Continue with it for now as even a change of environment can affect them.

@PracticallyYesterday she has been wormed and I haven't noticed anything in her poos. They are solid and normal now on the chicken.

@Wolfiefan it's not a pedigree cat, and is mixed breed but they own both parent cats. I'll try get her seen tomorrow.

@dementedpixie she was ok on original food, just when I mixed new one in (20% new and rest of it whiskas) she had the runs. The chicken is just till she's back to normal. I'll go back to whiskas 100% and get her checked tomorrow. She seems fine in herself, I'm just worried for her weight.

They give powdered kitten milk at the vet for underweight kittens.

Start with even less than 20%, add literally a little teaspoon of the new food. Good luck!

I'd find a food she likes and stick with it. Chopping and changing is just going to upset her tummy.

Also get some fortiflora powder

So they are just people who CBA to get their animals neutered but let them breed and sell the kittens. 🤬You May have a poorly kitten here. Vet.

Changing food in the first week isn't ideal as they're still going through the stress of a new home, new people and new surroundings. Best to wait until they're fully settled in before trying to fiddle about with their diets ☺️

However I agree with the others that it sounds like she needs to see a vet as soon as possible - I would be pushing for an emergency appointment today in a kitten that small as they can go downhill incredibly quickly.

I had an underweight kitten who wasn't growing - he went an entire week not gaining any weight when his sister (from another litter but adopted together) almost doubled in size. He was wolfing down every scrap of food he could find and actively prowling for more every chance he got.

A vet visit said he was fine physically but younger than we had been told and he wasn't able to digest the food well enough to get enough calories out of it. They said put him back on cat milk for a few weeks.

He wolfed down an entire carton and quickly started gaining weight. He's now a happy 11 year old curled up in my lap while I type this.

Are you sure about her age exactly?