I've messed up with kittens diet- 12 week loose poos

[duffed]

Got a new kitten last week, is now 12 weeks old. I've been very anxious about doing everything right and have definitely messed things up.

Had no problems first few days, healthy normal poos, then had vet visit and vaccinations so they were loose for a couple of days, which I was warned can happen, but they haven't firmed up again. Could do with some advise on what to do diet wise to get back to normal.

I assumed this was because I messed up and changed its diet too quickly -it ate whiskers adult with the last owner, we used blink kitten wet and royal canin kitten dry, but it would only eat a little of the blink and made it very stinky, so we tried sheba kitten which was a no from the kitten, and then untamed which it gobbled up and sorted out the smell but not the firmness so now I've just been feeding untamed chicken in jelly and royal canin kitten dry food, and have been using pro kolin to for last couple of days to try and help. gave it some untamed chicken in gravy last night and loosest poos yet today witch some stuck to its back end.

I trust the untamed is a good food, but maybe I should take out the royal canin, as it has grain in it? or try and get some whiskers again, but not sure if I should stick to untamed now and hope its tummy adjusts - as its not had whiskers for a couple of weeks? I'm assuming the kitten is too young for boiled chicken and rice?

I've been reluctant to take it back to the vets because it was so stressed before, its been wormed and was healthy before the vaccinations and multiple diet changes! Its also been very energetic, playful and eating plenty etc and has never had liquid poo, just soft. If it keeps having poo stuck to its fur will obviously call in on monday though. We pay a subscription for the vet and can video call them etc, but I feel this is a problem of my own making.

My partner thinks I am fussing too much and should just let its stomach settle and stop changing things.

Thank you,

You partner is right that you need to stop changing things. All those different foods in a week and vaccinations is going to cause havoc on such a little tummy.

I’d go back to what the kitten originally was on, wait until things settle (at least a fortnight) and then very gradually start mixing the food with whatever you want to stick with and incredibly gradually build it oil over a few weeks until the kitten is on the new food. Then leave it all alone until the kitten is a year old and then do the same to change over to adult food.

Thank you for replying, I only wondered if it was too late to go back to its original food, or if that would cause more upset? I think it just ate whiskers adult wet food.

I would just stick with what ever youre feeding now. Changing food can cause upset stomach, normally you would mix this in with the old food gradually. I wouldnt go back on whiskas adult food, it doesnt have correct nutrients for a kitten, hence having different stages for food.
My boy goes through stages of having bad stomach, vets cant figure out why but he's energetic so they arent so worried. He has hills dry food for is stomach. Last time I saw the vet she told me to keep him on this only for a week while he gets better.

You could try bland food like boiled chicken for a few days. See if that helps.

Yes he hasn't had whiskas since he came home, as I wanted a high protein kitten food, but realise now I should have gradually changed it.

I wondered about just boiled chicken, and would have already done that if it was an adult cat, but wasn't sure if it was suitable for 10-12 weeks. I felt more comfortable using the untamed chicken in jelly as then I knew it was tender enough for a kitten to get through.

It was doing much better the last couple of days with the pro kolin, I just risked it yesterday with the gravy so think this upset the balance today, and wasn't sure if i should keep on with the current plan or go back to the start.

Thank you so much for your suggestions by the way!

Chicken is fine. Vet recommend to me at a similar age. I believe they also recommend plain scrambled egg (which my cat wouldnt touch) and white fish.

No problem. As I said I have a cat who has recurrent issues. Touch wood we've been OK for months now.

Id still speak with a vet next week if not getting better, kittens can go downhill quickly. They will be able to have a feel, check its hydrated etc and maybe give you some gastrointestinal food. Im sure thats what they did when I first took him (he's nearly 3 now) he didn't eat it though. Typical. When he has an issue they give me steroids so they might try that to settle its stomach.

Oh ok great, I'm much more comfortable giving it boiled chicken than whiskas so I'll give that a go tomorrow and then can check in with the vet on Monday. I was feeling things were on the mend till this gravy upset.

Its drinking and weeing so I'm not too anxious about dehydration (we've got fit litter so I can see how many times its been for a wee over the day!). its never alone at the moment.

The humans in the house have allergies, intolerances and IBS so if it does turn out its just a sensitive tummy cat it will fit right in.

It probably is just the food but better to be safe than sorry.
I have a supply of steroid tablets in my cupboard just incase but fingers crossed I dont need them.
No harm keeping up with the pro kolin, I forgot but the vet also gave me this. Although my cat hates it and I have to put it on my finger and shove it in his mouth, he then proceeds to spit most of it out 😂. He runs if he sees me pick it up.

For pro kolin I just rub it on the kittens leg, and then he licks it clean!

I'll have to try this. I end up with it splattered up the walls 😂 vet said he would just eat it. But i think I have a special cat that does the opposite to anything the vet tells me

How's your kitten doing?

As others have said, definitely stop with the changing food - that’s really not going to help. If you ever need to change food, you need to do it gradually - mixing small amounts of the new in with the current and then gradually increasing.

Secondly, it seems very odd that a young kitten was on adult food already - doesn’t matter what brand, they really should have kitten food for at least a year.

Are they on any dried food or is it all wet food? Personally, I choose dried for mine to graze from and they then have a small tin of wet as a treat each evening.

Whichever you are doing, you need to make sure that their main source of food is classed as “complete”. A lot of wet foods are not complete, hence why mine get it as a supplement rather than their main source of food.

Another option is raw feeding, but that’s probably a whole other thread.

To close, before you look into any other info, the main thing is - stop trying different things in quick succession. This is a young kitten and it’s not good to constantly change what they’re eating.

Hello, thanks for asking, He's doing much better, we have had solid poops for the last few days!

A day of plain chicken breast immediately cleared up the problem. I've stopped the royal canin just in case its the grains casing issues, and keeping things simple with untamed chicken in jelly meals. I've also stopped the pro kolin so can judge how his tummy is reacting to foods.

I'm conscious a kitten can't be on plain chicken for too long as will need complete nutrients . I know we all agreed no more new food, but I have started introducing scrumbles dry kitten food to try and replace the royal canin, but really as just a few treats in the bowl, so will very slowly introduce this. This way I can know he's getting at least some complete food. Hoping to get back to the untamed gravy meals in time, maybe next week if things still look good, but we've got the vaccinations coming up in a weeks time so might push till after then as likely to have more stomach upset after those.

The scrumbles seems like a really good option, as it is grain free, has probiotics and has less of the common allergens so shouldn't irritate him if he does have food sensitivities.

We wanted to mix feed - so offer two tins a day but have dry always on offer. would offer him more wet if he wants it, but his plate is never empty. he's put on 500 grams in last two weeks, so I think he's doing ok really.

I'm aware it needs a good quality kitten food - this anxiety caused the problem! I think they just gave mum and kittens the same food. He's on wet and dry food.

During my heightened anxiety about this poor kittens health, I should probably say that the kitten has been doing zoomies, climbing up the curtains, chasing hot wheels cars around the house and generally seems to be very happy and energetic. My son calls him motor as his purr is so loud.