# New Kitten vomiting and diarrhea



## wondercat (Oct 11, 2011)

So Zeus is the kitten that got thrown from a bridge and some teenager saved him and his sister but they ended up at a pound in NJ which is a kill shelter .

I adoped Zeus and he came home on Sunday, they said he was all better and seemed very healthy. On my way home he threw up, I called them and asked if he had done that before and they said never, so I thought it was just car sickness. They gave me a bag of the food they been feeding him so i would not drastically change his diet.

Yesterday he seemed fine all day but I noticed he had diarrhea. And this morning when I got up he had thrown up again. 

He has been in the guest room by himself, could he just be very stressed by himself in a room? I am taking him to the vet tomorrow at 10 but I'm kinda worried. I have not let him even see the other cats cause I'm afraid what he has could be contagious. When I got my other kitten he was also left in his own room and introduced to the rest of the house slowly, but he never got sick.

Any ideas?


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

It could be a stress related issue, or it could be a long existing one. The shelter staff may lie to get the kitty adopted out, or they may not notice the problem before because they have too many cats to take care of. I'm glad you have a vet appointment made. Please keep us posted with the results. In the mean time, I think all you can do is keep him company, make sure he drinks enough water. You can feed him some cat milk (not the cow milk) or a little chicken breast cooked with rice to see if him is ok with it. Good luck to your kitty!


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## Penny135 (Apr 6, 2011)

When a cats enviroment changes they can have a quezy stomach and diarrhea for the first few days. Not uncommon. Its good you are taking him to your own vet tomarrow for a check up though. 

When I brought Mia home (she was 7 weeks old) the shelter gave me a bag of the food she had been fed too (SD kitten). She had diarrhea also. However after a few days it hadnt stopped and she was barely eating it. She was a tiny/skinny little thing and I was scared for her so I gave her some kitten Chow I had (I didnt even slowly transition her). She gobbled it up and kept asking for more. I went out after a couple days and got her a more qaulity food (Nutro Natural Choice for kittens). She started to gradually fill out. She is still a thin kitten but at 5 months old is big for her age. She is looking almost full grown.

Let us know how his vet visit goes and please post some pictures of him. :cool


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## wondercat (Oct 11, 2011)

Ok thanks guys, I guess I'm feeling double guilty cause I need to leave for work now and he will be alone for a few hours, I'm just working half a day though. He seems to have gone through so much poor baby. I posted a pic of him on my Max and Cleo picture thread under "meet my kitty" forum. I will take more pics soon thought. 

P.S. I love having this forum and this awesome cat community hugs to you all!


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## Nan (Oct 11, 2010)

It could very well be the sudden diet change from whatever he had been eating.

If you have other cats, you need to keep him separated anyway before he sees the vet and also to do a proper introduction. In his new home, it's less stressful to be in a room by himself (give him attention and reassurance though) than to have to deal with other cats plus a new big scary environment.


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## wondercat (Oct 11, 2011)

Nan said:


> It could very well be the sudden diet change from whatever he had been eating.
> 
> If you have other cats, you need to keep him separated anyway before he sees the vet and also to do a proper introduction. In his new home, it's less stressful to be in a room by himself (give him attention and reassurance though) than to have to deal with other cats plus a new big scary environment.


The place where I adopted him gave me a bag of the food they had been feeding, I have not changed him to better food yet. His room has all sorts of things to keep him entretained. And yes I have done introductions before so he has his own room and I left his carrier in the living room for the other cats to sniff it and get used to his smell


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## SigmaWhisky (Apr 1, 2010)

Cats are very attached to their territories and a change of one is very stressful to a cat. Try to spend as much time in the vicinity of the cat but don't proactively do anything to it. Let it come to you if it wants.

You do have to make sure that the little guy eats something. A cat cannot go without food for more than 2 or 3 days before it will start to derive proteine from its own organs instead of from the food it eats. This will cause it to die very quickly. 

Earlier somebody suggested some chicken (cooked) and rice. I agree with the chicken part, although I'd give it raw because it contains more nutrients. The rice suggestion I would not recommend because it's vegetable matter and cats are _strictly carnivorous_. But basically, try a few things, either wet food, or some raw meat or fish. As long as the cat eats something, he should be alright for a day or two.


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

> Earlier somebody suggested some chicken (cooked) and rice. I agree with the chicken part, although I'd give it raw because it contains more nutrients. The rice suggestion I would not recommend because it's vegetable matter and cats are _strictly carnivorous_. But basically, try a few things, either wet food, or some raw meat or fish. As long as the cat eats something, he should be alright for a day or two.


Cooked chicken with rice is sort of a classical receipe for cats with diarrhea. I understand what you are saying, that cats cannot get nutrient from rice, but I guess the point of adding rice in is to add more water in the food, and rice is easy to digest, so it won't upset the already weakened tummy. 

Raw food is definitely a very healthy food, but I think (please correct me if I'm wrong) it's harder to digest than commercial food. Plus the sudden change of food will upset kitten's tummy even more. Furthermore, for a kitten that never had raw food before, he may not accept it right away. So I don't think its a very good idea to feed the kitten raw food under this situation. The vomiting and diarrhea should be cleared first before the introduction of raw meet.


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## wondercat (Oct 11, 2011)

Like I said he's been eating but he just throws up and has horrid very liquid diarrhea, and yes I have spooned some of the liquid to take to the vet. God I must be nuts lol. 
Also when I do spend time in the room with him I bring a book and read on the bed. He watches me form a far and sometimes climbs up on me and constantly purrs, or I will play with him and his toys and he will get tired and lay down about 2 feet from me and take a nap. I feel so bad cause I know Max wants to play with him, and I know he wants to meet the cat outside his door too. But I want to do a proper introduction and slowly get him used to the house. Plus what if what he has is contagious or something.


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## wondercat (Oct 11, 2011)

Update
Zeus went to the vet yesterday, they did not find any worms on his stool. And his tummy seemed like it had no blockages. He could just have a tummy bug or be stressed. The vet said he wanted to deworm him again just in case, so he sent me home with deworming stuff and also something for his diarrhea. He eats food with the dewormer fine, but does not like the diarrhea stuff at all, So i had to squirt it in his mouth... and he just threw it up 2mins later. I will keep on trying to give him his meds. They also found 1 flea... wich meant frontline and me obsessibly cleaning and spraying the room where he was staying. The doctor said he combed a lot and didnt find another so not to get to worried. He has another vet appointment next wednesday. But he still needs to be isolated form the other cats. I feel so sad having to work and leaving him alone, but mommy needs to make the money to pay all his vet bills lol


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## catinthemirror (Jun 28, 2011)

I know that suddenly changing foods can cause tummy upsets, but if he's currently eating the same food and still having all these issues I personally would consider seeing if some other kind of food would help. If the food he's currently eating contains a lot of corn or other grains, I'd definitely try grain-free. If he still has issues check the main protein source. Say if it's is chicken, maybe he has a chicken intolerance - see if he tolerates some other kind of protein better. That's just my opinion, but if he's having so much trouble keeping his current food down, alternatives are at least worth exploring. 



yingying said:


> Raw food is definitely a very healthy food, but I think (please correct me if I'm wrong) it's harder to digest than commercial food.


Quite the contrary, for many cats raw is a lot easier to digest than commercial food :smile: It takes less time for raw food to pass through their digestive systems, which suggests it's much easier for them to process. Also I've personally noticed that on raw the volume and smell of my cats stool has decreased unbelievably - their stools are about a third the size they were on commercial food, even canned food. That definitely suggests they're able to utilize more of what they're eating, since they have less waste they need to get rid of. Plus their stools have practically no smell. I know saying that raw makes their poop stop smelling sounds like propaganda or something, but in my experience it's definitely been true.


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## wondercat (Oct 11, 2011)

So the food that they were feding him was:
Eukanuba dry food:
*Ingredients*
Chicken, *Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Meal, Corn Grits*, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Beet Pulp, Dried Egg Product, Natural Flavor, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine, Brewers Dried Yeast, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin A Acetate, Niacin, Ascorbic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), 
And Fancy feast canned food

Both of these are just *BAD* food in my eyes but I did not want to change him to a new food thinking it would make it worse. But I will call the vet and see if I can start mixing in better food cause this stuff is crap. I feed my cats Nature's variety homestyle and blue buffalo bistros and wellness. On a side not, Zeus has not thrown up again, but he still has horrid diarrhea.


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## catinthemirror (Jun 28, 2011)

I agree - that's not a very good quality food for a cat. The corn meal and corn grits especially make me wonder if your cat is having trouble digesting this food, and if that is causing his issues. 

I see that they were feeding him Fancy Feast canned food. I don't think of that as a very good quality food either, BUT that food would be something his body was already used to. Plus there are actually Fancy Feast flavors that are completely grain-free, and I don't think any of the flavors contain corn. If you were to completely take away the Eukanuba you could still feed him cans of Fancy Feast without having to switch him to anything brand new. Then you will know for sure if his issues are because of the corn.

I personally wouldn't hesitate to get him off the Eukanuba and onto what you feed your other cats, but if you would prefer not to change his food while his tummy is upset maybe you could just feed him Fancy Feast for a while and see if it helps...?


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## wondercat (Oct 11, 2011)

I spoke to the vet, he said its ok to take him off the crappy kibble and try to add a little of the good wet food to his fancy feast. He said to to feed him some good dry stuff. Poor baby he is so sad in the room by himself, all he wants is to go out and play with Max. I think the stress that he's in the room by himself is also not helping.


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

I'm sure he'll be back to normal soon, once he settles in. He's a sweet little guy (I saw his picture in your other post)!


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