Conference misery::feline_v1

I don't think that a kitten that young should be allowed to continue
having diarrhea for so long because they can easily get dehydrated
and I'm surprised that your vet is not concerned about it.

If the kitten likes wet food, try mixing half wet food and half boiled
white rice (mash the rice with the food so it's easier to eat).  If
she still doesn't like it, experiment with ratios of food to rice
until you find something she likes.

If the kitten has worms, it won't necessarily show up in the first
stool sample so you might try another one.  Although if it were me,
I'd either have the vet physically check the kitten out again or
take her to another vet.

Pam

You should be concerned...dehydration is life-threatening for a small
animal or child.

IF THE VET FINDS NO ILLNESS OR PARASITES....

and you should have the kitten in for a full checkup....then you must deal
with food allergies....I have the problem, so I can offer these tidbits of
advice:

Switch to Science Diet for kittens and nursing cats (yes, it is expensive,
but has no dyes and is made with only quality food products, and your
kitten will still be getting wet food)....I pay approx. $1.15/16 oz. can
of it, but the cats eat less and remain healthy so I think it isn't
really that expensive in the long run.

MAKE SURE the kitten is not getting to ANY MILK or other milk products
(maybe a loving roommate is slipping the kitten a "goodie" when giving
the other kitten some?) - most kittens cannot digest cow or goat milk
products and get diarrhea....

feed only quality foods - Iams or Science Diet are some brand names to
try - you must avoid unnecessary additives like dyes and stuff and the
supermarket foods have lots of additives to make YOU think the food is
neat...I recommend gradually changing the kitten to dry kibble only
due to the dental problems that cats fed wet food have....it is costly
to get the cats's teeth taken care of each year.  I would add dry
kibble to the moist food, then gradually reduce the amount of moist
food until feeding only dry food - Iams dry seems to work well with my
sensitive-stomached cats....reduces litter odor ALOT as well.

Most important - if this vet doesn't care....get another one!!!  You
must insist on an attentive vet.

    I'd good to another vet, and soon.  Dehydration is serious.  It
    doesn't sound like your current vet is suitable.
    

    I think it's premature to bash the vet.  I can't tell from .0 whether
    the vet was called at the beginning of the two week period, or later.
    If it's when the symptoms first appeared, I can well imagine the
    vet saying "try this and that, and if it isn't cured, then bring
    the kitten in."  I don't believe vets should encourage unnecessary
    office visits when home remedies are still reasonable.  Now that
    two weeks have gone by, it's definitely time to contact the vet
    again.
    
    Also, there's diarrhea and there's Montezuma's Revenge.  Soft stools
    accompanied by gas are certainly a bad sign that should be treated, but
    that's not quite the same as losing water with the bowel movement.  If
    no liquid is being passed, and if the kitten is drinking adequate
    amounts of water, then dehydration is merely an important
    consideration, not a cause for panic.  If, on the other hand, there really
    is water with the stool, then it is difficult for the kitten to drink
    enough water to replace what was lost, so dehydration becomes a very
    serious issue.  In any event, make sure the kitten has drinking water
    available at all times. 
    
    Don't be surprised if the vet can't find anything wrong; diarrhea is
    frequently related to diet.  The answer might just be that you need to
    be a little more patient with the hamburger and rice, and then switch
    to a different brand of wet food. 
    
       Gary

    
    I want to thank all of you for your suggestions.  
    
    I haven't given my kitten any milk and as far as I know my roommate
    hasn't either.  That is one thing I heard that kittens get sick
    when they have milk.  I am leaving plenty of water for the kitten
    which she does drink plenty of.  I tried mixing the hamburg and
    rice with the wet food and she licked all the wet food and left
    the hamburg and rice there.  I think she has her mind set on not
    eating people food.
    
    I will try the suggestion about getting the Science Diet and mixing
    IAMS in with it.  I don't mind spending the money if it's going
    to make her feel better.
    
    As far as the vet goes, he seemed pretty nice and he did say if
    I thought I needed to bring her in again to give him a call.
    He didn't seem to have alot of suggestions on a diet though.  I
    knew I could depend on the notes file for help on that.  
    
    
    I Thank all of you again for your suggestions.  I'll let you all
    know how I make out with the science diet and IAMS.
    
    Michelle

    When Oliver was a little (5/6 weeks) kitten, he had constant diarrhoea.
    This was because he had been neglected before I got him, and
    consequently his stomach could not cope with normal cat food - it
    was too rich.   
    
    The vet told me to feed him exclusively on boiled chicken, until he settled
    down.  I did this, and it worked - just ordinary chicken (human
    type) boiled until cooked and (of course) picked carefully off the
    bones.  He loved it.
    
    I'd still go back to the vet though, just to be on the safe side.
    
    Helen.

Our fifth addition, Coconut, had the same problem.  The beef & rice
method worked for us.  It needed to be the ONLY food given to her --
she got hungry enough after a day -- and once she stabilized, then
we had to try four different food brands until one worked...

The other four thought the food games were fun!

By the way, it takes about two days for the beef & rice to start
working.

Good luck!

Bill (5 indoor and 5 outdoor cat kids)

    I mix Whiskas with a sprinkling of Weetabix for our kittens.
    I also give them condensed milk diluted with water to the consistency
    of normal milk.  Once they are weaned they continue on this to about
    6 months when I cut out the Weetabix and switch to water.  This
    is the diet that the RSPCA give their kittens and as such seems
    fine.
    
    Kate