Hi we have a 5 month old bengal cross kitten called Simba.he is having runny and smelt stools about 3 or 4 times a day every day.hes been to the vet who said to try him on different foods. From the breeder he was on whiskers on gravy wet food and purina dry food.he was ok at first.then after couple of weeks was having runny stools.we have tried him on felix,gourmet and applaws wet foods and his stools seem to be getting worse.does anyone know what's best to give him for wet and dry.we have to watch every time he goes to litter tray as he gets it over his feet and we have to wash them.hes a very active kitten and seems to be fine in everything else

My understanding is that changing your cats diet should be a gradual process. If my old family cat was ever ill with vomiting or the runs, we'd put her on cooked rice & chicken, then when she improved we would slowly transition her back to her main food.

The problem with trying a new food often is that your cat won't have time to adjust and settle, one food could affect your cat and you wouldn't really know which one it would be, plus you could be compounding one issue into another issue without realising, getting more and more symptoms crop up and giving you and the vet, a very confusing case to work out.

I'm sure others will have much better advice to offer. Good luck!

I'm having the same problem with Dexter my 6 month old.

I am convinced it is some sort of parasitic infection and not food related but I could be wrong.

I've been to the vet with a sample which is getting tested. They also put him on a prescription diet and have given him a course of probiotics. Not seen any improvement yet so just waiting on results now.

I would go back to your Vet, take a sample with you and get it tested.

When was the last time your kitten was wormed?

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Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie

As stated above, any food should be gradually introduced into their diet as a sudden change in itself can cause the runs. Is there any reason the vet didn't suggest testing his stools?

All I can tell you is what suits my boys - and I have also had food issues in the past - I now know to avoid anything with lamb or liver as this just goes straight through them.

I feed mine (at the moment anyway - they could go off any of these at the drop of a hat!) on a combination of Meowing Heads Hey Good Looking Dry food, Hi Life Poultry Presentation in Gravy and they get a pot of either Lily's Kitchen Organic Chicken succulent dinner or Meowing Heads Hey Good Looking which is also a pate type food - both of which they love. I try to aim for hyperallergenic and grain free foods and these seem to suit them the best.

Jagger never used to be keen on dry food but he goes mad for Meowing Heads and will happily eat a bowl of that for his breakfast. Hendrix also has Royal Canin Sensible which is also for sensitive tummies containing highly digestible proteins and whilst he also likes Meowing Heads, he still likes to have this as well as it is the only food he can guarantee won't be gobbled up by Jagger.

To be honest, I think they eat better than me!

I hope you manage to find out what is causing the runs in your boy soon - good luck!

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

True, generally you don't want to abruptly change food, but on the other hand, if the cat already has a very upset tummy on a given food that he has been eating for awhile, I'm not sure that you're going to make it worse :/ May as well just switch it, especially since Whiskas and Purina are pretty lousy brands to begin with. One thing you shouldn't do though is switch to a bunch of new foods in rapid succession looking for one that works. Each new food will take some time (weeks) to evaluate. So it could be a long drawn out process. You should probably just start with trying a hyperallergenic formula, one that will have completely different ingredients across the board from what you are feeding now. If that "works" then you can investigate getting him something better once you know it is the food.

But definitely follow up with parasite testing though. Having a really really smelly poo is a tell-tale sign of something like Giardia or TF, so that's probably what it is. If your vet is not being helpful in getting this taken care of (which sounds like it is the case) you may need to find a different, more helpful and less clueless vet.

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The little monsters 3

I love your cat's markings. It looks like he is wearing a bengal coat. He looks so striking and soft.