Hello! I am new to the group, my name is Adriana and I have a 5 month old snow spotted baby named Elsa.
We got her when she was 10 wks old. When we picked her up she was already small for her age. According to the breeder her two brothers had been picking on her. We received a baggy of Wellness hard food in order to transition her onto the food of our choosing. I had picked up a bag of Earthborn Holistic Grain Free food for her. I transitioned her with 25% and almost instantly she had a horrible reaction. She had no control of her bowels and was pooping EVERYWHERE. I was expecting a reaction but nothing that bad! After 24 hrs of this with no sign of things improving I picked up some pedialyte and pumpkin. She seemed to improve, so I thought the worse was behind us. As soon as I transitioned her off of the pumpkin she turned sick again. I contacted the breeder and she thought that maybe she was having a reaction to the food. She suggested that I put her on Wellness, so that is what I did.
Even after I put her on Wellness (which resulted in her having HORRIBLE diarrhea again) she remained sick. I reached out to the breeder again and she admitted that the kitten hadn't actually been on Wellness, she had only been on a raw diet of raw eggs, chicken & rice. I kept her on the pumpkin for awhile hoping she may adjust. Which never happened. At 13 weeks I took her in to the vet. She thought that maybe she had a bacterial infection and advised that we should provide a fecal sample for further testing. She supplied us with some antibiotics & FortiFlora to help with the diarrhea. She was so dehydrated that they also put some water in her neck to help. (she was only 2lbs as well).
This helped, although she was still gassy she was no longer having accidents and her poop was firmer. After the antibiotics ran out she went back to being sick. It seemed that it helped but did not resolve the issue. I was in the middle of a move so never got the chance to run a sample over to the vets office. We are now moved and settled and have the money to take her to the vet. Her current symptoms her throwing up (rarely, not often) gassiness, loose stools, she has taken to pooping in my sons room upstairs under his bed, and foul smelling poop. I was working so I couldn't go with my husband - which resulted in a lot of phone calls to me.
The vet has suggested a bland diet - which the last vet was against - he also had never heard of TF. He said he would have to research it and wants a fresh stool sample on Monday. Today we supplied him with a stool sample that he sent off to the labs to test to Giardia, intestinal parasites, and coccidia. He prescribed a tablet to treat intestinal parasites, it is called praziquantel/virbantel. He also talked my husband into giving her vaccinations. Which I wasn't a fan of. I wanted to find out what was wrong first and not risk making her sicker. He explained to my husband that they may help her get better.
Has anyone ever experienced this before? Can anyone give me any advice? I am so worried and just feel helpless. My husband is frustrated with me and wondering if this was the best time to have gotten a kitten. I just feel so awful for her because she has been so miserable since day one!

Check to see if your vet tested for Tritrichomonas foetus (TF). It requires a special test that most vets do not have the capability of testing. There is only one medication to treat this. Your baby is displaying symptoms and needs to be tested for it. It's a parasite that is very difficult to get rid of. Your little one is miserable and I'm sure you are as well. See if TF is the issue. If not, you've eliminated that as a source. If it is the issue, then the treatment can be started. There have been a few members here whose kittens have had this.

[quote="adrie18"]
The vet has suggested a bland diet - which the last vet was against - he also had never heard of TF. He said he would have to research it and wants a fresh stool sample on Monday. Today we supplied him with a stool sample that he sent off to the labs to test to Giardia, intestinal parasites, and coccidia.

It sure sounds like TF to me. Mine had (we think) Giardia, and there are some similarities in symptoms, but I think the TF symptoms are a lot more severe, and it's both more difficult to diagnose and more difficult to treat unfortunately. I recommend spending a couple of hours searching through posts here on TF. There have been a lot of members over the years whose cats have had this. Thankfully, all of the cases that I have seen here have had happy endings for those with the fortitude to stick this out and do what has to be done. What many people have done is to print off some info on TF, bring them to the vet, and say "here... read THIS". Then insist on it being tested for.

Btw, that's horrible that your husband isn't my sympathetic about this situation. You're doing what every other responsible pet parent would and should do.

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The little monsters 3