# New kitten smelly farts and runny/wet poo



## Kat_O (Aug 2, 2017)

Hi everyone,
I'm new to owning a cat and I slightly worry about my new kitten. We got her 4 days ago, she is 11 weeks old and her farts are very stinky! She had a diarrhea the evening of the day we got her, which I presumed was related to stress, change of environment, etc. And I do realise she will need some time to get settled.

She seems happy, runs around, plays with my slippers, her scratchboard and cardboard boxes. So all in all she seems ok. 
Because the first couple of poos were so runny we read on the forum that perhaps only dry kitten food would help, so since we have been giving her dry crunchy food (same one) and water. However, she seems to be a bit bloated, farts a lot (about 3 times per hour) and her poo is still wet. She ate ok first couple of days but yesterday she didn't eat much, she does drink often though. 

I have her booked at the local vet for next week (for general check up as well as this) but just thought if anyone has any advice in the meantime..

Many thanks!!


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## Hestia (Jul 20, 2017)

Is your kitten eating the same food as before you got her? It sound most likely to be a change of diet (although it could be a bug, of course). I'd go to the vet sooner than next week as little kittens can dehydrate very easily. Poor little sweetie!


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## Kat_O (Aug 2, 2017)

Hestia said:


> Is your kitten eating the same food as before you got her? It sound most likely to be a change of diet (although it could be a bug, of course). I'd go to the vet sooner than next week as little kittens can dehydrate very easily. Poor little sweetie!


Thank you Hestia. I'm not sure what she was eating before, but she might have been eating too rich food or food for adult cats, not sure.. A friend of mine got my kitten's sister and she has the same problem with hers so it might be related to the food they were given before we got them.
I booked an appointment at the vets for today after work so will take her and see what they say. Thanks!


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Have you wormed your kitty since you got her? Worms may be the cause of her diarrhoea.

Dry food is the worst thing for treating diarrhoea.  Kitty is already dehydrated from the loss of fluids from the bowel with the diarrhoea and giving dry food will dehydrate her further (as there is no way she can drink enough water to hydrate a dry food diet). She cannot digest dry food without enough fluids and that is why the poor poppet now has bloating and flatulence (farting).

Also using dry food to treat diarrhoea just masks the problem, and does not get to the cause (and not advice you got on this forum, but another one I think )

She needs a diet that rests her bowel. So I'd take her off all dry food and give her a diet of home cooked chicken drumsticks plus the cooking water for a few days. If the chicken does not start to firm up her stools within 24 hrs, then instead try her with poached white fish and plenty of the cooking water.

Tesco does a Value pack of frozen chicken drumsticks and a Value pack of frozen white fish. Both are inexpensive.

If she still has diarrhoea on the white fish diet then I would ask the vet to lab test a 3 day sample of your kitten's stools to look for parasites, viruses or infections that could be causing diarrhoea. 

If her stools do firm up on the chicken or white fish diet then you can gradually introduce some wet cat food to her diet (but no dry food).


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## Gallifreyangirl (Feb 11, 2015)

Trust me for advice @Kat_O that @chillminx is our resident cat expert when it comes to food and cats.


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## Hestia (Jul 20, 2017)

I'm sure your vet will put your mind at rest and probably give a bit of a booster (and maybe a little worming treatment as well) and some dietary advice - and very wise as kitty has had this for more than a day already. One of my kittens arrived with a hideous vomiting bug - all the way down the stairs! All of that stress on top of a strange home, but they bounce back very quickly. Hope your kitty is well soon.


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## Kat_O (Aug 2, 2017)

chillminx said:


> Have you wormed your kitty since you got her? Worms may be the cause of her diarrhoea.
> 
> Dry food is the worst thing for treating diarrhoea.  Kitty is already dehydrated from the loss of fluids from the bowel with the diarrhoea and giving dry food will dehydrate her further (as there is no way she can drink enough water to hydrate a dry food diet). She cannot digest dry food without enough fluids and that is why the poor poppet now has bloating and flatulence (farting).
> 
> ...


Thank you for your detailed advice chillminx! I have indeed read about dry food on one of the other forums and my friend (who has my little kitten's sister) was told by one of the vets to not give her any food for a couple of days and then just dry food 

I am taking her to the vet tonight and hopefully they can find the problem and provide some treatment etc. If not, I will go ahead with the home cooked chicken (I assume this is just boiled chicken in water? and then cut in little bits? )

I shall put the dry food away for a good while! I just want my little baby to feel better, as she is such a happy kitten otherwise but boy those farts! :Muted
Thank you again!



Hestia said:


> I'm sure your vet will put your mind at rest and probably give a bit of a booster (and maybe a little worming treatment as well) and some dietary advice - and very wise as kitty has had this for more than a day already. One of my kittens arrived with a hideous vomiting bug - all the way down the stairs! All of that stress on top of a strange home, but they bounce back very quickly. Hope your kitty is well soon.


I am a very panicky person on a good day lol and when you're responsible for a little kitten, oh my!! The farts started when she was in the car when we picked her up, so I'm sure that whatever it is, she must have caught it before we got her or perhaps it is just a mix of nerves, change, fear and such things.. and the advice of dry food didn't help! I will let you know what happens tonight at the vet!  Thank you!


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## Saf (Jul 20, 2016)

Kat_O said:


> Thank you for your detailed advice chillminx! I have indeed read about dry food on one of the other forums and my friend (who has my little kitten's sister) was told by one of the vets to not give her any food for a couple of days and then just dry food
> 
> I am taking her to the vet tonight and hopefully they can find the problem and provide some treatment etc. If not, I will go ahead with the home cooked chicken (I assume this is just boiled chicken in water? and then cut in little bits? )
> 
> ...


This advice is actually quite hard to accept, especially to a new cat owner, but never, ever listen to what your vet says about food. In my opinion the majority of veterinary industry has compromised its integrity by forming close financial relationships to major food companies. There are exceptions of course but in general you will get better advice about food from experienced cat owners and genuine cat lovers that you should trust ahead of your vet.


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## MilleD (Feb 15, 2016)

Kat_O said:


> Thank you for your detailed advice chillminx! I have indeed read about dry food on one of the other forums and my friend (who has my little kitten's sister) *was told by one of the vets to not give her any food for a couple of days* and then just dry food
> 
> I am taking her to the vet tonight and hopefully they can find the problem and provide some treatment etc. If not, I will go ahead with the home cooked chicken (I assume this is just boiled chicken in water? and then cut in little bits? )
> 
> ...


Fasting a cat can cause serious liver issues.

I don't think @chillminx is advising that, but to change the diet to rest her bowel.


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## Kat_O (Aug 2, 2017)

MilleD said:


> Fasting a cat can cause serious liver issues.
> 
> I don't think @chillminx is advising that, but to change the diet to rest her bowel.


Absolutely, I didn't mean chillminx advised starving my kitten, I just meant that I will be using the boiled chicken diet for a little bit until her tummy settled and then slowly introduce her to some wet packaged food (which has all other necessary nutritions).


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## Saf (Jul 20, 2016)

Honestly, I think if you give your kitten a worming treatment, such as panacur paste, and get her on a decent diet, a good quality wet food, she'll be fine. You don't know what she was being fed before you got her, whatever the previous owner says. When I picked my two kittens up a couple of months ago, there was a bowl of spaghetti on the floor for them. And it wasn't a surprise when the first poo he did was rather gooey and the next one had a giant worm in it. I got him on a decent diet, I personally went down the raw food route, gave him his worming treatment and every poo since then has been excellent and not particularly stinky.

The thing you don't want to happen at the vets is them convincing your kitten has something massively wrong with them, giving an uneccesary medicine and convincing you she needs to be on some lifelong "sensitive" food manufactured by Hills or Royal Canin. Panacur paste and maybe a probiotic paste is what you should leave there with.


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## Kat_O (Aug 2, 2017)

Thank you everyone!
Been to the vets, and was told that my kitten was around 8 weeks old rather than 11 as I was told by the owner :Sorry poor little thing.

They didn't take the temperature as it would have hurt her sore bottom, so they only weighed her.
She also had fleece so they did the fleece spray as for the fleece treatment she is too young.
No vaccines because of the diarrhoea. They gave her half a tablet for worm treatment.
For the food they gave us two of Royal Canin gastro intestinal wet diet pouches and some 'Nutrabio' high strength natural intestinal paste to add to the food. 

The vet said that hopefully by end of the week/weekend she should be better so they can do the vaccines etc.


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## Hestia (Jul 20, 2017)

Kat_O, glad that you've got some peace of mind from your vet and you've got some support for you little kitty's care. At 8 weeks, she certainly is a tiny thing - and fleas as well! 

Saf, you sound like you've had some interesting vet experience and I couldn't disagree more with some of your comments there about never listening to your vet about food. Choose your vets with care and forethought - some of them lean towards cats, some towards dogs, others towards larger animals. Our own vet would recommend a short-term bland diet of plain fish (and has done in the past) before restoring normal feeding gradually - but a tiny kitten needs more. Most vets do actually care and if you don't think that a particular practice is up to it, you find another one, preferably through local recommendations. But I certainly wouldn't take the view of a range of cat owners on a website to identify my cats' needs, any more than I would expect anyone just to take my word (and I do have experience with cats that stretches into decades). I believe that would just be irresponsible. Just look at the range of responses in this little thread alone.


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## Saf (Jul 20, 2016)

Hestia said:


> Kat_O, glad that you've got some peace of mind from your vet and you've got some support for you little kitty's care. At 8 weeks, she certainly is a tiny thing - and fleas as well!
> 
> Saf, you sound like you've had some interesting vet experience and I couldn't disagree more with some of your comments there about never listening to your vet about food. Choose your vets with care and forethought - some of them lean towards cats, some towards dogs, others towards larger animals. Our own vet would recommend a short-term bland diet of plain fish (and has done in the past) before restoring normal feeding gradually - but a tiny kitten needs more. Most vets do actually care and if you don't think that a particular practice is up to it, you find another one, preferably through local recommendations. But I certainly wouldn't take the view of a range of cat owners on a website to identify my cats' needs, any more than I would expect anyone just to take my word (and I do have experience with cats that stretches into decades). I believe that would just be irresponsible. Just look at the range of responses in this little thread alone.


Recommending white fish when a cat's not eating well is a pretty standard thing. Yes, there are good vets out there and I've identified two local practices I would go to if either of my cats ever got ill. My faith in them is because they promote raw feeding and not garbage like Royal Canin or Hills like my local practice, which is a teaching hospital where trainee vets are indoctrinated in false food beliefs. Some go on to develop their own ideas and move away from promoting the interests of the big food companies - these are the good vets, but if you walk in a practice and see a row of Royal Canin or Hills food, you should, if funding isn't an issue, turn around and walk out.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

@Kat_O - I am glad the vet has given you some worm treatment for little one. And the gastrointestinal pouches of wet food are lots better than dry food! 

I was shocked to read that your sister's vet told her to starve her kitten for 2 days!! :Arghh That is very bad advice to give for a cat of any age, but particularly bad for an 8 week old kitten (or even an 11 week old kitten). Kittens need to eat regularly or they can become weak from lack of food. And there is a risk of dehydration if a kitten is not eating, as they will rarely drink enough to compensate.

20 or 30 years ago it was commonplace for vets to tell owners whose cats had diarrhoea to starve them for 24 hours or even 36 hrs. That advice is now regarded by experts as being wrong and my own vet advises not to leave a poorly cat without food for more than 12 hours.


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## Ceiling Kitty (Mar 7, 2010)

Starving any cat for two days... that way madness lies. Let alone a kitten. Very strange advice.


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

Since she had fleas you need to think about treating your home with Indorex, Acclaim or RIP Fleas. The fleas will have been laying eggs which drop off into the environment - your home. It's not expensive but you do need to follow the instructions to the letter, and I would also either discard any bedding she uses or wash it at 60C and if at all possible dry it outside.


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## Kat_O (Aug 2, 2017)

@chillminx - I was surprised at the advice also, I'm not sure what my friend did in the end with her kitten (my kitten's sister), but I didn't do as their vet said but as you guys all advised and been feeding her thay gastro wet food given by our vet and yesterday also the kitten wet pouches I bought for her and she's loving them all! 
Also I'm pleased to say her poo went to normal the next day (yesterday) and she also does not have that much gas anymore, so thank you!!

I'm going back to the vet on Tuesday for another anti-worm tablet (they gave her the first one on Wed).

@OrientalSlave - I see (god I'm so new at this!), where can I get any of those products? Just a normal shop? 
Also, do I need to treat her again for fleas? So far she's only had one spray treatment (with a cotton pad) that vet did on Wednesday.

Thank you!!


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

Online is cheaper but time is of the essence and I think [email protected] stock a suitable home treatment. I would ask the vet when she needs another flea treatment.


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## Kat_O (Aug 2, 2017)

OrientalSlave said:


> Online is cheaper but time is of the essence and I think [email protected] stock a suitable home treatment. I would ask the vet when she needs another flea treatment.


Thanks! I ordered the Indorex spray today and it's arrived in two hours (thank goodness for amazon now!) so will vacuum the living and dininr rooms (as that's where we keep her for now) and wash her bed and sofa throws and spray both rooms. Hopefully that should do. 
She's not very itchy, barely itches herself but the vet on Wednesday said she had fleas (and I have a little red bite dot on my ankle). 
Thanks again!!


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

Read the RIP Fleas website on ridding your house of them - it's information applies to all similar products:

http://www.ripfleas.co.uk/r-i-p-fleas-extra/


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