3 week old kitten with Diarrhea. Help?

His little tummy may have got upset by the change in food. It could also be because he has parasites (DO NOT give him over the counter worming treatments, he is far too young. If you suspect it’s this, a visit to the vet is the best option.) You may want to try changing back to the powdered formula KMR or persist with the liquid. You could also try him on canned goats’ milk (from the baking aisle in Walmart or similar). There are also home-made ‘glop’ formulas you could try (click on the glop label, there is also a recipe on Messybeast — most of them use evaporated milk or goats’ milk as a base.) Be aware that too much chopping and changing will probably make the situation worse, and a good brand of KMR is usually the best option and hopefully yours will adjust to it. These are GREAT clips on Youtube on bringing up abandoned kittens and give you all the basics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctfhMJUdxZA

And this is a great website on the same subject: http://www.messybeast.com/handrear.htm

Finally, these are two good general articles on diarrhoea:

http://www.petplace.com/cats/home-care-for-the-cat-with-diarrhea/page1.aspx?utm_source=catcrazynews001et&utm_medium=email&utm_content=petplace_article&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter

http://www.petplace.com/cats/home-care-for-the-cat-with-vomiting-and-diarrhea/page1.aspx?utm_source=catcrazynews001et&utm_medium=email&utm_content=petplace_article&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter

The pink tags are in the top right hand corner, just click on them for more threads on these subjects.

Thank you for loving this baby and the very best of good luck with him. If the diarrhoea stays bad or gets worse, you will need to take him to the vet but hopefully it will get better when his tum settles down.

You’re very welcome. I hope something helps. We love people who rescue kitties!

Virtually all stray, orphaned or abandoned kittens will have worms. They inherit them from their mum. Diarrhea, blood in the stool, bulgy tummy, not putting on as much weight as you’d think from the amount they eat, gas, stinky poop, having fleas and just being a stray are all indications he has worms. At 8 weeks he will be old enough to go to the vet and get dewormed and start his shots.

You can try mixing a little wet food into his milk at four weeks — or even earlier (gruel consistency) if he starts nibbling the bottle teat — but it just depends on the individual kitten when he wants to start on solids. One TDKer swears by Royal Canin baby mousse (just to get them weaned as it’s a bit pricey). By eight weeks he should be eating at least some wet food. Also check the weaning pink tag.