Expert: Charlotte Sherrell, DVM - 7/14/2008

Question
Our 1 year old cat had kittens nearly 7 weeks ago. They are all being weaned and she is rarely feeding them anymore. For the past few weeks she has developed very runny, extremely smelly poo ( and she misses the litterbox most of the time!). We have tried everything we know to sort this.we have  Changed from wet food to dry but that has not worked. Now the kittens seem to have runny poo too, they are eating the same food as mum ( dry).
The odd thing is we let her out in the hope that she will poo outside but she waits until we let her in then goes straight to litter tray. I really need some idea of what could be causing this. I am 33 weeks pregnant and my partner has had to do all the cleaning up of poo, he really has had enough as he is doing it about 4 times a day at the minute.
Thanks
Lianne

Answer
Lianne -

First of all let me suggest that you have your cat spayed.  There certainly is an overpopulation of cats in this nation and because she is an outside cat, there is a great chance that she will come home pregnant again.  Cats are constantly in heat so remember to get her spayed as soon as you can.  

It is difficult to determine the reason for her diarrhea.  Have her examined by your veterinarian as soon as you can as diarrhea can have the rebound effect - diarrhea, she eats food, the intestines become irritated resulting in more diarrhea, she eats again, the intestines become irritated resulting in more diarrhea and so the cycle continues.  

Remember to have her spayed as soon as possible - we have way too many unwanted cats and dogs around and thousands are euthanized because there are no homes for them.

Best Regards,

Charlotte Sherrell, DVM