Expert: Ali - 9/23/2008

Question
When my 10 week old kitten uses his litter box, he doesn't squat. Instead he sits with his butt flat against the litter. He often has fecies stuck to him and tracks it outside the litter box, then proceeds to run around and play spreading his mess around with him. This is happening about every 2nd day. Is it because of the way he sits? Should I trim his fur around his bottom? Could it be that his stool is too soft? Should I change his diet? I feed him dry kitten food mixed with canned kitten food. Do you have any suggestions? I'm desperate. If this doesn't stop, we are going to have to give him up.

Answer
Michele,

It's possible that this little one has loose stool which can be caused by a number of different things. I would recommend that this kitten is thoroughly examined by a qualified vet and that you discuss having this kitten dewormed because most kittens are born with different types of intestinal parasites. I wouldn't suggest that you use pet store dewormers because their isn't usually as strictly regulated as prescription medications where the dosage of medicine is tailored to the kitty's weight. It's important that the vet be told everything about the issues with this little guy's stool so that he/she can make an accurate diagnosis and provide effective treatment for him. Depending on the quality of the ingredients in your kitten's food and the amount of moisture in the canned food it's possible that his stools would be a bit softer than average. Your kitten is still learning about the world and it's possible that he hasn't yet figured out that being in a close to sitting position when he eliminates isn't the neatest way to use the toilet. You can certainly have this kitten's fur shaved around his bum so that he is less likely to get feces stuck in his coat. I wouldn't recommend that you trim the fur yourself unless you have an electric trimmer designed for use in grooming pets because it is very easy to accidentally cut the kitten's fur with scissors or similar grooming tools. You can also invest in a product meant to clean up messy bottoms called Tushie Wipes, these wipes clean, deodorize and they aren't as harsh to the skin and coat as repeated baths would be. I usually recommend that people feed their kittens/cats a high quality holistic food to reduce the possibility of irritating the digestive tract. Avoid giving this kitten cow's milk because most kittens are lactose intolerant by the age of 10-12 weeks. If this kitten has diarrhea you can give him a couple of teaspoons of organic, unsweetened, plain yogurt which will help to restore the balance of beneficial bacteria normally found in the digestive tract and it shouldn't cause symptoms related to lactose. If you just recently adopted the kitten and he was eating another food prior to coming to live with you he may have loose stools resulting from an abrupt change in diet and the best way to correct that is to begin mixing half of the old food with half of the new food and gradually increasing the new while decreasing the old food over a period of about a week and a half to two weeks. Hopefully these tips will help to deal with the poop issue.