Expert: Jessica - 12/10/2009

Question
Hi Jessica - I recently adopted a domestic short hair kitten from an animal hospital. They don't know her age exactly, she was taken from the home of a cat hoarder, but she is estimated to be about 5-6 months old. She's had soft stools since the day we brought her home. At first we just figured she was just nervous, but after awhile of no improvement and me seeing some blood in the stool, I called the vet. They checked her stool for parasites and found none and said she looked healthy otherwise. (she was dewormed before we got her and has been on a preventative for worms/fleas since and has only been indoors). She gave me a prescription for metronidazole. We're just finishing up the course and I still don't see much improvement. Her stool went from formed but very soft before the medicine to now being a little bit harder on the outside but soft in the middle. She doesn't seem to be in pain or unhappy. We are feeding her the same dry kitten food that they were at the shelter, they even gave us a small bag of it when we brought her home. Is this something I should be worried about or is there a possibility she will outgrow it? We've only had her for a month now. She is due for her spay surgery soon so I will ask the vet about it if things don't improve but wanted to hear another opinion. My fiancee wants to just leave her be and thinks she's fine, but I'm not so sure.

Thank-you,
Melanie

Answer
Hi Melanie.  Chronic soft stools can lead to malnutrition, and inflammation of the intestinal tract.  These two conditions themselves can, in turn, cause diarrhea.  So it can be a vicious circle which may require dietary and vitamin supplements, as well as an anti-inflammatory medication, to get under control.  It's best to try to get her stools to a normal consistency to prevent the situation from ever getting that far, so I'm with you in that it's something that should probably be pursued.

Your kitten might benefit from a different antibiotic.  Metronidazole is a good anti-bacterial and also controls some protozoan parasites.  When cases don't fully respond to this medication, other antibiotics might be tried, to target different germs.  Albon, Panacur and Tylan are a few antibiotics which treat a broad range of germs that can cause gastrointestinal upset.

Considering your kitten's background, it could be possible she's suffering from a protozoan parasite called tritrichomonas.  This is most commonly found in catteries and where multiple cats live in crowded conditions.  The germ often responds to antibiotics like metronidazole, but usually incompletely, and only temporarily.  After the medication is discontinued for a few weeks, the diarrhea tends to worsen again.  A cure has only recently been found to be effective in cats.  It's an antibiotic called ronidazole - until lately, used mainly to treat poultry.  Because cats can be sensitive to ronidazole, tritrichomonas must be confirmed before most any vet will prescribe this medication.  This requires a stool sample which must be sent to a special lab for testing.  The kitten must not have received any kind of antibiotic treatment for at least 7-10 days before the stool sample is collected.  

You should talk to your vet about these possibilities.  You also may want to discuss a diet change with the vet.  A prescription food for sensitive stomachs could be given to see if she improves.  Many cats also have food intolerances to ingredients such as corn, wheat and sometimes rice, so it's generally wise to avoid foods with these products if you decide not to feed a prescription food.  I feed my own cats a grain-free food called Taste of the Wild (www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com), and it is much easier on their stomachs than any other foods I've ever tried.  This food, along with most grain-free foods, is approved for all life stages - kitten, senior and adult.

Best of luck!

Jessica