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I am looking after two orphaned kittens. They are about 4 - 5 weeks old. After they were found (mommy cat not around) the people were feeding them hard cat food and they have diarhea. I phoned the local vet and talked it over with her and we decided to put them on a liquid formula diet (one is quite small and puny). We are also diluting it with distilled water. The little one sucks on an eye dropper and the bigger one can drink it from a saucer. They love this food. I just started them on it this afternoon and they are perkier already. My question is - when should the diarhea stop or when will their poops get more solid. I am having to wash the little guys but off and I also got some cream as it is quite red and sore - feel bad for the little guy. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I forgot one more thing - the little one had a little blood in his poop after he ate - he is running around and eating well but what does the blood mean in his poo?

Kittens tend to get diarreah, but since these are orphaned with immune systems that are probably not up to par, they should see the vet again real soon. As long as they are playing, eating, peeing and pooping and seem alert they should be OK until Monday. However, if they show the slightest "off" sign - sleeping too much, hiding, not playing, not eating, drinking or they stop pooping then they need to be rushed to the nearest emergency vet. The blood in the poop CAN mean many terrible things, but the odds are that it is coming from the rawness around the anal area or is just a result of the change in diet and the indigestion. However, there is no reason to take chances. It needs to be checked out.

Good luck!
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

thank you! I am keeping a close eye on them and feeding every 3-4 hours they are extremely alert - playing with toys and running around. I gave them a bath tonight because they learned to use the litter box today (the non-clumping kind) and had some stuck all over their butts! They are laying on a towel and heating pad as I write this. The last couple bowel movements were blood free but his poor little butt is quite red and inflamed - so I keep putting cream on it (that I got from the vet). I will keep my eye on them as I know all too well what can happen - we lost a cat two months ago to flutd. The first vet and spca told me it was a female so when she got sick they gave her antibiotics. Weekend came along (no vets here work on the weekends) and she was very sick - hiding, not peeing at all not eating or drinking. Had to call in an emergency vet who informed me that it was indeed a male cat - not female and had flutd. approximately 800.00 vet charge and although it broke my heart - we just couldn't afford it. But had I known it was a male I knew exactly what warning signs to look for but we were told 4 times it was a female and this was even after the vet checked her to see if she (he) was fixed. He said she had no scars so she wasn't - how could he miss the penis???

I hope you are not using that vet again! (the one who missed the penis)

Sounds like you know what you're doing and what to look out for. I have nothing to add to the advice you already got previously. But I found a good page about kitten development which has a lot of good info, in case you want to look. This is it:
http://www.cathelp-online.com/health/kitten1.php

Good luck with babies! Keep us informed about their progress! Do they have names already?

thank you for the site!
I am torn about the vet (penis thing). He has been really good to us but I honestly don't know how he could have missed it. I am currently researching other vets in our area (we live in a small city with 2 vet clinics - there are more in the surrounding towns).
The kitties are doing really good. They are eating canned food for kittens (good quality kind)and drinking alot of water. They are now litter box trained and the little one doesn't have diarrhea anymore. There is no blood at all in it either. His little bum is still a little tender but looks so much better with the cream. They are running around the house and love to come and sit on the top of your foot. I believe they will be ready to return to their home this weekend. I hate to let them go because I don't know their fate (living on a farm close to a highway) but I keep telling myself they are not my kittens they belong to someone else. My husband calls them Left and Right - I call them Pee Wee and Penelope (the little one is a boy and his name is pee wee).

Poor babies. At least you gave them a good start.
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

My foster kitties go home tomorrow. It kind of makes me sad because they are healthy and happy with me. But my husband spoke with the owner and today and she asked if we were ever bringing them back. I guess I have to let go - I tried not to get too attached but it is hard. At least they are healthy and eating well and no more diarrhea!!!!!

>>My foster kitties go home tomorrow. It kind of makes me sad because they are healthy and happy with me. But my husband spoke with the owner and today and she asked if we were ever bringing them back. I guess I have to let go - I tried not to get too attached but it is hard. At least they are healthy and eating well and no more diarrhea!!!!!

How sad for you. I hope they well do OK back in their regular home. Good luck!
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

You could give them a little bit of pumpkin pie filling once a day. It has something in it that helps. It works well and they love it. We are giving our 22wk old kitten, with diarhea, 2 spoons a day. You could also give them some Nutrical. It is a liquid vitamin. We also use that. It works well. You can get it from your vet. Hope I helped.
~Ashley
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