Poorly kitten...

[miri]

Hi! I've registered here today knowing there must be a wealth of feline experience and interest on this forum and I'm sure you might be able to help me with my little problem!

I have two kittens from different litters; Freya is 9 weeks, Loki 8 weeks. They have been with us for 5 days. They were on different diets and unfortunately started eating from eachothers food dishes...subsequently little Loki (not the biggest kitten in the world anyway!) has developed bad diarrhoea. We took him to the vet yesterday and he is now on pro-kolin paste, antibiotics and has been re-wormed. Fortunately his appetite is good, he isn't dehydrated and he does still manage a bit of a play but he tires very easily, especially compared to his sister who, in comparison, is positively bursting with health and energy! He is, however, very small and thin (came from a large litter) and we are keen to stop the diarrhoea asap and to hopefully start 'fattening' him up! Although he mostly manages to make it to the litter tray, sometimes he seems totally unaware that he's 'leaking' quite considerably, poor little thing.

Any ideas on how long this type of diarrhoea normally lasts? Any coping strategies? Any advice on how to boost his calorie intake? All suggestions and advice gratefully received!

[smudgley]

Welcome to the forum. The pro-kalin will do him the world of good, but what you need to do is keep them both on the diets they were on when you had them, any change in diet should be done very gradually. Once they have been with you a reasonable time & are settled, you can gently wean them onto whatever you want them to be fed, any dietary changes should be done over a 7 day period.

[miri]

Thanks for that! Loki was on Hi Life wet kitten food, Freya on Whiskas, and whiskas kitten is what they've both been eating for the past 5 days, supplemented by Iams kitten kibble. Would you still recommend changing them back to their original diets after this time? Also, what is the best food to eventually get them on as I have heard on the grapevine that Whiskas is 'junkfood for cats'! It's been a while since I've had kittens (normally rescued adult cats!) and this has completely thrown us...!