dawnnikol
Prolific Pea
'A life without books is a life not lived.' Jay Kristoff
Posts: 8,565
Sept 21, 2015 18:39:25 GMT
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Post by dawnnikol on May 26, 2024 12:18:05 GMT
***Warning - even though that should be self-explanatory when it comes to the title.  Well, we've had Mr. Pongu Pongu Stark for going on 2 weeks and he's been to a Vet for a checkup and tested for a couple things. He weighed a whopping 1.4lbs! My only concern was that he seems to step into his fecal matter when he's trying to cover it... I have never bathed a cat so much. They're just partials, except for when we brought him home and he'd been in his littler carrier... I digress. The vet thought maybe he was playing in the box and combined with his looser stools said perhaps a smaller box, but I've been watching him (SUPER FUN) and he's just struggling. I should also mention we're using "World's Best Litter" and perhaps that could be part of it? The smell, too... My goodness. So, anyone who's had cats care to chime in? We are planning to put his litter box in a storage tote, but don't want to move it into there when he's just gonna trail it onto everything anyway... Thank you in advance! |
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Post by paulao on May 26, 2024 15:00:46 GMT
I don’t use fancy or scented litter. Walmart’s Special Kitty UNSCENTED or PetCo’s house brand UNSCENTED. Both do their job nicely. They clump and are easy to scoop. Non flushable. Do not put litter down the toilet. I have a 12 pound house panther. I scoop her box daily and dump and wash the box with warm water every week. You have an itty bitty kitty! Small low sided box for him, and don’t bed the box deeply. His poo will settle down as he grows.
I put the box on large puppy piddle pads. My girl is an enthusiastic coverer and flings her litter.
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Post by Zee on May 26, 2024 15:11:33 GMT
He's still a baby and it takes them a little while to get more coordinated.
Every kitten I've had has had an occasional Poop Foot that has to get washed off.
I would give him a small box with clumping litter (I actually bought a Ziploc plastic pan for this purpose) and let him use that until he's bigger. This should help as it's a smaller space to get in and out of. If it's a question of playing in the litter, this again should help because it's less space to dig.
Or, he could just be messy, lol, but grown cats don't make a habit of stepping in their poop on purpose so I'm sure he will get the hang of it. You can keep some pet wipes nearby and inspect his feet when you notice he's in there, and give him a little grooming help when needed.
And now that I have several grown cats, the last two babies were even easier to raise because the older cats acted as uncles and inspected the kittens' grooming and hygiene on a regular basis. 😁
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Post by MichyM on May 26, 2024 15:59:23 GMT
At 1.4lbs that is a very young cat, like under 8 weeks? I am assuming mom is not in the picture to teach kitty and clean kitty. What did kitty test for that's causing the loose stools?
I don't think the type of litter you use is an issue (we also use World's Best at our vet's recommendation), your kitty just needs to get older and more coordinated. How old IS the kitty? ETA: please get kitty a full sized box, you'll have to eventually anyhow.
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dawnnikol
Prolific Pea
'A life without books is a life not lived.' Jay Kristoff
Posts: 8,565
Sept 21, 2015 18:39:25 GMT
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Post by dawnnikol on May 26, 2024 16:51:08 GMT
At 1.4lbs that is a very young cat, like under 8 weeks? I am assuming mom is not in the picture to teach kitty and clean kitty. What did kitty test for that's causing the loose stools? The Animal Control folks claim he was born on March 21, but every single person at the Vet's office and Vet said "that doesn't seem right..." Loose stools she attributed to coming home from kennel (where he was housed with 5 siblings) and swapping from whatever food they had there to what we have him on now. She did recommend the "vet recommended" brands, so I will slowly swap him over from what he's currently on now. I'd originally been compiling lists of things to purchase when we got a kitten, but we ended up with a kitten a lot sooner than I'd planned. He absolutely has a full sized box, mostly because when we stopped at the store after adopting him, we knew we'd need SOMETHING and that's all they had. ^.^ I don’t use fancy or scented litter. Walmart’s Special Kitty UNSCENTED or PetCo’s house brand UNSCENTED. Both do their job nicely. They clump and are easy to scoop. Non flushable. Do not put litter down the toilet. Thank you. I've been down rabbit holes of which litter box and litter is best.. much like everything else, it can be crazy. |
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Post by moretimeplease on May 26, 2024 17:38:30 GMT
The smell, too... My goodness. When we got our rescue cat 10 years ago, he was about 2 yrs old. His poops could clear the house, they smelled so terrible. I had been giving him cheap grocery store canned food (Sheba). The rescue we got him from suggested trying a higher quality canned food, with fewer carbs and limited ingredients. In my experience, the veterinarians I’ve used don’t know much about nutrition. I had to do my own research (www.catinfo.org was the best resource I found.) We switched to Tiki Cat Luau shredded food and his smelly poops became infinitely better, almost immediately. You might have to experiment with some foods, but he’s so tiny that you’ll have to be extra careful with dietary changes. catinfo.org/docs/Feeding%20Your%20Cat%20-%204%20pages%2011-13.pdf |
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Post by Zee on May 26, 2024 19:15:07 GMT
Also I would be feeding him kitten food if you're not already, Royal Canin Babycat is what I prefer.
Cats need wet food. The less dry food you feed them, the better, though with his loose stools he might need a little dry food and there is a dry Babycat as well.
When he is older and his stools normalize, any wet food is better than the most expensive dry food for their long-term kidney health. I'll let you Google about that if you're unsure.
I do give my cats a sprinkle of dry food with the wet at the evening meal only. One cat acts like he's dying unless he gets his sprinkles... It's like junk food to him.
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dawnnikol
Prolific Pea
'A life without books is a life not lived.' Jay Kristoff
Posts: 8,565
Sept 21, 2015 18:39:25 GMT
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Post by dawnnikol on May 26, 2024 19:50:24 GMT
Also I would be feeding him kitten food if you're not already, Royal Canin Babycat is what I prefer. Cats need wet food. The less dry food you feed them, the better, though with his loose stools he might need a little dry food and there is a dry Babycat as well. When he is older and his stools normalize, any wet food is better than the most expensive dry food for their long-term kidney health. I'll let you Google about that if you're unsure. I do give my cats a sprinkle of dry food with the wet at the evening meal only. One cat acts like he's dying unless he gets his sprinkles... It's like junk food to him. For some reason, I have zero memory of why, I thought they needed dry food, too? He's absolutely on kitten food, right now. It's Wellness Complete which had been recommended by another Rescue facility and some dry mixed in. The Vet recommended Purina Pro Plan, Hills Science, and Royal Canin. They said I could wait to swap him though. Thank you for the 2nd response. We've been waiting for this little guy for over a decade, and I'd prefer he not loathe me for all the cleanups. |
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Post by MichyM on May 26, 2024 23:33:48 GMT
Also I would be feeding him kitten food if you're not already, Royal Canin Babycat is what I prefer. Cats need wet food. The less dry food you feed them, the better, though with his loose stools he might need a little dry food and there is a dry Babycat as well. When he is older and his stools normalize, any wet food is better than the most expensive dry food for their long-term kidney health. I'll let you Google about that if you're unsure. I do give my cats a sprinkle of dry food with the wet at the evening meal only. One cat acts like he's dying unless he gets his sprinkles... It's like junk food to him. For some reason, I have zero memory of why, I thought they needed dry food, too? He's absolutely on kitten food, right now. It's Wellness Complete which had been recommended by another Rescue facility and some dry mixed in. The Vet recommended Purina Pro Plan, Hills Science, and Royal Canin. They said I could wait to swap him though. Thank you for the 2nd response. We've been waiting for this little guy for over a decade, and I'd prefer he not loathe me for all the cleanups. Yes, absolutely positively on the wet food. My 2 get no dry at all other than Greenies treats. It is so much better for them and their kidneys as they age. |
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