Diarrhea in Purebred Kitten

Dear Dr,

We have a purebreed kitten that we just got. He is 4 months old now. The breeder is an excellent breeder that loves and cares for her little ones. Her cattery is extremely clean. When we got home with the kitty, we noticed after a couple of days that he had diarrhea. So, we took him to the vet. The vet prescribed metronidazole. The kitten’s belly is round and hard. The medication helped a little bit as now the stools are like pudding. We even tried giving him some cottage cheese.

The kitten goes to the litter box, farts, and the stools are soft (with no shape) and contain clear mucus in it. The color of the stools is brown.

I must mentioned that this kitten is extremely playful and has lots of energy. He drinks and eats and he is a happy cat. He is gaining weight all the time.

My vet even said we could give him another medication which is called albon, but I am scared of over medicating this kitten. Your thoughts would greatly be appreciated.

Like I said, this kitten is extremely playful, and he eats the medical vet food.

Thank you very much.


Thank you for writing in with concern for your new kitten. In a kitten that age, the most common cause of diarrhea is a parasite. The metronidazole you are giving is used to treat Giardia, a parasite that may be causing the diarrhea. Your vet likely recommended Albon medication as a treatment for Coccidia, and I would recommend the same. A general dewormer would be advised as well. It would be worse for your kitten to continue to have cat diarrhea or soft stool than to have medications which have been given for years to millions of kittens safely.

Even though you got your kitten from a breeder, worms and parasites are still a very real possibility, as most young kittens have them. If you haven’t done so already, bringing a stool sample to your veterinarian for microanalysis would be a good idea. And, as reassurance that you are not alone with kitten diarrhea problems, you can read this submission from another one of our readers regarding Chronic Diarrhea in a Kitten.

Best wishes,
Dr. Neely