Kitten pooping while walking/might have CH?

[dm922]

I picked a kitten off the street because I thought she was injured. She walks like she has CH, but she hasn't been tested for it. The vet told us she wasn't injured, she was born that way, and sent us on our way and now I was "stuck" with this kitten - female, about 8 weeks old.

Everything was fine until she started pooping randomly out of the litter box. She would be playing and walking around or laying with us and it would just start coming out.

I took her to the vet & she didn't give her a very thorough exam but she does have worms so she was started on a dewormer. She thought the pooping could be due to nerve damage and she doesn't have control or doesn't realize she has to go.

In the past 3 days since, she was doing better with going in the litter, or next to it, or next to the crate..there seemed to be an effort by her to at least make it, so I thought it was getting better. Then last night she pooped while playing and walked as it was coming out of her and then she pooped in the bed while we were sleeping. When she was playing, she was far from the box. When she was in the bed, she was only a few feet away.

I am in such a panic over this. We don't really have the room for a kitten and I would've never, ever voluntarily take one in at the moment, so that is stressful enough that we can't find anyone else to take her. On top of this, her making such a mess with the poop has my anxiety through the roof. I have no idea what to do or where to start. I feel like it could be a million things. I'm afraid to go to the vet and spend hundreds of dollars on tests.

PLEASE lend me some guidance, even what I should ask the vet to look at first. She is the sweetest thing, but this is totally not in my budget. My co-worker said it was "meant to be" and the kitten "chose me" (she walked right up to me when I went to check on her on the street) and I want to believe that, but this is so stressful

I probably sound like an asshole. Please understand that I love animals, especially cats, but I also have anxiety issues & this is not helping my BF is so calm about it & I am going nuts!

[BendyMom]

hello!
sound slike your kitten still has some gut cooties.
I find 6-8 weeks is prime time for kittens to develop unhappy guts.
I would do a couple things, reworm the kitten which you can do by going to a pet store or feed store (if you are in a rural area) and buying wormer.

If the poop is bright yellow and smells ungodly foul then you likely have coccidea. Vets usually prescribe albon which takes forever to work if it works at all.
this can just be a stinking mess or it can be lethal. I have found the best treatment for it is this:
http://www.allthingsbunnies.com/Toltraz ... med132.htm

follow the instructons on teh bottle, I give until there is firm poop, then give an extra day. Repeat in a week. It usually works in a couple days.

until then, I advise confining the kitten so you confine the mess. you can try keeping the kitten in a large crate, I often use rabbit cages (that I get used, on craigslist) as kitten cages. Give them lots of things to play wth and distract them.

also, if you get a jar of babyfood pumpkin or babyfood sweet potatoes, mix about a half tsp into soem wet food for them that wll help firm up the poop.

I am all too aware of how stressful that kind of clean up is.
I hope you get things under control soon.

[dm922]

hello!
sound slike your kitten still has some gut cooties.
I find 6-8 weeks is prime time for kittens to develop unhappy guts.
I would do a couple things, reworm the kitten which you can do by going to a pet store or feed store (if you are in a rural area) and buying wormer.

If the poop is bright yellow and smells ungodly foul then you likely have coccidea. Vets usually prescribe albon which takes forever to work if it works at all.
this can just be a stinking mess or it can be lethal. I have found the best treatment for it is this:
http://www.allthingsbunnies.com/Toltraz ... med132.htm

follow the instructons on teh bottle, I give until there is firm poop, then give an extra day. Repeat in a week. It usually works in a couple days.

until then, I advise confining the kitten so you confine the mess. you can try keeping the kitten in a large crate, I often use rabbit cages (that I get used, on craigslist) as kitten cages. Give them lots of things to play wth and distract them.

also, if you get a jar of babyfood pumpkin or babyfood sweet potatoes, mix about a half tsp into soem wet food for them that wll help firm up the poop.

I am all too aware of how stressful that kind of clean up is.
I hope you get things under control soon.

Thank you so much for the reply!

I made an appointment with a highly recommended vet for Thursday, so I'm hoping he will do a more thorough exam.

She has to go for another round of deworming this week as well.

Would coccidea show up in a lab test of the feces? Because they did one and that's how they found she had roundworm.

And would it cause her to poop like that? Like how it's as if she doesn't know it's happening? That's what makes me so worried it's something involving nerve damage or cognitive function. I've never dealt with a kitten or cat who had bowel issues so it's all new to me and all makes me panic lol

I read about the pumpkin, I'm going to try to pick some up tonight and maybe that'll help her control it more.

We have her in a crate when we're out for longer hours or sleeping, but I still feel bad because then she makes a mess and walks through it and gets it on her but hopefully this is all temporary

Thank you so much!!

[BendyMom]

coccidea shows up on mcroscopic evaluation, but sometimes it can be missed.
it can cause uncontrollable runny poops, and yes they won't even know it's happening. I have not seem worms do that. Ask your vet about bene bac or similar gut suppliment.

CH does not result in incontinence, it is the failure of the cerebellum of the brain to develop causing motor control issues. head bobbing, difficulty walking/standing/running are all classic signs. Many vets recommend these cats be put down, as they do with most special needs cats. Usually ths is because they feel they owner won't want to take care of the cat longt erm. However, once you get the poop issues resolved your kitty shouldn't need any special care. she'll just walk a little funny.

Good luck. Let us know what happens.

[dm922]

coccidea shows up on mcroscopic evaluation, but sometimes it can be missed.
it can cause uncontrollable runny poops, and yes they won't even know it's happening. I have not seem worms do that. Ask your vet about bene bac or similar gut suppliment.

CH does not result in incontinence, it is the failure of the cerebellum of the brain to develop causing motor control issues. head bobbing, difficulty walking/standing/running are all classic signs. Many vets recommend these cats be put down, as they do with most special needs cats. Usually ths is because they feel they owner won't want to take care of the cat longt erm. However, once you get the poop issues resolved your kitty shouldn't need any special care. she'll just walk a little funny.

Good luck. Let us know what happens.

I will bring a sample to the new vet and ask him to test it again. The first vet said it's possible that worms are the cause.

I know CH doesn't cause incontinence, but I wasn't sure if maybe she had CH *plus* some other gut issues. But I posted a video of her in a CH group and a couple of people thought maybe it was a spinal cord injury because of the pooping issue. I also did some searching in these forums & saw some people who have had kittens with similar issues that either had nerve damage or spinal injuries/trauma. Though I am yet to find a kitten that has the same walking problem though - any posts of someone who had a kitten with spinal/nerve damage said the kitten's rear legs were paralyzed, which isn't the case for this kitty.

I guess we'll see Thursday. I'm hoping it's something that can be under control. I'm worried if she would need diapers because we are not home as often as we should be and I'm worried she'd get an infection from not being cleaned regularly.

Edit: oh my god, just realized you're Bendy mom! I kept seeing posts from you on my Google search about incontinent kitties. They were from YEARS ago..sorry to hear Bendy passed, but you were obviously a wonderful mommy to him!

[BendyMom]

can you post the video here?

yep, I'm The Bendy Mom. Two of his half siblings are still with me, at 16yo. One is very ill and may not be around much longer
I never quite got into the hang of posting here as myself, whch is why I don't post so often. You can find me on facebook under my name Sasha Black Furr, and find my spina bifida boy Butterbean, who I got through this forum.

thank you for your kind words, it's a tough time here right now. i'm glad I can help with your kitten. Is she vomiting at all?

oh, about confining her, if you make elevated places for her that helps her stay cleaner.
sometimes the dollar stores have those little coated-wire standalone shelves, they make good kitty platforms.

Is she peeing on her own? that makes a huge dfference in the risk of urinary tract infection.

My gut feeling, from your description, is that the pooing all over is illness related.
glad you are getting a second opinion!

[dm922]

can you post the video here?

yep, I'm The Bendy Mom. Two of his half siblings are still with me, at 16yo. One is very ill and may not be around much longer
I never quite got into the hang of posting here as myself, whch is why I don't post so often. You can find me on facebook under my name Sasha Black Furr, and find my spina bifida boy Butterbean, who I got through this forum.

thank you for your kind words, it's a tough time here right now. i'm glad I can help with your kitten. Is she vomiting at all?

oh, about confining her, if you make elevated places for her that helps her stay cleaner.
sometimes the dollar stores have those little coated-wire standalone shelves, they make good kitty platforms.

Is she peeing on her own? that makes a huge dfference in the risk of urinary tract infection.

My gut feeling, from your description, is that the pooing all over is illness related.
glad you are getting a second opinion!

You and everyone else on here are absolute saints for taking care of such needy critters. I have a whole new respect for those who foster, especially special needs animals. If it wasn't for my calm, laid back boyfriend who says things like "Time to clean up hurricane poopito" and making it all a big joke, I'd be going insane!!

I'll look into shelving. I actually want to get her a bigger crate. She has a XL dog crate plus a small extension but the dog crate is basically a giant litter box at this point because she makes such a mess with her crazy legs. So I'm thinking of getting another XL crate on Amazon. My only concern with the shelving is her falling off. I'd just have to keep it low. It's the cutest thing to watch her try to jump LOL

She isn't vomitting and she urinates on her own, THANK GOD, cause I know urine is WAY more of a nightmare than poop.

My BF picked up some canned pumpkin to see if that would help any, but he did say the poop is getting less messy/smelly.

Also her anus does contract & relax, so it's not like it's relaxed all the time like I've read is in the case for some kittens with spinal/nerve damage.

I hope you're right about it being an illness. Thursday can't come soon enough!!

[BendyMom]

glad to hear the poop is less smelly/messy. that is a huge hellp
i also have anxiety issues and I know how more mess will really set me off.
one time i took several cats to the vet for boarding just to give my nerves a break. i gave them medication instructions and said i need a few days with a slightly lighter routine.
my vet is wonderful about working with me, too. he lets me cry all over him, which lately has been a lot.
your boyfriend sounds fantastic.

[dm922]

My BF has been so patient. Even started manually pooping her, lol. I sometimes say I shouldn't have picked her up or wish I didn't see her and he'll ask me how I could say that, she's so sweet, etc..I'm glad he's so good about it.

Anyway - I noticed that I don't think she has feeling in her back legs/tail? Which is really bizarre because she walks..so how can she have no feeling but still walk?? I say this because I rub her back legs and she didn't react. She also chases her tail A LOT and her tail never wags, but it does move up/sway when she's walking

Also, her anus is a straight line - what does that mean? Is that considered a flaccid anus? Google has failed me, lol

Edit: I've still been researching like crazy - could this be spina bifida? I don't want it to be because I know there really isn't treatment besides surgery but the symptoms fit She even hops occasionally when she's trying to move quick

[BendyMom]

manually expressing them is a great way to control mess!
yes, your bf sounds like a keeper

there are different kinds of nerve sensation. if you pinch the skin between teh toes fairly hard she shoudl respond, adn the fact that she is not dragging her toes says she knows where her feet are.
this is different than responding to touch.

[critters]

My BF has been so patient. Even started manually pooping her, lol. I sometimes say I shouldn't have picked her up or wish I didn't see her and he'll ask me how I could say that, she's so sweet, etc..I'm glad he's so good about it.

Anyway - I noticed that I don't think she has feeling in her back legs/tail? Which is really bizarre because she walks..so how can she have no feeling but still walk?? I say this because I rub her back legs and she didn't react. She also chases her tail A LOT and her tail never wags, but it does move up/sway when she's walking

Also, her anus is a straight line - what does that mean? Is that considered a flaccid anus? Google has failed me, lol

Edit: I've still been researching like crazy - could this be spina bifida? I don't want it to be because I know there really isn't treatment besides surgery but the symptoms fit She even hops occasionally when she's trying to move quick

It could, indeed, be spina bifida or an acquired spinal cord injury, and the flaccid anus supports that diagnosis. Are you in medicine or special ed? CH is what they call CP in critters, and even vets can have a HARD time telling them apart.

The boyfriend sounds like a keeper!

Do you do Facebook? There are groups for both CH kitties and SCI ones there.

Yes, movement nerves and feeling nerves are different nerves, and they are in different places in the spinal cord. It's typical for a spinal cord injury to cause different things with each.

"Bunny hopping" is also common with a milder SCI in a cat.

[BendyMom]

I have five spina bifida cats here.
Butterbean, who has a FB page and is the most extreme. in a diaper FT and has very deformed hind legs with no real use of either.
Hopper, who hops and is mostly incontinent. I express her daily.
Penelope Foo-Foo, who is like Hopper
Black Cherry, who has deformed hind legs, mild use of one, also in a diaper FT.
and Tommy chestnut who has back legs that are put on backwards but is fully continent and can use his wierd legs.

none of them h ave had the surgery, it would be way too expensive, as would be the MRI.
I express them and keep them clean. Constpation/megacolon can be an issue as can watching for urinary tract infections.
diet helps both immensely.

is her poop any better? i hope so.
for all of your sakes.