Coccidia in young kittens can be pretty common and antibiotics will not touch them. Did the vets test their stool? My DD took in a couple kittens from a litter evidently infested with it and she had to do several rounds of Albon because they must've cross contaminated each other and it came back several times.

Wash their litter box often (even daily) with bleach and water, to prevent reinfection if it does turn out to be something contagious.

Diarrhea has many causes in cats and kittens, but the first step is always to get a fecal test done to rule out things like coccidia and other parasites. Some kittens actually outgrow diarrhea problems that seem to have no other obvious causes, though most do by the age of your kitten.

Dietary intolerance is relatively common as well, and carbohydrates are rapidly becoming the 'bad guy' in cat foods... which translates basically into dry food being the culprit in many cat diseases, from urinary and digestive to dental and even many internal organ problems. Though many cats do well on dry food, it is certainly not the best choice to feed a cat. It has cost and convenience on its side, but that is it.

Thanks for the replies. The vet did a swab of her rectum and it came back negative for parasites. I guess I just need to take her back and let her be tested again. Maybe she has IBS like her "mom" ;-)

I can't seem to get the kitties to want the canned food I offer them. The dry that they're on is Wellness and its first ingredient is a meat. That's got to be better than what my previous kitty was on for 21 yrs (Sci. Diet).

We're sooooo in love with our new babies and can't remember what we did without them.

Thanks!
Tracey

Congratulations on your adoptions :)

You should not have to give your kittens pumpkin. It's a great help but something must be going on with them. What was the intestinal 'bug' that she was treated for already? I would specifically ask your vet about tritrichomonas foetus. If you can absolutely rule out all parasite problems, I'd look to diet for sure.

I linked in an awesome write-up I was given on this forum about cat nutritional. You're going to want to switch to canned food when you finish reading it!

Was the breeder feeding them the Chicken Soup? Did the kittens have normal stools while eating the Chicken Soup cat food? (They might actually have a problem with something in the Wellness). I went through a horrible ordeal with my kitten and I found that quality food doesn't exactly mean 'tolerable' food. It could be just one small ingredient that triggers that diarrhea...

If they are having a problem with food ingredients, you should try one thing at a time until you can stabilize them (whichever you prefer, dry or canned). Once you get things right, you can introduce new things from there. If you are trying to do both canned and dry at the same time, you won't know what the offending food is. If the Wellness dry is bothering them, you're never going to know what canned food will work, either. It can be a very trying process on your patience!

Here is a link that might be useful: Cat Info.org