Dark colored stool

[Kittyfriend]

One of my kittens stool seems to be noticably darker then the others. Is this normal or could it be an indication of a problem?? All my kittens are healthy and have no problems, it just seemed strange to me to notice a difference in color when they all eat the same thing.
Thanks!!

[Tina B and crew]

Take your cat to the vet as soon as possible...dark tarry stools can be a sign of blood in the stool. Has the consitency changed? Diarrhea, constipation? Your vet can examine your kitty and do a fecal to make sure everything is OK..keep us updated

[Traci]

Tina is right, a stool exam is warranted here. This could be anything from improper diet, to blood in the stool or colon, intestinal upset, toxicity of some sort to overgrowth of bacteria in the GI. Don't wait on this, get your kitten to your vet immediately for a full exam and a fecal exam.

[Kittyfriend]

I am going get a sample and take it in first thing tomorrow morning. He has had tummy problems off and on since we got him a few weeks ago and he has been in for a couple exams and tests (including a fecal) and nothing out of the ordinary has been found. I thought we were doing better because his stool was actually formed, but I guess not. I'll keep ya posted, thanks for the advice.

[Kittyfriend]

Hello, I took a fecal sample to the vet this morning and it came back negative - they said there was nothing wrong. I guess I will have to believe them, but I just worry. He seems fine in all other ways - playful, energetic, has a very good apetite and drinks plenty of water. I guess there is nothing else I can do???

[Traci]

You mentioned he has had GI problems intermittently since you've had him. What did your vet say at those times? How old is your kitten, and what brand/type of food are you feeding? Is his stool soft, or diarrhea? Does he have a history of vomiting?

[Kittyfriend]

He has been to the vet twice for him tummy problems. The first time it was a few weeks ago just shortly after we got him because he had diarrhea for 2 days and had thrown up clear liquid a couple times. The doctor took a fecal and said it was neg. and that we should feed him baby food chicken for a few days to see if that helped. It seemed to help and then I slowly got him back on his regular food. He is about 16 weeks old now and I am giving him Nutro Max kitten formula turkey flavor. I'm sticking to the one flavor only just to be on the safe side. He won't even hardly sniff the dry food, but he wolfs down his wet food like he has never eaten before. The second time I took him to the vet was just over a week ago because his belly seemed really big and he was wretching for almost an hour like he was going to throw up, but he never did. He got really lethargic and we really thought there was a problem. The emergency vet did all kinds of tests and blood work and $700+ later, he said he could not find anything wrong so he treated him for an upset stomach. We were giving him a liquid 3x a day as a "tummy protectant". He has been fine the last week and his stool is formed normally, just darker than the others. Another thing with him is that he is always so hungry and eats ravenously, but the vet assures me there are no parasites. At this point I'm not sure what else I could do to be sure he's ok??

[Traci]

Your vet performed a fecal, but did he also deworm your kitten? All kittens should be initially dewormed, despite a negative fecal, because larvae and oocysts cannot always be detected in one fecal alone. Deworming is a preventative health measure. (and don't do this yourself, over the counter products are worthless, not to mention toxic to cats)

I don't recommend Nutro, especially for kittens. I would strongly recommend talking to your vet about a higher quality kitten food. If the diet is the culprit, this can easily be rectified, as it is now, your kitten is having too frequent episodes of digestive and GI tract upset, he can't risk more episodes before other problems start occuring. Your kitten could also be suffering from malabsorption or too high metabolism of the diet (which may be insufficient in proper nutrients for him in particular, this is where a higher quality diet may solve the problem). Also, kittens generally need to be free fed due to the amount of energy they expend, and their nutritional/vitamin/mineral needs are higher when they are growing and developing. If you're scheduling feeding times, this could be one reason he seems ravenous all the time.

Don't overlook the possibility of parasites yet, nor coccidia, giardia, salmonella, etc, all of which could yet be detected on another stool sample. If your vet didn't deworm your kitten, it's time to do so now, or find another vet altogether, especially if this situation does not resolve.

[Kittyfriend]

My kitty was dewormed at the rescue that I adopted him from a little over a month or so ago. At $.59 cents per 3 oz can, I thought Nutro was more of a premium brand, Yikes! I will check with the vet to see what other brand he recommends. If its just the diet that needs to be changed, that would be great. The other thing with my little guy is that he will not even so much as sniff the dry food that I leave out all day. I figured that was part of the reason he was so hungry when I fed him in the late afternoon. I was thinking of trying other brands of dry food to see if I can find one he likes, but I'm so afraid to change foods and upset his tummy again, plus I have his 2 brothers and sister and I'm afraid to introduce anything new to them as well. His stool looked a little lighter today, more like the others. Should I wait a few more days and see how it goes? Maybe wait and get another sample?

Thank you SO much for your time and advice. It is greatly appreciated!!!!

[Traci]

Not knowing the product the shelter used to deworm, impossible to say if it was effective. It won't hurt to deworm him again. Usually, we deworm kittens with both droncit (for tapeworms) and strongid-T (for roundworms, hookworms). Strongid requires two doses, each 14 days apart. It could be that he doesn't have worms, but one can never be too careful.

Please see This thread for more information on diet and Nutro. I'd suspect your kitten has a low tolerance for it altogether, evident by his walking away from the dry. Personally, I prefer Iams Kitten or Eukanuba for kittens.