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5-week-old kitten has diarrhea and a swollen anus. What should I do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | unspayed | 1 month and 6 days old | 1lb

Hi I found a 3 week old kitten & I have been bottle feeding her PetLac Powdered Formula , she is now 5 weeks old & I Starting in A Little Bit Of Wet kitten food with her formula at 4 weeks, she has had diarreha & a swollen Anus for about a week now, what should I do?

4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Christie Long, DVM

Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

Published on November 13th, 2016

My biggest immediate concern would be for intestinal parasites. Most kittens have them, and if she hasn't seen a vet yet and been dewormed, she needs to. She's suffering pretty significant fluid losses for a tiny creature. Make an appointment tomorrow, and bring a stool sample with you, so that the type of parasite can be determined and appropriate treatment started.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA

    Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

    Published on August 7th, 2017

    Her anus may be a little puckered from there being very firm stool pushing it out. Continue to stimulate bowel movements by rubbing a warm wet wash cloth against her anus for a minute. Make sure she is drinking plenty of water. You can mix water or kitten milk replacer in wet kitten food. 5 weeks is about the time that the mom will wean the kittens and they should be able to go potty without stimulation. If the kittens have not been dewormed yet, I would go ahead and do that. You can find a cat dewormer at the pet store. You can also try adding fish oil or Laxatone for stool greasing properties. However, if no stool is formed, your kitten may need to see a vet for treatment. Often it can be resolved with an enema, but I do not advise doing this at home as it is very easy to cause internal damage if you have not received proper training.

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    Answered By Maria DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 21st, 2018

    They most likely are not drinking water since they are still on the kitten milk which contains a lot of water in it and if you are adding in wet food, which also contains a lot of water. With regards to the kitten who seems to have a bloated belly I would have a vet take a look and perform a stool sample to rule out intestinal parasites. Not all deworming treatments treat all the intestinal parasites and he may have one that isn't covered by that particular dewormer. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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    Answered By Dr. Heidi DVM, CVA, CCRT, CVTP, CVSMT, CVCH

    Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist, Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner

    Published on May 20th, 2018

    Your pictures came through fine this time. Although it is always a little difficult to tell in pictures, the area looks as I would expect it to look from loose stool. The anus will commonly look like it is protruding a little from the irritation from the loose stool. I don't think it looks concerning. Hopefully your veterinarian will be able to determine the cause of the loose stool tomorrow and resolve the problem. We very commonly see intestinal parasites in kittens even if they have been previously dewormed. Hopefully that will be all the treatment she needs. Good luck! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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