What Do You Feed a Kitten With a Sensitive Stomach?

Veterinary Appointment

• Don't simply chalk up your kitty's belly issues to a "sensitive stomach." An upset stomach often can be a sign of bigger health concerns, after all. Tummy troubles are often associated with medical conditions including parasites, inflammatory bowel disease, allergies to certain types of food and bacterial infections. If your kitten is indeed dealing with some type of ailment, he might require veterinary management rather than simple menu tweaks.

Supervising Eating Habits

• Don't assume that your kitten has a sensitive tummy until you carefully monitor his eating habits. If he has a penchant for scarfing down his meals too fast, he just might experience tummy woes soon after. This also applies to cats and kittens who eat too many treats, eat foods made for humans, get a lot of hairballs or overeat in general. Dairy products are also a serious no-no for felines of all age groups. Cats, for the most part, are lactose intolerant creatures. Remember to always be gradual when you change your kitten's food, too. Abrupt switches in food can often shock cats' digestive systems, leading to unpleasant upset stomachs.

Dietary Planning

• Veterinary guidance is crucial for planning your kitten's meals. If it turns out that your pet does indeed have a stomach prone to upsets, your vet can either give you suggestions on commercial kitten foods that are geared to sensitive bellies, or instead suggest a special prescription diet for your cutie. Many commercial "sensitive stomach" formulas are available for adult cats, but it's important to keep those away from kittens. Adult cats have totally different nutritional demands than growing kittens do.

  Never make any adjustments to your kitten's food without consulting a veterinarian first. A veterinarian can steer you in the direction of an appropriate bland meal plan for your pet.

Look Out for the Signs

• It's crucial to always be aware of the signs of sensitive stomachs in cats and kittens, as they often serve as alerts to bigger health problems. If your kitten has a sensitive stomach, he might have frequent bowel movements with wet, runny textures. He might accidentally eliminate in places outside of his litter pan. He might seem unusually exhausted all of the time. You might even notice tinges of blood in his bowels, if you look in the litter box. He might rarely seem hungry or throw up a lot. If you observe any of these symptoms, consider them helpful alerts -- and then call your vet immediately.