the runs

[bds1960to]

Had my 9-y-o cat on wet food for about a month. We've had about 4 days now of stool that comes out in a puddle. Terra's squeeking a tiny bit as she does it. This morning I temporarily put her back on dry food, since I know it results in a firm dry stool. I'll start her back on wet once she's stabilized. I had, a few days ago, started giving her the turkey Wellness wet food instead of the chicken and salmon. Anyone know if some cats might be sensitive to turkey?

[hazelrunpack]

Any animal can develop an intolerance or an allergy to almost any food. Poor Terra! That being said, though, have you had a stool sample evaluated at the vet? Maybe it's not the food

[TacoGrl]

Has Terra always been on kibble? If so, loose stools does happen sometimes when changing to wet...maybe try mixing the two together until her little system gets used to it...

[bds1960to]

when I got her at the Humane Society at the start of December, they said the inmates were fed a mix of wet and dry. I was feeding her dry until you guys convinced me of the wisdom in switching to wet. She's been fine in her litter box on the wet until the last 4 days. Which is about when I started feeding her the turkey one. That's been the only change in circumstances.

[bendyfoot]

Some animals are very sensitive to changes of food, especially if it means a change of the protein source. I would suspect the turkey food it it was me. Try getting her back on the old chicken variety.

[flipgirl4]

Many cats are allergic to fish, beef and dairy. I would guess it's the salmon. But I would mix the dry and wet and eventually, go all wet. I would also stick to turkey and chicken and see how she does on those. Basically, a process of elimination.

[bds1960to]

Yup, it was the food. After 1.5 days back on dry, her stool was firm and solid again. Now, back on wet for 2.5 days, it's gone mushy again. Not a sustainable situation. Her bottom's so messed that she's stinky and marking whatever she sits or lies on.

So, my compromise: Wellness dry food. There's one now out called CORE, no grains. There's also Healthy Weight, too, which might be good considering we're in slimming mode.

So I'm going to give it a try. If I can't go wet, I think going Wellness top-of-the-line dry is my best alternative.

[TacoGrl]

Did you try mixing the dry with the wet? It really does work...

[sugarcatmom]

What about trying a different canned food other than Wellness? There are a couple that have simple ingredients, no grains or vegetables, and you could even try a novel protein source like duck or venison. Innova Evo 95% is good (but not the Evo Cat & Kitten one, which is too complex) and By Nature Organics is another option. The fact that a food is wet shouldn't cause digestive problems, it usually has more to do with something in the ingredients.

[bds1960to]

As always, thanks for the suggestions. I think it's more the higher moisture content than anything else. Because when she's on wet food, she ignores her water dish entirely. She's feeling no need to drink.

Anyway, I have to get an immediate fix, so the CORE will be the first venture. It's no-grain and has only a bit of potato to hold it together.

I'll let you know. If her energy level drops (as it does with other dry food vs the wet food), that'll be an indicator to shift again, too.

Here's the link to CORE.

http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/cat_w..._dry_core.html


Cheers.

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by bds1960to

As always, thanks for the suggestions. I think it's more the higher moisture content than anything else. Because when she's on wet food, she ignores her water dish entirely. She's feeling no need to drink.

It's actually ideal if a cat isn't drinking from a bowl, as that means they're getting enough moisture in their diet, the way it would be in "nature". Also, loose stool is not an automatic side effect of eating moisture-rich foods, just like you don't always get diarrhea from eating a bowl of soup. Like I said, it's more likely a sensitivity to an ingredient in the wet food.

Originally Posted by bds1960to

Anyway, I have to get an immediate fix, so the CORE will be the first venture. It's no-grain and has only a bit of potato to hold it together.

It's certainly up to you if you want to give it a go. There is more than "a bit" of potato in Core though because the calories from carbs is 14%. Not the worst dry out there by any means, but canned food is still better in that category. Also just a warning that, like all the other grain-free kibbles, Core is high in calories at 535 per cup. So you might want to be careful with how much Terra gets. It's also very high in phosphorus, which would be an issue if Terra had any kidney problems (I know she doesn't now, just something to keep in mind for the future).

[bds1960to]

my alternative is the Healthy Weight.
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/cat_w...hy_weight.html

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by bds1960to

my alternative is the Healthy Weight.
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/cat_w...hy_weight.html

Core is better than the diet formula, which is way too grainy.

[aarontt]

All 3 of my cats had trouble with runny stools on any wet food that we tried. They eat Science Diet Senior, dry of course, and do very well with it.

[Khari]

I don't think it is because of the wet food that she is having a runny stool. It is more likely some type of ingredient in the canned that is upsetting her stomach. Canned is far more superior than kibble any day. Do a search on the internet and you will find that canned is better for a cat over kibble any day....

My cat Bishop had chronic diarrhea for years. The vet could not get it under control no matter what vet perscribed canned food/dry food Bishop ate. At the time he never offered a process of elimination but I so wish he did. Because it may have saved Bishop from may years of discomfort. One day I started researching all of the bad ingredients in cat food and I made the decision to try my cats on a raw diet. Low and behold - Bishop's diarrhea completely cleared up. He has been diarrhea free now for 5 months. If I do feed him any canned I have been feeding him Wellness grain free (different varieties). He has had one or two loose stools on the switch to Wellness and I attribute this to some ingredient that his stomach does not agree with.

You said that she has a loose stool when you feed her the turkey flavor canned. Do not feed her this one then. Do a process of elimination of the flavors. Cats do have a hard time with the carageen/guam in canned food as well. And some can not handle the vegetables and fruits. I would not give up on the grain free canned because it is better for her all around. Especially for the added moisture that cats require. I even add some water to my cats canned to ensure they are getting enough water. If you would like to read something that supports this I can send you an article.

Also, some cats may experience softer stools during the transition. Do not worry if this happens. It's best if we tend to 'ride it out'. If diarrhea results from the diet change you will either need to experiment with different canned foods or slow the transition down and do it over a period of several weeks.

[bds1960to]

Alas, doing the process-of-elimination thingy with all the varieties of Wellness wet that there are could be costly and take considerable time -- based on having to try her on each one for a few days to see if her digestion would settle down. And throwing out that which I couldn't feed her. Meanwhile, until the right one was found -- if ever -- the mess would continue. Apart from being stinky and messy, she was miserable over it, like a human whose digestion and rear end arenn't working right for days. So, we're on dry food and she improved 100% in 3 meals, just as she did last weekend when I put her on dry as an interim measure between turkey wet and chicken wet.

In working on all this, I have to consider that I don't know her feeding history over the 9 years of her life. I have to go with what her digestive system accepts and she eats willingly.

[TacoGrl]

Kids eat McDonalds willingly but it's not good for them.

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by aarontt

All 3 of my cats had trouble with runny stools on any wet food that we tried. They eat Science Diet Senior, dry of course, and do very well with it.

Sorry to hijack, but I have to point something out. In another post you said that one of your cats has asthma and allergies and gets a steroid shot every month, and another cat has mysterious lumps. This tells me that your cats are NOT doing well on the SD dry. What brands and flavours of canned did you try? Perhaps if you were to introduce a quality canned food (no by-products or grains or un-named meat sources) along with using some slippery elm bark powder to help keep their stool firm and some probiotics to give the healthy intestinal bacteria a boost, you would have better success.

[bds1960to]

Originally Posted by TacoGrl

Kids eat McDonalds willingly but it's not good for them.

Now, now, I said "what's good for her digestion..."and what she willingly eats.

She's 9 years old, so her digestive tract has a history. What it is, I don't know.. What I AM able to do is see what goes down well and what comes out well. Wet food ended up being an on-going disaster at the outbound end.

Sure, in the best of all possible worlds, topnotch wet food would work. But it's been quite a number of weeks now, and it just made her miserable at the outbound end.

So I do what I can and keep quality in mind.

[Khari]

Had my 9-y-o cat on wet food for about a month. We've had about 4 days now of stool that comes out in a puddle. Terra's squeeking a tiny bit as she does it. This morning I temporarily put her back on dry food, since I know it results in a firm dry stool. I'll start her back on wet once she's stabilized. I had, a few days ago, started giving her the turkey Wellness wet food instead of the chicken and salmon. Anyone know if some cats might be sensitive to turkey?

To me it sounds like it IS the Turkey Wellness that she has an intolerance to since the LOOSE stools were produced when you fed her the Turkey Wellness. Because from what you say she did well on wet food for a month.....My one cat has an intolerance to some flavors as well. So then I don't feed him that flavor regularily. Is she acting lethargic and sick? If she is her normal self then it also could be her stomach adjusting to canned food. That's if she has been on dry food her whole life?

Yup, it was the food. After 1.5 days back on dry, her stool was firm and solid again. Now, back on wet for 2.5 days, it's gone mushy again.

This time around - what flavor did you give her of the canned? Was it the Turkey? 1.5 days is not a long enough time to let her stomach settle once it is upset....It is probably becoming more upset from switching between different foods in such a short period of time. Although with that said.....I do think that some of the ingredients in commercial cat food is not species appropriate and hard for cats stomachs to handle....

If I can't go wet, I think going Wellness top-of-the-line dry is my best alternative.

In my opinion you are not giving it much of a shot...please do let me know what you were feeding her the second time around when she got diarrhea again. Maybe you will have to feed her dry for a short period and very slowly add in the canned and decreasing the dry over a two week period. Transition must be slow. But it still sounds to me that she was only having problems with the turkey Have you tried any other higher quality grain free canned food? There are some that are mostly meat with none of all the added ingredients? There is one called "Before Grain" I think it is by Merrick (95% meat).....don't give up on the canned so easily....

http://www.homevet.com/petcare/feedingyourcat.html

http://www.blakkatz.com/dryfood.html

http://www.maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm

http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bpo_ch4.php

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...needcannedfood