Problems with dry food

[Gillian Harvey]

Thanks for that Gillian, VERY interesting reading. Have bookmarked them for a closer inspection tomorrow!

Enjoy!  The Catinfo site is written by a vet, she does add supplements, but the rawfedcat site, I feel, aims for an even more natural way of feeding.

[alexgirl73]

Thanks for that Gillian, VERY interesting reading. Have bookmarked them for a closer inspection tomorrow!

[Gillian Harvey]

I have considered raw diet, but would have no idea where to get the zinc and other supplements that have to be added to it as I cant shop over the internet.

You don't need to add a lot of supplements with a raw diet, because fresh meat, plus a good source of calcium, such as real bone (minced up if you don't want to feed whole bone) or bonemeal, contains all the nutrients a cat needs. Your vet may be able to order some bonemeal for you. You can buy ready minced up meat and bones. I guess it would be worth a try, raw meat is easier for a cat to digest than cooked. The only other thing I would add if you use frozen meat, is taurine, as storage such as freezing can reduce it considerably - and possibly salmon oil if you feed very lean meat. I have heard of cats with IBD that have done really well on raw diet. These sites might be useful http://catinfo.org/ and http://www.rawfedcats.org/

[alexgirl73]

She's only been on the metronidazole this time for the last 3 weeks, the previous time was in October, so it's not that causing the problems 

Lindyloo, I have sent an email to Denes asking if they have a local supplier in Telford for me to try her on this. Believe me I will give anything a go. I also heard of someone else who had a cat with similar problems and the only hting it could eat was beef flavoured felix! How they discovered that I'll never know lol! I am more inclined to try her with a fish based meat than anything else as obviously I know her tummy can take fish!

[Lindyloo]

Hello Alexgirl,
This could be similar to the cat I had, she could not eat any brand of cat food but Denes.  Anything else and she would get terrible diarrhoea. I suppose it must have been an allergy but I do not know what she was allergic to. I was just glad to have found something she could tolerate. This was about 15 years ago. Denes now make a biscuit food too. There tinned range inclue a beef free and a cereal free variety so you try one then the other. If you do decide to give it a try make sure she only eats the one thing at a time and water. Anything else at all and you won't get a true result. (no fish, chicken,rice, whatever)
Lynn

[Millys Mum]

How long has she been on the anti-bs? They can cause diarrhoea!

[alexgirl73]

Millys mum, she is only on between 30 -40g of the dry a day, split into 2 meals, morning and night. She has been tested for Giardia and the other things you mentioned, all negative, and has been on the metronidazole anyway as a just in case measure, but is now on it for the IBS anyway! When trying a new food it has depended on how severe the diarrhoea has been with it. Some of them have just caused a constant running to the litter tray every 5 mins, while others have left her severley incontinent and doing her business everywhere. She has been at deaths door a few times because of it, and obviously she couldn't be kept on foods she cant tolerate. The only thing she has ever been able to take on its own was the plain white fish, but obviously not great long term health wise as there wasn't enough nutrients in it for a little kitten. I have considered raw diet, but would have no idea where to get the zinc and other supplements that have to be added to it as I cant shop over the internet. The canikur came from a very kind friend of mine who bought them for Teddie alomg with her dry food, the promax I got from my vet.

[Millys Mum]

How much do you feed of it? When my fosters had long term diarrhoea and all the tests and various potions didnt work or came back negative i went right down to rations. 40g a day of dry i/d and a little wet. This was made into 6-8 small meals a day. Tedious but it worked 

You say they have checked for parasites, did they do a stool test for things like Giardia, Campylobacter, Salmonella etc

Theres probiotics such as Lacto B that are good.
When you have tried a new food how long have you trialled it for?

The other thing to look into is a raw diet.

Do you buy the Canikur and Promax from your vet?
www.vetuk.co.uk compare the prices on that website (if you decide to make an order please visit the links page and buy through a charity link, they earn 5%.)

[swampmaxmum]

If she's anything like my two, you'll have to ration the yoghurt!  Good luck with the wet i/d.  I'm not sure if it lacks any essentials or if it's ok for long term (better than diarrhoea anyhow); maybe if it works you can supplement with anything that it lacks.  I recall comparing it with l/d and think it lacks zinc and copper but not sure how essential they are anyhow.

[alexgirl73]

Teddie is 9 months now, though looks more like a 4 month old! I had thought of trying the natural yoghurt route but was a bit unsure about it. She has been in the id dry for over a month now, but can't seem to tolerate it without the supplements. Which is why I'm really hoping the wet id will do the trick.
I know that IBS is mostly about management but at the moment we cant get to a sustainable point to manage it!

Off to Asda in a mo to get some natural yoghurt!

[swampmaxmum]

Hi Alex, my 2 definitely vomited dry food more than wet food, even when fed to them v slowly so I concluded that it has to be less digestible. I would keep on with the i/d cans if they aren't too expensive. You can get trays of small ones, but be warned, those are slightly different from the 156g ones for some reason!  A teaspoon of plain yoghurt's a good idea if it's a small amount but check there's not too much sugar in it.
My critter Max was on i/d for about 2 weeks before his tum settled a bit (touch wood, one whoops on the carpet yesterday). The problem is that if you keep changing foods, her tum's not going to settle.
the vet told me inflammatory bowel conditions are very common in cats and hard to resolve. Which doesn't help at all. Max is pretty constipado on i/d so it must be low in fibre??!! who knows.
good luck!

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

When you say you've had her for 6 months does that mean she's still a kitten?  If so then maybe she will grow out of it as her digestive system matures.

Have you tried giving her a small amount of unsweetened yogurt each day?  That sometimes helps and would be cheaper than the meds you're currently giving her.

[alexgirl73]

To date we have tried...... Royal Canin kitten, and sensitive. James Wellbeloved - various varieties. Whiskas -wet and dry. Asda own - wet and dry. HiLife wet pouches. Almo nature wet. PAH own brand dry. Iams wet. Hills sensitive. (now on Hills id prescription dry). Even tried Go-cat lol!!

For months the only thing she could eat was plain white boiled fish, but it was keeping her alive and that was it. She didn't grow or put on weight from it. Plain chicken or turkey wasn't any good either, they gave her the runs too! I haven't heard of Dennes food, but I'll go and have a look at their site.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

It may just be a case of trial and error with finding the right food.  Maybe she's sensitive to a particular ingredient? 

It might be worth trying James wellbeloved as that is hypoallergencic, or just studying ingredients and trying to eliminate certain things (wheat, corn, maybe chicken - JWB do a lamb flavoured food - not sure if it contains chicken too) to see if you can find out which ones may be causing problems.

[Mark]

Petfood warehouse do an italian brand called forza 10 which is supposed to help sensitivities

http://petfoodwarehouse.co.uk/browse_494

Most premium foods are around £10.00 for 2kg which lasts about a month or more

Pets at Home sell Royal Canin dry food and there is a sensitive version. They also sell Hills, the too have a sensitive stomach version. Hills is often on offer "buy one, get one 1/2 price" thepremium brands tend to have less or no cereal in so are better for cats stomachs.

Petfood warehouse also sell premiumdry fod such as James Wellbeloved, arden grange etc. It might be a case of trial and error but there is probably one that suits your cat

http://www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/erol.html?gclid=CJ6ClZ_NvIsCFSoMQgoddynw1w

[Lindyloo]

Have you seen my post about Denes cat food? It is worth trying. I had a cat once who could not eat anything else. Look at the Denes website for more info.
Lynn

[alexgirl73]

Thanks for the reply Rebecca! I'll head over to Sainsburys tomorrow to have a look at the perfect fit pouches! My problem with the cost is that I am on a very low income due to disability and if it was only me then I'd eat beans every day , but with 2 children and a hubby to feed too, then I have to find something for Teddie that wont break the bank. I have no problem with getting a quality food for her, but it is the supplements that are really causing the expense and I'm praying that taking her off of dry food will go a long way to settling her tummy!

[Beccles]

Ollie, my increasingly fragile palliative-care foster (eg I am caring for him until he dies), can only properly tolerate the 'Perfect Fit' Sensitive pouches of dry food. Sainsburys sell them, they're in white plastic pouches - definitely worth a try if you haven't already!

You may be able to locate the granules and/or paste online for a discount - but (and I know this sounds a bit bossy - sorry!) you probably also need to start really budgeting for buying them, for the rest of Teddie's life, potentially. Cos, when it comes down to it, she's your cat and you've got to keep her well, and eventually you'll need to use whatever works and if that's the pain-in-the-wallet stuff then that's that.  Sorry I know that sounds really unsympathetic, is absolutely not meant as such...

Hope you find something cheaper that works for Teddie soon! 

[alexgirl73]

My little exotic Teddie has had tummy problems ever since we got her 6 months ago. We have tried all sorts of food with her to no avail. She has been tested for parasitic infections, reults negative, and the thinking is that she sufers from IBS! Now at the moment she is o hills id prescription dry along with canikur granules and promax paste. My problem is whenever I try to take either the granules or the paste away, the runs start again, but I simply can't aford to keep using these along with her food, way too expensive! I'm thinking of tryin her on the hills id wet, and wonder if anyone else has come acros a cat that simply can't tolerate dry food. Any advice greatly appreciated