Delicate stomach?

Hi everyone

We have two 18-month-old Maine Coons (Bruce and Sheila). They are indoor cats, they are healthy and happy, and have recently had their vet check and been wormed.

They are currently free-fed Royal Canin Maine Coon dry food, and twice a day they have Bozita or Animonda wet food. Occasionally they have a can of Applaws or tuna in springwater. They have cat grass on offer at all times. They are never given treats.

Bruce seems to have a particularly sensitive stomach (as I think I have mentioned before on here). He is currently suffering another bout of diarrhoea, and I think it's because on Friday I fed them a bit of canned tuna (in springwater). It seems that the smallest deviation from their current diet causes him problems.

The only solution to the diarrhoea seems to be to starve him for 24hrs and then feed him plain cooked chicken for a day or two, before re-introducing his normal food. This is a pain because if Sheila can't nibble at kibble during the night she scratches the door incessantly!

Obviously we have now learned our lesson which is not to deviate AT ALL fom the RC/Bozita/Animonda regime. However, I'm concerned that we have reared a VERY fussy cat! This despite making special effort to feed them a wide range of foods while they were kittens.

I am wondering whether there is anything we can do to 'toughen' up Bruce's digestive system? Or should we consider switching them to a special diet for cats with delicate stomachs (such as Royal Canin's 'Sensible' formula)? I fear that if we do this there will be no turning back and we will be stuck with feeding them 'special' food for life.

Any ideas welcomed!

Bruce&Sheila

I would say food allergies or IBD(Irritable Bowel Disease). Lucia had diarrhea for a long time, she was dx with IBD and now she is on raw food and it is completely gone. If Your cat does have allergies or IBD then stick to what the cat can tolerate without runny stools. I would also look at the labels to try to figure out what could have caused the irritation.

Originally Posted by CC12

I would say food allergies or IBD(Irritable Bowel Disease). Lucia had diarrhea for a long time, she was dx with IBD and now she is on raw food and it is completely gone. If Your cat does have allergies or IBD then stick to what the cat can tolerate without runny stools. I would also look at the labels to try to figure out what could have caused the irritation.

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I agree with this. My cat has suspected IBD and after switching her to a raw diet, her symptoms are controlled if not gone. I was told by my vet that once you find a food they can tolerate, stick with it.

Thanks to both of you for your helpful replies. It sounds like it is safe to diagnose him as being a sensitive/IBS cat (he is totally bright and healthy in all other ways).

After two bouts of starvation and then gradual reintroduction, it seems to be the dry food that's the problem. Bruce was relatively 'solid' after just eating Bozita wet, but we reintroduced the RC dry food yesterday and we're now back to square one.

We will keep them on just the wet food over the weekend, to make absolutely sure it is only the dry food that's causing the problem. We will then try a sensitive stomachs formula dry food next week and see how that goes. Raw will be a last resort.

The worst thing is that we're going away for the weekend and friends are looking after the cats! I hope manages to avoid standing in it and then walking it round the house like last weekend...

Bruce&Sheila

You can ad some acidoupholous a probiotic to the food and that shoul help with the problem Health food stores carry it.
FWIW My cats o get a variety of ifferent foods albeit canned and cooked or raw chicken/turkey only and no dry foods. The diahrrea problems only happened when I switched cats that were on dry foods to wet only. The acidoupholous helped and the problems eventually went away. Best of lkuck