Lost. What do I feed them?

I have two 16 week old Maine Coons and the breeder was feeding them Purina One when I got them, so I did my research and gradually switched them to Wellness Core. Well they started getting nasty diarrhea so I brought them to the vet to be checked out and they were given a clean bill of health and said it was probably stress related. They gave me Hill's I/D and said to feed them only that. They also gave me some powder stuff (it's the good bacteria thats supposed to help regulate them) and some antibiotics because they also seemed to have a bit of an URI (the breeder smoked like a chimney). So after their stool became normal, I gradually switched them back to Wellness Core. They seemed to be doing okay but never consistantly had solid stool. I've talked to the vet about what to feed them and he recommends Science Diet but I've read so much about the by-products and all that bad stuff in foods like that. My old vet recommends Iams and I know that's not good for them either and it really frustrates me because they're vets and they should know exactly what they need but I feel like random people on the internet know more about proper cat nutrition than these old farts.

Anywho. So now they've both been vomitting (one did it twice about a week ago and now the other one has done it about 3 or 4 times today). I posted on another topic on this forum about their stool and them stepping in it and whatnot. I was told I should probably go back to Purina One because the Wellness Core may be too rich for them. So I slowly switched back to Purina One... but like I said one has vomitted several times today and I'm just so confused and so upset about my poor babies. I don't know what to do. I don't want them sick with puking and the runs, but I want them to be eating a healthy food, not store stuff and I know I can't talk to a vet about it because they'll say "feed them Science Diet"

What should I do? I feel so bad for them. They're my whole world, my babies and I hate that I don't know whats right for them. They're still very playful and eat and drink lots.

And he just threw up again. Its liquid. I'm very worried about him.

Unfortunately the majority of vets no nothing to none on feline nutrition... Sad but true... You came to the right place for advice!
Ok, so how did you transition from Purina One to Wellness Core? Did you do a slow transition? How long did they have soft stools for?
Same questions go to Purina One, and since it sounds like they started vomiting after you switched back to Purina One, I would stop feeding that immediately. Besides that, IMO it's just gross...
I think wellness core can be too rich for them, especially coming right out of Purina One. You went from one extreme on low protein/high carbs, to the next of high protein/low carbs...
I would get first a "half way through" food - If you shop at Petco, Wellness kitten is good choice, and I also like Nutro Max Kitten, or Nutro Indoor Kitten. Wellness has nicer ingredients, but Nutro seems to be more easily accepted. Once their system gets used to more animal protein, you can try to slowly transition him to a grain free diet.
Meanwhile, go ahead and get some wet food to feed him - try simpler formula first, like wellness chicken, or a chicken and rice formula. Also get some Bene-Bac on Petco or Petsmart - this is probiotics, actually a pretty high dose, that works wonders on occasional diarrhea.
IMO a vet visit is also in order.

Update: He threw up again so I took him to the emergency vet, 4 hours and 450 dollars later, we're home, turns out he had two types of parasites and an infection. What the...? Guess the other place couldn't get a good enough sample. They are on meds and the sicker one is on fluids and got an antibiotic shot so i'm hopeful now =]

Such a relief. Poor things.

Good thing you got them to the ER - kitties can get dehydrated very easily...
So, what are you planning on feeding them?

Well they said while they're going through this to feed them bland food so I'll probably get more of the Hill's I/D and they also said cooked ground turkey would be good because it's so gentle and I could put pasta in there too? Does this sound okay? How long does ground turkey keep in the fridge? I think (when they're off the meds) that I'm going to feed them a mixture of a good canned food (what do you recommend as the best canned food for kittens?) and then a mixture of Wellness Core and Nature's Best Science Diet.

I had to feed mine chicken and rice per vet instructions when they had a digestive upset. I cooked it all together in a crock pot until it got very mushy. They ate it better that way. The vet I use recommended I only feed this for a few days and gradually transition back to their regular food.

Canned food is good. Mine like most of the Wellness brands and when they were kittens they liked the PetGuard brand.

Have you looked at the Wellness Kitten formula? http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/cat_w...en_health.html

Mine, all 7 of them, preferred the California Natural Chicken and Rice dry
http://www.californianaturalpet.com/...ault.asp?id=72 (simple ingredients)

and Taste of the Wild http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com...eline_formula/ (grain free) .....this might be an option if Core is too much.

Both of these are for "all life stages", kitten and adult.

There are many more experienced with nutrition here. This is just my personal experiences. Hope they feel better soon.

Thanks so much. I got some ground turkey and little pasta things and cooked them, combined them, and put a little tuna in there to and mushed it up with my hands, they seemed crazy about it at first but didn't eat very much of it. I'm still offering them their dry food.