Tummy troubles and nutrition

Thanks a ton, Laurie! That's great advice. I am leaning towards the rice and chicken. 24 hours fast? Calvin loves, LOVES to eat. He'll drive us nuts begging but then again, have to look at his health.
Silly question: IS it ok if I give Calvin frozen chicken breasts boiled? They are organic, no antibiotics, no preservative kinds that I picked from Trader Joe's?

The vet's office staff suggested low residue Iams or asked me to try Purina One for sensitive systems. I am somehow not so comfortable with these brands and they suggested different brands on Fancy Feast. That is what they all treat their cats. I don't know what the vet's feed but the techs and nice people at the office feed their cats that. I really like them and do not want to appear snooty but as many agree, there are other choices. They are really great people and they do have a ton of prescription food in their office (they carry IAMS, Hill's and perhaps some Royal Canin, too) but do not feel that Calvin's at the stage to need them.

I was just talking to DH and it dawned on us that Calvin's constant issues (not taking into consideration the occasional ones), started around the time when I transitioned him to Wellness Kitten. I actually did a 10 day transition. SO perhaps I having been missing something all along? Maybe his worm issues had resolved and it is the Wellness that he does not tolerate?

If his issue is grain, then even higher-quality food could provoke a negative reaction. I had Athena on Blue Buffalo and one other brand originally (no corn, no brewer's yeast, no wheat gluten, but they did contain some grains like rice) and even that set her off.

Some of the high-quality brands like Wellness, BB, and Merrick do contain grains, some don't. Wellness marks all their grain-free flavors with a yellow "grain free" triangle. Merrick has an all grain-free line (Before Grain) and some of their Gourmet Entrees are grain-free (but you'll have to check the ingredients lists to determine which) and BB's grain-free line is Wilderness.

Basically what I'd do is look at the foods he's getting and see what is common to them. If it's just one brand/flavor, then that's a little trickier as it could really be many things (the protein choice, a grain if there are any, etc.). Or it could simply be that particular food is too rich for him.

I have heard others mention diarrhea problems with Wellness Kitten. I believe it's fairly rich, and some cats don't handle that well. With high-quality brands like Wellness you really don't need to feed kitten-specific lines. Adult Wellness should be totally appropriate for kittens his age, as it's a fairly nutrient-rich brand. He may just need more of it than an adult cat would.

So yeah, a good place to start could be just switching off the Wellness kitten to either Adult Wellness, a different brand you like, or a plain diet for a few days and see if that helps.

Boiled chicken breast should be fine to give him as long as there are no bones in it (cooked bones can splinter). A plain diet for a few days is certainly a good option, to help rule out a protein allergy (like a chicken allergy) or a grain intolerance (like an issue with rice). Just know that he obviously can't stay on a diet of just that long-term of course, since it doesn't contain everything he needs. But a short term elimination diet of that works fine.

Also, please do not feel pressured to buy a specific brand that your vet recommends if you are not comfortable with it. Even some of the nicest vets lack in-depth nutritional education (it's a topic often skimmed, or taught by pet food company reps in veterinary school) and don't always recommend brands I'd feel comfortable feeding my cats either. Discuss your options with your vet and see if you can find a food that makes you feel comfortable with as well. Don't be afraid to do independent research and ask your vet specific questions about specific ingredients or different brands.

Originally Posted by Calvin&I

I was just talking to DH and it dawned on us that Calvin's constant issues (not taking into consideration the occasional ones), started around the time when I transitioned him to Wellness Kitten. I actually did a 10 day transition. SO perhaps I having been missing something all along? Maybe his worm issues had resolved and it is the Wellness that he does not tolerate?

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If you can see a correlation, then it's definitely worth finding out if it's the culprit! I assume you're talking about the dry?

I don't know what to recommend switching TO. Grain free has worked for kitties with diarrhea. For our Chumley, grain free was just too rich.

I'd probably still do the 24 hour fast, and then the boiled chicken & rice. If it is the grain, he won't get better with the rice. If it is the Wellness kitten, he should do real well on the plain food trial, and you'll have your answer.

For a food trial you need to try a meat and starch/ grain that is completely new..

Ie If chicken with rice and potato has been the normal food... try either a fish or lamb base with oatmeal

Food allergy trials are 6-12 weeks... That means NOTHING but the trial food for that time... NO variety .....

Once again, thank you LDG, sharky, saitenyo, strange_wings, stephanietx, zoeysmom for all the invaluable advice.
Before I gave him more worming med or start on drastic food trial, which I could not have over the weekend, and out of my little frustration I just stopped Calvin's dry food (Wellness Kitten Dry) and just kept him on wet yesterday and today. What a huge difference that has made so far. I am still being cautious but optimistic. He had formed stool this morning and it was surely not that smelly. We took him for a tush shave on Friday but even then I had to clean him that day but have not had to since yesterday. I am feeding him chicken based canned food and except for Wellness Kitten wet, the others are NOT grain free but do not have soy, wheat gluten, brewer's rice or corn. Neither does Wetness Dry though. So if the Wellness Kitten Dry has been the culprit, then grain may not be the issue since his wet food has grain (mainly rice). It may be the richness of the food that some suggested. In case this good spell does not continue - will have to go back to the drawing board and try the more extensive courses

Now the question is, what dry should I feed Calvin?

Are grain free food generally richer? I want to give him something lighter.

Are there any dry food that is specific to "sensitive tummy" but not prescription and good quality and I can buy from petco/ pet supplies plus/ petsmart or even a fancier store I have in my are?

With the new kitten, this gets a little more complicated. The new kitty is on Purina One at the foster and I just got him some of that but I would surely like to move him to something else and would like to have both kitties on the same food.

once again, any advice will be appreciated.

Unfortunately any dry food is going to have more carbs (even if it's grain-free) than wet food. It's possible it could be the carb content of the dry food if he's fine on wet but not on dry. I know Athena is worse on any kibble, even grain-free kibble, than she is on canned food.

Someone else else may be able to suggest a kibble that could work. I can't help you there as I don't feed any kibble anymore. But it's possible he may just be better off on canned. Which many cats are anyway, because of its moisture content and the slightly less-processed and lower-carb nature of it compared to dry.

Originally Posted by saitenyo

Unfortunately any dry food is going to have more carbs (even if it's grain-free) than wet food. It's possible it could be the carb content of the dry food if he's fine on wet but not on dry. I know Athena is worse on any kibble, even grain-free kibble, than she is on canned food.

Someone else else may be able to suggest a kibble that could work. I can't help you there as I don't feed any kibble anymore. But it's possible he may just be better off on canned. Which many cats are anyway, because of its moisture content and the slightly less-processed and lower-carb nature of it compared to dry.

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That may well be the issue. The only thing is that Calvin did not have this issue on the Science Diet. He had problems but those were more typical of worms and after worming meds, they had kind of improved. In general, I saw better poop quality on the Science Diet than on Wellness. But I don't want to go back to Science Diet.

Well, like others have said - it really just depends on what works for the cat. Apparently grain free is not what Calvin needs!

Our cats were all on a prescription diet, and now they're on only wet (for the most part), so I can't help with the dry food suggestions. If I could do it all over, I wouldn't free feed from the very beginning (though it does make life a lot more flexible for people LOL).

I'm sure there have been threads about it here - try searching on "quality dry" or something in this forum.

how about a simple what DID not at all work, what kinda worked and why it did not and then the foods that did...

see a simple formula is not simple


at this point I would do a food trial ... the type will depend what you have available to you/...

I prefer a sweet potato with a meat

Originally Posted by sharky

how about a simple what DID not at all work, what kinda worked and why it did not and then the foods that did...

see a simple formula is not simple

at this point I would do a food trial ... the type will depend what you have available to you/...

I prefer a sweet potato with a meat

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Very well said! Surely getting to the bottom of this is key. It surely is not simple.

When you say "Sweet potato and a meat" do you specifically mean trying that
for wet food only? I am actually enjoying feeding Calvin just wet but I don't think that that will work in a month or so when I am not in town and DH has to take care of the kittens. I free feed Calvin in the sense that I do not leave unlimited dry food out but I leave 1/8 of a cup in the morning and 1/8 in the evening. However since he eats wet then, he munches on the dry through the day. DH is in a profession where he may not be home exactly by mealtime (not more than an hour late, though) and it feels ok that Calvin got something extra to eat, in that case. So Blue Wilderness Chicken, TOTW (though posters seem to have some issues with this recently) seem to come to mind.
Will check and see if there are others out there.

Has he had chicken foods?

If so try the fish based either taste or wilderness...

I would suggest looking for a food with sweet potato vs white potato and a meat that has not been used... usually lamb, fish and beef are not typically main sources in most cat foods thus make good food trials ...

Originally Posted by Calvin&I

Very well said! Surely getting to the bottom of this is key. It surely is not simple.

When you say "Sweet potato and a meat" do you specifically mean trying that for wet food only? <snip>

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I think Jen was addressing your question about what dry to use. ??? I do know she's talking about ingredients in a cat food, not literally making him sweet potatoes and a meat.

Originally Posted by LDG

I think Jen was addressing your question about what dry to use. ??? I do know she's talking about ingredients in a cat food, not literally making him sweet potatoes and a meat.

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Hehehe - I did not consider cooking meat and sweet potatoes for Calvin (what a terrible meowmy). Considering how much I love cooking - NOT - the question of cooking does not naturally come to mind. When you specifically mentioned boiled chicken and rice, I understood that and that seemed easy enough - pressure cooker and rice cooker! Just was not sure if Jen meant for both dry and wet or simply wet.

@ Sharky. Yes, Calvin has mostly been on a chicken diet. The petsmart near home sells Blue Wilderness. Maybe will try Salmon. Calvin, so far, has rejected anything with Duck.
Also, approximately how long does is take to get results of 1 food group? I just want to make sure that I move to something else too soon

Depends on the severity of intolerance or allergy... I have seen results in just days of more active , less eye goop type... better stools are 3-10 days ..Some do not show "outer" improvement till about the 4-6 week pt. full results normally at about 8 weeks

Thanks so much! There is some work ahead of us!
I am learning so much here.
So now that I have not given Calvin any kibbles for 3 days and he has improved so much (his poops the way it should be - I am still cautiously optimistic since it's just been 2 days of poop that I'm basing this) how do I transition him back to some kibbles in his diet? Do I mix that with the wellness kitten dry that he was previously eating or, since he has been off that for 3 days, I can directly give him the new dry food?

Well since the wellness kitten dry caused the soft poop, I wouldn't give it to him again.