Transitioning food

Hi Everyone,

I am currently feeding my cat 1/2 cup of MediCal Gastro High Energy dry and 1/3 can of Hill's Prescription Diet i/d wet, per day. These were suggested by my vet's office, but I'm not convinced that she should stay on them. She has soft stools and I feel like it's the ingredients that are contributing to the poop issues. I have enough food right now to do a transition, so I'm looking for suggestions for wet and dry foods that I can feed her. I'm looking for grain/soy/corn free that aren't too rich. I had her on Now Grain-Free and Before Grain, neither worked out. I need to feed the wet because I'm also giving her Lysine, Grapefruit Seed Extract, pumpkin, and bee pollen. All are successfully hidden
Also, I read that a lot of people are feeding a combination of wet foods, but I know kitties need to adjust to change in foods. Is it necessary to transition wet food? Since I don't know what works for her, I should stick to one at a time until I figure it out, but for future it would be nice to have options.
What foods have worked for your cat? My babe is 10 lbs and never refused any food, so any suggestions for serving sizes and proportions of dry vs wet are also helpful. Thank you

Kibble isn't really a species-appropriate food for an obligate carnivore and causes lots of problems, just one of which is the difficulty of "transitioning" from one flavor to another.

Canned food, on the other hand, is much closer to what a cat should be eating, and there are no - or very, very few - issues related to rotating flavors. In fact, many folks do this on an ongoing, regular basis to ensure their kitties are getting the widest range of nutrition possible (and as a cushion should something go wrong with quality control on one of the products).

Prior to switching to raw, I fed about 21 varieties of canned food, three cans a day, a different flavor and brand of can every time. So they had three different meals every day for a week, and then the rotation started over.

I do the same for my fosters.

Some of the canned foods considered to be high-quality are the grain-free varieties of Wellness, Natural Balance, Felidae, and Nature's Variety. There are many more, however - you can find them and even review their ingredients by searching "grain free" on the petfooddirect.com website.

Generally-speaking, a 5.5 or 6 ounce can of wet a day is about right for adult cats, but this really depends on the cat's activity level, etc. It's a good starting point, though, and you can adjust up or down as you need to.

Good luck!

AC

P.S. I can understand the Lysine supplement (it's used pretty effectively manage the feline herpes virus symptoms), but if you don't mind, why the others?

Thank you for your thorough response, Auntie Crazy!

Since your post, my kitty has gone to see the vet who suspects she has irritable bowel syndrome, and recommended a different prescription diet (which I don't want to try). She is on flagyl for 7 days and said it can be given whenever it is needed in the future.

The supplements I give her in the wet food are mostly for the herpes virus. I've read that the lysine and grapefruit seed extract help minimize symptoms and the bee pollen is for her weepy eye (as a result of her URI). I give a teaspoon of pumpkin because I've read it's good for diarrhea and constipation, soothing the intestines and helping the poops. I'm backing off of all except the lysine until her flagyl doses are over.

This week I've gone to many pet stores and picked up 21 cans of wet food, all different flavors and by 8 different producers. I now have Nature's Variety Instinct, EVO, b.f.f., Halo, Wellness and Wellness Core, Blue Wilderness and Spa Select, Natural Balance, and Innova!
I'm giving 3/4 can plus 1/4 cup of dry per day (until it's gone). I really this big combination is okay?

Also, I got a sample of raw food made by a Canadian company, which I am trying out today. I've given her half of the 1/4 lb package, which I had to entice her to nibble at with a spoon of wet food. She hasn't been eating much at a time and it keeps going back in the refrigerator. Is this an appropriate way to attract her to the food? I won't give her kibble today, but will probably have to feed wet if she doesn't eat the whole 1/4 lb package.
If you could pass on some tips, it would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you for reading

Originally Posted by meursault

Thank you for your thorough response, Auntie Crazy!

Since your post, my kitty has gone to see the vet who suspects she has irritable bowel syndrome...

The supplements I give her in the wet food are mostly for the herpes virus. ... I'm backing off of all except the lysine until her flagyl doses are over.

This week I've ... picked up 21 cans of wet food, all different flavors and by 8 different producers. I now have Nature's Variety Instinct, EVO, b.f.f., Halo, Wellness and Wellness Core, Blue Wilderness and Spa Select, Natural Balance, and Innova!
I'm giving 3/4 can plus 1/4 cup of dry per day (until it's gone). ...

Also, I got a sample of raw food made by a Canadian company, which I am trying out today. ...

Thank you for reading

Click to expand...

My pleasure, Meursault.

IBD is a classic reaction to a kibble diet. You can read the Feline Nutrition's articles "IBD: Fake Food and its Consequences" by Anne Jablonski, founder of CatNutrition.org, and "Species-Inappropriate: The Dangers of Dry Food" by the FNES founder, Margaret Gates, under their "Health" section, if you're interested and would like to gain a better understanding of the connection between the two.

I understand why you want to feed the dry until it's gone, but honestly, it's better to throw it away. Dump it down the garbage disposal if you have one so other animals aren't tempted to rip open your garbage to get to it.

I think dropping the supplements, excepting the L-Lysine, is a good idea.

Looks like you've picked up some good wet foods, and you've certainly got a nice variety in your choices. Does your cat like wet food or do you have to tempt her to eat it? If you have to tempt her, sprinkling some fish food flakes, a bit of catnip, a pinch or two of Parmesan cheese or some 100% meat freeze-dried treats are all good ways to tempt a recalcitrant eater to chow down. Stella and Chewy's makes those treats, as does Whole Life (I use Whole Life's chicken treats).

As for the raw food, I wouldn't hesitate to give her fresh, raw grocery-store-bought meat, but I think it might be best to wait until her digestive system has recovered before introducing her to a commercially-prepared raw. There probably wouldn't be any issues involved in feeding it, but if something popped up, you wouldn't know if it was part of the current problems or if it was a new problem related to the raw food - and that would complicate the situation for you.

Let us know how it goes!

AC

P.S. What an absolutely gorgeous kitty!

Please keep your vet in the loop on all these dietary changes. Also please keep in mind that catnutrition.org is founded by a lay person who quite wisely points out that "The website is not intended to replace professional advice from your own veterinarian and nothing on this site is intended as a medical diagnosis or treatment. Any questions about your animal's health should be directed to a professional animal health care provider. " Also keep in mind that there are very few certified feline nutritionists out there, especially on the internet.

In other words, no one on the internet can replace the health care professional who has seen your cat. Most vets are very open to working with their patients' caretakers and it never hurts to discuss your questions. Can you get good ideas on the net? Sure. Do they replace a vet? No.

FWIW, my own cat is on prescription food for struvite crystals and we also suspected IBD; knock wood, while the ingredients in the C/D don't look great to me,a lay person, the proof is in the pudding. His urine has been fine at his last exam and he's happy and seems healthy - and his senior panels came back great as well.

Dietary issues are tricky - if there were one perfect food, we'd all know about it by now.