Food Advice

bamboo

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I have an older (indoor/outdoor) cat who i used to just feed generic food until i heard it was not healthy, so around 6-7 months ago i switched over to Natural Balance original ULTRA dry food (tried wellness CORE and she hated it)and Natural Balance canned food. I give her a half of a can to a can (5.5oz) a day and she always has dry in her dish which she munches on, but doesn't eat too much since the switch. I noticed that after i started giving her canned food, her stools became soft/loose and they were never like that before. She uses the litterbox quite a bit and its very smelly. I also thought she might have been getting sick of Natural Balance since she didn't eat it right up like she used to, and decided to switch canned food brands and ive tried almost every brand (she likes the chunky/gravy kind more than the mushy, but will eat anything) and now im trying to stick with wellness grain free and soulistic (her favorite) in different flavors every time. She's not picky and she's gained weight, plus her coat is soo smooth since i brought can food into her diet.

She went to the vet not long ago for a general check-up and was on medication for a possible UTI for over a week, but she's not on any medication anymore and he said she was in good health. My question is, am i giving her too much can food? Or can switching around brands/flavors too much upset her tummy? I wasn't sure if the dry food was upsetting her either and was thinking of switching but i don't want to change her foods too much. What is the best dry food to feed? We only have PETCO here. I'm having trouble deciding what brand to stick with for both and it's hard because she'll literally eat anything i put in her dish! She's quite a pig and loves all human food (i've seen her eat a muffin, some cake, popcorn, spaghetti, mac n cheese etc right off peoples forks!) but i don't feed her any of that stuff just what she's occasionally stolen over the years. I hope it's nothing serious but like i said she never had this problem before i switched her over to healthy foods. We also just moved and before she was living in a stressful situation for several months, i don't know if that can be a cause. Any advice would help!
 

sharky

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was blood work done? by older what age range? what was the generic food or do you mean you just went to grocery and picked what was on sale?
 
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bamboo

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We're not exactly sure of her age since she was a stray, but we've had her for well over 11 years and she was an adult when we got her, the vet had told us she was older. She's got gray hairs but doesn't act old at all. I used to feed her meow mix before. No blood work was done because i had assumed that it was her food, which is why i switched but its still the same. And when she does "go" its a really small amount.
 

yayi

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Before the "grain free" diet became a standard, my cats (all rescues/strays) ate Friskies dry and for wet half home cooked and half commercial canned food (whiskas). Stools were fine. When I introduced them to the grain free, their stools became soft but not smelly. But it lasted a few days.
Although I don't think giving them a variety of food is bad, maybe it shouldn't be done often. I upgraded their canned food to better brands (Natural Balance/Petguard/Avoderm) and rotate them every 2 or 3 weeks to avoid any upset tummies.
If ever their stools become soft, it usually means there's something wrong (like an infection).
 
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