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what should be added to boiled chicken/rice/pumpkin for a kittenwith a loose stool?

post #1 of 3
11/22/11 at 2:24pm
Thread Starter 

Our 3 month old kitten has a loose stool on Blue Buffalo kitten dry food.  A diet of boiled chicken/rice/pumpkin firms up her stool. So thinking the kitten food may be too "rich" we tried adding a small amount of the regular BB dry we feed our other three cats to the chicken mixture and within 12 hours, loose stool again.

 

So, can we just continue to feed her the chicken mixture or do we need to add something more i.e. calcium, etc.?

 

We were thinking about trying to introduce slowly introduce a wet foodlike BB Wilderness, Wellness or Innova, any suggestions?

 

Her stool has been checked 2 times with negative results both times.

 

She has had the loose stool pretty much since we rescued her from the abandoned barn.

 

Her health is fine, she plays and is very active.

 

Any other ideas/suggestions would help.  We sure hate to develop 2 feeding systems, one for our other 3 cats using Blue Buffalo dry food and another for the kitten but I don't see a way around it.

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post #2 of 3
11/22/11 at 10:02pm
That's hard! Unfortunately a 3 month kitten is going to have different dietary needs than an adult cat anyway, so no matter what, your little guy will need to be eating different (kitten-specific) food for a while.

I would try just mixing some pumpkin in with canned food for a while and see how that goes? Is your kitten having regular diarrhea or just occasional stools that are loose?
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post #3 of 3
11/22/11 at 10:24pm

It's probable that your little girl is having trouble digesting the kibble. Dry crunchy bits of heavily-processed cereal is not what cats evolved to eat, and kibble diets have been linked to many problems including urinary tract issues, diabetes, kidney disease, cancer, and IBD (vomiting and diarrhea). Both CatInfo.org and Feline-Nutrition.org discuss this topic in detail.

 

Feeding her canned only is a great idea and a very healthy option for all of your kitties. Since cats - like sharks, snakes and birds of prey - are obligate carnivores, look for products that are low- to no-carb (i.e. grain-, fruit- and vegetable-free) and have a high percentage of a named meat (i.e. "turkey" instead of "poultry"). Wellness, Natural Balance and Felidae all have grain-free varieties, and Nature's Variety Instincts and Evo 95% meat products are all grain-free. A "grain-free canned cat" search on petfooddirect.com will yield a veritable cornucopia of options, and you can conduct a side-by-side analysis of the ingredients and nutritional profiles.

 

Feline-nutrition.org also has a nice article on deciphering pet food labels, under their Nutrition section, that offers additional insight into choosing different products.

 

I'd also recommend feeding your kitties a rotation of foods; this will keep them from becoming fixated on any one product (a problem if they change or stop producing it) and protect them from potential quality control issues by diluting their impact. Since cats can develop hypersensitivity when continually exposed to the same proteins or ingredients for extended periods, it will also help prevent food intolerance issues (and the associated diarrhea and vomiting).

 

Dr. Hofve, of LittleBigCat.com, has a great article with even more reasons for rotating foods: Switching Foods.

 

Best regards and good luck!!

 

AC

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