adopted stray from shelter gets the runs from most kibble

Hi looking for suggestions on food and treats for my former stray. He came to me on Science Diet, but after 2 weeks of him having the runs I switched him to Wellness, a high quality natural food(which he did well on) then my vet wanted him on Hill's dental formula and he got he runs within 24 hours again, so I put him back on wellness and he straigtened out. WE ran out of wellness yesterday and had to mooch some food off the neighbor till paycheque came in this morning, and again the runs so I'm thinking this guy has no tolerance for chicken meal or corn gluten( which are common ingredient in the other foods but not in wellness. I am getting his new bag today, but I need to know, what  treats are safe for him, and what to feed him if I ever run out of food the day before a paycheque again, Is there a grocery-store brand I can buy him to last him out, or a type of canned food he might tolerate? Wellness is $25-$50/bag depending on bag size, which is why it had to wait untill pay-day. I have had this guy only a month and a half and other than the food thing he is doing great, the vet is happy and he's gained 31/2lbs.....we just need to find him the right food and treats now

Hello and Welcome to TCS!!!!!! Thank you for adopting this kitty :rub: !!!! I will ask a Mod to move this thread to the Nutrition Forum. :nod: You will get many suggestions and tips on what to feed your newly adopted cat. Yeah, the Science Diet does not have the best ingredients and glad you switched your cat off of the SD. You do have to make changes gradually by mixing the old with the new. Otherwise, digestive upset will most likely occur. Good luck and I am sure other's will come along with some great advice for you!!

Thanks and we did take about 2 weeks to work him off the science diet.  The dental food eh never even made it all the way onto, since I was only offering it as treats to see how he'd handle it when he got the runs, so I discontinued right away. the only food he's had without time to adjust is yesterday, because is was that or go hungry, or eat canned food( which already made him sick once) 

Precious was a rescue kitty and I couldn't get her to eat kibble without the runs, I also tried multiple brands of wet food before settling on Nutro - didn't give her any tummy issues.  It's been 16 years and other than a very brief foray into K/D she's been on the Nutro wet with a bit of dry when things got tight.

I haven't seen Nutro up here in Canada. I'm glad to hear you found the food for Precious..I think maybe wellness will be the one for Mat, since the protein source is Salmon or duck instead of chicken. All of the foods he's been ill on were chicken based. Now I need to figure out about treats. I wondered about freeze-dried liver....no by-products there, since it's just beef live flash-frozen....and the pieces would be big enough to make him chew too, which might scrub his teeth a bit? He has grade 1 tartar on his back molars, and we brush him about every other day...working him up to daily brushings with an enzymic toothpaste from the vet. my other thought was the dental treats. If he's pulled right off of all other treats, then he could handle the little bit of chicken meal in the dentals(since right now he gets Whiskas temptations and tolerates them) Is beef liver any good for cats, or should I stay away from it?

Beef liver is good for cats, but not in any quantity. One or two small pieces every 2-3 days should be fine. :nod:

But if he does well on wet food, why feed him dry? I don't know brands available up there, but there must be some grain free options that are affordable! In the long run, the wet food is overall better for his health, especially because of the moisture. Cats are descendants of desert animals (the African Wild Cat), and have no natural drive to drink water. Cats eating only kibble are often chronically dehydrated. :nod:

he's on dry food, not wet. I had my brand wrong..it's Wholesome Blend., sorry I noticed my mistake when I went and got his new bag today. it is grain free and by-product free. he drinks plenty, since he like to play in the faucet in the tub lol. also there are water bowls in all 3 of our bedrooms for him so that he can drink after he's given treats when being sucked up. Matt got the runs both times I gave him wet food.

One of my cats has a digestive problem as wll and will get runny with pretty much all foods.  The vet did a lot of testing and came up with no results. eh

I have her on a hypoallergenic  med-cal presciption dry kibble diet, there is also a wet formula.  No runs so far.

The cats love the kibble but avoid the wet like the plague.  Potato mash as the #1 ingredient would have me running too.

Good luck with your kitty.

What about feeding brands of wet food that have very few ingredients such as Before Grain, Evo or Blue Wilderness (purely meat with added vitamins and minerals). Since your cat does drink alot, he may be okay on dry for now, but in the long run it worries me, because dry is high in carbohydrates and cats do not need carbs at all (this can cause weight gain and other health issues).

Here's an interesting article for you: http://www.littlebigcat.com/nutrition/why-dry-food-is-bad-for-cats-and-dogs/

I have a cat with allergies, and one thing I found worthwhile was to keep a journal listing the foods Ive tried so that you can go back and look for commonalities between brands. Currently at Petsmart in Canada, they have two brands of dry food that are limited ingredient: Simply Nourish and Blue, and global pet foods has Natural Balance Limited Ingredient, however I am not sure if they fall into your price range (but Petsmart often has sales, so you could always stock up then).

Since your cat is not doing well on Science Diet or Hills which are full of grains, fillers and by-products (likely culprits), you won't find a grocery brand without these ingredients since these characteristics are what make them so cheap in the first place. I also doubt that chicken meal is your problem (since it just a purer, rendered version of chicken).

Which wet foods did you try?

so far I've only given him friskies and whiskas wet food, since it's only given as treat I buy only on a whim. i will try global pet foods for better wet food, and see what he does with it. That's where I get his Wholesome Blend from. He's now solid in the litter box, having been on the Easy to digest formula exclusively for a couple of weeks (except for 2 days when we ran out and had to give him the cheap stuff til the paycheck came in)

The Wholesome Blend  top ingredients are: Fresh deboned salmon,chicken meal, oatmeal, menhaden,fish meal,chicken fat,salmon meal,whole barley,whole brown rice.....so when I noticed chicken meal is the second ingredient of the food he does so well on, that rules that one out, leaving Corn Gluten as the common ingredient in all the other foods that mad him sick. this food has no corn in it-it's gluten free.

I would like to find him a wet food, since I love to see my kitty happy when I feed him wet food

Here in the UK buying online can save money, so long as you buy enough at once.  I buy the dried food that way - I managed to join the makers breeder club many years ago despite not being a breeder, and it's a huge saving over going to the shops.  The drawback is having to buy and store a larger quantity.

For teeth, if your cat will eat a raw chicken wing that's really good for keeping them clean.  One of mine insists on having one each day (she jumps in the fridge if I'm not careful!) and her teeth are really clean, with no breath odour as well.  She eats some sachet food each day as well - given the choice she would eat nothing but chicken wings but I'm sure that's not a complete diet for cats.