What to feed a FIV+ cat with chronic diarrhea?

Hey everybody. I've been doing a bit of research into cat nutrition lately, and it seems that I haven't been doing the best by my poor FIV kitty. She's always been a bit skinny, but she's been losing weight recently and I'm concerned for her.

Because she has chronic diarrhea, the vet recommended that we not feed her wet food. We had been feeding her Special Kitty kibble - which I now realize is a terrible food. I do intend to change brands; what brands or ingredients should I look for/avoid? She hasn't really been eating much recently, unfortunately, but I think that might change if we give her better food.

Unfortunately, we are often out of the house in the middle of the day, so setting up a regular feeding schedule will be difficult for us. Also, she's a family cat, and my parents aren't entirely sold on a diet change - they do want to switch from the Special Kitty, but premium food is expensive, and they're reluctant to feed her wet food against the vet's directions. The vet had also prescribed our cat Fortiflora to help with the diarrhea, but we weren't consistent in giving it to her, and eventually stopped giving it to her altogether.

So, I guess my questions are, does anybody know how canned food affects cats with FIV; can I reasonably expect her diarrhea to improve if we switch to wet or a combination of wet with better-quality dry or even just better dry food? Do FIV+ cats have different nutritional requirements than healthy cats? Which dry brands are best, and conversely, what should I look for to avoid (same with wet)? And is there any way to address the difficulties in setting up a regular feeding schedule if we do switch to wet food?

FIV kitties do not have special dietary needs, but they will do best on a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. I'm surprised at your vet - an issue with diarrhea is chronic dehydration, and the BEST way to address that is with canned food!

FYI, I have an FIV+ kitty, and he had (note HAD) chronic diarrhea.

For a schedule for timed feedings, would it be possible to feed him in the morning before work, around dinner time (after work), and before bed? That's the usual for most people.

When we first rescued Chumley, he had explosive diarrhea, poor guy. Our usual vets were not able to help him. So after six months of trying various things, we found a holistic vet. She diagnosed him from a Chinese Medicine point of view, and prescribed some herbs and a tincture for his condition. She gave us a basic introduction to feline nutrition, and basically insisted that we stop feeding kibble IMMEDIATELY. She wanted us to provide him with a raw food diet. It took us a while to get there (2 years!) but we did - and he is doing AMAZING - and no more pills, herbs, or meds. None.

Now - the issue is that the food that is best for him if you're going to feed commercial cat food is more expensive than what you've been feeding him. Ideal for him is probably a lot more than you family is wiling to spend, but there is a compromise.

Ideal would be By Nature 95% canned foods, Nature's Variety Instinct canned foods (or frozen raw food), some EVO 95% meat canned foods.

Good compromise is buying when they're on sale at the supermarket Fancy Feast classic formulas (without fish in the title) and Friskies' Pate style canned foods. The Fancy Feast is better as it has no grains. But both are high protein, low carb foods.

Next, put him on a human acidophilus probiotic. His GI system is out of whack, and he needs the immune system support the probitoics will provide. He needs one with live, active cultures, 2x a day, and it should have 10 billion CFU (colony forming units). This is the one we use: At 2x a day, it's a 90 day supply for $22.30.

Just sprinkle the probiotic on his food. Cats like it.

Next, is there a health store where you live? His GI system needs soothing, coating, and the right fiber. This is provided by a mixture of 1/4 teaspoon of slippery elm bark (best to just buy the loose powder - costs about $0.70 for half an ounce here - I'm in NW NJ), and 1/2 a teaspoon of George's Aloe Vera Juice. George's is very commonly available in the US and Canada. It has no preservatives in it and has no taste. Mix the two, let the powder "gel up," and then mix it into his wet food 2x a day.

If the diet change and these supplements do not resolve his diarrhea, then this is what we used for Chumley: http://www.easyhealthzone.com/consolidate-qi-1oz-p/cm0006.htm

You can search to see if you find it or shipping cheaper on other sites. But the product is KAN HERB Consolidate Qi. What you do is start with 2 drops in the morning on his food, and 2 drops at night. If that doesn't resolve it in a day or 2, bump it to 3 drops on am and pm meal. If that doesn't resolve it in 2-3 days, then bump it to 3 drops 3x a day. That really ought to resolve it, but if it doesn't, just keep increasing by 1 drop at one meal at a time. Do not give more than 5 drops 3x a day.

If you're worried about him having something to eat while no one's home, buy ice cube trays for his canned food. Put canned food in the ice cube trays, freeze, remove the cubes and put them in a plastic bag. Leave a couple out to dethaw while you're gone, and he'll eat them.

Hope this helps!

Laurie

For more about why canned food vs. dry food: http://www.catinfo.org

Also, if you want to learn more about FIV, this is the most comprehensive site there is on it. (Though it doesn't address nutrition, it addresses management and treatment options. Note that the authors of the website, having done two different courses of treatments, would opt for the second one - the one that uses herbs, not western meds). http://www.fivtherapy.com/

Thank you for the information! I'll be sure to check out those websites you linked me.

A morning-evening-night schedule sounds pretty doable, especially if we feed her when we're eating ourselves. What amounts of food would you suggest giving her?

Well, how much food really depends on her age, activity level, ideal body weight, etc. But if she's an adult cat between 10 and 12 pounds, if she's anything like our cats (not overly active, but playful), she'll probably eat about one 5.5 ounce can of food a day. Or should be eating about that amount. What you can do is feed her 1/3 of the can at each meal, and refrigerate the rest. To warm it up, mix a little warm water in it for her. The extra moisture is good too.

The Fancy Feast cans are 3 ounces, and she may eat 2 of those. :nod:

We're not sure how old she is (she was a shelter kitty), but she's probably around 4-6 years old. And she's a tiny kitty; I haven't weighed her recently but if I remember correctly she weighs around 7 pounds. Honestly I think she's too skinny, so I think that feeding her too much won't be a problem for now.

Thanks so much for your help (: I made a quick trip to the petstore yesterday and we've started feeding her on a rotation like you suggested. It's been a mixed success so far - yesterday she ate the first two thirds of a can of Friskies we'd had left over in the cabinet and refused to touch the Nature's Variety Rabbit, which was the most expensive variety we bought. Sigh. This morning I gave her what was left of the Friskies, but she didn't seem too excited about it. Maybe she wants a little more variety?

In any case, I bought one each to try of Evo, Nature's Variety, and Wellness, and a few flavors of Fancy Feast, and some Friskies because the other stuff is expensive ): The Nature's variety was horribly expensive - $2.30 for a 5.5oz can! At that price, it's just as well she didn't like it...

I did take a look through this chart and made sure that all the varieties I was buying was at least low in carbs (and mostly they were higher in protein, too).

Yeah, some varieties of NV can be really expensive. The chicken or lamb shouldn't be so bad. Think of it like this: you've been eating canned spaghetti. Now someone puts a plate down of whole wheat pasta with fresh home made spaghetti sauce in front of you. It has no cheese sprinkled on top, and there's no sugar and not much salt in the sauce. It tastes a bit like cardboard to you. That's what she'll be going through. :lol3: So to help the transition, you can sprinkle crushed kibble or treats or whatever on top of her wet food.

Texture can be an issue. Some cats don't like the Pate - even though for most canned foods, the healthy options are only the pate styles. Well, when I faced that problem with my cats, I turned the pate into "gravy" (which they like) by putting it in a small blender with some warm water. This they would eat.

There's also a transition tips on the catinfo.org website for more ideas!

That's a great idea - she always licks the gravy up first before she eats the rest. We also have some FortiFlora left over; maybe she'll be more interested if we use that.

It's funny though, because she was so excited at first, and now it's not good enough for her. Sigh. I guess this won't be as easy as I was hoping!

Yeah, my cats are like that often too. Excited at something new, but then....

I have 2 FIV positive boys I adopted from the humane society. I have had them 3 years now. When I adopted them both, one of the two cats had his back end completely covered in caked on diahrreah, which I asked them to clean up before I took them home. They said they had tried everything to clear up the problem- unsuccessfully. (He had been there 31/2 months) They recommended sweet yams etc. I tried the sweet yams to no success, and dry food only made the situation worse. So I thought- well... It has to be a high protein diet- low fat- (as they cant process fat) high moisture so their kidneys don't have to process dry food- and I tried Trader Joes kitty tuna. It is just tuna. Nothing else. It worked like a charm. Nothing- not the high priced specialty cans of cat food had worked- but this worked perfectly.
Here's what I do:
Alternate every other meal:
1 can of kitty tuna
1 can of another cat food
You can cut down the frequency of the tuna feelings as your cat becomes more regular so he's not getting too much potential mercury buildup from the tuna.
(I give the whole foods 365 cat food as my other cat food as its economical- these boys go through a lot of cans of cat food but there are others that will work just as well- or I'm sure better)
If you need additional help- you can add into their food once a day 1 packet of probiotic powder (to support their digestive system)( from your vet)
And 1 helping of amino acid powder (again from vet) to support their immune system.
Lots of water and love.
It has worked like a charm for my boys.
Good luck!

Hi,

I have an FIV cat with this problem.  My question is why Fancy Feast without fish in the title? What's wrong with feeding fish wet food?
 

I had an FIV kitty with horrible diarrhea. I went to a holistic vet trained in Chinese Medicine. The herbs she prescribed stopped his diarrhea within a few days, where the traditional vets we've worked with for years hadn't been able to resolve it in six months (including food elimination diets, probiotics, etc.). If there is a holistic D.V.M. trained in Chinese medicine you can get to, I'd recommend that. If you have an interest, if you're in the U.S. you can search for one here: http://www.ahvma.org (The American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association).

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As to the fish, it can be an allergan causing the diarrhea.

If your cat isn't sensitive to it, it's OK to feed a few times a week, but fish in cat food is often preserved with ethoxyquin prior to being purchased by the cat food companies, so it isn't listed as an ingredient on the list. This is the problem with ethoxyquin: https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/red-flag-ingredients/ethoxyquin-dangerous-dog-food-additive/

And here is a piece written by a vet on the problems with fish for our cats: http://www.littlebigcat.com/nutrition/why-fish-is-dangerous-for-cats/

Thank you very much for the information, I will certainly look to make dietary changes.  He's my sweetie and I worry for his weight loss.
 

What about Friskies Purrfectly Chicken wetfood? Would that also be a suggestion?  I was feeding him the Fancy Feast fish varieties in the little plastic tubs but stopped when I read your post about no fish on the label. I plan on going food shopping for him tomorrow and I will look for Fancy Feast w/o fish in it.  The higher the protein the better correct?  I will also check with our local GNC and see if they have the slippery elm bark.  If anything else comes to mind that might help I will most appreciate it.

Thank you very much thus far.^^

Sorry that Friskies was meant to be Whiskas but I was too late in realising I had 2 thoughts there.

I hope I'm in time replying here, but the Fancy Feast cans you're looking for are labeled as "classic" formulas. These are the high protein, low carb options. Anything with gravy almost always has wheat gluten (or some form of thickener) in it that substantially raises the carbs. Some cats have trouble digesting grains/carbohydrates, so the switch to a high protein, low carbohydrate food helps their GI systems.

If you want to read more, in an easy-to-understand fashion, this is a good website, written by a vet: http://www.catinfo.org

I'll be interested to hear if GNC has slippery elm bark powder. I buy it from the local health food store, just loose (scooped from a jar into a baggie). It costs $0.70 for half an ounce, I think. I know that in capsules it costs a lot more - though I believe most people that have found it in capsules say that one capsule is about 1/4 teaspoon? Not sure.

Are there any other foods you know of and could suggest?

Oh I did phone our local GNC and the woman said the only thing they carried the bark in was their colon cleansing product.