Diarrhea after switching to grain free dry food

Hi! I have 3 cats (14, 8, 5 months old). The youngest has some kind of food allergies (skin irritation mostly), he has been on RC Hypoallergenic food for 2 months, it wasn't worst but it wasn't better, so I decided to switch to grain free food. Skin irritation seams better, but the problem is that now all 3 have diarrhea. The 8 month one even had traces of blood in her stool. The thing is, I did not make the adjustment period to the new food. So after few days of diarrhea I started cooking hake and was giving it to them for two days with probiotics. The stool went back to normal. I started mixing some grain free food back but the diarrhea started again, it's not as severe as the first time, but still I do not know how to proceed? Thank you 

I have a cat who will get diarrhea from grain free dry but does fine with grain free wet.  You can feed a home cooked diet if you balance it with the nutrient that they need,  There are resources in the raw and home cooked subforum that tells you how to do it.

I am guessing that your cats are probably kibble addicts.  You can transition them to wet and try one of the grain free wets in a protein that they haven't eaten before.

Hi 

As you've already figured out, diarrhea is a normal and common side effect when you switch food too quickly.   So what I'm wondering is what you mean when you say you started 'mixing some grain free food back'.  How much are you initially mixing in? And are they still on the probiotics? If those seemed to help I'd probably keep giving them to the cats throughout the transition period. 

As regards my first question, I believe in switching foods very  slowly, but you should switch foods over, at a minimum, a one week period.  The first day that the cats try the new food, there should literally only be a bite or two of the new food in the whole portion that you give them. You should then increase the amount very slowly, monitoring the cats reactions. 

Hopefully by just further slowing down you will be able to solve the problem.  Good luck- I know how frustrating it can be to try to make the leap to a new food. 

Thank you both for your answers. 

Denice, the problem with grain free wet food is that I live in Croatia, even the dry one is new on our market. I have been reseraching the home cooked diet, but again some of the ingredients are difficult to find here. 

They are kibble/grain addicts, there were times that they have stole bread and eaten it.

Tulosai, I am mixing about two table spoon on the 3 of them. Is that to much? They are still on probiotics, and in combination with cooked fish they are working (I would cook chicken but I suspect that the youngest might be allergic to it).

I will give them one or two bites of grain free food, for some time per meal or per day?(is a week enough?) and monitor the condition. Thank you.

Sandra86 said:

 
Thank you both for your answers. 

Denice, the problem with grain free wet food is that I live in Croatia, even the dry one is new on our market. I have been reseraching the home cooked diet, but again some of the ingredients are difficult to find here. 

They are kibble/grain addicts, there were times that they have stole bread and eaten it.

Tulosai, I am mixing about two table spoon on the 3 of them. Is that to much? They are still on probiotics, and in combination with cooked fish they are working (I would cook chicken but I suspect that the youngest might be allergic to it).

I will give them one or two bites of grain free food, for some time per meal or per day?(is a week enough?) and monitor the condition. Thank you.

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Dobar dan! Volim Hrvatsku. My family is there and I try to visit once a year Whereabouts do you live? I have family in Zagreb and Split.

Back on topic, I think that between the three of them two tablespoons might be too much to start with? I'd just go very very slowly and monitor the condition like you say.  It is likely they will improve.  You may just need to get through the diarrhea even though it is unpleasant for both you and them. 

Dobar dan I live in Zagreb.

Will do, first I will try to get rid of the diarrhea and then I will mix very little od the grain free food. Hopefully it will stop.

Hvala