Did your cat get diarrhea when first put on a raw diet?

goholistic

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I started offering Sebastian a small nickel-sized dollop of raw at each meal. Within 48 hours, he had explosive diarrhea and acted like he didn't feel well. Did your cats get diarrhea when you first introduced raw? Most of what I've read is that raw cures diarrhea, so I'm just trying to gauge if this is normal or not, and whether I should push through or stop my efforts. He's definitely uncomfortable and not his normal self. He's hasn't eaten in 36 hours, so I suppose he has a tummy ache (logic would say this is expected with explosive diarrhea).
 

hopps

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No my cat did not get diarrhea at all. What are you feeding the raw in conjunction with? Was he eating dry first? I highly recommend you transition from dry, to canned then to raw. Dry food takes a lot longer to get through the digestive tract than raw so it can cause tummy issues.

What raw meat are you feeding? Maybe he's allergic to it?
 
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andrya

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No, mine didn't get diarrhea at all when being transitioned to raw.

My older cat was a chronic vomiter and that has been reduced to a rare event. None of them have had diarrhea at all that l can remember.

Like the poster above, l think maybe there is a meat or an ingredient in the mix that is triggering this, especially as you are giving such a small amount to start.
 

fluffybeard

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I think you should stop and see if he gets better. Not eating for 36 hours isn't good.

I don't know that much about it, but the only time I gave my cat raw was a chicken leg I gave him when he was still little. He liked it but didn't get much in him cause he was still a baby learning how to eat. But it gave him awful diarrhea with gas.

He's had problems with soft stool and gas forever, but that moment stands out cause now I suspect he has food allergies since his chronic poop problems were cured totally on a rabbit and pea food.

I don't know if eating a raw meat of a protein they are allergic to would make the reaction worse, but it makes sense because cooking denatures proteins. That's why some people with mild egg white allergies can still eat cookies and things, cause the egg protein in them have been changed by the baking process.
 

cprcheetah

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Munchie about 3 or 4 days in had some diarrhea, but it was only with one bm and went back to normal the next bm.  Not sure if it was a fluke, stress from a vet visit or just happened.
 

raintyger

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You're feeding Hare Today, right? Does it have some sort of quality guarantee as far as safety and bacterial content? Nature's Variety Instinct does carry a guarantee, and their food is higher in calcium. You could try that brand and see if the same thing happens. They have the smaller "bites," which are shaped like kibble, so you could give only a little.
 

gcat

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When Baloo was transitioning to homemade raw he also had diarrhea (about a week in), but only for a short period of time. After two days it completely stopped.

I have heard very positive reviews about Nature’s Variety (mainly about the high levels of calcium, like Raintyger mentioned). If something in the Hare Today is causing the explosive diarrhea, than trying the Nature’s Variety may be your best bet. 

More positive vibes for Sebastian.
 
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goholistic

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Thanks all. I'll try to address all your concerns.

Sebastian was/is on a mostly wet diet (75% wet, 25% dry...roughly). As it turns out, he hasn't had any dry food for several days because he doesn't want it. Go figure. I decided this is my opportunity to stop it completely. No more dry.

He's on a hypoallergenic diet, so he gets rabbit as the protein source. The canned food is rabbit. The raw is rabbit from Hare Today. Another TCS member suggested that perhaps the egg I added to the recipe is not agreeing with him. Sebastian is extremely sensitive to change. Here's my thread with the recipe and adjustments: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/272513/finally-my-first-batch-of-raw-and-i-have-questions

The problem with Nature's Variety is that is not 100% rabbit. It contains pork, as well as lots of fruits and veggies.

Sebastian's diarrhea is starting to form a little. He went tonight and it was somewhat formed, but still very soft. I did double his probiotics, however. I'm still offering the raw to him in small amounts.
 

peaches08

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I had a long reply typed out at lunch yesterday while at clinical, then my sim card went to pot.

Dr. Pierson mentions leaving eggs out of her recipe if your cat has IBD/IBS. That's why it took over a year for me to add them. I added raw egg yolks slowly since all 3 of mine hate them, and I remember some stool issues but I don't knowwho had which problem. Someone had looser stools, someone had chunky stools with hair in them, etc. It leveled out. I added the egg yolks because I was trying to stop the hairball madness. It helped, but not as much as I thought until recently I forgot to add them to the batch and I've had cat yack everywhere. So, I added them here and there and upped their hairball treats. I won't forget the egg yolks this weekend when I make food, and I'll let you know the outcome on the stool situation.
 

ldg

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GH, here's what I just posted to Natalia:

Aw, I'm so sorry this happened. :(

Hopefully you didn't make a huge batch. Because there are a number of things it could be. GoHolistic's cat had a reaction to either salmon oil or krill oil, I don't remember which one.

And maybe I read it wrong, but I don't see a source of calcium? :dk:

In your shoes, I would start over. I would use JUST ground, boneless rabbit meat - no bones, no organs - no supplements - and balance it with eggshells.

Let her system settle.

I would add one thing at a time - and in small amounts. I'd start by adding the rabbit organs - use HALF of what you normally would for a batch of food. If that works, then make the next batch with boneless rabbit meat, the rabbit organs, and the correct amount of calcium for all of it.

If that works, then add the taurine, the vitamin E, and the manganese as these are unlikely culprits.

If that works, add the B-vitamins.

If that works, add the fish oil.

If that works, add the egg yolk.

With sensitive kitties, egg yolks can often be a problem. I know MANY IBD kitties that can't "do" egg yolks.

Food does NOT need to be balanced and complete right out of the starting gate. Nutritional deficiences take time to develop, so you don't need to be in a rush to provide the perfectly balanced food.

ESPECIALLY with sensitive kitties, it's always best to start slowly. They almost always have a reaction - it's just a matter of figuring out what it is, so best to go one step at a time. :heart2:
 

peaches08

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I had a long reply typed out at lunch yesterday while at clinical, then my sim card went to pot.

Dr. Pierson mentions leaving eggs out of her recipe if your cat has IBD/IBS. That's why it took over a year for me to add them. I added raw egg yolks slowly since all 3 of mine hate them, and I remember some stool issues but I don't knowwho had which problem. Someone had looser stools, someone had chunky stools with hair in them, etc. It leveled out. I added the egg yolks because I was trying to stop the hairball madness. It helped, but not as much as I thought until recently I forgot to add them to the batch and I've had cat yack everywhere. So, I added them here and there and upped their hairball treats. I won't forget the egg yolks this weekend when I make food, and I'll let you know the outcome on the stool situation.
Someone in my house has looser stools than normal. Mushy like toothpaste. The only change is putting 1 egg yolk per lb back in it. No biggie, it'll settle down.
 

jclark

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Thanks all. I'll try to address all your concerns.





Sebastian was/is on a mostly wet diet (75% wet, 25% dry...roughly). As it turns out, he hasn't had any dry food for several days because he doesn't want it. Go figure. I decided this is my opportunity to stop it completely. No more dry.





He's on a hypoallergenic diet, so he gets rabbit as the protein source. The canned food is rabbit. The raw is rabbit from Hare Today. Another TCS member suggested that perhaps the egg I added to the recipe is not agreeing with him. Sebastian is extremely sensitive to change. Here's my thread with the recipe and adjustments: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/272513/finally-my-first-batch-of-raw-and-i-have-questions





The problem with Nature's Variety is that is not 100% rabbit. It contains pork, as well as lots of fruits and veggies.





Sebastian's diarrhea is starting to form a little. He went tonight and it was somewhat formed, but still very soft. I did double his probiotics, however. I'm still offering the raw to him in small amounts.
I have a main coon with IBD and he is on prednislone. He is being fed a variety of Nature's Variety Raw and Canned (Instinct) flavors.

Remember you're not limited to Rabbit but a novel protein for your cat. If the bad protein is Chicken then Lamb, Venison, Pork, would all be consider "novel" for YOUR cat.

You could try NV Duck (It's Duck/Turkey) but I've heard beause it's a "bird" protein a bad reaction may occur.

I would avoid the LID flavors initally because they still contain a starch (Tapioca). The "grain free" Instinct canned and raw are probably the best bet they do not contain lots of fruits and veggies (~5%).


I transtision my main coon between NV Raw Lamb and Duck almost weekly and he does not have stool problems (I mix 1/2 & 1/2 during the transition). I also rotate flavors of NV Instinct Canned DAILY (Chicken, Rabbit, Venison, Lamb).

FWIW my cat ate RC Hypoallergenic Rabbit and Duck exclusively for over half of his life and he still developed IBD.


My $.02


Disclosure: I have 2 young adult Main Coons as well so I had to take their needs into consideration by rotating flavors under the premise that is may prevent their bodies from developing a immune response to a specific protein.
 
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