Kitty tummy troubles

Hello everyone! I'm new to this site and thought I would start by asking for advice. Here's the scoop:

We adopted a one year old medium haired tabby about 5 months ago. She came with a bag of Purina pro plan dry indoor turkey and rice. I know a bit about cat food and knew right away that i wanted to switch her something more natural with fillers etc etc. We waited about 2 months before we started to switch her onto Blue Buffalo salmon, which is also dry. Long story short, her tummy didn't agree with the switch (even taking 3 weeks to transition). She was beginning to have terribly soft stools and started to lose weight. I then decided to put her back onto the pro plan in hopes to get her tummy back to normal. Within 30 hours she was back to normal!

My question is, what would you recommend I try next? I live in Canada so some brands might be hard to get. I was thinking of trying Halo next. I fear that if I go high end again, she'll run into the same issue.

We currently feed a dry meal in the morning, then wet at night.

Any suggestions and ideas welcome!

Meant to say, "natural, without fillers and tons of grains"

What is the wet that you are feeding? If she doesn't have an issue with wet, could you feed both meals with wet instead? As a general rule, wet is better for cats than dry.

Nora1 said:

Hello everyone! I'm new to this site and thought I would start by asking for advice. Here's the scoop:

We adopted a one year old medium haired tabby about 5 months ago. She came with a bag of Purina pro plan dry indoor turkey and rice. I know a bit about cat food and knew right away that i wanted to switch her something more natural with fillers etc etc. We waited about 2 months before we started to switch her onto Blue Buffalo salmon, which is also dry. Long story short, her tummy didn't agree with the switch (even taking 3 weeks to transition). She was beginning to have terribly soft stools and started to lose weight. I then decided to put her back onto the pro plan in hopes to get her tummy back to normal. Within 30 hours she was back to normal!

My question is, what would you recommend I try next? I live in Canada so some brands might be hard to get. I was thinking of trying Halo next. I fear that if I go high end again, she'll run into the same issue.

We currently feed a dry meal in the morning, then wet at night.

Any suggestions and ideas welcome!

Click to expand...

Hi there, and welcome! ...

I would suggest to switch your feedings around and start with the wet food in the morning, and increase the wet to two feedings with a ittle bit of dry later or work on eliminating the dry altogether. As vball91 pointed out, wet food will be better for your cat in the long run, and now is a good time to make the switch when your cat is young and hasn't been on dry food that long that a switch would be that challenging.

I am in Canada as well, and would recommend that you look for Orijen Cat and Kitten dry food, IF you need to continue feeding dry. This dry kibble is high protein and grain-free and so you don't need to feed a lot of it. It is one of the better kibbles available, whereas the Purina contains a lot of grains and its best to stay away from food like this.

If you visit the Orijen website, there is a link at the top of the page that takes you to a form to find out where you can buy this food in your area : http://www.orijen.ca/cat-food/

Thank you for the replies and suggestions!

I will try to switch to only wet, but for now I want to give her tummy a break. Also, for some reason she never seems "full" when she gets her 3 oz can of wet, and begs for more. Her wet food is Blue Buffalo, and Halo, just alternating flavours and brands. Has anyone else experienced this as well: cats not feeling full after a canned meal? She's an active indoor cat (with the occasional walk outside, on harness and leash), so maybe I should up the amount of wet?

oneandahalfcats - I'll take a look at Orijen

Nora1 said:

 
Thank you for the replies and suggestions!

I will try to switch to only wet, but for now I want to give her tummy a break. Also, for some reason she never seems "full" when she gets her 3 oz can of wet, and begs for more. Her wet food is Blue Buffalo, and Halo, just alternating flavours and brands. Has anyone else experienced this as well: cats not feeling full after a canned meal? She's an active indoor cat (with the occasional walk outside, on harness and leash), so maybe I should up the amount of wet?

oneandahalfcats - I'll take a look at Orijen

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Giving her a break before switching foods sounds very sensible! ..

Dry food is denser than wet food and contains more calories than wet but this is usually from the carb and fat content of the food. Depending on her current weight and frame, she may not be getting enough calories. On average, a 3 ounce can of wet food will be anywhere between 80-120 calories, depending on the variety. The calories she needs is based on her weight. If you know what this is, let us know along with how much she you are feeding her now, and we can give you an idea of how much she should be getting.

Oneandahalfcats- She is only 8 pounds with a small frame. She's been getting a 1/4 cup of dry in the morning, then a 3 oz can in the afternoon. Within 2 hours of both meals she's begging/meowing for more. I feel like that should be enough. Before we adopted her, she came from a house with 5 other cats where they were given low quality foods and it was a free feeding system, and not portioned. Maybe she just hasn't adjusted yet (it's been 4 months)?

Should I feed a bigger portion of wet since it's the better quality she's getting at the moment?

Nora1 said:

Oneandahalfcats- She is only 8 pounds with a small frame. She's been getting a 1/4 cup of dry in the morning, then a 3 oz can in the afternoon. Within 2 hours of both meals she's begging/meowing for more. I feel like that should be enough. Before we adopted her, she came from a house with 5 other cats where they were given low quality foods and it was a free feeding system, and not portioned. Maybe she just hasn't adjusted yet (it's been 4 months)?

Should I feed a bigger portion of wet since it's the better quality she's getting at the moment?

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I would agree that this does sound like enough food. Between the dry and wet canned, she is likely getting enough calories and then some. If she is used to free-feeding, this can be a tough habit to break. You might want to switch things around and start with the wet in the morning, and do the dry in the afternoon to see if this can make a difference. Hang in there. You are on the right track! .

Ok sounds good to hear I'm on the right track! Free feeding is something she was used to, I'm sure eventually she'll get the hang of the new routine soon....hopefully!

Thanks for all the replies and advice