Hello from new raw convert / I am really kicking myself right now!

Hello everyone,

This is going to be a bit of a long one - fair warning!

I have heard about the benefits of a raw diet in dogs and cats for a long time, but never got the opportunity to try it until now (well, sort of).  

A month ago I adopted a (almost) 10 year old cat named Sinbad.  I knew I didn't want him on dry food, so we began transitioning him to the Innova wet formula right away.  He seemed to handle getting two meals of that a day pretty well (at least in the poop department), but I noticed that if I didn't leave out some kibble for him to munch on throughout the day, he would vomit.  The vomiting was happening every morning after he would eat breakfast, and once in a while at other times.  The vet decided to just put him back on whatever he was on at the shelter (Purina blend with mostly cat chow free fed) until his stomach settled down.  I did this begrudgingly (I really wanted him to get better nutrition), and the vomiting seemed to stop for awhile.  Two weeks ago, my partner and I slept in and Sinbad hung out with us instead of going down to eat his breakfast at ~7 as normal.  He probably ate around 10, and threw up soon after.  He then threw up twice more in the next few hours, and one of those times was projectile clear liquid EVERYWHERE.  I have no idea how he even drank that much water without us noticing.  So, we called the vet again and took him in.  We had planned on doing some blood work to rule out IBD, but since he had gained weight since we adopted him (he was underweight when we got him), the vet decided we should try better nutrition before doing more tests.  (I should mention that when we took him for his initial checkup his bloodwork and urinalysis was great, but they did not check for signatures of IBD.)

So on the vet's suggestion, I went to PetPeople and talked with them about Sinbad's issues and what was the best course of action.  I was planning on doing half wet/half dry (I am a poor graduate student and really can't afford to pay for high quality wet for both meals), but when I saw that Primal was actually cheaper than the wet food they carried, I decided to give that a shot.  The plan was to do Evo kibble in the morning and Primal in the evening.  The saleswoman (who said she was pre-vet and explained that all employees at PetPeople must take extensive pet nutrition courses) suggested that I make the switch cold turkey.  This contradicting all of my instincts and my better judgement as an animal owner, but I decided to follow her suggestion since she was the expert.  I figured that maybe some loose stools were better than throwing up all the time.

Now, Sinbad is pretty miserable.  He ate the first two servings of Evo just fine (we did Evo at night the first day since there wasn't sufficient time for the Primal to defrost) and was hungry and looking for more all day yesterday.  His poops were looking good and I began wondering if everything I've ever been taught about switching food gradually was inaccurate.  Then, last night, he had two pieces of kibble and promptly threw up all over - more clear liquid and one piece of the kibble.  I hoped it would pass, but he proceeded to throw up all over our bed and then all over the couch.   He has never thrown up in the places where he sleeps like that, so I am assuming he was really feeling horrible.  He also had liquid diarrhea in the litter box. Since he was so sick, we decided to hold off on the Primal and just get him used to the Evo, so he got more of that last night.  Sometime during then night he finished most of the kibble so he must have started to feel better.  This morning he ate a little without throwing up.

I just got home from work and there are no new surprises, but I heard him go in the litter box and it was pure torture.  The poor thing is literally defecating liquid, and it sounds like it must be horribly painful.  He has also not eaten any of his remaining kibble from this morning.  He greeted me at the door, but he is not himself.  He is sleeping comfortably right now at least.

So to recap, I switched my cat cold turkey from Purina cat chow to Evo and there have been explosive consequences.  It's important to note that he has not had any of the Primal at all.  

The vet told us we should give him Pepto as needed, so we are going to pick that up tonight.

I feel so horrible because Sinbad is paying the price for me not going with my gut.  I am tempted to just switch him back to the Purina and start over, but I don't know if that would just make things worse.  Eventually, I want him to be on Primal twice a day with no kibble whatsoever.  Right now, I'd settle for anything as long as he is not suffering.

The saleslady said that when cats are switched from a food that contains gluten to a gluten-free product, they shed some lining of it in their stomach and to be prepared for that.  Is that what all of this is about?  What is your advice for how to salvage this transition as best I can?

I know this is not exclusively about raw food, but in my experience owners that feed raw are very knowledgeable and I would appreciate the help of that knowledge base.  Plus the goal is to get him on raw in the end, so some suggestions for that transition would be really helpful as well.

Thanks everybody.  Here's a picture of my sweet old man.

Poor kitty, and poor you! 

From my experience, I would suggest putting him back on the Purina to firm up his stool, and help with calories! I went through a similar situation where I tried to switch my cat from "shelter food" (Purina), with some not so good results. Long story short, I used Purina in between food brand transitions to help firm up the stools and put her back at ease, before switching again. It may not be the end nutritional goal, but for now it sounds like he needs to get his stools under control, as well as some calories as it sounds like nothing has stuck with him between the runny stools and vomiting.

Hopefully you find a food/combination to get him back on track Keep us updated!

awww what a handsome, sweet boy!

There could be any number of things going on here but what I would suggest is going back to the Innova wet and this is why: You mentioned that he was doing well with 2 meals of Innova wet a day but that if he didn't have something to eat in between, then he would throw up. This is because cats' stomachs are so acidic that if they go up to 12 hours without food, some cats throw up bile.

Instead of feeding the Innova twice a day, split his daily portions into 3 meals. It does not have to be evenly spaced. Once before work, once when you get home and once right before bed is a good feeding schedule that works for many people.

If he still has abnormal stool on the Innova, go ALL the way back to Purina. Your main goal right now should be to get him regulated.

I would try that and see how he reacts. THEN when you are ready to go raw, definitely start slow (exactly what your gut was telling you).

It took me a month to transition my cats to raw. I added a half an ounce a day to one of their meals unto they were 100%. You will know if you are going too fast.

Please keep us updated and ask as many questions as you need!

I believe @Ritz uses freeze dried meats as a treat to absorb some stomach acid in her cat before feeding.  Hopefully she'll come in and give her thoughts.

I'm sorry Sinbad is having problems.
Switching foods cold turkey is generally never a good idea, regardless of what food(s) you want to give your cat. In Ritz's case-and in retrospect--I transitioned her a bit too fast from canned wet food to commercial raw and I believe she developed a stress-induced UTI.
Ritz throws up when she has gone a long time without food. Due to my commute/work schedule, she often doesn't eat for 11 to 12 hours at a time. I have now established a "five minute rule": I get home from work, give Ritz a few freeze dried treats, wait five minutes (ignoring her loud MEOWS), and then give her part of her dinner. I also learned that she handles light/white meat (chicken, turkey) better on an empty stomach than red meat (beef, venison). So far it seems to be working.
Now, it is important to note that Ritz wants to eat right after she throws up, so I suspect excess bile in her stomach, as opposed to 'simple' nausea, which could mean something different medically going on.
Also, I have just recently started giving her 1/8 teaspoon (powder) of Slippery Elm Bark in the morning. I sprinkle it in the empty containers of individual servings of Coffee Mate liquid creamer (hey--it works for me and Ritz....) I've read that this calms the stomach and helps with poop. DO check with your vet before adding SEB.
I do think you should feed Sinbad what food he was use to being fed and then, as others have suggested, slowly introduce raw food into her diet.