My Cats Diet and Diarreha

I currently have a cat with diarrhea because I abruptly changed her food. I was not aware that I should gradually change it in order to avoid stomach upset. Does anyone know how long the diarrhea will last? Approximately? I don't want to switch her back to the other stuff.

Also is it okay to feed one brand of wet food and another brand in dry? I am on a budget and trying to find the best wet and dry I can without spending too much. I was told by a vet to avoid dry all together but my girl loves dry, so I tried to find one that does not have grains, corn, rice, soy and fish.

Any help will be fantastic!

Thanks!

V

When my cat had diarrhea, I gave him probiotics and it stopped in a day or two. 

If it's caused by the new food itself, not by switching the food, then you probably should stop feeding the new food. 

Is Fancy Feast Classic canned out of your budget range? 

Fancy Feast is the canned food I am using and she was fine on that but since she likes dry food in the evening I bought blue kitten which is grain free. When I started feeding her this a couple days ago it upset her stomach. I was hoping she would get used to it after a few days. Of course unless it is the food itself.

A lot of Blue Buffalo foods have potato, which can bother some cats, including one of ours, who occasionally vomited and often got pretty gassy. She's been fine since we took all potato ingredients out of the cats' diet. I generally avoid starchy ingredients for them, so they don't get peas in any form, either.

Good luck!

My kitties ALL had problems with Blue dry.  If I were you, what I'd do is feed canned twice a day and then supplement with dry, like 1/8 C as a "snack".  That way she gets her dry food fix and the benefits of canned.  That's what we do. Also, this makes your dry food last longer and costs less in the long run.  I'd suggest Wellness CORE over Blue, or even Taste of the Wild dry.

Dry kibbles in general are very high in carbohydrates, and from what I've read it's hard on cats' digestive system, liver and pancreas. 

Faithfor4 said:

 
I currently have a cat with diarrhea because I abruptly changed her food. I was not aware that I should gradually change it in order to avoid stomach upset. Does anyone know how long the diarrhea will last? Approximately? I don't want to switch her back to the other stuff.

Also is it okay to feed one brand of wet food and another brand in dry? I am on a budget and trying to find the best wet and dry I can without spending too much. I was told by a vet to avoid dry all together but my girl loves dry, so I tried to find one that does not have grains, corn, rice, soy and fish.

Any help will be fantastic!

Thanks!

V

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Much as you may not want to switch back to the old food, it is medically advisable and controlling the diarrhea is more important that putting the cat on a new "better?" food if its making her sick.  Stabilize her stool and only after that start a slow change to the new food.

So old food and if that doesn't clear it up discuss with your vet on step two, possibly supplements like metamucil.  Some probiotics can actually induce diarrhea - I found this out the hard way - so I would work on this gently and with a vet's advice.   The only probiotic that my vets says has actually been studied in cats is Forti Flora.

Usually due to a sudden diet change it takes 48-72 hours for it resolve.

Think of it like us going to another country and eating the local style of food you're not used too. You regret it for a couple days. Same thing with kitties. I volunteer with a rescue and when people adopt I always tell them to expect 24-72 hours of tummy upset and if it hasn't resolved by then something else is the matter.

You can get her some canned pumpkin or probotics to help with the sudden food switch as well.

In my house the base diet is Solid Gold Grain free dry kibbles and then they get Friskies or what ever canned food is on sale. I typically buy a case of several flavors and work the way through each case and then just start a new case. Since their diet is at least 50% Solid Gold we don't have tummy troubles because they're the on the same food through out the wet food switch arounds. (Or atleast I never see any issues with the wet food change ups)

Keep in mind though some kitties are more sensitive then others to food changes so not every cat is going to react the same.