Cat has very soft stools on new food

iceover

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So here's the story: after repeated and varied issues with food allergies (including with grain free and limited ingredient foods), about two weeks ago I started my 11yo cat on a hydrolyzed, easily digestible dry food, at my vet's recommendation. I mixed with his old kibble for the first 4-5 days, but since he'd never had any issues more than a single soft (but formed) stool when changing foods before, I didn't worry much.

But a few days after being entirely on the new food, he began having very soft, almost liquid, stools. Not diarrhea per se, as it wasn't frequent. So I made sure to keep him hydrated, withheld food for half a day, began feeding him a bit less than normal, and added some probiotics into the food.

After I withheld food, he passed a solid stool about a day and a half later. But by the next day, very soft again. 

Then, he didn't go for two and a half-ish days, and then passed both some solid and liquid stool. 

Today, soft again. 

Does anyone have any experience with cats taking a while to adjust to a new food? He's never taken this long before, but I also don't want to abandon this food yet, since he hasn't shown any signs of allergies yet (a small miracle.) Otherwise, he's peeing, eating, drinking, grooming, and playing normally, and has plenty of energy. I've given him a bit of canned pumpkin a couple of times, trying to see if that'll make a difference. But other than that, I'm out of ideas. (Short of talking to the vet; I wanted to hear others' experiences first.)
 
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iceover

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I also just weighed him, and he seems to have lost about a pound since his last vet trip three weeks ago. But that may be a result of the new food, and reduced amount. (He's a bit overweight to begin with.)

EDIT: Weight loss may very well be my fault. I wasn't measuring food and I think i was feeding him less than I should have been.
 
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missmimz

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I don't know. I personally would not feed that food anymore, especially considering the dramatic weight loss he's experiencing. 

have you tried making your own food? I know you said you tried to limited ingredient foods, but did you try the wet foods not the kibble? It's very hard to find a kibble that doesn't have a lot of fillers in it or multiple ingredients. The only kibble I know that is basically a single ingredient is Ziwipeak, but its not a traditional kibble.

If you're dead set of feeding it I would scale the amount of the new kibble you are feeding way back and start adding the new kibble very very slowly. Because he's 11 I would be worried about feeding him an all kibble diet. Older cats really really need wet food in their diet, especially male cats. 
 
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iceover

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Unfortunately, he's never liked wet foods. Just licks the gravy off and ignores the rest. :( He had a few struvite crystals about four years ago, but changing his kibble cleared those up, and he hasn't had them since. He also has a cat fountain that he loves and seems to urinate a decent amount. 

And I do think the weight loss might be my fault. He has an auto feeder that measures out meals; I was eyeballing the amount, but when I actually measured what i was eyeballing a little while ago, it was probably about half of what he normally got (which was a limited amount to beginning with due to his weight issues.) Also, the accuracy of my scale may be off. I'll definitely keep an eye on his weight though. I don't want him to lose anymore, and I've already begun mixing some of his old kibble in to make sure he's digesting enough nutrition. 

I'm going to call his vet tomorrow and see what he thinks. I was just hoping someone had encountered a similar issue that eventually cleared up. 

And I've never made my own food, it's not something I have a lot of confidence in doing. But I live in a metropolitan area, so I if I need to go this route, I'm pretty sure I could find a reputable source. 
 
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iceover

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I'm also now wondering if having his allergy under control (if not his pooping) contributed to some of the weight loss. He was 13.5-14 pounds around June, but then surprisingly weighed in at over 15 a few months later during another vet visit, right around the time I was trying to find a new food and his allergies were manifesting. He was 14.8 three weeks ago, but got a round of prednisone, and the new food, and since then has had no indication of allergies. And now back around 13.5. So maybe some of the weight was inflammation related? I know it can happen in humans, makes me wonder if it can in cats too. 
 

missmimz

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I'm also now wondering if having his allergy under control (if not his pooping) contributed to some of the weight loss. He was 13.5-14 pounds around June, but then surprisingly weighed in at over 15 a few months later during another vet visit, right around the time I was trying to find a new food and his allergies were manifesting. He was 14.8 three weeks ago, but got a round of prednisone, and the new food, and since then has had no indication of allergies. And now back around 13.5. So maybe some of the weight was inflammation related? I know it can happen in humans, makes me wonder if it can in cats too. 
Did you have an allergy test done or are you just ruling out certain proteins/fillers? It's def possible that his weight loss is related to his allergies. My cat, for example, has IBD which is a food allergy, and he lost weight and then gained it back before I got his vomiting and lack of appetite under control. 

My cat doesn't like wet food either, but I had good luck getting him to eat raw and a Ziwipeak kibble (which doesn't have fillers its basically just meat etc). I know you aren't excited by the idea of making your own food but it can really be worth the extra time and effort. There are some easy shortcuts to making your own if you're interested in reading up about it. Have you tried or looked into freeze dried foods? Like Primal or Stella and Chewy's? A lot of cats that don't like wet food really like them, my cat liked S&C for a little while. 

I just think that you're going to have a very hard time finding good quality hypoallergenic foods that are kibble. I don't know what RX food you're feeding but most of them aren't good quality. 
 
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iceover

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He's never had actual allergy testing.

For years he was on the Royal Canin Moderate Calorie urinary health food. Last spring, he had two cutaneous mast cell tumors removed (in two dif surgeries, with two ultrasounds/spleen aspirations that found no evidence of internal tumors.) Since mast cells are tied to allergies, my vet suggested trying another food, just in case something was triggering the tumors.

I went to Natural Balance limited ingredient pea and salmon and my cat had skin reactions to it. So I went back to the RC, and then a little while later tried one of the Blue Buffalo Grain Free recipes. Again, skin reactions. To top things off, during this period of food upsets, he began regurgitating more, and hacked up some hairball material that had flecks of blood. That's when my vet suggested the hydrolyzed diet, which has been apparently great for the allergies but not for the pooping.

The problem is, I don't think his allergies are protein related. Years ago, when he was getting a bit pudgy, I tried switching him to a lower calorie version of the food his was on then and he had an allergic reaction. The only ingredient differences were beet pulp and tomato. And the NB LID had barely any ingredients in it save for salmon and peas, and the BB has peas but no fish, so now that's an ingredient I'm trying to avoid.

What's frustrating is that this hydrolyzed food is all ingredients he's had before, so I don't understand why it's causing the digestive issues it is (my cat has NEVER had poop issues that have lasted more than a day before; other than the allergies, I thought he had a pretty strong stomach.)

And more frustrating, he's never cared for actual meat save for an occasional bit of cooked poultry (which he tires of pretty quick). I'm not confident he'd even eat homemade food if I gave it to him. I mean, there must be some kind of decent quality kibble foods out there, right?

Sigh. I've emailed my vet. Hoping to hear back soon. 
 

missmimz

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He's never had actual allergy testing.

For years he was on the Royal Canin Moderate Calorie urinary health food. Last spring, he had two cutaneous mast cell tumors removed (in two dif surgeries, with two ultrasounds/spleen aspirations that found no evidence of internal tumors.) Since mast cells are tied to allergies, my vet suggested trying another food, just in case something was triggering the tumors.

I went to Natural Balance limited ingredient pea and salmon and my cat had skin reactions to it. So I went back to the RC, and then a little while later tried one of the Blue Buffalo Grain Free recipes. Again, skin reactions. To top things off, during this period of food upsets, he began regurgitating more, and hacked up some hairball material that had flecks of blood. That's when my vet suggested the hydrolyzed diet, which has been apparently great for the allergies but not for the pooping.

The problem is, I don't think his allergies are protein related. Years ago, when he was getting a bit pudgy, I tried switching him to a lower calorie version of the food his was on then and he had an allergic reaction. The only ingredient differences were beet pulp and tomato. And the NB LID had barely any ingredients in it save for salmon and peas, and the BB has peas but no fish, so now that's an ingredient I'm trying to avoid.

What's frustrating is that this hydrolyzed food is all ingredients he's had before, so I don't understand why it's causing the digestive issues it is (my cat has NEVER had poop issues that have lasted more than a day before; other than the allergies, I thought he had a pretty strong stomach.)

And more frustrating, he's never cared for actual meat save for an occasional bit of cooked poultry (which he tires of pretty quick). I'm not confident he'd even eat homemade food if I gave it to him. I mean, there must be some kind of decent quality kibble foods out there, right?

Sigh. I've emailed my vet. Hoping to hear back soon. 
I feel that nearly all kibble has too many things in it cat can't and don't need, like peas, or other veggies, fruits, grains, etc. and prolonged exposure to these things cats don't need can really trigger food related issues. Transitioning cats to wet, raw, or homemade is a challenge, but it's SO worth it. I think you might benefit from trying to get him to eat a little wet food. There are so many different brands/textures out there that you'll likely find something he'll at leas nibble on. I know I already said this, but SO many cats really love the freeze dried raw, and you can get sample bags, so it wouldn't be a big investment to try it out. 

You might want to look at this list of really good quality kibbles. You really have to read labels and not trust whether it says "grain free" or "limited ingredients" because usually the ingredients is still pretty bad. I feed some kibble, so I do think there are good kibbles out there. I feed Orijen and Ziwipeak. 

I firmly believe that because cats are obligated carnivores its our duty as pet parents to try and feed them food that is as much protein as possible with little to no fillers, which is a serious challenge with the pet food industry these days. Good luck! 
 
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iceover

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I totally get what you're saying! At this point though, after so many allergy issues, I'm really looking just to get him stabilized on a food that doesn't trigger any kind of reaction, so that if I went to a different, potentially healthier diet style in the future, I could fall back on if needed. (Right now, I'm falling back on the Royal Canin, which doesn't give him skin issues but he regurgitates more than we'd like.)
 
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missmimz

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I totally get what you're saying! At this point though, after so many allergy issues, I'm really looking just to get him stabilized on a food that doesn't trigger any kind of reaction, so that if I went to a different, potentially healthier diet style in the future, I could fall back on if needed. (Right now, I'm falling back on the Royal Canin, which doesn't give him skin issues but he regurgitates more than we'd like.)
I understand, more information is just food for thought (pardon the pun). Good luck I hope he feels better soon! 
 

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It can take awhile for cats to adjust to a new food, especially a cat with food allergies or an ingredient(s) intolerance, I empathize.

Some weight loss / gain can also be inflammation related, that has been our situation with our IBD cat Molly, who is currently on budesonide to help with inflammation.

Simple ingredients in the diet are best, if possible, as Missmimz suggested, possibly a freeze dried raw formula?  While most FD is hydrated to form a wet pate type consistency, Vital Essentials makes a very crunchy "nibblet" type of FD, even when hydrated, it still keeps a crunch, which may be appealing to kitty.

http://www.vitalessentialsraw.com/#!freeze-dried-cat-nibblets/c1lvr

Turkey:

Ground turkey with bone, turkey heart, turkey liver, boneless skinless turkey breast,
raw organic goat's milk, raw organic
apple cider vinegar, herring oil, mixed tocopherols, d-alpha tocopherol

Sometimes it's the starch in the kibble that cats react to, cats require minimal carbs, about 3% ideally.   Dry kibble, even the best brands, go through high levels of heat processing, three times the amount of heat processing than e.g., canned food. In order to go through the extrusion process, kibble requires more carb binders than what would be added to canned food.

Good luck with this, it's challenging, I know. :(
 

lisamarie12

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What's frustrating is that this hydrolyzed food is all ingredients he's had before, so I don't understand why it's causing the digestive issues it is (my cat has NEVER had poop issues that have lasted more than a day before; other than the allergies, I thought he had a pretty strong stomach.)
Cats can develop an intolerance at any age to ingredients they've eaten previously without any problem, it happens more often than not.
 
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iceover

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Thanks, I'll check out those foods. And yeah, I know allergies can suddenly appear after years, but the new foods I've been trying have all had very quick reactions. So even though he may have developed a mild reaction to chicken (the main protein in much of his foods) over the years, he DEFINITELY has a strong, quick reaction to salmon and/or peas, and possible some other veggie/fruit ingredients. 
 

lisamarie12

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Thanks, I'll check out those foods. And yeah, I know allergies can suddenly appear after years, but the new foods I've been trying have all had very quick reactions. So even though he may have developed a mild reaction to chicken (the main protein in much of his foods) over the years, he DEFINITELY has a strong, quick reaction to salmon and/or peas, and possible some other veggie/fruit ingredients. 
Fish can be very hyper-allergenic.  According to Dr. Jean Hofve DVM:

Many cats are sensitive or even allergic to fish; it is one of the top 3 most common feline food allergens ... Fish-based foods contain high levels of histamine, a protein involved in allergic reactions.

I'm sure you'll get it worked out, it's a bit of trial and error but it will get resolved. :)
 
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iceover

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Ugh, frustration. He's now had watery diarrhea five times in the last 24 hours or so. Maybe giving him the pumpkin wasn't a good idea. And the vet hasn't emailed me back, and I called but they've gotten swamped with a couple emergencies, so I don't know when I'll hear back. So I don't know if I should keep feeding him, or withhold food for a while. I'm keeping him drinking, so he's staying hydrated.

And, the one thing on the plus side, I just weighed him again (a few times) and and he was 14.4lbs, so it looks like my scale was being finicky the last time around, and he hasn't actually lost much weight.

Ugh, so stressful!
 

missmimz

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Ugh, frustration. He's now had watery diarrhea five times in the last 24 hours or so. Maybe giving him the pumpkin wasn't a good idea. And the vet hasn't emailed me back, and I called but they've gotten swamped with a couple emergencies, so I don't know when I'll hear back. So I don't know if I should keep feeding him, or withhold food for a while. I'm keeping him drinking, so he's staying hydrated.

And, the one thing on the plus side, I just weighed him again (a few times) and and he was 14.4lbs, so it looks like my scale was being finicky the last time around, and he hasn't actually lost much weight.

Ugh, so stressful!
What kind of probiotics are you giving him? A good human grade probiotic can really help. Can you put him back on his old food? Don't withhold food for too long cats can't go long periods of time without food. Can you get him to eat some chicken or something? What about some Tikicat? 
 
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iceover

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I forget the exact probiotic but it was one the vet recommended. I'm not sure it's doing a darn thing though. 

In the past couple hours, he's thrown up a hairball and some stomach bile, and had yet another round of diarrhea. Seems like everything is running right through him now, and/or the increase in food is just upping his litter box trips.

Vet still hasn't called me back, so I'm going to withhold food until tonight (about 12 hours total) and then give him a little plain cooked chicken or turkey. I did this last week (sans chicken) and it actually seemed to resolve the issue (he had a normal looking bowel movement about a day and a half later), until I continued with the new food and the soft stools returned. 

And I'm checking for signs of dehydration, but so far he still seems okay. Will keep him drinking and try not to worry myself into an utter mess. (I have anxiety and this is really bad for it.)
 

missmimz

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I forget the exact probiotic but it was one the vet recommended. I'm not sure it's doing a darn thing though. 

In the past couple hours, he's thrown up a hairball and some stomach bile, and had yet another round of diarrhea. Seems like everything is running right through him now, and/or the increase in food is just upping his litter box trips.

Vet still hasn't called me back, so I'm going to withhold food until tonight (about 12 hours total) and then give him a little plain cooked chicken or turkey. I did this last week (sans chicken) and it actually seemed to resolve the issue (he had a normal looking bowel movement about a day and a half later), until I continued with the new food and the soft stools returned. 

And I'm checking for signs of dehydration, but so far he still seems okay. Will keep him drinking and try not to worry myself into an utter mess. (I have anxiety and this is really bad for it.)
If its fortiflora that one isn't a very good one at all :( I use this one for all my cats, they get it daily in their food and its REALLY good, but you can only get it online. 

I know you said you felt confident in your vet overall but you might think about looking into a different one :\ It doesn't seem like this vet is really taking your cats medical issues very seriously. 

I'm sorry I hope he feels better! I know what you mean about worrying I get a lot of anxiety when my older cat has a flair with his IBD. 
 
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iceover

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I checked--not FortiFlora but ProViable. But I've be giving only every other day or so, and had given it prior to the current food w/o issue. But not giving it anymore for the moment.

Really though, my vet is great. When I called earlier the receptionist mentioned there were a couple of emergencies, and because of that the other vet had to take all the appts, so she wasn't available either. And when my mom drove by (my vet is actually in my parents town in another state; that's how much I like him) she said the whole team still appeared to be there, hours after they normally closed.

So as impatient as I was, I'm sure whatever he was dealing with was more critical than diarrhea. (Normally he's super communicative; last visit he spent over an hour talking to me about food allergies. Drives his staff nuts trying to keep him to a schedule, haha.)

Anyways, he finally called and said that at this point, as long as I'm still feeding him, the diarrhea is going to keep happening, so I'm withholding food until tomorrow. Then tiny meals, introduced slowly, and I'm going to get a different hydrolyzed kibble. I found one that has a closer formulation to his least problematic food so far, so... trying again, I guess.
 
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