Merrick food and a sensitive stomach

So I think I finally fixed my cats loose stools after a couple months of food testings. Our youngest cat which is probably around 8 or 9 months now kept throwing up and having diarrhea with a horrible smell shortly after we got her. I took her to the vet and they said she may have worms, so we dewormed her and it seemed to fix the problem but shortly showed back up about 2 months ago. We have spent a ton a money on our 3 cats in the last year and right when it came back we just finished paying $1500 for one of our other cats who decided to eat some string. So I wanted to try and rule out the possibilty of just an allergy or food intolerance.

I tried several different and seemed to have luck with a few, but it shortly came back again. I tried a lot of grain free and also tried to stay away from seafood, and also tested with foods that had a few ingredients missing that are known to give cats stomach problems. Just before I was about to take her to the vet again I noticed it cleared up after having her on a new food for a couple days, and one that the other 2 seem to like. Im sure you all are aware how hard it is to get multiple cats to eat the same thing lol. But anyways Merrick limited ingredients is what Im currently giving them and all 3 seem to love it so Im going to stick with it. Its also saving me a lot of money because now I can just split one 5oz can instead of opening 2 to 3 smaller cans per feeding to meet everyone's standards. So my question is does anyone know the difference between Merrick limited ingredients and their regular wet food? Im wanting to try some of the other flavors but not sure if the food is completely different or if it will upset our youngest ones stomach again

I think the primary difference is that the Limited Ingredient foods are made with a single protein, and their regular foods contain multiple proteins (for instance, the regular Beef Paté also contains chicken). This can be an issue when working with allergies/sensitivities. The Limited Ingredient range is great for cats with sensitive stomachs, and can help you pinpoint which proteins your cat is ok with.

Oh ok thank you. I just wasnt sure if they had any extra stuff like wheat gluten or any of that other stuff that you cant pronounce or know what it is lol. I know beef doesn't settle well with her, she throws it up every time. I love our older cat that we rescued from the streets. He can literally eat anything and have no change in his stool, on top of that he will eat anything we give him. Funny thing is he use to be so picky and wouldnt eat anything. Cats are so goofy like that

Columbine's absolutely right about the difference. Some of Merrick's foods also have peas and potatoes in various forms as well as carrageenan, which can cause stomach issues in some cats, too, so I'd stay away for those, at least for the time being.

Our cats eat the Merrick LID turkey and duck and love them. They, too, have sensitive stomachs so I avoid carrageenan, peas, and potatoes, as well as grains. 

If you're looking to branch out into other foods, my humble suggestion would be to look for foods with the same protein as what's already in the Merrick food you're feeding successfully. So, let's take the example of turkey. I'd look for more turkey foods that don't have grains, potatoes, or peas and (slowly!) try those out on the cats. Our cats seem to do best on simple recipes with maximum meat.

There are other brands that make foods with very simple recipes: Wild Calling, Hound & Gatos, and Nature's Variety Instinct are a few. All these brands seem to be love-it-or-hate it but some people on the site have sensitive cats who do very well on them! Our cats love Hound & Gatos's lamb but will barely touch their other foods, which is too bad because they're good quality and fairly reasonably priced. They looked offended when I fed them (well, attempted to feed them) almost any kind of Wild Calling, and they didn't like Nature's Variety enough to warrant the price. Cats!

Good luck!

LisaHE said:

 
Columbine's absolutely right about the difference. Some of Merrick's foods also have peas and potatoes in various forms as well as carrageenan, which can cause stomach issues in some cats, too, so I'd stay away for those, at least for the time being.

Our cats eat the Merrick LID turkey and duck and love them. They, too, have sensitive stomachs so I avoid carrageenan, peas, and potatoes, as well as grains. 

If you're looking to branch out into other foods, my humble suggestion would be to look for foods with the same protein as what's already in the Merrick food you're feeding successfully. So, let's take the example of turkey. I'd look for more turkey foods that don't have grains, potatoes, or peas and (slowly!) try those out on the cats. Our cats seem to do best on simple recipes with maximum meat.

There are other brands that make foods with very simple recipes: Wild Calling, Hound & Gatos, and Nature's Variety Instinct are a few. All these brands seem to be love-it-or-hate it but some people on the site have sensitive cats who do very well on them! Our cats love Hound & Gatos's lamb but will barely touch their other foods, which is too bad because they're good quality and fairly reasonably priced. They looked offended when I fed them (well, attempted to feed them) almost any kind of Wild Calling, and they didn't like Nature's Variety enough to warrant the price. Cats!

Good luck!

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I agree with all of this. my cats really like the Merrick LID line. They also love the Nature's Variety LID turkey. 

LisaHE said:

Columbine's absolutely right about the difference. Some of Merrick's foods also have peas and potatoes in various forms as well as carrageenan, which can cause stomach issues in some cats, too, so I'd stay away for those, at least for the time being.

Our cats eat the Merrick LID turkey and duck and love them. They, too, have sensitive stomachs so I avoid carrageenan, peas, and potatoes, as well as grains. 

If you're looking to branch out into other foods, my humble suggestion would be to look for foods with the same protein as what's already in the Merrick food you're feeding successfully. So, let's take the example of turkey. I'd look for more turkey foods that don't have grains, potatoes, or peas and (slowly!) try those out on the cats. Our cats seem to do best on simple recipes with maximum meat.

There are other brands that make foods with very simple recipes: Wild Calling, Hound & Gatos, and Nature's Variety Instinct are a few. All these brands seem to be love-it-or-hate it but some people on the site have sensitive cats who do very well on them! Our cats love Hound & Gatos's lamb but will barely touch their other foods, which is too bad because they're good quality and fairly reasonably priced. They looked offended when I fed them (well, attempted to feed them) almost any kind of Wild Calling, and they didn't like Nature's Variety enough to warrant the price. Cats! :lol3:

Good luck!

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Ive heard of the Natures variety, but not the others. I tried a few of Natures varietys but mine didnt like it. But I will eventually want to try other brands because my two yoyngest cats get bored with food very quickly, especially one I feed over and over. I was just dealing with diarrhea and loose stools for so long its a relief to not have to worry about it. Your right though, Im eventually going to look at the ingredients a little bit closer and try and find another brand with something similiar

Independent pet stores will have premium brands like Wild Calling and Hound & Gato. If you mainly shop at chain stores like Petco, it's worth taking a trip to your local indepdent pet store to check out the brands they carry (oftentimes the premium high end ones that aren't sold in chains) and to support a local business

LTS3 said:

 
Independent pet stores will have premium brands like Wild Calling and Hound & Gato. If you mainly shop at chain stores like Petco, it's worth taking a trip to your local indepdent pet store to check out the brands they carry (oftentimes the premium high end ones that aren't sold in chains) and to support a local business

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Indeed! The independent stores definitely have some foods you won't find in the chains. Plus many of them will order just about anything you want but not force you to buy the whole case. They often like that because it gives them ideas for new products to sell.

tewing84 said:

Ive heard of the Natures variety, but not the others. I tried a few of Natures varietys but mine didnt like it. But I will eventually want to try other brands because my two yoyngest cats get bored with food very quickly, especially one I feed over and over. I was just dealing with diarrhea and loose stools for so long its a relief to not have to worry about it. Your right though, Im eventually going to look at the ingredients a little bit closer and try and find another brand with something similiar

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Our cats weren't big on NVI, either. But it's worth trying the others. Even if they don't like them, at least you tried and now know!

Yes. Merrick LID and Merrick Perfect Bistro (I'll refer to this as PB) have differing ingredients. 

For example: 

LID Chicken: Deboned Chicken, Chicken Broth, Chicken Liver, Natural Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Calcium Carbonate, Organic Alfalfa Meal, Sodium Phosphate, Guar Gum, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Flaxseed Oil, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Niacin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate), Choline Chloride, Minerals (Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Iron Amino Acid Complex, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Copper Amino Acid Complex, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Glucoheptonate, Sodium Selenite), Taurine, Yucca Schidigera Extract.

PB Chicken: Deboned Chicken, Chicken Broth, Chicken Liver, Peas, Dried Egg Product, Potato Protein, Natural Flavor, Dried Potato, Cranberries, Ground Flaxseed, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Carrageenan, Guar Gum, Powdered Cellulose, Dried Whey Protein Concentrate, Dried Spinach, Sodium Phosphate, Salmon Oil, Minerals (Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Iron Amino Acid Complex, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Copper Amino Acid Complex, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Glucoheptonate, Sodium Selenite), Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Niacin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate), Taurine, Choline Chloride, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Thyme, Sage, Rosemary.

So, as you can see, very different ingredients. My cat Tygra cannot and will not have salmon or products that have salmon oil in them (unless they are pretty far down on the list) because of a terrible reaction she's had with salmon flavored foods or with salmon or salmon oil in them. I wanted to try the Merrick wet with her because I like my kitties to have a variety. I couldn't until they came out with the LID line. She LOVES the LID line. She even will eat the Duck flavored one and she doesn't like Duck. 

Mine love both regular chicken or duck pate or limited ingredients chicken or duck pate. One of mine has sensitive stomach and does well on either, she also loves Grammys pot pie by Merrick. You get more oz in regular cans as opposed to lid, also one of the few kibble she can eat without vomiting is Merrick chicken in yellow bag. I don't know if your cat goes out or catches mice in garage like mine. My vet told me she should have revolution drops to help prevent worms associated with live prey!

LTS3 said:

Independent pet stores will have premium brands like Wild Calling and Hound & Gato. If you mainly shop at chain stores like Petco, it's worth taking a trip to your local indepdent pet store to check out the brands they carry (oftentimes the premium high end ones that aren't sold in chains) and to support a local business

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Yeah Ill have to try that, are they typically any cheaper? Merricks smalls can are like 1.35 at Petco, but the 5oz is only 1.70...which is a much better deal. Between our 3 cats, I feed them 3 5oz cans a day split into 3 ways. Our youngest gets half the can, because she eats only wet food, and then I split the rest between the other 2 who don't even eat it all...so the younger one comes in and finshes it lol. She can eat so much but it still tiny, probably 7 pounds.

I did find out she can't stomach the salmon. I tried one can of it and it gave her diarrhea, or actually half diarrhea and half solid. So I just stick to chicken, turkey and duck

tewing84 said:

Yeah Ill have to try that, are they typically any cheaper? Merricks smalls can are like 1.35 at Petco, but the 5oz is only 1.70...which is a much better deal. Between our 3 cats, I feed them 3 5oz cans a day split into 3 ways. Our youngest gets half the can, because she eats only wet food, and then I split the rest between the other 2 who don't even eat it all...so the younger one comes in and finshes it lol. She can eat so much but it still tiny, probably 7 pounds.

I did find out she can't stomach the salmon. I tried one can of it and it gave her diarrhea, or actually half diarrhea and half solid. So I just stick to chicken, turkey and duck

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That's $41 for 24 cans go with chewy.com it's cheaper $32 now for duck pate, most cats live the duck or chicken

bonepicker said:

That's $41 for 24 cans go with chewy.com it's cheaper $32 now for duck pate, most cats live the duck or chicken

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Yeah she will eat the duck and turkey, but not like the chicken. The bowls are licked clean with the chicken lol. There is always some left over for the duck or turkey. Ive thought about feeding her just the chicken, but shes the type that has to have variety. I'm afraid if I do that she will eventually get sick of it. I think Ill at least try some of the other chicken flavors and see if that is ok on her stomach. I'm going to check out that site that you recommended, I'm trying to figure out how to save some money on pet food.

Hows the shipping? I'm sure I won't have to worry about it now since we are in winter, but when it gets into summer will I need to worry about the food overheating?

tewing84 said:

Yeah she will eat the duck and turkey, but not like the chicken. The bowls are licked clean with the chicken lol. There is always some left over for the duck or turkey. Ive thought about feeding her just the chicken, but shes the type that has to have variety. I'm afraid if I do that she will eventually get sick of it. I think Ill at least try some of the other chicken flavors and see if that is ok on her stomach. I'm going to check out that site that you recommended, I'm trying to figure out how to save some money on pet food.

Hows the shipping? I'm sure I won't have to worry about it now since we are in winter, but when it gets into summer will I need to worry about the food overheating?

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Free over $50, I buy the dog size bags of freeze dried Purebites also for cats or dogs. I only go to stores for individual cans to test first

bonepicker said:

Free over $50, I buy the dog size bags of freeze dried Purebites also for cats or dogs. I only go to stores for individual cans to test first

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Thank you! Im trying to save all the money I can because having 3 cats is expensive to feed. Right now Im paying about $150 a month on food and most of that goes to the one with the sensitive stomach because she will not eat dry food. She hasn't since we brought her home and wish she did because I could save a ton of money lol.

Do you or anyone else have any pointers for trying to get a cat to eat dry food who never has? Ive tried mixing it in with the wet, but she just doesnt eat it at all and I have to end up opening another can without dry in it lol. I also read somewhere its bad to put dry in with the wet

I saw that you guys mentioned Wild Calling. My cat loves it! It's a pate and I'm really happy with the ingredients. It's also decently priced compared to some other brands. It's not as cheap as some, but it's definitely not as expensive as some. There are some pretty interesting flavors, too!