Sensitive to high protein food?

Hello there! I have two cats (Tita soon 1 year old and Gina who's got 9 months).
So, we are feeding them with N&D grain free and sometimes N&D low grain food since allways. Tita has been with us since last may and Gina since last november.
Since Gina came, she had diarrhea or very soft stool. First, we thought, it was maybe stress or something but it has continued. Tita's stool was normal. We went to our vet and on the end they both had Giardia duodenalis only Tita's organism was very strong so she had no symptoms.
We gave them medications and everything is ok now but Gina is still having a very soft stool
We gave them really good probiotics and change them to Royal canin sensitivity control and her stool was ok for a while but we couldn't stay longer on that food because they have gained a serious weight and were less active plus Tita didn't want to eat Royal for first few days!!!
So what other conclusion to make then the one that she is too sensitive on high protein food which is kind of wierd because it's more healthy and nutritive then Royal canin, Hill's etc,...
So is that really possible or could the problem be in something else? We now know that we will probably need to change their food but we don't know what to take. It is very disturbing
Anyway, N&D food is really good reviewed (got five out of five stars for nutrivity, royal canin got only one) and even Susan Thixton has put this food on the top of her "Best pet foods" list.
Please give me some advice. It would be perfect if there is some high quality food for sensitive stomach, something that wouldn't make my cats fatter in two weeks period or make them less active.
Some advices please??

P.S. Sorry for my english, it is not my native language

Hi, and welcome to TCS

It sounds to me as though your cats have some sort of food sensitivity/allergy. That's why the Royal Canin helped them. There are alternatives to prescription diets, but in general it's far easier to manage a cat with food sensitivities on a wet (canned) food diet. This is because wet foods can be very simple, with a short ingredients list. The second you start trying to make a dry food you need more ingredients to make it work.

Dry food (kibble) is much more calorie dense than wet food, and so is far more likely to cause weight gain. This is compounded by the fact that it's further away from a cat's natural diet (meat), as it's impossible to make a kibble without some sort of carbohydrate. This means that the food is often less satisfying for the cat, therefore it takes longer for them to feel full.

I honestly think a wet food diet would work out better for your two - and it's certainly going to be easier to get them to lose weight that way. The most common allergens are gluten, grains, potatoes, peas, carageenan, gums (guar gum, xanthan gum etc) and chicken. Choosing less commonly used protiens and picking simple foods is the easiest way to find out what works for your cats. Some grain free, single protein brands of wet food are Catz Finefood Purr, Feringa Meat Menus and Terra Faelis. If you want to stay with a prescription type food, Integra Protect Sensitive looks (to me) to be one of the better ones.

If you want to include some dry food, GranataPet Adult and Feringa are two brands that have single protein, grain free formulas. The problem with N&D is that all varieties have mixed protein sources - not ideal when you're trying to work out which foods your cats can and can't tolerate. Of course, once you know which meats etc they're ok with, there shouldn't be a problem with using a mixed protein food, so long as the cats are fine with all the proteins used.

All the foods I've suggested are available at http://www.zooplus.hr/shop/macke/hrana_u_konzervi

Hi and thank you for your welcome and for the answer [emoji]128522[/emoji]

This all sound great but I have forgotten to mention one thing- Gina doesn't want to eat wet food. At all

I see that GranataPet has also food for sterilized cats. Would you recommend it? Tita and Gina are both sterilized but we were told that if we gave them high protein food such as grain free,there is no need for special "sterilized cat" food, that it is necessary only with "comercial" food. Is that true?

A specialist 'sterilised' food is unnecessary. All that matters is that you're feeding good quality food that suits your cats In this case, I'd definitely avoid it - the primary thing you want to be looking for is a single protein source - at least, until you work out which ingredients cause problems for your cats GranataPet Adult Duck would be a good choice from their range - the Royal Canin has duck as the protein source too, so there's a good chance that their tummies will be ok with it.

Remember to make the changeover gradual - switching too fast can cause an upset tummy too. The bad news is that all the really high quality dry foods are going to be pretty high in calories, so you may still have difficulties with weight control. It's definitely worth persevering with wet food - it may take some time, but most cats can be persuaded to eat it eventually, and wet (or raw) food truly is the easiest way to get cats to maintain a healthy weight.

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Thank you!
We have ordered GranataPet (duck) and Feringa (duck) small packets (400 g) and they have arrived today so now we will see how it goes from here..
If the stool turns into normal we will order some more

So, time for update; GranataPet didn't work.. they didnt want to eat it or smell it whatsoever, it is a shame because it seems like a good food
They eat Feringa and the stool is normal so it seems like duck is a good protein that we can continue with.. the problem with Feringa is that there is no Biotin (vitamin H) and they have started to shed a lot so I have to continue with food research... if you have more suggestions, please feel free to share..

Feringa is a complete food. There's no added biotin because enough is provided by other ingredients (for example, eggs are a great source of biotin, and are included in the Feringa recipie). The shedding is most likely due to the time of year - my cats are shedding like crazy at the moment as they lose their winter coats.

If you're really concerned about biotin, you could always consider a supplement. It really shouldn't be necessary though

Great news that they like the Feringa, and even better that it likes them back

Oh, ok!
Didn't know that [emoji]128512[/emoji]
I'm just a little bit confused about biotin I have to admit.
Why is that when you read the ingredients, on some complete food packets there is both "egg" and "biotin" or "vitamin h" mentioned and on some there is only written "egg".
It is confusing, if it is the same, why do they note also "biotin"?

Feringa is doing really well for now.. anyway since they stopped with RC, they've lost weight immediately and are more active [emoji]9786[/emoji]
We have noticed though that Feringa doesn't have any specific food savor.. it has no savor at all actually

It all depends on the quantities used - there needs to be enough biotin from the food sources to give the cat what's needed...if not, a little extra will be added. Basically, though, ANY food that is sold as 'complete' or 'balanced' will have everything your cats need

I see.. thank you for your help![emoji]128522[/emoji][emoji]128512[/emoji] We will continue with Feringa but try with some super premium food also step by step to see in which protein the problem lays...
We were looking, there is constantly herring mentioned in every N&D product so it may be the problem because once a week I cook them fresh chicken and turkey meat and the stools are normal...we will see [emoji]9786[/emoji]