Are pea protein stomach upsets common?

Finally Robin started eating a grain free dry, but after about 12 hours he vomited it all up. There were no pieces, so I'm assuming he digested it before it upset his tummy. Now he won't touch it at all, but I think he's just associating it with an upset tummy. He was introduced to it before, but as I had run out of his old dry, I just put a cup of it down, and after a few hours he ate it.

This dry has pea protein in it. Is this pea protein stuff something he can adjust to, or should I toss it out? If I put his old dry down, he will NEVER eat the new stuff again--it's "I and Love and You's cod and chicken grain free dry--pricey, and I'd hate to take that kind of hit to my wallet.

(Yes, he gets canned, but he's throwing such a temper tantrum over being denied his favorite kibble that he's turning his nose up at that, too. Unless I hand feed him. Of course lol... Sigh..)

First, Did you slowly transition to the new brand? Mixing old and new together? Cats generally get upset tummies if you switch too quickly. 

And pea protein sensitivity is not unheard of. I know @LisaHE  doesn't feed anything with peas because on of her cats has a sensitivity. Peas are just kind of a carby filler in food. I checked the ingredients for "Surf & Chick" (I assume that's the one you're feeding?)

Ingredients
cod, chicken meal, pea protein concentrate, chicken fat (preserved with natural mixed tocopherols and citric acid), herring meal, lentils, turkey meal, garbanzo beans, dried egg product, natural chicken liver flavor, chicken liver, chicken hearts, sweet potato, dried beet pulp, apple, cranberries, spinach, tomato, carrot, taurine, calcium carbonate, new zealand green mussel, herring oil, olive oil, chia seed, (continued...)

I would cut out peas AND potato. One of my cats (and @LisaHE's) cat have a potato sensitivity. It's just super starchy. My cat was having a similar reaction to yours with the potato. He would eat it and a few hours later, he would puke. Fully digested, it almost looked like baby spit up. The potato was just too much carbs/starch for his tummy. I cut it out and he immediately stopped puking. 

I also would see if you can return the opened kibble. Most pet stores (Petco, Petsmart) and independent stores will let you return open food. I know chewy.com will let you return it as well. 

I don't feed peas in any form, though I don't know for sure if our cats are sensitive to them or not. Potato is a definite issue (barfing and very odoriferous gas) for one and I'm against peas because I don't like the carbiness or non-meat protein they bring to foods. (I'm not a scientist but I'm just not convinced cats' bodies handle plant-based proteins properly, given what people like Dr. Pierson have written.) Between our vet's warnings about Siamese mix cats' tendencies toward digestive issues and our cats' multiple attempts to live up to the vet's warning, I'm not taking any chances with peas!

I do recall having seen other people mention (either on TCS or the Facebook page Raw Feeding for IBD Cats, or maybe even both? I don't remember...) pea sensitivity and the Food Fur Life mentions (using the word "anecdotally") observing that some IBD cats react to peas in food.

I totally second the idea of returning the food! Some stores might have policies of only taking a bag back if it's more than half full but all our local stores have very generous on return policies.

Most of all, I hope Robin's feeling better!

LisaHE said:

 
I don't feed peas in any form, though I don't know for sure if our cats are sensitive to them or not. 

Click to expand...

Oops, for some reason I thought Edwina was barfy with peas too! Oops!

But definitely @MrWhiskers, peas are 3rd on the ingredient list which is pretty high, may be worth trying something else out? My cats get Orijen Cat & Kitten as an occasional treat when they're "starving"   and it's not meal time. It does contain peas, but they're way way way down on the ingredient list after a million different kinds of meat.  

That's okay, Paiger8! Given Edwina's stomach, I wouldn't be surprised if peas bothered her, too: they never got enough food with peas in their food before I cut them out.

You know, I just looked at that ingredient list again and noticed lentils and chickpeas, too, which are also legumes and thus might have the same (or at least similar) effect as peas on a cat's digestive system.

Thank you! Yes, I was pretty shocked to see peas that high up on the ingredients list too. He had been previously introduced slowly to this food, but refused mostly, so I had removed it about--2-3 weeks ago.

When his favorite kibble ran out, I literally was broke, so I put it back.

Which is worse, corn or pea protein? Does pea protein affect urinary ph the way grains do? If they are about the same, I see no reason not to switch him back to his old junk, seeing as he at least likes it.. He's being picky about everything right now....sigh...but he is nibbling on the new dry. At this point, I'm in a quandary. I don't know if I should "wait it out" til he accepts the new kibble, or switch back. He does have more energy, but he's whiny as heck!!!