I've been transitioning my 6 cats to a raw diet for the past month, and I'm having a serious issue with one of my cats. Callie, 8 years old, and who suffers from IBD, has been having severe diarrhea for a couple days now. I got some good educational resources from a knowledgeable member on this forum, and I learned some things I wish I would have learned before I transitioned Callie. I was also directed to some Facebook groups, to which I've sent requests to join, but am currently still pending. In the meantime Callie is suffering. I'm hoping I can find some info here, because I'm to the point of extreme worry. I probably made some mistakes, and it's killing me to know that I caused her pain, but I want to accurately describe what's going on.
Prior to the transition, Callie ate Fancy Feast Chunky Chicken Pate canned food for breakfast and dinner. She got some dry food (Purina Beyond) as a treat in between meals. I know that's too much, but she was a crunchy addict, and I enabled her. When I started the raw diet (which I described in my last post), I gave her breakfast and dinner of canned mixed with raw, and lowered the amount of canned food over 3 weeks. She was still getting just a little bit of canned mixed in. I also gave her some of her crunchy dry food as a treat, but have been decreasing it slowly, with a goal of eliminating it.
Callie had already been doing better with regard to hairballs and vomiting episodes caused by her IBD because she has received 2 rounds of stem-cell treatments. She also gets Colostrum-LD sprinkled on her meals. But even with all that she would still have a "flare-up" occasionally (approx 2 times a month) which was usually a day of intermittent vomiting and possibly a hairball, and then she would be fine again (it used to be about 3 times a week before the stem-cell treatment and Colostrum-LD). After starting the slow raw transition, she did not have any problems. It wasn't;t until 4 days ago when I noticed some diarrhea in the litter box. I didn't;t think it was Callie because diarrhea wasn't;t one of her symptoms I had seen before. But then I noticed she was drinking more water, and that she seemed to be feeling less than %100. Yesterday, I knew she wasn't;t feeling good, because she had one of her vomiting "episodes". She seemed a little better by the evening, but then I saw her having having mildly-explosive diarrhea in the litter-box around 9 p.m.. Afterwards, she seemed somewhat better. By midnight, she begged for dry food, so I gave her 14 pieces only. She wanted more, but I told her she had to wait until breakfast. But then, about 30 minutes later, she left her spot in bed quickly and went to the litter-box where she had more diarrhea. By 6:30 a.m. this morning, she wanted breakfast, so I gave her just a little of her regular canned food without any raw because I thought that the raw food m ay be the culprit. But she didn't;t want any canned food, she just wanted her crunchies. So I gave her just a few pieces again, When she wanted more, I gave her a few more pieces. She seemed fine, so I left.
When I got home at 2 p.m., I could tell she wasn't;t feeling well. Callie LOVES to eat, and the first thing she does when I come home is beg me for crunchies. Today, she didn't;t even move from her spot on the floor, and she ALWAYS comes to greet me at the door. I was worried, so I looked up some stuff online, and decided to fast her for 24 hours. Since she didn't;t want food, it wasn't;t a problem. She lied in bed the rest of the afternoon, not doing her normal routine at all. When the other cats ate dinner, she stayed out on the back patio, lying down, like she did all day, but not able to sleep peacefully like she normally does. She had 2 more small diarrheas between 2 and 7p.m., and that was just from drinking water. Now at 1:30 a.m., she wants some food, but I have not given her anything. She's lying down and I can tell she's still not feeling well, but I'm hoping the fact that she wanted food means that she's getting better.
My plan is to give her just a little of her canned food in the morning if she wants it, and then continue her on that while I eliminate the dry food completely, and then figure out a differently prepared raw diet for her to transition to. I want her to get the benefits of a raw diet, but right now I'm just scared and I want her to feel better. Callie has a vet appointment scheduled for 9:20 in the morning, but I'm hoping, if her problems can be addressed without it, that I won't have to subject her to a bunch of maybe unnecessary tests by a vet who doesn't understand raw feeding (her regular vet is away till next week). Oh yeah, I had been adding a small amount of Forti-Flora to her raw food too (and to all my cats' raw food) because it was what got them to eat it.
If anyone has some insight into Callie's situation, please let me know. She's an incredible, sweet angel and has been the most amazing blessing. She doesn't deserve to feel so terrible.
Prior to the transition, Callie ate Fancy Feast Chunky Chicken Pate canned food for breakfast and dinner. She got some dry food (Purina Beyond) as a treat in between meals. I know that's too much, but she was a crunchy addict, and I enabled her. When I started the raw diet (which I described in my last post), I gave her breakfast and dinner of canned mixed with raw, and lowered the amount of canned food over 3 weeks. She was still getting just a little bit of canned mixed in. I also gave her some of her crunchy dry food as a treat, but have been decreasing it slowly, with a goal of eliminating it.
Callie had already been doing better with regard to hairballs and vomiting episodes caused by her IBD because she has received 2 rounds of stem-cell treatments. She also gets Colostrum-LD sprinkled on her meals. But even with all that she would still have a "flare-up" occasionally (approx 2 times a month) which was usually a day of intermittent vomiting and possibly a hairball, and then she would be fine again (it used to be about 3 times a week before the stem-cell treatment and Colostrum-LD). After starting the slow raw transition, she did not have any problems. It wasn't;t until 4 days ago when I noticed some diarrhea in the litter box. I didn't;t think it was Callie because diarrhea wasn't;t one of her symptoms I had seen before. But then I noticed she was drinking more water, and that she seemed to be feeling less than %100. Yesterday, I knew she wasn't;t feeling good, because she had one of her vomiting "episodes". She seemed a little better by the evening, but then I saw her having having mildly-explosive diarrhea in the litter-box around 9 p.m.. Afterwards, she seemed somewhat better. By midnight, she begged for dry food, so I gave her 14 pieces only. She wanted more, but I told her she had to wait until breakfast. But then, about 30 minutes later, she left her spot in bed quickly and went to the litter-box where she had more diarrhea. By 6:30 a.m. this morning, she wanted breakfast, so I gave her just a little of her regular canned food without any raw because I thought that the raw food m ay be the culprit. But she didn't;t want any canned food, she just wanted her crunchies. So I gave her just a few pieces again, When she wanted more, I gave her a few more pieces. She seemed fine, so I left.
When I got home at 2 p.m., I could tell she wasn't;t feeling well. Callie LOVES to eat, and the first thing she does when I come home is beg me for crunchies. Today, she didn't;t even move from her spot on the floor, and she ALWAYS comes to greet me at the door. I was worried, so I looked up some stuff online, and decided to fast her for 24 hours. Since she didn't;t want food, it wasn't;t a problem. She lied in bed the rest of the afternoon, not doing her normal routine at all. When the other cats ate dinner, she stayed out on the back patio, lying down, like she did all day, but not able to sleep peacefully like she normally does. She had 2 more small diarrheas between 2 and 7p.m., and that was just from drinking water. Now at 1:30 a.m., she wants some food, but I have not given her anything. She's lying down and I can tell she's still not feeling well, but I'm hoping the fact that she wanted food means that she's getting better.
My plan is to give her just a little of her canned food in the morning if she wants it, and then continue her on that while I eliminate the dry food completely, and then figure out a differently prepared raw diet for her to transition to. I want her to get the benefits of a raw diet, but right now I'm just scared and I want her to feel better. Callie has a vet appointment scheduled for 9:20 in the morning, but I'm hoping, if her problems can be addressed without it, that I won't have to subject her to a bunch of maybe unnecessary tests by a vet who doesn't understand raw feeding (her regular vet is away till next week). Oh yeah, I had been adding a small amount of Forti-Flora to her raw food too (and to all my cats' raw food) because it was what got them to eat it.
If anyone has some insight into Callie's situation, please let me know. She's an incredible, sweet angel and has been the most amazing blessing. She doesn't deserve to feel so terrible.
